The Few

Seventy years ago, a small group of brave airmen stood up to the might of the Third Reich, defending their homeland in what became know as the Battle of Britain. On this Labor Day weekend, the American Airpower Museum honored "The Few" with a special ceremony, and some rare visitors.

After some juggling of the schedule thanks to the near-miss of Hurricane Earl, the Canadian Warplane Museum's Lancaster bomber arrived Saturday morning. This is one of only two Lancasters flying today, and the only one in North America.


We also saw a visit from Tom Duffy, with his beautiful Spitfire fighter.


Ken Rose, 83, now living on Long Island, talks about his experiences as a youth during the Battle of Britain with Acting Consul-General and Deputy Head of Mission, Dominic Meiklejohn, OBE.


Gusty crosswinds hampered the flying schedule, but finally on Monday calmer winds prevailed, and these historic aircraft were able to take to the skies.







One of the more poignant moments of the weekend. Tom Duffy is talking with the sister of Robert Minnick. Minnick was a Long Island native, who joined the RCAF in 1940, and was trained as a pilot. In August 1941, Minnick was killed in Scotland while training to fly the Spitfire. He was the first Long Island resident to be lost in WWII. Among his effects, his pilot's log was returned to his sister, however she never really knew what all the entries meant. When she heard there was going to be a Spitfire at the museum, she and her son came down to see it and the pilot. Tom spent some time explaining the entries, telling her about the types of aircraft and missions her brother flew during training. She was absolutely thrilled to see the aircraft, talk to Tom, and learn more about her brother, nearly 70 years after his death





Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. - Winston Churchill