Death of a real hero

The battling spirit of Spitfire ace Iain Hutchinson, who survived combat and a German prison camp, has finally succumbed at the age of 88.

Mr Hutchinson was shot down five times and destroyed a string of enemy planes.

It was the actions of pilots such as him during the Battle of Britain that inspired Winston Churchill to proclaim: "Never in the field of human conflict had so much been owed by so many to so few."

Last night a writer on the battle compared the airmen's wartime celebrity to that of modern figures such as David Beckham - but said the pilots were "real heroes".

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There are now only around 70 Battle of Britain pilots left. Most flew the Hurricane but Mr Hutchinson was one of the minority to be given the dashing Spitfire.

The softly-spoken Glasgow-born flier joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1938 and was later assigned to 222 Squadron.

In July 1940, as the Battle of Britain began, his squadron moved to Hornchurch in Essex - at the heart if the fighting. On its first outing, half the squadron was lost.

Hitler's army had reached the Channel but required air supremacy before an invasion could take place.

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The battle over southern England lasted from July 10 to October 31 and by the end of it just 3,000 RAF pilots had broken the will of the Luftwaffe.

As a Sergeant Pilot, Mr Hutchinson was first downed over South-West London on September 18.

He later wrote: "Flames were coming out of the plane and I was being frizzled. The next thing I knew, I was floating free in the air. I couldn't see very well because my face had been burned.

"I pulled my ripcord - my parachute was there - but it was rather late and I hit the ground with a thud."

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After the battle he was a squadron leader, flying reconnaissance missions over Norway when was shot down and became a prisoner of war.

After 1945, he served another spell in the RAF before working for the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Later he and his wife Margaret, who died in 1994, moved to Dorset.

He died at hospital in Dorchester near his home and will be buried on Tuesday.

His official tally was three Messerschmitt 109 fighters confirmed, a Heinkel 111 bomber and a Messerschmitt 110 fighter-bomber probably destroyed, and a 109 damaged.

Last night Dilip Sarkar, who knew him and has written a book called Spitfire Voices, Heroes Remember, said: "During the war these fliers were the David Beckhams of their day - but they were real heroes, not like these footballers.

"They were used for propaganda and people would eagerly look at newspapers to see how many enemy craft our pilots had downed."