Just one of the Few

Seventy years ago today Winston Churchill (Winnie) uttered the immortal words:

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few

We – the British Public were the many and the few were men like Robert Doe (Bob) fighter pilots in the Second World War.

Bob was recognised as an ‘Ace’ after winning five air battles in his first week of fighting in August 1940. In 1940 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross "for his outstanding dash and an eagerness to engage the enemy at close quarters", to which was added a bar after he was shot down over Dorset later the same year.

He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his inspirational leadership during service in India - being one of only two men to be awarded this.

I met Bob in the sixties when he was a tall, balding, attractive man – great fun at parties and he and his tall raven haired wife made a striking couple. I had no idea of his war-time fame until many years later when I saw him being interviewed on TV.

Bob died this year at the age of 89. RIP