The Few (or RAF Pilots) is a song from the Horrible Histories TV Series. It aired in Series 4, Episode 1 on April 9, 2012, & later in the Savage Songs Special.
the song is a parody of relight my fire by take that
As the song suggests, it stars the airmen of the Royal Air Force, who sing about their days in World War II.
Lyrics[]
Binky: We fighter pilots fought the German chaps
In World War Two
Stinky: In hurricanes & spitfires
Performed feats of daring do
Squiffy: The finest British pilots
That the world could hope to have
Binky: Binky!
Stinky: Stinky!
Squiffy: Squiffy!
František: František!
Stanislav: And Stanislav!
Stinky: Hold fire! Is that some foreign chaps
Risking their necks?
František: That’s right, some of the bravest men
Were Polish & Czech
All: We like to fire
Beating Jerry our one desire
Stinky: Yeah yeah
All: All we do each night is pray
We’ll live to fight another day
Squiffy: Take that, Hitler.
Binky: My name is Douglas Bader
Let me tell of my ordeal
Lost both legs in an accident
These ones are not real
Rest: (They’re not real)
Binky: I left the air force after that
Flying was a hobby
But when war broke in ’39
Came back
Rest: (Just like Robbie)
Binky: Shot down twenty-two of them
Led the air attack
‘Till finally the Luftwaffe
Hit me back
Oh no, pretty baby
All: His plane on fire
Binky: Stuck in Colditz, such a shame to retire
Stinky: Yeah yeah
All: Never forget this great man’s story
And his role in Britain’s glory
František: We flew in tough conditions
Lucky to survive five missions
Stinky: Not that I’m complaining
But I’ve had just ten hours training
Squiffy: Epic dogfights in the sky
Outnumbered that’s why
Stinky: We’re now known by you
As The Few
All: Oooh, ahhh
Stanislav: (Phew, he missed me!)
Stinky: The Battle of Britain
Was our pilots’ finest hour
Although it seemed at first
The Germans were the stronger power
Rest: (Oh so strong)
Stinky: We mustered all our courage
In summer 1940
Scrambled air force squadrons to fly
Sortie after sortie
Stinky: Saw Nazi invasion off
Just as airmen should
Our bravery meant Hitler
Wouldn’t be back for good
No no
All: We beat the Führer
Without us frequent flyers, your lives would be poorer
Stinky: Yeah yeah
All: Britain securer
Our story of heroics will forever endure
Stinky: Woah yeah
All: So I think you’ll find it’s true...
“Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed, by so many, to so
few” – Winston Churchill
Cast[]
- Jim Howick as Douglas "Binky" Bader
- Mathew Baynton as Stinky
- Laurence Rickard as Squiffy
- Ben Willbond as František
- Simon Farnaby as Stanislav
- TBA as RAF Pilot #1
- TBA as RAF Pilot #2
- Martha Howe-Douglas as Female Officer
- TBA as Female Officer
Trivia[]
- An instrumental variant of the song can be heard in Horrible Histories' spin-off show Horrible Histories: Gory Games in the beginning of Series 4 Episode 10
Notes[]
František may be in reference to Josef František, a Czechoslovak fighter ace in the Battle of Britain and the highest scoring non-british fighter ace in the Battle of Britain. Similarly, Stanislav may be in reference to Stanisłav Skalski a Polish Battle of Britain pilot and the first allied ace in World War I.
External Links[]
- The Few at Horrible Histories TV