The Navy can lose us the war, but only the Air Force can win it. Therefore our supreme effort must be to gain overwhelming mastery in the Air. In no other way at present visible can we hope to overcome the immense military power of Germany.

Not to have an adequate air force in the present state of the world is to compromise the foundations of national freedom and independence.

The Normandy invasion was based on a deep-seated faith in the power of the Air Force in overwhelming numbers to intervene in the land battle ... making it possible for a small force of land troops to invade a continent.

The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion.

Air power is the most difficult of military force to measure or even express in precise terms.

The great defence against aerial menace is to attack the enemy's aircraft as near as possible to their point of departure.