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The FewThe Few is a term used to describe the Allied airmen of the Royal Air Force (RAF) who won the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. It comes from Winston Churchill's phrase "never was so much owed by so many to so few". The flyers were overwhelmingly Britons in the RAF (2,353 out of a total of 2,927, by one counting; of them, 407 were killed, out of a total death roll of 510). However, there were many from other British Empire countries (particularly New Zealand and Canada), as well as exiles from many conquered European nations. In particular, there were several squadrons of men from Poland, and many from Czechoslovakia as well. Although this action took place well before the USA entered the war, there were a handful (10, by one count) of US pilots involved. There is a preserved Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft known as "The Last of The Few", as part of the "Battle of Britain Memorial Flight", along with a Supermarine Spitfire that flew in the Battle (one of 5 Spitfires in the Memorial Flight). The pilots themselves are memorialized on the RAF Memorial at Runnymede.
A film called The Few is currently (2004) in preparation, based on the story of American pilot Billy Fiske, who ignored his country's neutrality rules and flew against the Germans. An outline of the film's historical content has been described by Bill Bond of the Battle of Britain Historical Society as "a load of bloody rubbish". Sources - Derek Wood, Derek Dempster, The Narrow Margin (reprint Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1990) Appendix 24 (pp. 358) gives the numerical breakdown by nationalities, and Appendix 25 (pp. 359-376) gives a complete list of the Allied aircrew in the Battle.
- Richard Townsend Bickers, The Battle of Britain (Salamander, New York, 1990) Gives the numerical breakdown by nationalities (pp. 187), and a complete list of the Allied aircrew in the Battle (pp. 194-203).
External links * Hollywood updates history of Battle of Britain: Tom Cruise won it all on his own The Independent 11 April 2004
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