‘The Few’ was the name given to pilots who fought against the Germans in the Battle of Britain. The word ‘few’ was used by Winston Churchill in his famous speech at the end of the battle – “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” The following table does show that many of the men who flew in the Battle of Britain were from Britain itself (82% of the total number of flyers in the battle), yet thirteen other nationalities were represented with Australia and South Africa proportionately having the highest fatality rate.

Nationality Pilots Men killed % of pilots killed
Great Britain 2543 418  16%
Poland 147 30   20%
New Zealand 101 14   14%
Canadian 94 20   21%
Czechoslovakia 87 8   9%
Belgium 29 6   20%
South Africa 22 9   40%
Australia 22 9   40%
Free French 14 0 0%
Irish 10 0 0%
United States 7 1   14%
Southern Rhodesia 2 0 0%
Jamaica 1 0 0%
Palestine 1 0 0%
Total 3080 515 17%

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  • 'The Few' was the name given to pilots who fought against the Germans in the Battle of Britain. The word 'few' was used by Winston…