Last Battle of Britain Ace

[karatekid]

The last surviving Battle of Britain ace pilot from World War Two has died aged 101.

Wing Cdr Paul Farnes was among the 3,000 airmen - The Few - who defended England's skies in 1940.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-h ... e-51306750

[Jeffbfc]

RIP.
Brave lads, never hesitated to defend these Isle's.

[karatekid]

The story in the video interview about the lad in the MG really brings home the life expectancy of these brave guys.

[claret2018]

Funny how only WWI fighter pilots and transfer-linked footballers are ever described as “aces”

[ClaretEngineer]

Aspirational and inspirational. Stood up and stood tall.

True heroes.

[Clarets4me]

As a boy in the early seventies, I would see this generation of men at family do's in Nottingham and nobody ever mentioned the war, no least because my Grandmother had lost her husband in the Coventry bombing ....

It was only much later that I learnt that quiet old Uncle Arthur, who would eat apples without his teeth and spend hours doing the pools ( " Scottish teams never draw, son " ), had twice been mentioned in dispatches during World War 1 and fought at the Somme, and that Forest mad Uncle Eric helped liberate the Japanese POW camps in Thailand. He came home over a 10 day period, with 15 stop-offs in Dakota transport planes and he never flew again after that experience !

[Sausage]

Worth a visit to the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum if you're ever down Kent/South East London way. https://bhmm.org.uk/ Took my lad there last summer as it's only down the road from me. Some sobering stories about the brave chaps who flew the sorties but also the women who were tasked with clearing unexploded bombs and other debris from the airfields. Makes you realise just how cushy we've got it and why we will always be in their debt.

[BennyD]

It’s such a pity that he didn’t live long enough to see these Isles regain the freedom he fought so hard to achieve. A true hero. RIP.

[BennyD]

Deleted; Double post.

[BennyD]

Deleted; Triple post.

[ClaretAndJew]

It’s such a pity that he didn’t live long enough to see these Isles regain the freedom he fought so hard to achieve. A true hero. RIP.

THE LINES ARE BLURRED. SATIRE HAS DIED.

[evensteadiereddie]

And what the **** is that supposed to mean ? Come on, Benny lad, even you can't be as crass and as classless as that ?
The EU is the equivalent of the Third Reich ? Have you been asleep all week ?
You need your head examined. Seriously.

[BennyD]

THE LINES ARE BLURRED. SATIRE HAS DIED.

No need to shout your opinion.

[tiger76]

We owe these men and women an ultimate debt of gratitude,let's be clear if the Battle of Britain had been lost,Hitler was poised to invade within hours,and WW2 would have had a very different outcome.

RIP

[Long Time Lurker]

It’s such a pity that he didn’t live long enough to see these Isles regain the freedom he fought so hard to achieve. A true hero. RIP.

I think you need to read a few more historical accounts of the Battle of Britain. A lot of pilots and other RAF personnel came from Europe and made the same sacrifices as our guys to protect our shores.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Briti ... of_Britain

[Bin Ont Turf]

Peace be with you young man.

[tiger76]

I think you need to read a few more historical accounts of the Battle of Britain. A lot of pilots and other RAF personnel came from Europe and made the same sacrifices as our guys to protect our shores.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Briti ... of_Britain

Just having a quick browse through the list of countries that participated in the BoB,i was aware of the Polish contribution,but there was many Commonwealth countries that played a major part in turning the tide of the war,as well as a number of other European powers,who don't forget at this time were annexed by the Axis forces,this is not the thread to spout rhetoric,and the memory of the few should be foremost in people's minds.

[dsr]

Funny how only WWI fighter pilots and transfer-linked footballers are ever described as “aces”

Apparently an ace is a pilot who shot down at least 5 enemy planes. There are still one or two pilots left from the Battle of Britain, but not official aces.

[BennyD]

I think you need to read a few more historical accounts of the Battle of Britain. A lot of pilots and other RAF personnel came from Europe and made the same sacrifices as our guys to protect our shores.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Briti ... of_Britain

I’ve read a lot of historical accounts of the Battle of Britain thank you, and they were one of the reasons I became an RAF pilot. The gentleman in question was Wing Commander Paul Farnes; he was born in England and fought against the Germans, and it’s Germany that currently hold the whip hand in Europe.

[evensteadiereddie]

You are a moron. and as a ,ahem, RAF pilot, serving or former, should know better than to equate today's Germany with that of the Nazi era.
God help us if you are being anywhere near being serious.

[BennyD]

I thought you would chip in again. I’m sure you are having a rabid pop at me but please, show a bit of dignity; you are not the focal point of this thread, Wing Commander Farnes is. (FWIW, I ‘foed’ you years ago so I can ignore your childish opinions. Thank you).

[evensteadiereddie]

What a dick you are. YOU hijacked a perfectly interesting and honourable thread about a brave, decent ww11 pilot and his death by alluding to the EU and now Germany as, somehow, enslaving us in Nazi fashion.
You as a so-called pilot are rightly ashamed - you damn well should be - and are trying to deflect from your incredibly stupid comparison.
A disgrace to the service you claim to have been a part of.

[evensteadiereddie]

"Foed" me ? Truth hurts, I guess.

[karatekid]

It's a shame that every thread on this board ends up like this.

[evensteadiereddie]

Indeed. Why the hell leaving the EU was brought into this in the first place is beyond me but I don't apologise for admonishing the fool who thought that such a crass idea to compare it with Nazi Germany was a valid one.
Hopefully, his nonsense will be now forgotten in the grander scheme of things and due respect can continue to be paid to the "ace" pilot and the few B of B guys that remain. The real heroes not some modern pale imitation.

[BennyD]

It's a shame that every thread on this board ends up like this.

You are so right and may I apologise for being a part of the cause on this one. Having said that, EverSheddyNeddy will always have a dig at anything relating to the Military, possibly because he failed to get in. Who knows? He accused me of being a coward because I never went to war, so I foed him before things got ugly.

Anyway, W/C Farnes was a genuine hero and he and his colleagues will always, quite rightly, be remembered for their service and sacrifice in the face of a monstrous regime.

[evensteadiereddie]

I am completely ambivalent about the present military but have great respect for those who served in WW1 and WW2 particularly, my father being a gun technician on Wellington bombers out in India and Burma, so don't try and rubbish me regarding any fantasy regarding my failure to join any armed service that you may have and the garbage about you being called some kind of coward. As if anybody cares what you have or have not done.

It's just another lie and a pretty desperate, despicable one at that.

I accept your apology and really hope, for your sake, your mistake was made more out of carelessness than ignorance.

[conyoviejo]

R.I.P to a very brave man .