'So Few'

Originally published in 1941, this book is author David Masters' historical account of the Royal Air Force's feats and accomplishments during the Second World War: 'I count it a privilege to write with firsthand knowledge of these flying crusaders who are fighting a holy war to preserve Christendom and the lives and liberties of earth-bound mortals. They are the flower of Great Britain and the British Empire, selected in the most scientific manner for the posts of honour which they have covered with so much glory. None but the best will do, and those who achieve their desire of becoming pilots and navigators and gunners and wireless operators in the Royal Air Force are in fact the finest specimens of young manhood who walk the earth, young men whose physical fitness, nervous control, mental alertness and swift muscular reactions make them fit to command and man the giant bombers and handle the darting fighters; they are the knights of the air whose prowess and sacrifice will conjure a new and nobler order out of the ruins created by Hitler and Mussolini. No trouble has been spared to ensure the accuracy of these pages which reflect the glory of the Royal Air Force. It may be taken that they are as authentic as any pages of official history.'