Battle of Britain: WW2 pilot remembered by son 80 years on

Michael Doulton remains a key figure in son Paul's life

A man born after his father died in the Battle of Britain has told how a letter written by his grieving mother enabled him to appreciate his father's heroism.

Eighty years ago, RAF pilots took to the skies over the course of months in an effort to fight off a Nazi invasion in the Battle of Britain.

Those men - dubbed "the few" by Winston Churchill - protected the south east of England from the Luftwaffe onslaught. Although the battle lasted from July to October 1940, 15 September has become known as Battle of Britain Day as it was the date when RAF Fighter Command claimed a turning point in Britain's favour.

Among those pilots was Flying Officer Michael Doulton, who was shot down and killed over the Thames Estuary during a dogfight in August 1940.

But a letter written by his grieving wife Carol to her father would allow his unborn son to read about his acts of heroism.

Flying Officer Doulton, who was 31 at the time of his final flight, took off in his Hurricane never to return and it was 44 years before the wreckage and his body were found during an excavation.

His son Paul was born in April 1941 and thanks to his mother's letter, which he still has in his possession, he was able to read about the 18 months his parents spent together.

Michael Doulton took to the skies in a Hurricane similar to this one in 1940 never to be seen alive again

Mr Doulton, now 79, said: "My mother told me a great deal about my father, it was all very warm hearted, because that was the nature of my mother. They were desperately in love which is lovely to hear.

"I still read it over and over again. I find it so moving, rejoicing in a way in the marriage my mother had with my father.

"She was a realist and she was prepared for the fact it might not be if but when he was killed."

The couple had met while skiing in Switzerland and married in March 1939.

By the summer of 1940 Officer Doulton was flying full time from Tangmere in West Sussex.

His squadron, 601, based at RAF Tangmere in West Sussex, was nicknamed the millionaires' squadron. They had a reputation for the high life but were also formidable fighters.

The wreckage of Michael's Hurricane fighter was found in 1984

On 31 August 1940, Mrs Doulton's world fell apart with news her husband had gone missing during a mission.

In her letter, dated 2 September, she described the moment a squadron member visited the cottage they shared in Fontwell, West Sussex, and she immediately knew something was wrong.

While the letter has been shared among historians interested in the 601 squadron, it is the first time it has been publicised further afield.

Mrs Doulton wrote: "Although I shall wait another 24 hours before telling his family and leaving here, I am sure that he is dead.

"I pray that he came down into the sea and that he will just vanish. I have no desire for the horror of bodies and funerals to come between me and my last happy memories of Michael young and strong and confident.

"Don't waste grief on me. Remember that I have a child to look forward to and that I've had eighteen months of wonderful happiness. And I am too proud of Michael to be unhappy in a petty way."

Michael and Carol Doulton met while skiing in Switzerland

Mrs Doulton moved to the US after her husband's death and their son was born there but they returned to the UK, settling back in Sussex and she remarried in 1949.

She was forced to relive her grief when her first husband's remains and the wreckage of his Hurricane were discovered at Rainham Marshes in Essex in 1984.

Carol brought up the couple's son Paul in the US and later Sussex

Remembering his mother's grief, Mr Doulton said: "It was the first time she was so upset. It was something she was totally unprepared for.

"I needed to go not just to help my mother bury my father but to help my mother through the crisis.

"My father was a big presence in my life, he is always in the front of my mind.

"His memory lives on in such a warm sort of way."

Michael Doulton is buried in the Sussex village of Salehurst and his wife Carol lies close to him, following her death in 2006.