Great intro to what promises to be a great story, Geriaviator. What is it about that generation? Were they force fed humble pie? How can anyone fated to fly a Fairey Battle consider his flying career a failure (because he was shot down on his second sortie)? The only failure was to have such an obsolete aircraft in front line service, which it rapidly left either by courtesy of the Luftwaffe or by pennies finally dropping in the Air Ministry.
I'm sure they would have realised they were vastly outclassed from the start yet still pressed on with their attacks. One can only imagine the cold courage that called for and respect it fervently. The pace was frenetic in 1939, phoney war or no, and he had completed his Service training, his flying training, and is operational for the Battle of France in the following year. That it all ended in a POW camp must have been a bitter pill for him, though a sweet one for his loved ones.
I can't help wondering if a third of a million men would have escaped the Dunkirk mayhem to fight again if those suicidal Battle missions against the bridges on the Albert Canal and the Meuse had not been flown. They didn't delay the Wehrmacht much, but they did affect the momentum of the German advance at least. We tend now to view it as a glorious but ineffective campaign. Perhaps one day it will be given some credit at least for the Dunkirk "miracle".