Family honour: Pilot heroes from two World Wars

Friday July 10 marks 75 years since the Battle of Britain, the decisive air battle of 1940 which kept this country and Europe free.

For more than three months the RAF fought in the skies above Southern England against Luftwaffe fighters attempting to establish air superiority over Britain and pave the way for a Nazi invasion.

Victory came thanks to 3,000 or so young pilots and air crew who became immortalised as The Few. In all 544 lost their lives, including Flight Lieutenant Willie Rhodes-Moorhouse from Dorset.

Willie was killed when his Hurricane crash-landed near Tunbridge Wells in Kent in September 1940, just days after he received the Distinguished Flying Cross.

His death had great poignancy because his father - also William - was also killed as a pilot in combat, and was also honoured for his bravery.

In fact William Rhodes-Moorhouse, who died during the Great War in 1915, was the first aviator to receive the Victoria Cross, the highest military honour for gallantry.

ITV Meridian reporter Derek Johnson has traced the story of the father and son whose stories reflect the tragedy many families endured in both World Wars.

In this piece he speaks to: William Cavendish, William's great nephew and Douglas Beazer from Beaminster Museum.

We also hear from Lord Ashcroft whose ''passion for bravery'' in his words has lead him to collect Victoria Crosses. He owns William Rhodes-Moorhouse’s VC and it is among his 190-strong collection now on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.