As the 79th anniversary of one of the most critical air battles ever fought nears in early September, the number of Battle of Britain pilots here to mark the date has dwindled to four. Canada’s last surviving Battle of Britain pilot John Hart died earlier this month at the age of 102. The remaining four live in the U.K. Hart was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for a combat career that started in Spitfires in the famous air battle over England in 1940 and closed with him being released from the RAF as commander of a squadron of P-51 Mustangs in Italy. He scored numerous victories in the European, Indian and Burmese theatres. He flew hundreds of sorties in fighter, bomber escort and ground attack roles.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/the-few-down-to-four