New year full of promise

A new series of webinars is set to kick off the new year in style for the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust.

After a successful launch webinar at the end of last year by Trust Secretary Patrick Tootal, who spoke of his life as a diplomat in a fascinating talk entitled Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina, the Trust has invited a number of top authors to give online presentations over the next few months.

Dilip Sarkar, who was made an MBE for services to aviation history in 2003, and Paul Beaver, an aviation historian, broadcaster and writer, are set to provide fascinating insights into the lives of the Few, the men who fought the Battle of Britain in 1940.

Starting the series in style will be Dilip, whose first presentation on Wednesday 27 January will be a very personal one, based on the many friendships he made with members of the Few over the years and illustrated largely with photographs from their personal albums.

The webinar will reflect some of the unique material that features in his recently published book Letters From The Few and promises to be a fascinating look at aspects of the lives of a special group of men.

Dilip’s second webinar, scheduled for Wednesday 24 February, will reflect stories of casualties in the Battle, as told in his book Battle of Britain 1940: The Finest Hour’s Human Cost.

The Trust is continuing to set up additional online talks, with Paul Beaver due to talk on The Forgotten Few of the Fleet Air Arm on Wednesday 10 March and Christopher Joll presenting a webinar entitled Spoils of War on 24 March. More speakers are set to be confirmed shortly.

All the talks will take place online at 3pm and will be available after the event on the Trust’s YouTube channel.

In the photograph here, Spitfire pilot George Collett’s nephew, Bill Gulland proudly displays his uncle’s flying log book.