On May 16 1940 Winston Churchill turned to General Gamelin and asked about the strategic reserve available for the German onrush that threatened the collapse of the Maginot line. General Gamelin shook is head and said “There is none.”
Three months later, all too well (and sadly) aware of the 200 German aircrafts and equally heavy fighter escort noisily approaching London, he asked Air Vice-Marshall Keith Park of the RFA, “What reserves have we?”
“Errr…we have exactly…wait, let me see… none, Sir.”
I told my Father I’d have wanted to join the Royal Air Force Fighter Command, specifically in 1940, had I been a soldier during that time. He looked absolutely proud that I knew about the dawn of military aviation, about the self-sacrifice of the pilots, about the legacy of the first independent strategic arm victory against Nazi Germany.
The truth is, I just said that because I liked the photograph of the Hawker Hurricane of No. 71 ‘Eagle’ Squadron on page 99 of the WW2 book he gave me. Man would I love to fly one of those babies…
But don’t tell him I said so, because that comment just earned me plus 25 good-daughter points.
