First of the Few, Part II

Part 1 of this article stressed that an estimate of the number of Australians who were involved in the Battle of Britain can be included among the controversies that have emerged from this conflict. According to the official history of Australia in the War of 1939-45 there were about 30 of them but it declines to be more specific. The Battle of Britain Fighter Association of Great Britain states that there were 21 and this figure was quoted in the film Battle of Britain. Some members of the Australian Branch of this organisation suggest strongly that there could very well have been more. The British air historian Francis K. Mason in Battle Over Britain puts the number at 22 . . . and so it goes on.

In initial research for this article, 25 names were uncovered but now this too needs to be revised because further inquiry has pushed the number up to exactly 30 and there may be more. . .

In 1957 the RAAF prepared a list of Australian airmen who were entitled to wear the Battle of Britain Clasp to the 1939-45 Star. It contained 29 names and towards the end, it stated:

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