Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was a popular Royal in the Armed
Forces. As Honorary Colonel-in-Chief of several Army Regiments, Honorary Air
Commodore for some RAF Stations, and holding several Honourary positions in the
Royal Navy, her admiration for the Armed Forces was a source of pride for us.
I remember reading the following story about a royal misunderstanding.
HM was reviewing a line-up of some young RAF pilots awarded the Distingushed
Flying Cross (DFC) during the War. She asked one what he had done to earn his medal.
"Well, Ma'am," he replied, "I was patrolling the Channel with
my Squadron when we sighted a flight of Fokkers ahead of us. One of the Fokkers
took out our point man. I climbed above him, dived, and shot the pilot through
the canopy. Another Fokker was on my tail, so I looped round and shot him down,
and caught another Fokker's tail as I recovered from the loop."
HM nodded admiringly, and asked, "And what were they? Messerschmitts?"
RIP