284 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
We know that in the Battle of Britain quality in men and machines 
overcame weight of numbers and although always greatly outnum- 
bered, the R. A. F. by efficiency and courage were able to rout the 
Luftwaffe. To maintain that efficiency in the air and at high altitudes 
is no mean problem. That it is done is the result of scientific research 
during the last 70 years into life at great altitudes and the successful 
application of what has been discovered to the particular problems of 
the pilot. I should like this lecture to be considered a tribute to all 
those scientists from Paul Bert onward and to many officers of the 
R. A. F. who have contributed so much to the solution of high-altitude 
flying and in particular to those medical officers who have lost their 
lives in this war in flying experiments. 
