Top historian and author Dilip Sarkar MBE has accepted the position of Honorary Vice-President of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust to mark his outstanding achievement in creating an official history of the Battle that changed the course of the Second World War.

Dilip’s eight-volume history of the 1940 aerial battle is being published by Pen & Sword in association with the Trust. Volumes one to four are already in print and have been well received by Battle of Britain students and enthusiasts.

The work consists of around one million words and marks the climax of a career that has seen the author devote many years of his life to researching the 1940 aerial conflict between the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe.

A meeting of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, which considers the work to be the ‘official’ history of the Battle, voted unanimously to invite Dilip, a Fellow of both the Royal Historical and Aeronautical Societies, to become an Honorary Vice-President in recognition of the ‘monumental’ work.

The Trust said the position would “show the gratitude of the Trust and allow you a more formal association with the Memorial”.

Dilip, the first person to have been honoured by the Trust in this way, commented: “Having spent a lifetime dedicated to commemorating The Few, many of whom I knew personally as friends, it has been the pinnacle of my career as an historian to see all that brought together in the eight volume, one million word, official history completed for the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust.

“The Trust’s work in maintaining the National Memorial to the Few and the other aspects of the clifftop Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne in Kent is vital, and the invitation to become an Honorary Vice-President in recognition of my work was a complete surprise and an enormous honour. I look forward to continuing to support the Trust however I can.”

The eight-part history takes a detailed look at the lead up to the Battle and covers global events, the political situation and other aspects of the background to the fighting itself, as well as the contributions made by Bomber and Coastal Commands and the Royal Navy.

Charles Hewitt, managing director at Pen & Sword, said: “Dilip has passionately pursued the recording of Second World War history, and the Battle of Britain in particular, for a number of decades, during which he has traced survivors, recording their memories, and contacted the families of casualties to reconstruct the all-too brief lives of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“He has dedicated himself to publishing, exhibiting and raising awareness of the human experience of war, all the while undertaking the important task of preserving the record for future generations.

“His eight-volume history, which we have had the privilege of publishing in association with the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, is the result of his incredible journey; a journey which has been acknowledged through the position of Honorary Vice-President of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust.”

Volumes one to four of the eight-part work are available from the Trust’s online shop at www.battleofbritainmemorial.org/books

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