Pat Hughes is today perhaps the greatest unsung hero of the Battle of Britain. Ranked sixth in the -ace of aces- of the aerial campaign of summer 1940, he shot down at least fourteen enemy aircraft, mostly the Spitfire-s closely matched rival the Messerschmitt Me 109.As a flight commander in 234 Squadron he advocated bold, close-in tactics and during July 1940 scored the squadron-s first victories of the epic battle for air supremacy. The burden of command fell on his shoulders before the squadron transferred to the heart of the Battle in the south-east of England, where he endured the heaviest and most sustained period of fighting of the Battle of Britain.Revered by his fellow pilots, Hughes began a shooting spree on 15 August that only ended when he was killed during the first huge daylight attack on London on 7 September. In his last three days alone he contributed at least six kills. His death in mysterious circumstances left Kathleen, his bride of just six weeks, a war widow. This
