WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow. An Antiques Roadshow expert was left visibly moved by a breathtaking Battle of Britain collection, leaving the owner to "gulp" at the hefty valuation. In an episode filled with history, the BBC show visited Pitzhanger Manor in London and met a guest who had a fascinating archive.
Smith, thrilled by the encounter, expressed his delight: "You have made my day. You have made my day. "Forty-four years ago, I was at school, a friend of mine, his dad used to write books and I helped to write a book about the Battle of Britain.
"These belonged to one of the few, a Battle of Britain pilot. Who was he? " he asked eagerly. The guest revealed the items were from Richard Edgar Peter Brooker, his uncle.
"He detailed Richard's service in the RAF starting in 1937 and mentioned how he returned to the UK in 1943 to train pilots before commanding a unit on D-Day at Thorney Island." Handling the oxygen mask, Smith was struck by its historical significance: "The Battle of Britain, that's the bit. "To actually hold one of these things which was worn in the battle, which is such a pivotal moment in World War Two.
"Because without these people wearing these horrible cloth things as oxygen masks with their microphone in the front, the Germans would have come and it was these people that stopped it. "The bar, 'Battle of Britain', there are only 2,500 odd of those in the world for the air crew that fought during that battle." The guest re.