One of the last surviving Battle of Britain RAF pilots dies aged 101

One of the last surviving members of the RAF from the Battle of Britain has died aged 101.

Flight Lieutenant Maurice Mounsdon died on Friday his family said.

This leaves just three living members of "The Few" - the 3,000 airmen who fought the German Luftwaffe in the skies of England in 1940.

“He was a great man and will be missed by his nephews and nieces,” nephew Adrian Mounsdon told the Daily Mirror.

The surviving trio are Flt Lt William Clark, 100, Wing Commander Paul Farnes, 101, and Flying Officer John Hemingway, 100.

(PA )

Mr Mounsdon was part of 56 Squadron, flying Hawker Hurricanes. He was shot down in August 1940 over Colchester. He was picked up by local villagers and spent nine months in hospital.

Mr Mounsdon was honoured on his 100th birthday in September last year with a flyover by the Red Arrows off the coast of the Spanish island of Menorca, where he had lived since the late 1970s since retiring there with his wife Mary, who died in 1993.

The Battle of Britain claimed the lives of 544 RAF pilots and aircrew.

Additional reporting by PA Media