"Something Quite Exceptional" - Hugh Easton and the Battle of Britain Memorial Window for Rolls-Royce' by Adam Goodyear

This is the story of how, after World War Two, Rolls-Royce commissioned a memorial stained glass window to honour the sacrifice of the pilots of the Royal Air Force who had delivered victory in 1940 in the Battle of Britain. The window was designed by Hugh Easton and took the form of a pilot in flying dress standing on the three bladed propeller of an aircraft, his head in a halo of sunlight with the eagle of the Royal Air Force protecting him. In the background we see the factory rooftops where the engines that powered the aircraft that helped the pilots deliver their decisive victory were made. The window bears the inscription: "This window commemorates the pilots of the Royal Air Force who, in the Battle of Britain, turned the work of our hands into the salvation of our country."

By acknowledging "the work of our hands" the Managing Director of Rolls-Royce, Ernest Hives, later Lord Hives, was also quietly paying tribute to the contribution of the workforce to that most decisive of victories.

The book gives a concise biography of Hugh Easton, the window designer and charts the events leading to the unveiling and dedication of the window in Derby on the 11th January 1949. Detailed colour photographs of the stained glass image as well as a complete representation of the souvenir brochure produced after the event are included.

This book was first published in 2010 (85 pages, 57 b/w photographs and detailed colour plates of the window glass) by The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust as part of the Historical Series

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