CIn Westminster Abbey is a beautiful stained glass window which is dedicated to the pilots of Fighter Command who paid the supreme sacrifice during the dark days of 1940 in World War II. That window is situated in the Royal Air Force Chapel, which is part of the Henry VII Chapel, and was the inspiration for the Battle of Britain Tapestry.
The window is called the Battle of Britain Window and is designed by Hugh Easton. It comprises of forty-eight panels or panes made up in four rows.
The top row consists of seraphim's which have their wings alternately coloured blue or wine. Four pilots are seen kneeling before Christ, The Virgin Mary, and the Pieta, in the quarters of the second and third rows. The Royal Banner and Badge of the Royal Air Force are grouped on the second row together with the flags of other countries, whose pilots flew alongside ours in the Battle. The remaining panes show the badges of the Squadrons and Units whose airmen were engaged in what is now realised to have been a very vital battle for Great Britain. Memorial to pilots of the Fleet Air Arm is represented by a Royal Navy Pilots Wings immediately below the Royal Banner. The two centre panels of the bottom row of the tapestry bear the quotation from William Shakespeare (Henry V), "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers."
The numbers indicate the positions of Fighter Squadron badges. On panel 14, 421 Flight is superimposed on the badge of 91 Squadron, which the flight later became. Similarly, 422 Flight is superimposed on the badge of 96 Squadron. On panel 23, the initials FIU (Fighter Intruder Unit) are superimposed on the badge of RAF Tangmere.
213 & 145 Squadron Panel from a tapestry inspired by the window