"We do not want to be remembered as heroes, we only ask to be remembered for what we did....that's all"
"I regard it as a privilege to fight for all those things that make life worth living - freedom, honour and fair play"

Winter/Spring March 2010 First off, allow me to apologize for the lateness of the last Scramble - not the first time nor probably the last. I won't bore you with the excuses except to say one of them concerns a lengthy period of illness, but all is now well. Sadly, a number of our heroes have fallen off the perch recently, including our old friend and hearty supporter, Bob Doe. Bob, bless him, was an innocent adjunct, quite a while ago now, concerning some strife within the Society ranks. Let me explain; as most of you know, I have long referred to The Few as 'heroes'. All the members supported me, with one notable exception. No name, no pack drill, anyway he is no longer a member. So whatwas the problem? Well, when the discussion as to the merits and demerits of referring to The Few as 'heroes' was in full flow, a quote was obtained from Bob saying that he was far from being a hero, that he was 'only doing his job'. Sadly, Bob's declaration has oft been thrown in my face and has even been included in our own website! (It seems sacriligious somehow to remove it, though I have long wanted to do so). But, humour me whilst I put forward in detail my own case, just to put this to bed once and for all. The following is the dictionary definition: "HERO: AN ILLUSTRIOUS WARRIOR: A MAN ADMIRED FOR HIS ACHEIVEMENTS AND NOBLE QUALITIES: ONE WHO SHOWS GREAT COURAGE." Okay. So how is it possible that Battle of Britain aircrew don't qualify? Some would possibly argue, in fact do argue, that many of The Few failed to trouble the scorer when it came to enemy aircraft shot down, so that they weren't 'heroes'. Whenever I read or hear that I think back to a long conversation I had with the lade Squadron Leader A.C. Leigh. Joe was the son of a regular army soldier, and after leaving school went to work as a sales assistant in a tailor's shop. He joined the RAF in June 1939 when it was obvious that war was iminent. Note - he didn't have to join up, he just wanted to 'do his bit' as he said. Joe learnt to fly Spitfires but joined an operational squadron just twenty days before the end of the Battle. He barely fired his guns in anger before the official end of the conflict, and for that reason was most embarrassed to be called 'one of The Few'. In his own opinion he was 'a bit of a fraud'. I listened intently at what he had to say, knowing what was coming. "I was", he said, "scared to death. It took me all my time just to fly the aircraft, and to maintain squadron discipline in the air and concentrate on fighting as well, took a Herculean effort." And there we have it. The nub of my argument. Joe, very much by his own admission, an ordinary guy, struggling to keep his aircraft in the air, fighting fear every time he took off - is that not the stuff of heroes? Can anyone put their hand on their heart and say that Joe, and everyone else like him, were not heroes? It is easy to be brave when you are not scared of something. We ooh and aah at the man on the high wire, but does he qualify as a hero? He is not afraid of what he does, so in my book he is not doing anything heroic. Now, if he was scared to death of walking the wire but still did it anyway, now that is heroic. So people like Joe, not 'Aces', not household names, still richly deserve the description of 'hero'. As for the youngsters who did the bulk of the fighting, the guys who chalked up big scores, they are the stuff of legends, and can, without a shadow of a doubt, be termed 'heroes'. So, whilst Bob modestly eschewed any suggestion that he was a hero, I respectfully disagree. As I would with anyone else who saved the world in that epic air battle of 70 years ago. A final thought. If the only heroes were those who admitted to being one, the word wouldn't even be in the dictionary. Whoever heard of someone proclaiming: "I did this and that so I am a bona fide hero". Anyone? Of course not. "I was only doing my job". (Firefighters, doctors, servicemen, policement, etc.), or: "I was just in the right place at the right time." Any of these ring a bell? So, forgive me if it goes against the grain - but I shall carry on referring to all the men of the Battle of Britain as - 'Heroes'.