The ever present fear he and his comrades faced wasn't a merciful and sudden death but the agony of being badly burned by the contents of an erupted high octane fuel tank that sat virtually in their laps. Maurice suffered that fate yet survived thanks to then radical surgery epitomised by the Burns Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital East Grinstead led by Sir Archibald McIndoe.
Never was so much owed indeed. Given the divisions at the very top of the British Establishment as whether to resist or to parley with Hitler, the BoB was key to our staying in the war and hence launching the Allied invasion of Nazi Europa in 1944. You don't get more strategic than that!
RIP Sir, fair winds and blue skies.
Last edited by Chugalug2; 11th Dec 2019 at 11:02.
Reason: Spillin