Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, From the Red Baron to the F-16 (21 page)

Captured German planes are paraded as trophies through the streets of London.

(Library of Congress)

Crowds gather for Boelcke’s funeral. Upon learning of his death, the Royal Flying Corps dropped a wreath near his aerodrome that read, “To the memory of Captain Boelcke, a brave and chivalrous foe.”

Albert Ball’s temporary grave marker, erected by respectful Germans.

The monumental tombstone of France’s Roland Garros.

(www.delcampe.net)

Baron von Richthofen’s funeral, attended to by the Australian Flying Corps.

December 1940: St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, enveloped in smoke from the Luftwaffe’s Blitz.

London newspaper coverage of the Battle of Britain.

(The Daily Mail)

RAF pilots sprint to their planes during the Blitz.

Spitfires in formation.

British ace Robert Sandford Tuck and twenty-three swastikas. He would add four more official kills before being shot down over occupied France and taken prisoner.

Hugh Dowding, the head of RAF Fighter Command who is widely credited with the successful defense of England in the Battle of Britain.

Nazi Stukas fly in formation, May 1940.

The fearsome Messerschmitt Bf 109.