Re: Battle of Britain won date
As an 8 year old at the time and living about 3 miles from Hawkinge aerodrome, I still have vivid memories of the period.
To us it was a life or death struggle with the hated Germans. (We were brought up on the saying "The only good German is a dead one")
We were also warned that the Germans were going to invade us and that when they came we were not to leave the village. Experience in France and Belgium had shown that masses of civilian refugees hampered troop movements. In fact I remember being told "When the germans come you boys are to put sugar in their petrol tanks". Suicidal I guess.
We were not aware of victory at all, the numbers of aircraft we saw shot down were roughly equal, we just knew the Germans gave up and their attacks became sporadic.
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Peter Verney ex nav/rad
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