Battle of Britain Commemoration Service

Kiwi pilot Group Captain Alan Deere was in the thick of it, flying Spitfires from No. 54 Squadron’s bases at Manston and Hornchurch after Manston had to be abandoned.
In his 1959 biography ‘Nine Lives’ Alan describes how, from 24 August to 6 September, his squadron went about the task of responding to raids by an average of 1000 enemy aircraft a day.
“The telephone bell; orders to scramble; the usual mad rush to cockpits; a feverish pushing of starter buttons; a roar as 12 Merlins sprang into life; a jostling of places at the take-off end; and the squadron was airborne for another combat.
“Your target directly ahead of you, Hornet Leader,’’ the Station Commander’s voice came over the R/T, suddenly and without warning, causing me to jump uncomfortably in my seat. You should see them any moment now.
“See them; we couldn’t avoid them. They covered the whole sky ahead, a solid mass of aircraft from about 15,000 up to 32,000 feet at which height a dozen or so (Messerschmitt) 109s weaved along in the wake of the hundreds of escort fighters below.

Alan Deere DSO, OBE, DFC & Bar was among the 130 New Zealanders who flew during the Battle of Britain. He considered himself extremely lucky – and he was – our Roll of Honour includes the names of 20 pilots and aircrew who lost their lives during the battle.

You can read more about the Kiwis involved in our blog post, ‘The Battle of Britain and New Zealand‘.