Service number
Burbridge applied to join the RAF in September 1940. He was given the non-commissioned officer Service number 10067. The situation for the Allies at that time was bleak. After the conquest of Poland, the German "Wehrmacht" (Armed Forces) swiftly defeated Allied forces in Norway and France. RAF Fighter Command had prevailed against the "Luftwaffe" in the Battle of Britain but British cities were suffering in The Blitz—a sustained aerial night offensive against the United Kingdom.