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THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
Number nine on my list of top ten World War Two films is one that captured the essential spirit of those dark days when Britain alone stood up against the total domination by Nazi Germany of Western Europe. The story-line is a very simple one, revolving around the lives, and deaths, of a group of Royal Air Force fighter pilots who soared into the air several times a day in the summer months of 1940 to do battle with the German Luftwaffe. Each flight up was fraught with risks, dangers and the imminent loss of life. Britain's survival - Europes's survival - depended on that very last line of defence. As a tribute to the courage of those brave young men, Prime Minister Churchill coined the memorably poignant line - "Never in the course of human history has so so much been owed by so many to so few."
The style of the movie is typically 1960s (it was made in 1969), but the original scenes of Spitfires and Messerschmitts engaged in dog-fights to the death high above the clouds are well worth the viewing.
The opening sequence of the movie, with its upbeat martial music, has become one of the more memorable film introductions ever.
The Battle of Britain occurred because of Adolf Hitler's ominous plan to invade and conquer Britain in 1940. Doing so would have
made him master of all Western Europe.
Explore and learn about Hitler's foiled Operation Sea Lion, and how the evil dictator's dark ambition was thwarted by the courage of young men.
Listen to RAF fighter pilots tell their story of the Battle of Britain.
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