They were mostly very young men, and there were never enough of them. Through the summer of 1940 the RAF's fighter pilots — Churchill's "Few" — scrambled again and again from forward airfields to climb and meet the Luftwaffe, sometimes flying several sorties in a single day until exhaustion blurred into a kind of numbness. Their life expectancy in the worst weeks was measured in days. They flew two fighters into the battle: the nimble, glamorous Supermarine Spitfire, and the sturdier Hawker Hurricane, which was actually more numerous and shot down more enemy aircraft than its famous stablemate. Between them, and by the narrowest of margins, they turned Hitler back from an invasion of Britain.

The figure stands at dispersal in blue-grey uniform, leather flying helmet, yellow Mae West and flying boots — a pilot waiting for the scramble. Set him in a Battle of Britain airfield diorama with his best-known comrade, ace Douglas Bader, under his commander Lord Dowding and the man who named "The Few," Winston Churchill.

W. Britain model 10110. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted base. Boxed.