Tributes have been paid to the youngest surviving Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot following his death aged 96.
Geoffrey Wellum, who was just 18 when he joined the RAF in August 1939, died at his home in Cornwall on Wednesday, the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust said.
The youngest surviving member of the "Few", the decorated veteran airman was approaching his 97th birthday.
Mr Wellum, one of the youngest Spitfire pilots to fly in the Battle of Britain, was a "fine, decent and caring man", trust president Sir Stephen Dalton said.
"I have such fond memories of him at The Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne in Kent, at Northolt, in the RAF Club and at the City Aviators Lunch each year, where he really enjoyed himself and told such moving stories and jokes."
The former squadron leader served on the front line with 92 Squadron and some of his first combat missions included the "dogfights" above London and the Home Counties for which the Battle of Britain became known.
He went on to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and was promoted to Flight Commander with 65 Squadron and later led eight Spitfires from HMS Furious to relieve Malta.
Speaking in 2013, Mr Wellum told how he was sent out to fly while still in his teens.
"Somebody said: 'Here's a Spitfire - fly it, and if you break it there will be bloody hell to pay'," he said.
"I ended with 146 hours of flying time."
Mr Wellum stayed on in the RAF until 1960 and went on to write a best-seller about his experiences in the war - his 2002 memoir First Light.
The book was later adapted into a film for BBC television.
Australian Associated Press
