Saluting One of The Few

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”. Those are the words of Winston Churchill following the Battle of Britain in 1941. This week the UK is commemorating the battle’s 75^th anniversary.

For my own modest contribution I’ve put together this photo (sorry about the poor quality). It is a homage to one of the lgbt fighter pilots who took part in the Battle of Britain – Wing Commander Ian Gleed, DSO.

The photo shows the model kit of the plane he piloted during the Battle, the Hawker Hurricane Mark 1. Regular readers may remember I gave a couple of progress reports on my attempt to build the model. It was produced by Airfix to commemorate the 60^th anniversary, and for this year’s 75^th anniversary a Hawker Hurricane (not specifically Gleed’s as before) is featured in a 4-plane commemorative model set. My complete model of the Gleed's 60^th anniversary plane is in the photo.

Also in the photo is a portrait of Gleed himself. To the picture frame is attached the 1939-45 War Medal to which he would have been entitled had he not been killed on active duty before the end of the war.

The book is the biography of Wing Cdr. Gleed, a first edition copy, published in 1978.