Avre Friday briefing #6
First Light: Remembering a Few of "The Few"
This week, we've been reading James' excellent recent Substack article: First Light: Rembering a few of The Few.
Geoff ‘Boy’ Wellum with Brian Kingcomb, left, 1940
Sometimes a single moment changes everything. For James, it was a cricket match interrupted by a Spitfire cutting across the sky - a moment that would eventually lead him deep into the world of RAF history.
In his latest piece, James shares how he met Geoffrey Wellum, one of the legendary "Few" who defended Britain during the Battle of Britain. Wellum's memoir, "First Light," had lain quietly forgotten in a drawer for over 25 years before James unearthed this remarkable first-hand account of aerial combat.
Wellum was 19 during the Battle of Britain. He and his colleagues weren't polished war heroes, but young men - some barely out of their teens - facing overwhelming odds with an incredible mix of courage and pure survival instinct. Wellum would recall stories about going from cat-napping between scrambles to experiencing the sheer terror of the dogfight in the blink of an eye.
Connection to history
At Avre, we're drawn to these human stories. When you wear our jackets you carry a connection to this extraordinary moment in history - a testament to the resilience of those who came before us.
Batch #1 Release Date
As you probably know by now, we've been working hard on scheduling and planning the general release of Batch #1, the M1941 Arctic. After pre-orders are accounted for, we estimate we'll have around 450 of the 531 left to sell. We'll be announcing the release date to our mailing list very soon, so stay tuned!
Pre-Orders - Size and balance
If you've purchased one of the first 50 jackets and you haven't yet let us know your size, you have until the end of this Sunday, 30th March. Don't worry if you miss this, we'll move your slot into the main release, it'll just mean you have to wait a little bit longer to receive your jacket.
More from our photoshoot
And finally, as is becoming customary, here are a few more shots from our recent shoot in Dorset / Wiltshire.
