I am absolutely astounded eleven have lasted this long
by and large after the war the spitfire pilots did quite well 'as they knew which risks to take and which would kill them'
Fighter Command in WW2 lost about 5,000 men....killed.
Bomber Commad in WW2 lost over 50,000 men ...killed.
we met on a walking tour ( when I could walk) an airman who would only say he was in the RAF
My brother said - he wont tell us what he did - Father pedant would tell anyone about Spangenberg, Eichstatt and Laufen - and the long marches of Jan 1945 ('Death marches')
and I said Bomber command - he spent the war getting his arriss shot off over Germany and now 19 y o tell him he is a war criminal for bombing civilians .....