BoB Spitfire Pilot Brian Lane DFC - Memorial Plaque Unveiling, London

PeterPanPan · #1 08-16-2011, 11:02 AM

A memorial plaque in honour of Squadron Leader Brian Lane DFC RAF will be unveiled on his former London home on Sunday 25 September 2011.

The event will be marked by a Spitfire and Hurricane flypast from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at 2:30pm.

Brian Lane flew with RAF 19 Sqn and achieved 7 kills during his career, having seen action over Dunkirk and in the Battle of Britain. On 13 December 1942, he was last seen giving chase to two FW 190s. He never returned from this mission and was listed as “Missing in Action”. Brian Lane has no known grave having most likely been shot down over the North Sea.

Lane wrote and published Spitfire!, one of only a few contemporaneous autobiographical accounts of the life of a Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot. The book has been republished and is well worth a read.

If anyone wants to come to the unveiling, please PM me for more info.

PPP

Brian Lane is pictured above, in the middle, immediately after a Battle of Britain sortie in September
1940. The strain and exhaustion on his face belie his young age and make this one of the best known and
most powerful images to come out of the Battle of Britain.

ATAG_Snapper · #2 08-16-2011, 12:43 PM

Truly a hero. Just placed an order for his book on Amazon.ca

ATAG_Dutch · #3 08-16-2011, 12:52 PM

Thanks for the info Peter.

I have that picture on my wall as a reminder of what those blokes had to go through, also this shot of his Spit I made using FSX.

Sorry it's a bit fuzzy, I had to use a daft method to convert the bitmap to jpeg.

PeterPanPan · #4 08-16-2011, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch_851

Thanks for the info Peter.

I have that picture on my wall as a reminder of what those blokes had to go through, also this shot of his Spit I made using FSX.

Sorry it's a bit fuzzy, I had to use a daft method to convert the bitmap to jpeg.

That's a really great pic, not at all fuzzy - thanks for sharing.

PPP

Anvilfolk · #5 08-18-2011, 12:38 PM

Would love to attend, but I'm not in the UK...

I'll try to grab his book at some point.

lane · #6 08-18-2011, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterPanPan

A memorial plaque in honour of Squadron Leader Brian Lane DFC RAF will be unveiled on his former London home on Sunday 25 September 2011.

PPP

Outstanding! Thanks for the heads up ppp. Brian Lane is a long time hero of mine... obviously

TomcatViP · #7 08-18-2011, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lane

Outstanding! Thanks for the heads up ppp. Brain Lane is a long time hero of mine... obviously

Huu???!!!!

Is tht possible ?

Zorin · #8 08-19-2011, 03:23 AM

Please, don't get me wrong, but what exactly did he do to set him apart from all the other RAF pilots? Or do all RAF pilots get a plaque?

PeterPanPan · #9 08-19-2011, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorin

Please, don't get me wrong, but what exactly did he do to set him apart from all the other RAF pilots? Or do all RAF pilots get a plaque?

First off, this plaque is not something set-up or arranged by any authority or body. No public institution has had anything to do with this whatsoever. In fact, English Heritage turned down my application for an 'official' blue plaque because Brian's connection with London was, in their opinion, only slight. Go figure ... he grew up in London from the age of 7, he went to school in London, worked in London before the war and fought in the skies over London. No, this plaque has been entirely conceived by me. I live in Pinner which is where Brian lived. I discovered this when reading Spitfire!. I felt I wanted to do something to honour his memory. Brian is not unique in his bravery, skill and leadership, but he lived in my local area and I am inspired by him and wanted to do something permanent in his memory. He is unique though in that the photo of him is iconic and unique. He is also different from most other RAF pilots in that he wrote a contemporaneous account of life as a front line Spitfire pilot. He gave us a vivid first hand insight into this important part of our history, written while he was doing it. There is nothing stopping anyone else doing what I am doing, but the fact that the majority of RAF pilots do not have a plaque doesn't mean Brian Lane doesn't deserve one.

PPP