
The Battle of Britain: From the BBC Archives
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Narrated by:
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Tim Pigott-Smith
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By:
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Mark Jones
About this listen
First-hand accounts featuring the RAF pilots who took part in the Battle of Britain - one of the chief turning points of World War II.
‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’ - Winston Churchill. The ‘Few’ were the nearly 3,000 RAF pilots who fought against the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, which raged in the skies over southern England and the English Channel in the summer of 1940.
With a new prime minister, Winston Churchill, Britain fought alone in Europe - and under the threat of invasion from Hitler’s Germany. Douglas Bader, Flight Lt Richard Hillary, ‘Ginger’ Lacey, and Flight Lt. Brian Kingcombe describe the strains they had to face as pilots: ‘I didn’t have butterflies in my stomach - I had vultures’ and the ‘long, boring hours interspersed with moments of tremendous exhilaration’.
Their determination, bravery, and skill are evident as, outnumbered, they fought doggedly in their superior Hurricanes and Spitfires.
With news bulletins, reportage, personal accounts from the ground crews, and excerpts from Churchill’s famous speeches, this recording undeniably shows why, for the victorious RAF pilots, ‘This was their finest hour’.
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Excellent!
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You can hear the bullets fly
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A unique history work
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excellent, all first-person account
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Two Polish fighter squadrons No. 302 and No. 303 fought in the Battle. The highest scoring allied pilot of the Battle was Josef František a Czech pilot flying with No. 303 fighter squadron. No. 303 (Kościuszko) squadron was the highest scoring squadron of the Battle of Britain with 126 kills. No. 302 shot down 26 Luftwaffe aircraft during the Battle.
Non-British personnel in the RAF during the Battle of Britain:
Poland 145
New Zealand 135
Canada 112
Czechoslovakia 88
Belgium 30
Australia 32
South Africa 25
France 14
Ireland 10
United States 11
Southern Rhodesia 4
Jamaica 1
Barbados 1
Newfoundland 1
Northern Rhodesia 1
What about Non-British Allied fighter squadrons?
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