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Youngest Battle of Britain spitfire pilot Geoffrey Wellum dies

As one of "the few" Geoffrey Wellum helped see off the threat from the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1940.

Geoffrey Wellum (R) with Flight Lieutenant Brian Kingcome (L) in 1941
Image: Geoffrey Wellum (R) with Flight Lieutenant Brian Kingcome (L) in 1941
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The youngest spitfire pilot to see active service during the Battle of Britain has died.

Geoffrey Wellum was just 18 when in the summer of 1940 he was sent out to confront the might of Hitler's Luftwaffe in the skies above southern England.

Squadron Leader Wellum died at his home in Cornwall on Wednesday evening. He was 96.

As one of "the few" he took part in dogfights above London and the Home Counties.

The bravery of the RAF's fighter pilots inspired Winston Churchill's words: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Geoffrey Wellum (back row right) at Biggin Hill in September 1941
Image: Geoffrey Wellum (back row right) at Biggin Hill in September 1941

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After the Battle of Britain Geoffrey Wellum saw action throughout the war, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross and leading a squadron of aircraft carrier-based spitfires in the relief of Malta.

Many years later he described his war experiences: "Somebody said: 'Here's a Spitfire - fly it, and if you break it there will be bloody hell to pay'.

"I ended with 146 hours of flying time. Looking at my life now, I had peaked at about 21 or 22.

"It was just lovely blokes, all together in Fighter Squadron."

Prince Charles with Geoffrey Wellum at the Battle of Britain 77th anniversary dinner
Image: Prince Charles with Geoffrey Wellum at the Battle of Britain 77th anniversary dinner

Mr Wellum stayed on in the RAF until 1960 and went on to write a best-seller about his experiences in the war - his 2002 memoir First Light.