Courage is classless
From Mrs P. Stiles Sir: I was greatly delighted to read James Delingpole (Arts, 29 July) on the pro- granune Secret History (Channel 4). The pro- gramme was followed by the film Battle of Britain. Secret History spoke about class dis- tinction between pilot officers and sergeant pilots, pilots being interested in claiming successes against each other, and the inferi- or quality of the training compared with the Poles and Germans. The programme seemed to me to imply that Battle of Britain was not an accurate portrayal of the RAF.
I was a cypher officer for three and a half years from the outbreak of war and spent the Battle of Britain on a fighter station in con- stant contact with the pilots. I never heard anybody trying to claim anyone else's suc- cess, nor anyone showing `class' conscious- ness towards the sergeant pilots — far from it. The RAF was in no condition to fight the Germans (thanks to our politicians); many of the pilots had just left school and had brief training, as James Delingpole states. I con- sider the film Battle of Britain extremely accurate in its portrayal of the lives of pilots in the battle. One I knew was 18 when he got his DFC. I also knew one who was shot down in the sea and returned to flying immediately although the experience had been horrifying.
Secret History said that the Poles were better than the British — I knew quite a few of the Polish pilots and they were regu- lar Polish Air Force pilots who had escaped when Poland was overrun by the Nazis, and were filled with hatred for the Germans. They upset things somewhat by taking off when the alarm went without waiting for orders, which caused some confusion. They had awful stories of what had happened to their families and wanted to get at the Ger- mans fast. The British, not having the same feelings of hatred in 1940, were more inclined to follow orders.
Pauline A. Stiles
Sway, Hampshire
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