EVER since he was a young boy Charles Stavert had dreamed of donning a pair of flying goggles and taking to the skies.

Little did he know at the time that there would be plenty of opportunities to fly in defence of his country during the Second World War.

As soon as he was 17-years-old, the youngest age possible to join to the RAF, he signed his name on the dotted line and was called up for training, just before war broke out.

He was in the middle of his training, at Grantham, when war was declared.

"We were in the anteroom, all gathered to hear the Prime Minister speak and when he said we were going to war we all cheered. It was all very exciting," he remembered. "That's what we had been training for - we thought how exciting it was going to be. We didn't know about the misery it would also bring."

Wing Commander "Red" Stavert was given advance training and converted to flying Hurricanes.

"They were lovely planes. Robust, fast and very exciting. Much better than anything I'd flown before," he said.

Then on May 10, 1940 he went to France to try and stop the German army advancing.

"That was impossible, they were overwhelming. None of us thought the Germans were invincible but we knew they'd be jolly good, and they were. We couldn't overcome them and we were pushed back and back and back," he said.

"The last brush we had with them in France was when the Lancastrian was blown up. It was a horrible sight. People were in the water covered in oil because one of the bombs dropped right down one of the funnels. We traced the planes and fired at them but they disappeared into the clouds and got away, hopefully with some holes in them."

Their return to England was followed by 16 weeks of mortal combat between Goering's Luftwaffe and Dowding's Fighter Command, later to be known as The Battle of Britain.

"It was a hectic time. I remember it was a gorgeous summer, it really was scorching but we were very tired all the time.

He was sent down to RAF Filton, at Bristol, because the airfield had been bombed quite heavily.

"The Germans were creatures of habit so we were waiting for them and we were fairly successful that day. I'll always remember the workers there showering us with sweets and gifts to thank us," said Wing Cmmdr Stavert.

But he said he never felt like a hero and they didn't realise what a victory they had won until they heard Winston Churchill's speech: "The gratitude of every home in our Empire, and indeed throughout the World, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of world war by their prowess and devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Now aged 79 and living in Colwall, Wing Cmmdr Stavert said that to them it was just a job that they had to do.

"It was frightening," he said and then, laughing, added: "No it wasn't too bad. We were young and it was hectic".