and it was 303.
Which was the most famous squadron of the war,
no question about it.
But when did it get its fame?
Its fame came from the Battle of Britain.
Where the Polish pilots apparently had amazing success.
And they became a household name, the Poles.
But it was only during that period.
Afterwards, I don't know what happened.
303 Squadron was no longer the same
after the Battle of Britain.
They messed about with it.
By the time I got into it,
it was virtually unrecognizable.
They were flying Hurricanes.
Later there was given Spitfires.
And even later than that they had American Mustangs.
It became a bit of a goulash.
So I didn't and I can't say
I joined it at the best of times.
We had a whole mixture of commanders.
I got on okay with everybody.
They also always called me,
I was called Goldie for some reason or other.
I was the best, by far the best table tennis player there
Played a lot of table tennis.
Anyway, everything was fine, I was in the air force.
It took a hell of a road, but I was there.
I was barely 18, barely 18.