Max Bygraves featured in RAF Hornchurch Battle of Britain exhibition

Both marked the battle in the air in 1940 by the RAF against the Luftwaffe that halted Hitler’s plans to invade Britain.

One was staged at the RAF Hornchurch Heritage Centre by Anthony Bygraves, the son of the late singer-comic Max Bygraves who was stationed at RAF Hornchurch in 1940.

The other was at the nearby Ingrebourne Country Park and put on by Rainham local historian Richard Smith. 

Vintage singer Lorraine Cater gave sparkle to the wartime spirit at the heritage centre with songs of the era originally sung by ‘Forces Sweetheart’ Vera Lynn such as We’ll Meet Again.

The Hornchurch aerodrome was in the firing line when Britain faced Hitler’s Luftwaffe alone after the fall of France.

Singer Lorraine Cater relives Britain's wartime songs (Image: John Hercock)

Max Bygraves, the son of a docker and boxer in Rotherhithe, sang as a teenager at a pub in Dagenham for 10 shillings a night.

He was living in in a council house in Romford when war broke out in 1939 and volunteered for the RAF as a fitter working on Spitfires.

Max met his future wife Gladys at the aerodrome where she was part of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and they married in Romford in 1942.

He auditioned for the BBC after the war that launched his lifelong showbiz career which included TV and 20 Royal Variety performances.

Mayor of Havering Gerry O’Sullivan (far left) at the exhibition with Normandy veteran Joe Mines, singer Lorraine Cater, Max Bygraves' son Anthony (Hornchurch Aerodrome Historical Trust president), and trust curator Tony Philpot (Image: John Hercock)

His catchphrase was “I wanna tell you a story” which was the theme of the exhibition to tell his own wartime story. Bygraves died in 2012 aged 89.

Stories told at the other exhibition at Ingrebourne Country Park included RAF hero fighter pilot Jack Stokoe who was shot down in his burning Spitfire. He survived the war and told his story to Richard Smith.

Stokoe had to bail out with a badly-burned face and hands at the height of the air battle — but not before shooting down five enemy Messerschmitts.

Fighter pilot Jack Stokoe was shot down twice in the Battle of Britain (Image: Richard Smith Collection)

Jack told Richard: “I had to put my bare hands into the flames to reach the control column to flip the plane on its side so I could just drop out.

“I could see sheets of skin just peeling off my hand like tissue paper. The side of my face and hair were also burnt.”

He spent six weeks in hospital, eventually re-joining the fight and being credited with destroying another eight enemy aircraft.

Jack was later shot down again, over the Channel this time, but survived.

He ended the war as a Squadron Leader and continued flying in the RAF Reserves until 1952, later as a trading standards officer until he retired in 1983. Jack died in 1999 age 79.

Other Battle of Britain stories included ace pilots like Edward ‘Hawkeye’ Wells, a New Zealander who survived the war and has a street in Hornchurch named after him.

Battle of Britain enthusiast Peter van den Assen was fundraising at the Ingrebourne centre with a stand for the Royal British Legion’s Elm Park branch, while members of the Elm Park Air Training Cadet 1838 Squadron were on parade to drum up recruits.