“A Filigree of Spitfires”

I was determined to locate the phrase’s origin, and I did find it in a lengthy 1996 essay in American Heritage by Keegan on his relationship with, and perspective upon America, as a Briton.

The quote:

“Britain’s glory time, between Dunkirk and Pearl Harbor, when Hitler’s army stood on the French coast and only a filigree of Spitfires hung between my unthinking self and invasion.”

It’s a fine essay.