A FRONT COVER PILOT’S PORTRAIT

Of all the RAF fighter pilots photographed for the national press in 1940, one portrait stands out as iconic and representative of the ‘Few’. Mark Hillier tells the story of the pilot involved; a young man who was dead by the time his image appeared on the nation’s news-stands.

In times of war, images of stoutness, defiance and hope are an important part of helping maintain public morale. Founded in 1938, the photojournalistic magazine Picture Post, which was often referred to as the UK’s equivalent of Life Magazine, was at the forefront of this art.

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