An innovative short film tells the story of David Crook, a Spitfire pilot based at Warmwell during the Battle of Britain

Just over 80 years ago, in February 1941, the RAF's 609 fighter squadron relocated to Biggin Hill airfield in the London borough of Bromley.

Up until then, it had been based in Middle Wallop and Warmwell, fighting the Battle of Britain.

Flying Spitfires, 609 performed valiantly, becoming, on October 21 1940, the first squadron to record 100 enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed.

The Battle of Britain had distinct phases. First the German air force attacked ports and shipping in the English Channel, then turned its attention to airfields, before finally launching major assaults on cities.

Among 609's nine 'aces' were Flight Lieutenant Frank Howell (eight confirmed kills); Flight Lieutenant John Dundas (nine confirmed kills); Pilot Officer John Curchin (seven confirmed kills); and Pilot Officer David Crook (six confirmed kills).

These men were among several 609 pilots who were subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their actions during the summer and autumn of 1940.

David Crook wrote an account of the Battle which was unusual inasmuch as it was published during wartime.

'Spitfire Pilot' is a well told story, though inevitably there are things its author could not mention for morale reasons - like the deaths of military and civilian personnel during a raid by a single German bomber which unloaded four bombs on a hangar as men tried frantically to close its massive doors.

However, the flight reports of David Crook and his fellow pilots survive, and these fill in the factual gaps left by his book.

Together they have been used in the making of a short film, one of a new series of ten which aims to make the history of World War Two accessible to younger audiences.

Each film imagines how someone would have recorded wartime events if they had had access to 21st century technology like smartphones and social media.

The series is called tWWIItter.

Made by Mark Gorton, a producer based in Liverpool, other films tell the stories of Micheline Bood, an 18 year old who witnessed the liberation of Paris; Albert Richards, a young war artist and D-Day paratrooper who fought and sketched his way through Europe; and Leonard Berney, one of the first British troops to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Mark said: "For young people World War Two is ancient history, so we looked for a way to bring stories into the 21st century.

"We've seen over the last decade or so how phones and twitter have been used to share the most extraordinary events, and the idea came about that we might present people sharing their stories from eight decades ago as if they were among us right now.

"There was a worry at first that the concept might somehow undermine their eyewitness and therefore very real accounts, but in the end the opposite turned out to be true.

"And you don't have to be young to engage with them. The films seem to work for everyone."

You can watch tWWIItter: David Crook's story at the top of this page.

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