The top Allied ace, Johnnie Johnson, got all 38 of his victories in Spitfires, many of them while commanding Canadians. RCAF Spitfires shot down the Commonwealth's first Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter. Today, only a handful of the 22,000 Spitfires built are still flying. Few dispute that Reginald Mitchell's elegant creation was the best fighter of the war. War machines rarely inspire poetry, but an American pilot serving in the RCAF wrote a poem about his Spitfire in 1941, called High Flight.
Many veterans find it difficult to talk about their experiences to civilians.
I thank Ken and Bart for giving me their time and loaning their photos. I very much regret writing this too late to include personal reminiscences from John Richardson, a close family friend who passed away before I made the time to talk to him about the war. His family very kindly shared his log book and photographs with me. Sept. 15 is Battle of Britain Day. After sometimes flying 1,000 missions a day for three months, the RAF was still able to put nearly 500 fighters, including many Spitfires, into the air to defend London that day.