Joining the 'Guinea Pig' club

3rd September 1940: Richard Hillary - later to become an acclaimed author for his account of flying Spitfires - is badly burnt when shot down

Three Spitfire Mk Is (including R6712, YT-N, and R6714, YT-M) of No. 65 Squadron, taking off from Hornchurch, August 1940. The censor has crossed out the background in an attempt to make the location unidentifiable.

The attacks on RAF airfields were now at their most intense, with the Luftwaffe re-doubling their efforts to destroy RAF Fighter Command on …