Legends Of The Sky

Hello, my name is Alistair Morris, as a small boy, my father used to take me to aviation museums and aeroparks, I was in complete awe of these incredible machines, if I saw an aircraft with camouflage on it I would call it a Spitfire, as I grew older I became more and more and more interested in aircraft and learnt the difference between a Vulcan and a Spitfire and now, at 23, I believe my knowledge base has been expanded substantially. My biggest passion is for the Battle of Britain, it is a fascinating period of history; socially and militarily. I find it incredible how the seriously outnumbered RAF managed to repulse such a formidable foe that was the Luftwaffe and also how so many people managed to keep their spirit through such a tense and horrendous period!

It really irritates me how many people are ignorant of the people who fought for our freedom and the number of civilian deaths and casualties, not only in Britain but also in the retaliation attacks on Germany. We have to remember that, in 'strategic' bombing campaigns we were as bad, if not worse than Germany for bombing civilian targets. The British mass bombing and near destruction of Hamburg in 1943 and Dresden in 1945 killed approximately 75,000 civilians combined and injured countless more! In comparison to German raids on Britain there is huge contrast; throughout the whole war the total British civilian death toll is approximately 90,000.

 I believe that it is massively important to remember the people who were not actively fighting in the war as much as the servicemen who were being killed and injured at home in the UK and overseas and these people are often forgotten by many. Some of the most forgotten people of the war are the foreign nationals who fought for the UK, for instance; Poles and Czechs fought fiercely during the Battle of Britain. 303 squadron alone destroyed 126 aircraft to the relatively small loss of 18 aircraft; this was quite a feat, they had destroyed nearly twice as many Axis aircraft as the Leading British Squadron for about half the losses and had not been an operational until a third of the way into the battle. Although some were already experienced combat and civilian pilots they were treated like dirt; being made to ride around on bicycles to practice formations and radio communications for months. The British treated them as if they did not know how to fly, when, in reality they were some of the best pilots serving in the RAF at that time. Many of the original squadron who fought during the Battle of Britain died in the remainder of the war and the ones who survived were denied the chance to stand proud during the victory march in 1945, this was so that the UK did not upset Moscow. 2,367 pilots fought for the RAF during the Battle of Britain, of which; 141 were Poles, 29 of whom died. There were many more nationalities who fought for the freedom of our glorious nation who do not get the recognition they deserve, the least we can try and do as the number of veterans dwindle is remember them.

I have set up this site to showcase some of my photos and to remember the people who flew these incredible machines in combat.

All photos on this site are taken by myself unless stated and are subject to copyright, the terms of which can be found using the link below