Whether that Sunday really was the hardest day is a matter of definition and point of view. A Hurricane pilot who was around at the time once told me most firmly that the hardest day of fighting was 31 August. No doubt there are other opinions.
A persistent tall story of the Battle of Britain is the idea that, on 15 September, a Dornier was rammed by a Hurricane as the bomber was about to attack Buckingham Palace. One can pick a colander full of holes in this claim, starting with the evidence that when the Hurricane flown by Sergeant “Arty” Holmes of No 504 Squadron arrived on the scene, members of the Dornier’s crew were already taking to their parachutes.
Holmes would later give varied accounts of what happened next, sometimes egged on by journalists, but his combat report stated: “On my fourth attack from the port beam, a jar shook my starboard wing as I passed over the E/A [enemy aircraft] and I went into an uncontrollable spin. I think the E/A must have exploded beneath me.”
Yet people repeat fictitious versions of the event and even put up plaques to commemorate them.
The media has a lot to answer for, too, in the case of who was the youngest pilot to fly in the Battle. Many stories over the years have claimed that it was Pilot Officer Geoffrey Wellum of No 92 Squadron. At least three, however, were younger and the, youngest for whom we have a birth certificate was Pilot Officer (Martyn) Aurel King, of No 249 Squadron, who was two months Wellum’s junior. He was lost, aged 18, in the action on 16 August for which Flight Lieutenant “Nick” Nicolson was awarded the VC.
We could go on. It would, for instance, take a much lengthier article than this to explore the fictions perpetrated in accounts of the interfaces between Dowding, Park, Sholto Douglas and others.
At the same time, the Trust is well aware that there are errors to be put right in the Database. We are constantly working to eliminate them, and all help is gratefully received.
Geoff Simpson FRHistS
