Never In The Field Of Human

Churchill spoke these words to the House of Commons on 20 August 1940, while the Battle of Britain — the pivotal air battle for air superiority over England — was still undecided. The phrase had begun forming four days earlier: after watching operations from the RAF Uxbridge bunker on 16 August, with every squadron in No. 11 Group engaged simultaneously, Churchill told his chief of staff General Ismay, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." Ismay's suggestion to change "history of mankind" to "field of human conflict" avoided a theological comparison with Christ and his disciples. The roughly 3,000 aircrew who fought in the Battle of Britain have been known as "the Few" ever since.