Fascinated by the Battle of Britain from an early age, as a young man
Dilip Sarkar realized that recording and sharing the Few's memories was
of paramount importance. At the time, back in the mid-1980s, membership
of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association was well populated and the
then Honorary Secretary, the now late Wing Commander Pat Hancock DFC,
OBE, supported Dilip's research by forwarding letters to individual
pilots of interest.
Those members of the Few included a wide-range of personalities, from
famous airmen like Group Captain Peter Townsend and Air Marshal Sir
Denis Crowley-Milling, to the 'also rans', as Battle of Britain
Hurricane pilot Peter Fox famously described himself and peers. Indeed,
it was Peter's 'also rans' that were of the greatest interest to Dilip,
who recognized that whilst many famous and distinguished pilots had
either published personal memoirs or had biographies written about them,
lesser-lights had no platform to record and share their experiences.
This Dilip became dedicated to resolving.
For many years, Dilip enjoyed prolific correspondence with the Few.
These letters - hundreds of them - now represent a unique primary
source, confirming the incredibly close relationship the author enjoyed
with his heroes and high esteem in which they likewise held him. Over
the years, Dilip's published work has enormously benefited from his
unique knowledge of the people involved through this very personal
association, the memories collated providing his books a real 'human'
touch. As the Few sadly fade away, it is only now that the significance
of Dilip's correspondence, industry and archive arising are becoming
truly apparent.
In Letters From The Few, Dilip shares with us, for the first time, a
small selection of his correspondence with Battle of Britain fighter
pilots, providing us an inspirational insight into the immeasurable
value of this research and personalities involved.
