405 IMPERISHABLE WINGS To the earthbound millions, Sunday, 15th September, 1940, was much like any other day of that glorious, lingering, desperate summer. But ... three miles above the earth, the now famous 'Few' of the Royal Air Force were winning battle honours that history already ranks with Trafalgar and Waterloo. Without their grit and determination (for they were not without fear)— without their preparedness—our lives and the lives of the whole free world might now be lived in servi- tude and despair.