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00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,920
In the summer of 1940,
Britain was in terrible danger.

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00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,040
Nazi Germany was planning
to invade our shores.

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00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,360
Only the fighter pilots of the
Royal Air Force could stop them.

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00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,960
70 years ago, in these very skies
above our head,

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00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,920
there was a brutal
and savage war waged,

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the outcome of which
determined our very existence
as a nation on this island.

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This is my brother Colin,
who was a fighter pilot in the RAF

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00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,480
and who served in some
of our modern conflicts.

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00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:41,640
And I know from my experience
there's a huge network of people

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00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:46,680
supporting our pilots, and we wanted
to discover how their contributions
combined to give us victory in 1940.

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And what it was that made the Battle
of Britain Britain's finest hour.

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We've always been fascinated by
the Battle of Britain.

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Now we're going to meet the
real-life heroes who inspired us
when we were kids.

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These are the last of the 3,000
pilots who saved our country.

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00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,760
The men Winston Churchill called
"the few".

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We'll explore the technology
that enabled the RAF to
withstand the Nazi attack.

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We'll find out about the dangers
that fighter pilots faced.

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And Colin will go through the same
training as Battle of Britain airmen.

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If he makes the grade,
he'll fly one of the greatest
fighter planes of all time -

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the Spitfire.

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Amazing machines,
extraordinary characters.

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Woo! Ha, ha, ha!

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Let us share with you one of the most
remarkable stories in our history.

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00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:04,880
June 1940.

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The leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf
Hitler, was on a victory tour.

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Paris was the latest capital
to fall to his invincible armies.

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In less than a year, almost
all of Europe had been overrun.

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Only one small and isolated country
was left in the war.

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Hitler was convinced that Britain
would have to surrender, and soon.

30
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But the Prime Minister, Winston
Churchill, was determined to continue
the fight, whatever the cost.

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He rallied his countrymen with one
of the few weapons he had - words.

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'What General Weygand has called
the Battle of France is over.

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'The Battle of Britain
is about to begin.'

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"Upon this battle depends the
survival of Christian civilisation.

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"Upon it depends our own British life

36
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"and the long continuity of our
institutions and our empire.

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"The whole fury and might of the
enemy must very soon be turned on us.

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"Hitler knows that he will have
to break us in this island
or lose the war.

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"Let us therefore brace ourselves
to our duties and so bear ourselves

40
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"that if the British Empire and
the British Commonwealth

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"last for 1,000 years, men will still
say this was their finest hour."

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SIREN

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We did expect an invasion,
when all the signposts had been

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taken down and all the names
on stations and things,

45
00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:01,160
which gave you a sense that
something serious could happen.

46
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Only 20 miles away,
there was the most powerful army
and air force in the world.

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So on one or two occasions,

48
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it was suggested that the invasion
bells were going to be rung.

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Yes, it was a bit heart-stopping
that it might be the last battle.

50
00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:28,840
The German invasion
was codenamed Operation Sea Lion.

51
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It had to take place in September
before the weather turned bad

52
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and the English Channel
became too rough to cross.

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The first step was for the
German Air Force, the Luftwaffe,

54
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to destroy the RAF so they could
land troops on the south coast.

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Only a few fighter pilots
could prevent this invasion.

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The fate of our country depended
on their skill and their courage.

57
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They were fighting for us. We're
all sitting here because
of what they did.

58
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We all owe them a great deal
of gratitude for that.

59
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I think in the RAF, there's a real
camaraderie with the pilots

60
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that's very like a brotherhood,
a fraternal thing going on there.

61
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So having a couple of
brothers telling the story
is maybe not such a bad idea.

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I think we grew up with old planes
and we were always making them,

63
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we were always building Airfix models
of Spitfires and Hurricanes

64
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and we'd hang them from the ceiling
on bits of fishing wire or something.

65
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There was a complete romanticism
about it.

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A romantic aspect
to the planes and the pilots.

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And very kind of gung-ho
and chocks away.

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That kind of sowed the seed
in my head, I guess,
from about age 9 or 10.

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I used to read Commando comics
as well.

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They were just full of stories
of Spitfire aces, and it kind of
started from there, really.

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20 years later, I'd become a pilot.

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I flew one of the RAF's front line
fast jets, the Tornado GR4.

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It was big, heavy,
but really responsive.

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Really comfortable.

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Lots of power.

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Very nice aeroplane to fly.

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I was able to fly once
with Colin in his Tornado.

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They arranged for me to take a ride
in the navigator's seat.

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When we took off, the feeling
of acceleration and the force,

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you were pushed back into your
seat flying at that speed,
it was just unbelievable.

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He was completely relaxed,
completely in his zone.

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I was so proud of him.

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I've never felt such pride before.

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I was only able to see
the corner of his helmet

85
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down at the side of the cockpit, but
I'd never seen him at work before,
flying this extraordinary aircraft.

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This is where my RAF career began.

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00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,320
Cranwell in Lincolnshire.

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It's the spiritual home
of the Air Force.

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The place where raw recruits
have been turned into officers,
almost since the RAF began.

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When I arrived here 20 years ago,
I was just the latest in
a long line of airmen.

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Many Battle of Britain pilots
went to Cranwell too.

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My brother's two years older
than I am, and was always very
academic, and he was sporting.

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He was the captain
of the cricket team.

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00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,880
Always had fantastic
looking girlfriends.

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One of whom I'll always
be slightly in love with.

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I won't mention any names.

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Then went off and learned
to fly very early.

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Like, when he was 16 or 17, he got
a flight scholarship from the RAF.

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Parade!

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Turn!

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Colin was always quite set on
coming here, being in the RAF.

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He learnt to fly and then
went to university and then
came here after that.

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00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,440
Colin at university was mainly
just drunk all the time.

104
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And then he came here,
and was mainly drunk here instead.

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He became more
of a classy drunk here.

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More of a kind of officer-type
drunk here.

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My picture's up here somewhere.

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I think it's quite funny,
if you read down... 127, 131.

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Here it is, 131.

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Is that you right at the end?

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00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:40,080
Oh, aye.
Flight Officer CJ McGregor, BSE.

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Bullshit.

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Certificate.

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And you're right next to the bogs.

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Prime place, prime position.

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Well, everybody gets to see it.

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'I spent 18 weeks at Cranwell
before graduating as an RAF officer.

118
00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:01,040
'But it was only then that
my flying training began.

119
00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,880
'It was another four years before
I was sent to the front line.

120
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'In my case, Iraq.

121
00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:09,760
'70 years ago,
it was very different.

122
00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:14,600
'The RAF were so short of men
that training was cut back.

123
00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:21,520
'Inexperienced pilots had as little
as 10 hours of solo flying before
being sent to the front line.'

124
00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:25,760
I started flying in the autumn
of 1938,

125
00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,520
and in six months, I did
eight hours of flying

126
00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,040
because we only flew at weekends and
the weather was dreadful in 1938,

127
00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,360
so I didn't have much
opportunity to fly.

128
00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:39,400
I continued my flying training on
the Hawker Harts and Hawker Furies,

129
00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:44,800
still biplanes, and it was all
First World War stuff.

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00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:49,640
There was no mention of Spitfires
or Hurricanes or anything like that.

131
00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:54,400
Then in the spring of 1940,
I was sent to a fighter squadron.

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I find it amazing
that these men could be sent

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into battle with only a few hours
of solo flying under their belts.

134
00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,120
It's impossible to fully understand
what that was like.

135
00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,920
But I want to get some sense
of what they went through.

136
00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:16,080
So I'm going to
experience flying training
as it was done back in 1940.

137
00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,200
We're on our way to Duxford.

138
00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,720
The start of three days of flying,

139
00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:22,240
1940s style.

140
00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,400
So I know that I've got to prove
that I can fly these

141
00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:30,280
two aircraft first before they
let me loose on a Spitfire,
so there's a bit of pressure.

142
00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,080
I can definitely
get a sense of that already.

143
00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:37,360
You're always nervous about flying
an aircraft for the first time,

144
00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:39,120
and how you're going to get on.

145
00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,840
But hopefully experience
will take over.

146
00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,680
The guy who'll be training me
is Air Marshall Cliff Spink.

147
00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:50,520
Cliff was a top RAF fighter pilot.

148
00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,680
He's been flying classic planes
for the last 20 years.

149
00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:56,240
Cliff. Hey, Colin. Welcome.
Pleased to meet you.

150
00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:58,600
Yes, and you.
Are you ready for this then?

151
00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:00,560
I think I'm ready, yes.

152
00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:03,120
Getting pretty excited.
Don't excite me too much.

153
00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:09,720
I'll try not to! If you get your kit
on and we'll have a look at
the operational machinery.

154
00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,400
Brilliant, can't wait.
All right? There you go.

155
00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,040
Thank you very much indeed.
Go and put your knickers on.

156
00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,720
OK, cheers. Cheers.

157
00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,960
We're going to be flying dual
all the time.

158
00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:22,480
If we have an emergency...

159
00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:24,880
'Colin was obviously an
experienced jet pilot.

160
00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:31,520
'But the techniques and skills,
we've almost got to unlearn him

161
00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:36,760
'to build him back up so that
he can fly a prop aeroplane.'

162
00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:43,360
And one of the biggest problems
associated with prop aeroplanes

163
00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:47,760
is the fact that you've got to
manage the whole aeroplane.

164
00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,440
You've got to understand the engine,
you've got to manage the engine

165
00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:57,520
in a way where prop speed, engine
power, everything is mechanical.

166
00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,520
There's no concession
to computers at all.

167
00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,840
Right. The machinery. Yes.

168
00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:09,560
We'll start with the Tiger Moth,
which is entirely appropriate to
what was going on in World War II.

169
00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:11,840
Thousands of those guys

170
00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,800
cut their teeth
flying on the Tiger Moth.

171
00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:21,360
Then we'll graduate to the Harvard,
which was sort of the advanced
flying training.

172
00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,240
So we've got
quite a tight programme.

173
00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:29,720
In some ways, Colin,
that's not unrealistic, because
there's a time compression there

174
00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:34,520
which was very much time compression
in World War II.

175
00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:41,480
Those guys were so badly needed
at the front line that they were
really being pushed through. OK.

176
00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:46,520
It really will be, even
the time compression
in its own way is appropriate.

177
00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:50,040
PLANE ENGINE OBSCURES SPEECH

178
00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,440
So we'll be doing that
on Friday, yes? Oh!

179
00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,560
With the RAF so short of pilots,

180
00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:03,480
it needed to ease its trainees into

181
00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,840
very fast and potentially dangerous
fighter planes like the Spitfire.

182
00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:14,080
Because they were very basic,
Tiger Moths were perfect
for teaching trainees how to fly.

183
00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,560
The first thing to do
was learn how to take off and land.

184
00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:20,600
And it was a very different
technique back then.

185
00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,480
In modern planes, you have a third
wheel at the front of the plane,

186
00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,080
but in these old aircraft
it's at the back.

187
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,520
Which is why they're known
as taildraggers.

188
00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:35,560
In a taildragger, you have
to land with all three wheels
touching down at the same time.

189
00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:38,120
It's a tricky technique to master.

190
00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,160
And I've only got one day
to get it right.

191
00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:46,720
Now, you take the tour,
you get everything.

192
00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,840
'In these old aircraft, you have to
use your feet to move the rudder.

193
00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,000
'It's the rudder that
helps steer the plane.

194
00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:57,720
'I've got to get my feet moving
to get the Tiger Moth going
in the direction I want.

195
00:13:57,720 --> 00:13:59,560
'It's not as easy as it sounds.'

196
00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:01,240
That's it, that's right.

197
00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:07,760
OK, so we're clear to go. Let her
ride up onto the main wheels. OK.

198
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,160
OK? Keep her nice and straight.

199
00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,880
OK. Now, that's it.
A bit more power.

200
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:28,680
Get her level, I think.
OK. Get a bit of speed, OK? Yep.

201
00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,000
We're going a bit sideways
at the moment.

202
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,560
Yeah. And I'm getting
a draught in my right ear.

203
00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,280
Got you, yes.

204
00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,800
So you've got to keep the instructor
happy, by not making him cold! OK.

205
00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:49,560
It just needs smooth and progressive
use of the rudder. OK.

206
00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,880
I'm freezing my nuts off so I'm
going to wear my jacket next time.
It's a bit chilly, yeah.

207
00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,240
Tiger Moths
were the ultimate planes.

208
00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:59,480
You could do anything you
liked with a Tiger Moth.

209
00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,320
It was an absolute delight to fly.

210
00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:07,680
Very light. You could loop the loop
with it and do all sorts of things.

211
00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:14,720
They were fragile and easy
to damage but, touch wood,
I never actually damaged one.

212
00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,600
A Tornado has a top speed of 900mph.

213
00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,240
In a Tiger Moth, it's just over 100.

214
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:28,120
It really is like travelling back
in time, and I love the freedom
you feel in this open cockpit.

215
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,000
After some practice,
my feet are getting used
to controlling the rudder,

216
00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,920
but I've still got
the most difficult part ahead.

217
00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,160
I've got to land the Tiger Moth
on all three wheels.

218
00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,200
OK, nice speed, nice approach.

219
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:42,960
Power off now. Power off.

220
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,680
That's it. That's it. The speed
is good. Keep it coming down.

221
00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,320
Down a bit more.
Keep the throttle closed.

222
00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,080
That's it. OK, keep her straight.

223
00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,720
A couple of little hops. Yep.

224
00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,600
That will be acceptable, son.
OK! Good!

225
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,080
Right, that's good. OK.

226
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,080
Just bring her to a halt now.

227
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,520
It's at this point you understand
you've got no brakes!

228
00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,080
It's like going back to school
again. But it was good.

229
00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:22,720
I told him he's got to keep the wind
out of the instructor's ear.

230
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,320
He also owes me a beer

231
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:29,320
for bouncing the aeroplane!

232
00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:34,440
The RAF was on a steep learning curve
in 1940. Most of its fighter pilots

233
00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,240
had never been in action before.

234
00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:46,680
Facing them was a truly formidable
enemy. The Luftwaffe had been
battle-hardened by years of war.

235
00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,840
It had fought campaign
after campaign across Europe.

236
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,720
Every enemy it encountered,
it had destroyed.

237
00:16:54,720 --> 00:17:01,680
Key to its success was one of the
best fighter planes of all time -
the Messerschmitt 109.

238
00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:09,320
The 109 could cruise at 350mph,
and was armed with two cannon,

239
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,880
which could blast enemy planes
out of the skies.

240
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,600
On the eve of battle, the German
High Command was super-confident.

241
00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,600
They outnumbered the RAF
by four to one.

242
00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:23,120
This campaign
would be like all the others.

243
00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:25,920
They would crush the Royal Air Force
in a matter of minutes.

244
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,800
The RAF faced almost overwhelming
odds, but it did have

245
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,720
one secret weapon which helped
level the playing field - radar.

246
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:45,080
These masts outside Dover are the
last survivors of what was, in 1940,

247
00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,080
the most sophisticated
air defence system in the world.

248
00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,480
Radar worked
by sending out a radio beam.

249
00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,080
If the beams hit enemy aircraft,
they bounced back.

250
00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:00,440
Radar gave the RAF 20 minutes'
warning of a German attack.

251
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:06,000
It allowed Fighter Command to send
the right amount of aircraft to
the right place at the right time.

252
00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:14,240
In 1940, Britain had a chain
of these masts all along the coast.

253
00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:18,280
But they were just the front line
of the air defence system.

254
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:25,480
Inland, there was also the Observer
Corps, 30,000 plane spotters

255
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,240
who tracked each enemy raid.

256
00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:31,680
Information from radar
and the Observer Corps

257
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,840
was sent
to Fighter Command headquarters.

258
00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,600
They then alerted the fighter groups
who would scramble their planes.

259
00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,960
The mastermind behind this system
was the head of Fighter Command.

260
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,480
He's a hero of the Battle of Britain,

261
00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,680
though few nowadays
would know his name.

262
00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,760
To find out more about him,
I've dragged Colin away
from his training

263
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,520
to meet Stephen Bungay,
a Battle of Britain expert.

264
00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,040
So who was this guy who was in charge
of Fighter Command at that time?

265
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,080
He was a teetotaller,

266
00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,680
who lives with his sister,

267
00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:13,160
who talks to the dead,
believes in fairies,

268
00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:20,360
and thinks that he's
the reincarnation
of a 13th-century Mongol chieftain.

269
00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:25,080
So this is the guy in charge
of Fighter Command in 1940.

270
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:30,200
And this was Dowding?
Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding.

271
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,720
Tremenheere Dowding, what a name!

272
00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,000
However, he had two characteristics
along with this eccentricity,

273
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:42,800
that above all others were needed
then, which was great imagination
and great attention to detail.

274
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,520
You often found those in different
people, he brought them together.

275
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:51,200
He constructed, between the time
he took over Fighter Command in 1936

276
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:56,560
and when war broke out,
what is by far the most
formidable air defence system

277
00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,200
in the world.
It's one of the most extraordinary

278
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,240
intellectual and technological feats
of the 20th century.

279
00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,960
It's in fact so far forward looking,
what he created in fact
was an internet,

280
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,160
except that it was analogue
so you didn't send e-mails.

281
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,120
You'd send something on the
teleprinter, and you didn't grab

282
00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:17,280
your Blackberry or whatever,
it was the telephone.

283
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,120
The same principle, a network.

284
00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:22,600
A command and control system,
which didn't only mean everybody

285
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,720
could talk to everybody,
but it was extremely robust.

286
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:31,520
Amazingly, an updated version
of Dowding's system
still protects us today.

287
00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:36,960
I've come to RAF Scampton in
Lincolnshire, a modern radar
station, to see how it works.

288
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,760
So, Mark, what are we looking at
on the screen here?

289
00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:42,640
Primarily looking
at the UK airspace,

290
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,280
and the number of aircraft
flying within it at one time.

291
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:50,000
So every line on the screen there
represents a flight?

292
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,160
Absolutely, and every plot
represents a radar return.

293
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,560
OK, and you're looking at civilian
aircraft and military aircraft?

294
00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:58,440
The whole raft of them. Everything.

295
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,960
Absolutely, all of it.
How big an area are we looking at?

296
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,280
Basically a million square miles.

297
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:06,720
A million square miles?

298
00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,960
My goodness, wow.

299
00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:15,400
The technology is light years ahead
of what they had in 1940, but the
system is pretty much the same.

300
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,520
If rogue aircraft are spotted,
then fighters are scrambled.

301
00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,920
It's something they train for
time and time again.

302
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,400
SD, I've two unidentified
aircraft coming in from the north.

303
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,520
OK! What's happening?

304
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,480
OK, we've got two aircraft
that have entered UK airspace.

305
00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:37,080
They've not met the rules
and procedures of recognition,
so what we're doing now is

306
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:40,920
getting everyone in, including the
master controller, to look at these
aircraft

307
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:45,760
and see what threat they present
to us and, if necessary,
he'll take tactical action.

308
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,600
Operations in QRA, this is the
Scampton master controller,
acknowledge?

309
00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:56,080
Climb flight level 4-0-0,
set speed mach one decimal two.

310
00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,960
So he's scrambling aircraft in
response to the two unknown
aircraft in the airspace.

311
00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:02,400
For QRA, call signs Q1 and Q2.

312
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,600
Scramble, scramble, scramble,
acknowledge?

313
00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,520
BELL RINGS

314
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,440
These Typhoons are doing the same
job as Spitfires 70 years ago,

315
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,800
but back then there were
no training exercises.

316
00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,360
Every scramble was for real.

317
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:50,560
By July 1940, the Luftwaffe was ready
to launch its air onslaught.

318
00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:55,560
More than 1,000 fighters and 1,800
bombers were poised to strike.

319
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,280
The Battle of Britain
was about to begin.

320
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:17,080
For Hitler's invasion to take place,
the Nazis had to drive the Royal Navy
out of the Channel,

321
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,400
then they could ferry
tens of thousands of troops
across to the south coast.

322
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:26,360
It was the job of the Luftwaffe's
bombers to destroy the British ships.

323
00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:31,000
One of these attacks
was recorded by the BBC.

324
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,880
BBC NARRATOR: '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
there are about 10 German machines

325
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,480
'dive-bombing a British convoy which
is just out to sea in the Channel.

326
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,800
'There's one going down
on its target now.'

327
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:57,520
On bases across the country,
airmen waited for the order
to intercept the bombers.

328
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,640
Tom Neil was a 20-year-old
Hurricane pilot.

329
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,960
On his radio, he could hear
the build-up of each German attack.

330
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:09,160
This information would be relayed
to us and we'd be sitting there,

331
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:13,840
and the information could involve
20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 200, 300...

332
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,160
Oh my God! You know, 300, 400.

333
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,320
You knew they were coming towards
you and you looked round and there
were just 12 of you.

334
00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,440
Where do you start?

335
00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:28,800
Guarding the bombers were
the Messerschmitt 109s.

336
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:34,240
Tackling these fighters was an almost
impossible task for rookie pilots.

337
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:38,880
They would rush up behind us 100mph
faster than us, fire their guns

338
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,880
from very close range,
then disappear either upwards
or downwards.

339
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,280
We could never catch them.

340
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:51,920
They used to watch us attacking
the bombers and they used to come
down and attack us from behind.

341
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:57,120
Surviving the first few dogfights was
a lottery for inexperienced pilots.

342
00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:03,680
Tony Iveson had only 10 hours
in a Spitfire before he was
sent to his fighter squadron.

343
00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,320
The first few trips
were the most dangerous.

344
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:11,120
You just had to be lucky,
and I mean that.

345
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:16,920
I don't know why one was selected
to be lucky, but you had to be.

346
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:23,360
Despite the lack of experienced
pilots, the RAF put up a good fight.

347
00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:27,800
German planes were shot down
at a rate of two to one.

348
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,280
But the Nazis still sunk so many
ships that, within two weeks,

349
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,880
the Royal Navy stopped sailing
through the Channel.

350
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,920
In the Battle of Britain,
it was round one to the Germans.

351
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,400
It's the second stage
of my 1940s training regime.

352
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,160
Having learned the basics
of flying on the Tiger Moth,

353
00:25:54,160 --> 00:26:01,120
trainee pilots transferred to a much
more sophisticated American-built
plane called the Harvard.

354
00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:02,920
I'm a bit more nervous this morning.

355
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:07,880
I can't really work out why but I've
found myself pacing around a bit
more. I'm quite conscious of it.

356
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,200
Whereas yesterday it was kind of...

357
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,120
Rock up and just go flying
in a pretty basic little
Tiger Moth, you know?

358
00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:16,840
But today is the real crunch day.

359
00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,520
I've just got to calm down
a little bit.

360
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:24,440
The Harvard was the next step up
from the Tiger Moth and, because

361
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:30,680
it's a monoplane, and has just one
wing, it handles much more like one
of the RAF's frontline fighters.

362
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,560
Are you ready for this?
I'm ready as I'll ever be, yes.

363
00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:41,480
I'm the one who gets nervous
when you nervously laugh, OK?

364
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,320
'The Harvard is a very good
trainer.'

365
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:48,040
The historical context for this is
that there were literally thousands

366
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,000
and thousands of these built

367
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:55,720
and they were the standard advanced
trainer in the Second World War.

368
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,600
It's got 600 horsepower,
but it's a pretty heavy aeroplane.

369
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:06,640
It weighs almost as much
as a Spitfire so it plods a bit,
the Harvard, but it does its job.

370
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:16,800
The most nerve-jangling moments are
always the take-offs and landings.

371
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:22,120
In the year leading up to the
Battle of Britain, more than 200
pilots died in training alone.

372
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:27,720
I had an enormous crash

373
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,520
on my first solo night flight.

374
00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:35,640
I got into a steep turn
as I took off, and that was it.

375
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,760
I seemed to go up in the air
and down again,

376
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:43,440
and crashed at 200mph
with such force that the engine

377
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,720
jumped off and finished 200 yards
away from the plane.

378
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,720
That's what saved me.
If the engine had still been there,
it would have caught fire.

379
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:57,320
All that was left of the plane
was a little bit of seating
where I was sitting!

380
00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:04,520
I walked back to the aerodrome,
walked into the crew room,

381
00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:06,720
and everybody thought they were
seeing a ghost

382
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,960
because they had sent out
an ambulance to bring back the body!

383
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:13,480
OK, off you go then.

384
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:20,160
That's it.

385
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:24,240
That's enough power. That's good.

386
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,680
Rolling off the wheels.

387
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:28,720
Very nice.

388
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:45,280
Nice takeoff, Colin.
Thanks. Very nice takeoff.

389
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,000
The Harvard
was a wonderful aircraft.

390
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,520
It was so advanced for its age.

391
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:59,520
And being American, it had a lot of
power and a nice snappy engine

392
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,440
and automatic undercarriage,
which we weren't used to.

393
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,680
You're looking like a real
fighter pilot up there.

394
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:13,040
No RAF aircraft I heard of had been
blessed with such modern sanitation.

395
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:19,240
It had a little tube which
fixed to a clip under the seat,
so if you got caught short

396
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,640
on an hour or two's trip,
you could use this tube, you see.

397
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:27,480
The trouble was, if you were
doing aerobatics and you did a roll
and it wasn't properly clipped,

398
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:32,520
this thing would drop itself and
dangle in front of your face.
You don't know who'd used it last!

399
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:40,040
OK, that's very good. How are you
feeling? Yes, I feel good, yes.

400
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,760
Absolutely, and you're keeping
it nicely balanced as well.

401
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:52,000
The closed cockpit and modern
controls make me feel much more
at home than in the Tiger Moth.

402
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,080
The Harvard can cruise at 200 mph.

403
00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:57,080
It's powerful and sturdy.

404
00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:59,520
A really comfortable plane to fly.

405
00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:03,360
Now that's a nice speed now.

406
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:07,640
That's...fine.

407
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,000
Just a little tad fast.

408
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:11,480
Get the power back.

409
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:18,400
That's it.
Now as she comes down, really get
the power and ready for the flare.

410
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:27,400
I hate you, young man!

411
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:31,800
Very nice landing. Good.
Very nice landing.

412
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:34,840
'I think it's been a pretty
successful trip, but it's up to

413
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,200
'Cliff to decide if I've done enough
to fly the Spitfire.'

414
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:46,680
We're now going from
something which is lively,
but not overly lively... Yes.

415
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:48,960
You're going to a real thoroughbred.

416
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,680
It's definitely
chocks away tomorrow.

417
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:53,160
If that's the right saying. Yes.

418
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:54,880
So, have a good sleep.

419
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:56,800
Yes, OK.

420
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,200
I'll go and check
my insurance policy.

421
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:00,640
Only joking!

422
00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,520
I still can't believe that it's
actually going to happen.
It's just...

423
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:11,880
one of your wildest dreams
as a pilot and as a kid,

424
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:15,200
growing up watching
airshows and what have you.

425
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:20,480
I've got less than 24 hours and I'm
actually going to be doing it
so it's just fantastic.

426
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:23,920
Everyone's heard of the Spitfire.

427
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,480
It's one of the most
famous aircraft of all time.

428
00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:31,280
But there were two
British fighters in 1940.

429
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,920
The other, often overlooked aircraft
is the Hurricane.

430
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:45,040
There were 1,700 Hurricanes
and less than 400 Spitfires.

431
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:47,920
The Hurricane was the workhorse
of the Battle of Britain.

432
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,000
The Hurricane was never as
eye-catching as its rival.

433
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,400
It was lumpier and bumpier.

434
00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,760
Based on a much
older aircraft design.

435
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,920
Chop the top wing off a biplane and
you see how the Hurricane evolved.

436
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:05,280
Only the front end had a metal skin.

437
00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:09,960
The rear section was built out of
a wooden frame covered in canvas.

438
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:13,800
It sounds primitive, but this
made the Hurricane easy to repair.

439
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:17,160
The Hurricane had the same
Merlin engine as the Spitfire,

440
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,160
but it was less aerodynamic
so it was never as fast.

441
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:26,400
To find out more about both of
these planes, we're meeting up with
Flight Lieutenant Antony Parkinson

442
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,760
from the Battle of
Britain Memorial Flight.

443
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:33,520
The BBMF has a unique
collection of historic planes.

444
00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:40,200
Parky, we're here with the two
leading players in the British side,
the Hurricane and the Spitfire.

445
00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:44,160
As I've been thinking
about this, I've always
fancied myself as a Hurricane pilot.

446
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:45,800
More of a Hurricane man. And Colin...

447
00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:48,800
I've always
thought of myself as a Spitfire guy.

448
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:54,200
And standing here, I realise I am,
I prefer it. What's the difference?

449
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,160
What's the difference in them?
Because you fly them both.

450
00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:59,760
I do. They're actually
both beautiful to fly.

451
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:01,360
They're not that different.

452
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,480
I guess the Spitfire has the
edge on performance. It's faster.

453
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,320
The Hurricane probably turns
slightly better but they're both

454
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,400
fabulous aircraft to fly.
They're easy.

455
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:14,640
Once you get them airborne, they're
not difficult and you can see why
the guys would have loved flying

456
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:17,200
them in the war in terms of their
handling qualities,

457
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:19,680
their performance - pretty awesome
for their time.

458
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:24,400
This one was earlier, it was
around before the Spitfire, the
Hurricane, right? Physically it was.

459
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,080
It was an earlier generation.
You can see the canvas on it.

460
00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:28,680
The Spitfire is all metal design.

461
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:33,080
It's got a much thinner,
elliptical, beautiful wing.

462
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:34,640
The Spitfire really
was state-of-the-art.

463
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,320
An all-metal construction
and it would have been like looking

464
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:41,520
at the space shuttle in 1940. It
was a 400 mph performance aircraft.

465
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,280
It was breathtaking. 400 mph? Yes.

466
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,960
Wow. I didn't know it went that fast.

467
00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,360
What were their roles? What were
the different roles for them?

468
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:52,120
I think they tended if
possible for the Spitfires

469
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:55,160
to go more for the fighters and the
Hurricanes more for the bombers.

470
00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:59,840
And that was purely based on turning
performance, that a Spitfire could
out-turn a 109? Yes, exactly.

471
00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,480
I think the Hurricane could actually
out-turn a 109 as well,

472
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:05,920
but it was more the top speed,
the performance of the Spitfire.

473
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:07,800
It was more on parity with the 109.

474
00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,200
You were saying about the pilots
themselves,

475
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:13,000
we're going to meet some
of the men that flew these aircraft,

476
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,400
that they downplay it a little bit.

477
00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:16,960
They do, yes.

478
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:18,920
It's one of the joys of the job.

479
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:23,760
You've always got something in
common with these heroes, to
chat about flying a Spit.

480
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:25,720
But for us,
the landing's the scary bit.

481
00:34:25,720 --> 00:34:28,600
For them, that's just something
that you did between re-arming.

482
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:29,720
And...

483
00:34:29,720 --> 00:34:32,640
ENGINE ROARS

484
00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:37,160
Keep it down! We're doing
an interview for the BBC over here!

485
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:48,360
Yes, without them and
without these planes, we'd be
goose-stepping around, wouldn't we?

486
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:53,240
Drinking schnapps. It would
be a nightmare! I don't think the BBC
will like that one.

487
00:34:53,240 --> 00:34:55,160
That's for all
my German friends.

488
00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:01,800
If there was one man who confirmed
some of those Nazi stereotypes,

489
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:06,880
then it was the super-sized head
of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering.

490
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,520
Goering was vain and arrogant.

491
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:18,200
He was so confident of success
that he bought himself a new
white suit and a shiny gold baton

492
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,080
just to celebrate victory
in the Battle of Britain.

493
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,960
Goering exuded confidence
but he had a dark secret

494
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,080
and one that affected his leadership
during the Battle of Britain.

495
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,960
Goering was a junkie.

496
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,560
He got wounded in the groin
and as a result was treated
with morphine

497
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:41,120
and became a morphine addict

498
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:43,840
which has a rather
strange effect on people's moods.

499
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:49,000
It can make them very pessimistic
and then over-optimistic.

500
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,160
It can cloud their judgment.

501
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,880
He had no understanding
of technology.

502
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:59,560
He had no understanding of how to
organise a complex, modern
military organisation

503
00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:05,560
and there he was
in charge of the most sophisticated
of Germany's armed forces.

504
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:12,080
Goering put his faith in
the German warrior spirit

505
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:16,720
as well as the Luftwaffe's
superior numbers of planes and men.

506
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:22,400
After a month of
fighting over the Channel,
he was ready for the next step.

507
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:24,960
Goering would take the war
to the British mainland.

508
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:30,960
The German plan was
codenamed Eagle Attack.

509
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:34,680
It would be the biggest air
campaign seen so far in history.

510
00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:50,320
Eagle Attack
began on August 12th 1940 with
a raid on the south coast.

511
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,520
Three radar stations were
bombed and put out of action.

512
00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,280
Without the RAF's eyes and ears,

513
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,280
a huge stretch of southern England

514
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,480
was wide open to attack.

515
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,280
Emergency work began
to repair the system.

516
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,000
Partial radar coverage
was eventually restored.

517
00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:18,680
The masts had been difficult targets
for the Luftwaffe to hit

518
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,920
and even when they had been bombed,
the RAF had got them
up and running again.

519
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,840
Goering concluded that the
attacks had been a waste of time.

520
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:32,400
He cancelled further systematic
bombing of the radar network.

521
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,520
Leaving Britain's air
defence system in place

522
00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:37,800
was Goering's first great error.

523
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:43,640
Whenever the Luftwaffe attacked,
radar would be watching
and the RAF would be waiting.

524
00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:05,200
Three days later on 15th August,
the Germans launched the second phase

525
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:09,240
of the Eagle Attack with a massive
raid on the Midlands and north.

526
00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:13,480
Goering believed the RAF was
so short of pilots and planes

527
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:17,240
that every one of their fighter
squadrons had been sent
to defend the south east.

528
00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:20,800
He sent more than 100 bombers
to attack northern England,

529
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:22,960
with no fighters to protect them.

530
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,800
When they arrived over
the Yorkshire coast,
they had a nasty surprise.

531
00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:33,080
We were having lunch and the
whole squadron suddenly heard

532
00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:37,320
on the RT616,
"Squadron, scramble, scramble!"

533
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,480
And we dashed out
and got in our planes and took off

534
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:43,560
in all directions and we were sort
of formed up.

535
00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:47,440
We were vectored on to
about 80 Junkers 88s.

536
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:51,880
They were unescorted and though
they were flying in formation,

537
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:53,400
you couldn't miss them!

538
00:38:57,240 --> 00:39:00,200
The Luftwaffe had underestimated
the strength of the RAF

539
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:02,160
and they were severely punished
for it.

540
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:08,000
75 German aircraft were shot down.

541
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:12,520
Luftwaffe pilots called it
Black Thursday.

542
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:21,120
One day later,
the Luftwaffe attacked again.

543
00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:22,520
More than 400 aircraft

544
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:24,760
pounded targets
along the south coast.

545
00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:34,560
Keith Park
was the commander of 11 Group,
which covered the south east...

546
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:36,760
The front line in
the Battle of Britain.

547
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:40,800
Park was scrambling squadron after
squadron to repel the German attack,

548
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:45,720
when in the heat of battle,
the Prime Minister Winston
Churchill suddenly showed up.

549
00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:52,120
Churchill decided
to visit Fighter Command's
11 Group headquarters in Uxbridge.

550
00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:56,240
He turned up unannounced, as
so often, and watched events.

551
00:39:56,240 --> 00:40:02,120
And he said that when he realised
that Park had got all his fighters
into the sky,

552
00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:03,920
he felt sick with fear.

553
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,280
"The margins", he said,
"were so small".

554
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:13,960
One of the pilots Keith Park
scrambled was Nigel Rose.

555
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,440
He was only 22
and had never been in combat before.

556
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:21,320
We saw this enormous gaggle of
aircraft coming in and for one

557
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:27,280
who'd never seen one single German
aircraft before, to see, my squadron
commander said there were 100,

558
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:29,680
about 50 bombers and 50 fighters...

559
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:34,960
When you see all of these in one
huge great gaggle of various
heights and so on ...

560
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:36,320
That was quite impressive.

561
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:41,240
So one thought, you know,
turn the gun buton to "fire"

562
00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:43,920
and the squadron commander
said, "Well, pick your man."

563
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:49,480
So we came round firing eight
Browning machine guns at once.

564
00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:51,600
And some smoke came out

565
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:52,600
of the aircraft.

566
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:54,840
This was the message to me at 110.

567
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:58,640
And one thought, "Gosh.
I must have hit him!"

568
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:02,440
He turned over on his back and went
absolutely vertically downwards.

569
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:04,560
I thought, "Gosh".

570
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:06,720
Being in a fighter squadron and...

571
00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:08,680
Surely that's one I can claim?

572
00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:15,120
Some planes were fitted with cameras
to film these battles in the skies.

573
00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:17,480
Amazingly, a few frames survive

574
00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:22,000
of the moment Nigel Rose fixed a
German plane in his gun sights.

575
00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:31,320
For Winston Churchill, 16th
August had been a deeply moving day.

576
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:36,880
He'd seen for himself
the almost impossible odds
the RAF fighter pilots faced.

577
00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:41,920
Churchill drove away in the
afternoon and he turned round

578
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:47,360
to General Ismay, one of
his aides in the car as they were
driving back to London and said,

579
00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:54,080
"Never in the field of
human conflict has so much
been owed by so many to so few."

580
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:59,480
A few days later of course,
Churchill wove them into the speech

581
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:01,120
that he gave in the
House of Commons.

582
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:06,800
"The great air battle which has been
in progress over this island

583
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:11,840
"for the last few weeks has recently
attained a high intensity.

584
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:14,760
"The gratitude of
every home in our island,

585
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:20,480
"in our Empire
and indeed throughout the world,
except in the abodes of the guilty,

586
00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:22,720
"goes out to be British airmen...

587
00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:29,880
CHURCHILL: "..who undaunted by odds,
unwearied in their constant
challenge and mortal danger

588
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:35,720
"are turning the tide
of the World War by their prowess
and by their devotion.

589
00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:38,400
"Never in the field
of human conflict

590
00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:42,840
"was so much owed by so many
to so few."

591
00:42:47,720 --> 00:42:52,600
At the height of the Battle
of Britain, there were
around 1,300 fighter pilots.

592
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:57,680
It really is the case that our
country's fate depended on...
the few.

593
00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:00,600
70 years on, their
ranks have thinned.

594
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:03,360
Now only 100 or so remain.

595
00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:06,320
So for us it's a privilege
to meet two of them.

596
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:10,080
I don't think I know the
meaning of the word instinct!

597
00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:16,360
Geoffrey Wellum was 17 years old
when he joined up.

598
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:22,440
He recounted his experiences
as a Spitfire pilot in an
autobiography called First Light.

599
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:25,360
'It's a classic account
of the Battle of Britain.'

600
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:32,000
Bob Foster was 20 and flew
Hurricanes in the summer of 1940.

601
00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:36,400
He was a crack fighter pilot
who shot down seven German planes.

602
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:40,960
When you first
stepped into your Hurricane and you
into your Spitfire, and you

603
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:47,920
landed it successfully and stepped
out and kind of survived that first
experience, were you really elated?

604
00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:49,960
You felt, I'm now a fighter pilot.
Yes.

605
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:53,080
In my case, a little bit thankful.
Really?

606
00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:56,600
I looked down. There was the grass.

607
00:43:56,600 --> 00:44:00,200
I must have landed. A Spitfire
has landed with Geoff Wellum in it.

608
00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:08,400
How much training on the aircraft did
you get before you were expected
to go up and use it in anger?

609
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:14,040
We were posted up to begin on
September 7th, when the
battle was at its height.

610
00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:18,240
We replaced 87 Squadron
that had been shot up

611
00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:20,960
and knocked about a bit.

612
00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:24,000
The first time I ever went
into real combat was there.

613
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,320
I had about 30 hours on a Spit.

614
00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:28,720
I was lucky to get that.
To have that much.

615
00:44:28,720 --> 00:44:30,920
A lot of pilots had less, I take it.

616
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:36,560
Did you have a real sense you were
in a battle for Britain's
survival at that time?

617
00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:39,920
Were you just
going up there to do your job?

618
00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:41,680
Yes. There were invasion alerts.

619
00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:43,760
The church bells rang -
it meant they were invading.

620
00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:48,480
Everybody in the south of England
was aware it was possible.

621
00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:52,120
Whether we really knew that we
were in a battle for the survival...

622
00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,440
A battle for personal survival.

623
00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:56,280
Yes, certainly.

624
00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:58,280
The implications of the thing.

625
00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:01,800
I suppose we did. It was the least
of our worries, put it that way.

626
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:05,960
It never really registered
to me until the first day we
were sent off from Biggin.

627
00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:12,120
We were vectored on to 150
plus coming in over Dungeness

628
00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:15,880
and I saw this mass of aeroplanes,

629
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:18,600
looked like a lot of
gnats on a summer evening.

630
00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:20,720
I thought, these chaps mean it.

631
00:45:20,720 --> 00:45:23,040
This is serious.

632
00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:27,080
That's the first
reaction I really had.

633
00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:32,280
There was a dreadful thing -
where do we start on this lot?

634
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:36,280
Was there any particular day
or occasion when you felt,

635
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:39,680
we're going to lose it,
we're going to lose the battle?

636
00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:44,000
One day I do remember and this
must be mid-September, I suppose.

637
00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:49,160
Where we were told to be in the
cockpits an hour before dawn,
which is pretty early.

638
00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:53,160
Something like that.
We thought, OK, the invasion's on.

639
00:45:53,160 --> 00:45:55,320
That was the thought of it.

640
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:59,720
We got into our planes an hour
before dawn, sat there and I
remember sitting on the airfield

641
00:45:59,720 --> 00:46:04,600
at Croydon, which was a big grass
airfield with hares running around

642
00:46:04,600 --> 00:46:07,120
and the odd airman sitting
on the starter axles.

643
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:11,200
I was thinking to myself, with 12
little Hurricanes sitting there,

644
00:46:11,200 --> 00:46:14,600
if this is the invasion,
then God help us.

645
00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:19,040
Can I ask a sensitive question
about your job then?

646
00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:25,200
In terms of what it was like
to engage with an enemy
for the first time

647
00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:27,160
and, if you are successful

648
00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:30,560
and you take down an aircraft,
then how must that have felt?

649
00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:33,480
I don't know what it may
have felt like. Good. It did.

650
00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:37,400
Yeah. I don't think we ever thought
about pilots in the other aeroplane.

651
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:40,720
I didn't. No, nor did I.

652
00:46:40,720 --> 00:46:43,040
These chaps were coming
over bombing us. Exactly.

653
00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:45,120
Dropping bombs all over the place.

654
00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:49,320
They started it.
What were they doing over here...

655
00:46:49,320 --> 00:46:53,600
..dropping these bombs
on villages and just...

656
00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:57,040
I personally didn't have any...
No, nor did I.

657
00:46:57,040 --> 00:46:58,840
They started this bloody nonsense.

658
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:04,160
Obviously, this was going on day
after day.

659
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:09,040
You must have been bloody knackered,
having to go up three or four
times a day, maybe more.

660
00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:11,800
We were young, we were 20.

661
00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:13,600
We were enthusiastic.

662
00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:16,080
Yes, and we had some beer at night.

663
00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:20,880
If you got to 5 o'clock, you think,
the day thou gavest Lord is ended.

664
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:23,800
And then straight off to the White
Hart at Brasted... That's right.

665
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:28,200
Rubbing shoulders with local people,
perhaps a game of darts,

666
00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:30,920
suppressing thoughts of
mates who haven't turned up.

667
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:32,840
That's right.

668
00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:36,720
And generally knocking back
the pints.

669
00:47:36,720 --> 00:47:39,280
If there were pretty ladies around,

670
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:40,800
try your luck.

671
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:42,520
LAUGHTER

672
00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:46,560
It's the same with
our own people, too.

673
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:49,320
People say, "Did you miss your
colleagues?"

674
00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:55,640
Well, you did. On the other hand,
I've always said, in July, I'd
never met these chaps before.

675
00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:58,040
They were not close friends.

676
00:47:58,040 --> 00:48:00,840
They were squadron... They were
great chaps and so on.

677
00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:04,360
You couldn't allow it to
get you down. Yeah.

678
00:48:04,360 --> 00:48:06,240
You had to put it behind you.

679
00:48:06,240 --> 00:48:11,520
I had one close chap and
he went fairly quickly.

680
00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:13,720
Yeah.

681
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:17,840
It hit me.

682
00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:21,720
We went down to the pub that
night and I thought, "That's it.

683
00:48:21,720 --> 00:48:23,880
"He's gone, bear up."

684
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:28,040
That's right. "Bear up, my soul."
Yes.

685
00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:31,600
Did it affect you when you got
into the cockpit the next day?

686
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:33,720
No. You couldn't think
about it then, could you?

687
00:48:33,720 --> 00:48:37,760
In fact it was better. The waiting
was the problem with me.

688
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:40,640
I don't know about you. I hated it.

689
00:48:40,640 --> 00:48:43,640
The moment I got in
that aeroplane and felt

690
00:48:43,640 --> 00:48:46,920
the vibration of the engine
through the seat of my pants

691
00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:51,160
and I was strapped in, the
ground crew got off the wing,
and waved me,

692
00:48:51,160 --> 00:48:55,040
I felt, "OK, it's up to me."

693
00:48:56,640 --> 00:48:59,040
'For me, there's one extra treat.

694
00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:02,240
'Bob knows I've got a thing for
Hurricanes so he took me off to meet

695
00:49:02,240 --> 00:49:03,400
'an old comrade in arms -'

696
00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:06,960
not a person, but a plane.

697
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:10,720
The actual Hurricane he flew
during the Battle of Britain.

698
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:26,360
Whoa!

699
00:49:27,440 --> 00:49:32,560
This is the only surviving Hurricane
which fought in the Battle of Britain
that is still flying today.

700
00:49:32,560 --> 00:49:35,840
That's fantastic.
Amazing sight, isn't it?

701
00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:39,520
When it's coming straight at you,
you do feel like you want to run.
That's right.

702
00:49:46,320 --> 00:49:49,600
ENGINE ROARS

703
00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:53,880
That's an amazing sound.

704
00:49:53,880 --> 00:49:56,200
Yeah. Wonderful.

705
00:49:56,200 --> 00:50:00,920
It must take you right back now.
You can't miss it, can you? You
can't mistake it. No.

706
00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:13,400
Bob's Hurricane came into
service at a crucial moment.

707
00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:16,040
Just a day after it
joined his squadron,

708
00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:20,320
the Luftwaffe launched the bloodiest
attack of the Battle of Britain.

709
00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:41,800
A month into the Battle of Britain
and Goering was under pressure.

710
00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:45,640
His strategy for the
destruction of Fighter Command
was not going to plan.

711
00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:49,360
Goering had assumed the Luftwaffe
would crush the RAF,

712
00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:55,240
just as it had crashed
every other enemy, by
shooting its planes out of the skies.

713
00:50:58,200 --> 00:51:01,880
But the radar network
and the RAF's pilots and planes

714
00:51:01,880 --> 00:51:05,120
had proved a match for the Germans.

715
00:51:05,120 --> 00:51:09,920
After weeks of air combat,
the RAF was holding its own.

716
00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:13,160
Goering's new strategy
was to destroy the RAF,

717
00:51:13,160 --> 00:51:15,480
not in the air,
but on the ground.

718
00:51:15,480 --> 00:51:19,560
If fighter stations were bombed,
it would be difficult to
take off and land.

719
00:51:19,560 --> 00:51:22,800
Exhausted pilots
would be unable to rest.

720
00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:24,760
A key target was the RAF base

721
00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:29,040
which covered the main attack
route to London - Biggin Hill.

722
00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:32,000
In its heyday,
Biggin Hill was the most famous

723
00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:34,440
and important air base
in the country.

724
00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:39,600
Its Spitfires and Hurricanes
shot down 1,600 Luftwaffe planes.

725
00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:45,640
Those glory days are long gone now.

726
00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:49,520
The Air Force left
Biggin Hill 20 years ago.

727
00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:53,720
I visited the base
just before it shut down.

728
00:51:53,720 --> 00:51:57,280
I came here in 1987. This was
my first experience of the RAF.

729
00:51:57,280 --> 00:52:00,640
This is where I went through my
selection to join the air force.

730
00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:04,760
This was before Cranwell.

731
00:52:04,760 --> 00:52:11,640
I had no concept at the time as to
how important a base this was in
the overall campaign during 1940.

732
00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:13,800
Walking round these buildings now,

733
00:52:13,800 --> 00:52:17,720
we get a real sense of
the past and of the ghosts.

734
00:52:17,720 --> 00:52:20,080
This place took a real
pounding by the Luftwaffe.

735
00:52:20,080 --> 00:52:22,080
It was right on the frontline.

736
00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:28,160
To find out more about what
happened on 18th August,

737
00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:32,480
I joined Patrick Bishop,
who is a writer and historian.

738
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:35,480
He showed me the woods which
have swallowed up much
of the old fighter base.

739
00:52:37,560 --> 00:52:39,560
I wanted to show you this, Colin.

740
00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:43,640
This is a pillbox, built in 1940.
Yeah.

741
00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:47,000
It gives you an indication
of how serious the fears
were of an invasion.

742
00:52:47,000 --> 00:52:53,240
This was put here
to protect the airfield against
paratroopers or an invading force.

743
00:52:53,240 --> 00:52:57,880
There was a real feeling
at this point that an
invasion was inevitable.

744
00:52:57,880 --> 00:53:00,360
Biggin Hill was
right on the front line.

745
00:53:00,360 --> 00:53:03,760
It took a real pounding on
18th August, 1940.

746
00:53:03,760 --> 00:53:10,160
That's right. This was the day when
they launched attacks on these big,
significant bases.

747
00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:13,840
Biggin Hill, of course, being
one of them.

748
00:53:13,840 --> 00:53:17,040
It was a Sunday morning.
You can sort of picture the scene.

749
00:53:17,040 --> 00:53:21,240
We know what was going on.
This was a rural area.

750
00:53:21,240 --> 00:53:24,320
You'd have people
going off to church locally.

751
00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:27,080
The cooks in the canteen
would be making Sunday lunch.

752
00:53:27,080 --> 00:53:32,680
The first reports come through that
Kenley is being bombed and
then Croydon's being bombed

753
00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:37,480
so it's natural to assume that
Biggin Hill was going to be
next, which indeed it was.

754
00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:41,600
So, everyone around here would have
seen it. They would have been
looking up at what was going on.

755
00:53:41,600 --> 00:53:44,200
They would have been hearing
the crump of the bombs.

756
00:53:44,200 --> 00:53:47,840
Everyone knew they were on
the frontline at this point.

757
00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:52,320
Biggin Hill was attacked
twice on the hardest day.

758
00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:54,720
80 tons of bombs fell on the base.

759
00:53:54,720 --> 00:53:57,320
The runways are
peppered with craters.

760
00:53:57,320 --> 00:54:02,480
The hardest day was just the
beginning of weeks of bombing.

761
00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:04,560
12 days later, 40 people died

762
00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:07,760
when their air raid shelter
took a direct hit.

763
00:54:11,120 --> 00:54:17,080
This is one of the places where
fighter pilots lived out those
days of fear and uncertainty.

764
00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:24,080
So, this is a sleeping shelter.

765
00:54:24,080 --> 00:54:26,000
This is where

766
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:30,680
the ground crews and the pilots,
if they were on an early start,
if they were on a dawn detail,

767
00:54:30,680 --> 00:54:33,920
they'd come up the night
before and spend the night here.

768
00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:41,520
Yeah. It must have been horrendous
conditions to live in day after day.

769
00:54:41,520 --> 00:54:45,920
I suppose it's that feeling that
there's no line that you can
retreat behind, where you're going

770
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:50,640
to be safe, which must have had a
pretty wearing effect on the nerves.

771
00:54:50,640 --> 00:54:53,720
There was no just, you know,
you've done your fighting,

772
00:54:53,720 --> 00:54:56,840
you land and then, that's
basically you done for the day.

773
00:54:56,840 --> 00:55:00,800
I think that began to tell very much
in that period when

774
00:55:00,800 --> 00:55:06,480
reading the memoirs, you get a very
strong sense of people getting
to the end of their tether.

775
00:55:06,480 --> 00:55:08,840
Yeah. They're kind of
living it 24 hours a day.

776
00:55:08,840 --> 00:55:12,520
That constant fear, not
only when they're flying
but on the ground as well.

777
00:55:12,520 --> 00:55:15,800
They're going to get caught out.
It must have been pretty horrendous.

778
00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:24,920
Seeing these sleeping quarters and
dispersal areas at Biggin Hill,

779
00:55:24,920 --> 00:55:28,280
it's really brought it home to me
just how intense that period was.

780
00:55:28,280 --> 00:55:32,680
The guys weren't just fighting
for their lives in the air, four or
five sorties a day,

781
00:55:32,680 --> 00:55:35,840
but they were fighting for their
lives on the ground as well.

782
00:55:35,840 --> 00:55:39,840
They were living under the
constant threat of bombings.

783
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:43,800
I'm used to combat sorties where you
can come back at the end of a day,

784
00:55:43,800 --> 00:55:49,080
and albeit it's to an
air-conditioned tent somewhere in
the desert but at least it's home.

785
00:55:49,080 --> 00:55:53,160
You've got good food and you
can sleep undisturbed.

786
00:55:53,160 --> 00:55:56,920
For these guys, it was just constant.

787
00:55:56,920 --> 00:55:59,160
The stress must have been incredible.

788
00:55:59,160 --> 00:56:03,480
They must have wondered
just how long they could keep that
up - how much more they could take.

789
00:56:09,240 --> 00:56:12,200
With the Battle of Britain
now in its 7th week,

790
00:56:12,200 --> 00:56:14,600
combat stress was beginning
to tell.

791
00:56:16,160 --> 00:56:19,280
Many pilots were being scrambled
into action

792
00:56:19,280 --> 00:56:21,040
four or five times a day.

793
00:56:21,040 --> 00:56:24,400
I found
the waiting period difficult.

794
00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:27,520
It's probably the most difficult.

795
00:56:27,520 --> 00:56:31,600
You almost felt like going
outside and throwing up.

796
00:56:31,600 --> 00:56:34,720
Sitting around, waiting
for that telephone -

797
00:56:34,720 --> 00:56:36,600
always had a certain ring.

798
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:38,480
The corporal would pick it up,

799
00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:41,920
stick his head out of the
window and say, "Scramble."

800
00:56:41,920 --> 00:56:45,560
You'd be on your feet,
racing to the aeroplane.

801
00:56:45,560 --> 00:56:51,680
Waiting for that to happen, I think,
many people would say,

802
00:56:51,680 --> 00:56:55,760
I found it very unsettling,
as it were.

803
00:56:55,760 --> 00:56:58,680
You couldn't... You were
apprehensive.

804
00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:01,840
Let's face it, probably
scared stiff, really.

805
00:57:03,400 --> 00:57:05,920
The strain of
weeks of intense fighting

806
00:57:05,920 --> 00:57:08,160
wasn't just affecting the pilots.

807
00:57:08,160 --> 00:57:11,760
It had also began to tear the
leadership of Fighter Command apart.

808
00:57:11,760 --> 00:57:15,200
War had broken out amongst
the RAF top brass,

809
00:57:15,200 --> 00:57:18,400
about the way
the battle was being fought.

810
00:57:18,400 --> 00:57:21,960
It pitted Keith Park,
the Commander of 11 Group,

811
00:57:21,960 --> 00:57:26,600
which covered the south east, against
one of the RAF's rising stars.

812
00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:31,440
Douglas Bader was already
a legend when war began.

813
00:57:31,440 --> 00:57:35,600
He had lost his legs in a plane
crash but went back to flying.

814
00:57:35,600 --> 00:57:39,640
In 1940, he led 12 Group,
which defended the Midlands

815
00:57:39,640 --> 00:57:44,600
and the east coast - an area which
was less involved in the battle.

816
00:57:44,600 --> 00:57:47,920
He was itching to get into action.

817
00:57:47,920 --> 00:57:51,760
He's the sort of guy who wanted
to be out there, leading the pack.

818
00:57:51,760 --> 00:57:53,920
He wanted to be number one.

819
00:57:53,920 --> 00:57:58,800
And the back seat role that 12 Group
seemed to be playing in the battle

820
00:57:58,800 --> 00:58:00,920
didn't really appeal to him.

821
00:58:02,480 --> 00:58:06,640
Bader had his own theory on how the
Battle of Britain should be fought,

822
00:58:06,640 --> 00:58:08,480
which he called The Big Wing.

823
00:58:08,480 --> 00:58:12,360
The idea was to get dozens of
planes in the air at once.

824
00:58:12,360 --> 00:58:14,560
In one huge battle, the Big Wing

825
00:58:14,560 --> 00:58:17,440
would deal the Luftwaffe
a killer blow.

826
00:58:17,440 --> 00:58:19,880
But there were
practical problems with The Big Wing.

827
00:58:19,880 --> 00:58:22,760
Getting 50 fighters
in the air took time.

828
00:58:22,760 --> 00:58:27,920
The Luftwaffe was often halfway home
by the time Douglas Bader arrived.

829
00:58:27,920 --> 00:58:31,680
For Keith Park, who knew just
how short of men the RAF was,

830
00:58:31,680 --> 00:58:34,200
The Big Wing was a dangerous gamble -

831
00:58:34,200 --> 00:58:36,720
risking dozens of pilots
in a single battle

832
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:39,440
threatened to
fatally weaken Fighter Command.

833
00:58:41,080 --> 00:58:44,040
This shortage of pilots
was the critical issue

834
00:58:44,040 --> 00:58:47,080
as the Battle of Britain
reached a decisive point.

835
00:58:52,200 --> 00:58:55,400
Airmen weren't just being shot
at by the Luftwaffe,

836
00:58:55,400 --> 00:58:58,200
many were
falling prey to a merciless killer.

837
00:58:58,200 --> 00:58:59,880
In less than a month,

838
00:58:59,880 --> 00:59:04,680
the RAF lost more than 200 airmen,
almost all over the sea.

839
00:59:07,560 --> 00:59:11,120
'As I know from my RAF training, if
you ditch into the ocean these days,

840
00:59:11,120 --> 00:59:13,400
'you're pretty
confident you'll survive.

841
00:59:13,400 --> 00:59:17,040
'We've immersion suits,
lifeboats, and emergency supplies.'

842
00:59:18,920 --> 00:59:21,920
So I want to know what
was so different in 1940.

843
00:59:21,920 --> 00:59:24,320
What made the sea
such a killing zone?

844
00:59:33,320 --> 00:59:34,800
Oh!

845
00:59:36,800 --> 00:59:38,040
Oh!

846
00:59:39,760 --> 00:59:41,840
Oh, my God, that's so cold!

847
00:59:42,920 --> 00:59:45,400
It really takes your
breath away, the shock.

848
00:59:49,640 --> 00:59:54,880
'I'm only wearing a simple
flying suit, just as pilots
would have done in 1940.

849
00:59:54,880 --> 00:59:58,320
'What I'm experiencing
is known as cold shock.'

850
00:59:58,320 --> 01:00:00,680
I've been in a few minutes now

851
01:00:00,680 --> 01:00:06,760
and my hands are getting really
cold, my toes are cold, and I've...

852
01:00:06,760 --> 01:00:10,280
I'm really breathing hard.
I can feel myself hyperventilating.

853
01:00:11,440 --> 01:00:14,440
'Hyperventilating
was one of the signs of cold shock.

854
01:00:14,440 --> 01:00:16,440
'Breathing became more frantic

855
01:00:16,440 --> 01:00:19,240
'and pilots would swallow
more and more water.

856
01:00:19,240 --> 01:00:22,440
'Most died from cold shock
within five minutes.

857
01:00:24,000 --> 01:00:26,400
'Anyone who did survive the first
few minutes

858
01:00:26,400 --> 01:00:29,920
'still had little chance of
getting out alive because,

859
01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:34,200
'during the Battle of Britain, there
was no system to rescue pilots
lost at sea.'

860
01:00:37,960 --> 01:00:40,800
I'm just kind of
looking around me and...

861
01:00:40,800 --> 01:00:43,920
it's quite choppy and I can't
see anything. I can't see any...

862
01:00:43,920 --> 01:00:47,320
I can see the odd ship now and again
when I'm bobbing up and down,

863
01:00:47,320 --> 01:00:51,800
but apart from that...
it's just...it's just nothing.

864
01:00:51,800 --> 01:00:57,640
It must have been absolutely hell
to think you've managed to
survive getting out

865
01:00:57,640 --> 01:01:02,000
of your burning Spitfire, and this
will be your final resting place.

866
01:01:02,000 --> 01:01:03,960
It's just horrendous.

867
01:01:05,880 --> 01:01:08,640
To be honest, I think you'd
probably just want to drown,

868
01:01:08,640 --> 01:01:10,600
get it over with,

869
01:01:10,600 --> 01:01:13,320
because there's just no...

870
01:01:13,320 --> 01:01:16,160
No hope really of
anybody coming to see you.

871
01:01:16,160 --> 01:01:17,720
It must be horrible.

872
01:01:22,280 --> 01:01:27,760
If you're lost at sea or stuck up
on a mountain, you'll be lucky
that these guys come and get you.

873
01:01:27,760 --> 01:01:32,920
They save up to 2,000 people a year,
but it's because of the people,
the pilots that ditched at sea

874
01:01:32,920 --> 01:01:35,800
during the Battle of Britain, that
we have Search and Rescue today.

875
01:01:37,680 --> 01:01:42,400
'With so many experienced airmen
being lost, Search and Rescue began.

876
01:01:42,400 --> 01:01:45,240
'Its main task was to pick
up airmen lost at sea.'

877
01:01:45,240 --> 01:01:50,960
That's him up ahead now,
he's over here, up to our right!

878
01:01:50,960 --> 01:01:53,120
All right, Colin!

879
01:02:20,400 --> 01:02:23,520
Are you freezing?

880
01:02:23,520 --> 01:02:26,480
You good?

881
01:02:26,480 --> 01:02:31,280
When you can see that yellow
helicopter coming, it's just the
most fantastic sight, you know?

882
01:02:31,280 --> 01:02:33,400
Yes. "My God, they're here."

883
01:02:33,400 --> 01:02:35,240
I've found a new job. Have you?

884
01:02:35,240 --> 01:02:36,880
I'm going to do this, yeah.

885
01:02:36,880 --> 01:02:40,000
I'm trading in
my rouge and my lipstick.

886
01:02:40,000 --> 01:02:41,840
I'm going to be a winchman!

887
01:02:46,800 --> 01:02:51,040
'Search and Rescue was
set up in August 1940.

888
01:02:51,040 --> 01:02:54,440
'In the years to come, it
would save thousands of lives,

889
01:02:54,440 --> 01:02:59,320
'but it came too late to stem
the losses which were seriously
weakening Fighter Command.'

890
01:03:19,760 --> 01:03:23,960
By early September,
the RAF had reached its lowest ebb.

891
01:03:23,960 --> 01:03:27,680
They were losing far more pilots
than they could replace.

892
01:03:29,280 --> 01:03:34,280
It was a war of attrition
and Fighter Command was bleeding men.

893
01:03:34,280 --> 01:03:37,800
It seemed that only a miracle
could save the RAF from extinction...

894
01:03:39,320 --> 01:03:41,240
..and Britain from invasion.

895
01:03:45,240 --> 01:03:49,000
Then, on 7th September,
something remarkable happened.

896
01:03:49,000 --> 01:03:52,800
The Germans launched
another huge attack.

897
01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:57,360
750 Luftwaffe planes flew towards
the RAF's fighter stations,

898
01:03:57,360 --> 01:04:01,120
just as they had done
for the last few weeks.

899
01:04:01,120 --> 01:04:06,080
But this time they passed
right over the airfields

900
01:04:06,080 --> 01:04:08,120
and carried on towards London.

901
01:04:08,120 --> 01:04:10,440
The game had changed.

902
01:04:10,440 --> 01:04:14,240
It was now no longer about two air
forces confronting each other,

903
01:04:14,240 --> 01:04:16,920
but it was about two nations
confronting each other

904
01:04:16,920 --> 01:04:19,520
because they came back
to lop London that night.

905
01:04:19,520 --> 01:04:21,960
And the night of September 7th

906
01:04:21,960 --> 01:04:26,880
can be counted as the first day
in what we now call the Blitz.

907
01:04:28,480 --> 01:04:32,360
A week earlier, the
RAF had bombed Berlin.

908
01:04:32,360 --> 01:04:37,080
Goering had publicly declared that
the
German capital was safe from attack,

909
01:04:37,080 --> 01:04:39,880
so the bombing was a
personal humiliation.

910
01:04:39,880 --> 01:04:43,720
He ordered a revenge raid on London.

911
01:04:43,720 --> 01:04:47,200
The Blitz would prove traumatic,
but during the first week

912
01:04:47,200 --> 01:04:51,240
in which London was targeted,
no bombs fell on air bases.

913
01:04:51,240 --> 01:04:54,320
Goering had eased the
pressure on the RAF.

914
01:04:54,320 --> 01:04:57,920
Squadrons were re-equipped
with new Spitfires.

915
01:04:57,920 --> 01:05:01,200
Fresh pilots were drafted in.

916
01:05:01,200 --> 01:05:06,880
Fighter Command was overhauled
in anticipation of the next
great challenge.

917
01:05:06,880 --> 01:05:09,440
AIR RAID SIRENS

918
01:05:14,760 --> 01:05:16,760
'Finally my big day has arrived.

919
01:05:16,760 --> 01:05:23,560
'I'm going to fly the Spitfire,
and with this flight, my flying
career comes full circle,

920
01:05:23,560 --> 01:05:28,560
'because I'll sit in the same
cockpit as the heroes who inspired
me to become an RAF pilot.'

921
01:05:29,640 --> 01:05:33,720
HE LAUGHS
I can't tell you how excited I am!

922
01:05:33,720 --> 01:05:36,160
It's just like you've kind of
dreamt about this moment

923
01:05:36,160 --> 01:05:40,600
since you were a kid and suddenly
the day has arrived, it's here,
I'm going to do it.

924
01:05:40,600 --> 01:05:44,360
It's a beautiful day and there's
puffy white clouds around,

925
01:05:44,360 --> 01:05:48,080
and blue sky. It just couldn't be
any more perfect so...

926
01:05:49,680 --> 01:05:52,000
I just can't really
believe it's going to happen.

927
01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:53,880
It's fantastic, absolutely amazing.

928
01:05:55,640 --> 01:06:00,120
Are you nervous? No,
I'm not nervous, I'm not nervous.

929
01:06:00,120 --> 01:06:03,560
I'm really not. I've sat in the
cockpit and had a look around

930
01:06:03,560 --> 01:06:05,080
and I've read through my notes.

931
01:06:05,080 --> 01:06:09,240
Everything is there, and
I think it's because

932
01:06:09,240 --> 01:06:11,200
I've had a bit of training.

933
01:06:11,200 --> 01:06:14,200
I've gone through the training. I've
done the Tiger Moth and the Harvard,

934
01:06:14,200 --> 01:06:18,520
and it's the logical next step, and
I'm really not nervous. I'm just...

935
01:06:18,520 --> 01:06:22,320
I'm just... Well, you can tell,
can't you really?

936
01:06:24,040 --> 01:06:26,680
OK, clear prop. And contact.

937
01:06:26,680 --> 01:06:28,280
OK. Contact!

938
01:06:34,400 --> 01:06:35,960
'Good start, well done.'

939
01:06:35,960 --> 01:06:37,640
You'll need to kick her out

940
01:06:37,640 --> 01:06:40,760
almost straight away with
a bit of left rudder. Yeah.

941
01:06:40,760 --> 01:06:43,440
Flying a Spitfire won't be easy.

942
01:06:43,440 --> 01:06:46,120
At 350 mph, she's really fast.

943
01:06:46,120 --> 01:06:49,040
A Spitfire is a thoroughbred
who needs handling with care.

944
01:06:49,040 --> 01:06:51,880
We're pointing in
the right direction, Colin.

945
01:06:57,160 --> 01:07:02,200
Hatch closed. Just gradually inch
the power up bit by bit.

946
01:07:02,200 --> 01:07:05,000
ENIGINE REVS INCREASED
That's it, that's good.

947
01:07:05,000 --> 01:07:09,200
Keep her straight. A bit of
left rudder.

948
01:07:09,200 --> 01:07:10,720
We're riding on the wheels,

949
01:07:10,720 --> 01:07:17,280
we've got nice power, very nice.
Let her fly when she wants to.

950
01:07:17,280 --> 01:07:19,640
That's it. Very good.

951
01:07:37,840 --> 01:07:40,240
You did that on your own. Oh!

952
01:07:45,320 --> 01:07:49,160
Just sitting in the cockpit is an
overwhelming experience.

953
01:07:49,160 --> 01:07:55,440
The Merlin engines roaring away,
and there's that unforgettable smell
of leather and oil and grease.

954
01:07:58,120 --> 01:08:01,240
OK, round to the right we go.

955
01:08:05,280 --> 01:08:08,200
I'm amazed at how light and
agile the Spitfire is,

956
01:08:08,200 --> 01:08:10,480
it's really responsive to the touch.

957
01:08:10,480 --> 01:08:13,920
Now I understand why so many
pilots have fallen in love with her.

958
01:08:19,440 --> 01:08:21,600
It was a real lady, the Spitfire,

959
01:08:21,600 --> 01:08:25,280
a beautiful aircraft,
not just to look at, but to fly.

960
01:08:27,920 --> 01:08:34,680
You had a fairly small cockpit,
so that when you were sitting in it,
you were very much part of the plane.

961
01:08:34,680 --> 01:08:37,080
You and the plane were together.

962
01:08:38,720 --> 01:08:44,000
It was beautiful, so smooth and
almost like a rhythm of it.

963
01:08:45,520 --> 01:08:47,520
It had all the
right characteristics.

964
01:08:47,520 --> 01:08:53,120
It behaved so beautifully and it
was beautiful to look at, so
what more can you say!

965
01:09:09,560 --> 01:09:14,880
The Spitfire is wonderful in
the air, but down on the ground,
it's a real beast to handle.

966
01:09:14,880 --> 01:09:16,840
Landing is the most difficult part.

967
01:09:16,840 --> 01:09:22,360
The Spitfire has a long nose,
so it's hard to see over it to work
out how close I am to the ground.

968
01:09:22,360 --> 01:09:24,920
Just fly her down like
you did the Harvard.

969
01:09:24,920 --> 01:09:30,960
Just fly her down, keep her coming
down, keep her coming down, keep her
coming down, keep her coming down,

970
01:09:30,960 --> 01:09:33,200
drop the power and hold her off.

971
01:09:33,200 --> 01:09:35,800
Hold her off, hold
her off, hold her off.

972
01:09:35,800 --> 01:09:38,360
Very nice. Now watch that rudder.

973
01:09:38,360 --> 01:09:40,440
The left rudder.

974
01:09:40,440 --> 01:09:44,920
Left rudder! Left rudder, that's it.

975
01:09:44,920 --> 01:09:46,720
Keep her straight.

976
01:09:46,720 --> 01:09:51,320
Don't get a wiggle on, don't get a
wiggle on, don't get a wiggle on.

977
01:09:51,320 --> 01:09:52,840
That's it, well done. Well done.

978
01:09:52,840 --> 01:09:55,760
Ooh, exhausting!

979
01:09:55,760 --> 01:09:57,880
A bit of brake, a bit of brake.

980
01:09:57,880 --> 01:10:04,320
That's it, that's it.
You have to work at it, don't you?

981
01:10:04,320 --> 01:10:06,000
Bloody hell! OK!

982
01:10:08,840 --> 01:10:10,760
That was a lovely landing.

983
01:10:10,760 --> 01:10:12,560
I'm happy about that.

984
01:10:12,560 --> 01:10:16,240
I presume you were talking to the
aeroplane and not your instructor.

985
01:10:16,240 --> 01:10:18,720
I was
definitely talking to the aeroplane!

986
01:10:18,720 --> 01:10:22,960
THEY LAUGH
Oh, my God.

987
01:10:28,040 --> 01:10:33,400
Excellent. Sorry, I'm just having
a little moment.

988
01:10:34,920 --> 01:10:37,200
Are you all right in the front?
Yeah, yeah.

989
01:10:40,720 --> 01:10:45,000
When the heartbeats come back
to something which isn't
on danger level...

990
01:10:45,000 --> 01:10:48,840
HE LAUGHS
Well!

991
01:10:51,520 --> 01:10:54,000
That's amazing, amazing.

992
01:10:54,000 --> 01:10:56,040
I can't believe I've just done that.

993
01:11:01,240 --> 01:11:02,720
It's really incredible.

994
01:11:04,960 --> 01:11:06,600
Oh, man!

995
01:11:09,160 --> 01:11:11,080
Oh, my God, that was...

996
01:11:11,080 --> 01:11:14,200
I don't think I've ever had an
experience like that in my life,

997
01:11:14,200 --> 01:11:17,520
it was just the most
incredible thing to do.
Quite emotional, really.

998
01:11:17,520 --> 01:11:19,200
Yes, it is, it is.

999
01:11:19,200 --> 01:11:21,000
Really emotional, yes.

1000
01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:23,480
I wasn't sure it would be,
but it is.

1001
01:11:23,480 --> 01:11:26,560
There he was on a bright blue day

1002
01:11:26,560 --> 01:11:30,960
over the green fields of England
doing aerobatics in a Spitfire.

1003
01:11:30,960 --> 01:11:33,040
Doesn't get much better than that.

1004
01:11:48,480 --> 01:11:51,920
A week of foul weather followed
the first day of the Blitz.

1005
01:11:51,920 --> 01:11:55,840
Fighter Command pilots
were confined to base.

1006
01:11:55,840 --> 01:12:01,440
Luftwaffe squadrons flying
over Britain encountered
very few RAF aircraft.

1007
01:12:01,440 --> 01:12:07,400
Their reports convinced Goering that
Fighter Command was down to
its last 200 planes.

1008
01:12:07,400 --> 01:12:10,600
Time was running out.
He had only a few days left

1009
01:12:10,600 --> 01:12:14,840
to destroy the RAF before
Hitler's invasion had to begin.

1010
01:12:17,240 --> 01:12:21,520
Goering believed that one more blow
would crush Fighter Command,

1011
01:12:21,520 --> 01:12:27,000
and with the bad weather breaking,
the day of reckoning had arrived.

1012
01:12:47,600 --> 01:12:50,440
So is this going down
to the command centre?

1013
01:12:50,440 --> 01:12:55,280
Yes, this was the headquarters
of 11 Group, their Ops Room.

1014
01:12:55,280 --> 01:12:57,120
Right. Top secret down here.

1015
01:12:57,120 --> 01:13:01,040
I think it was secret,
I don't think the Germans ever
knew about this place. No?

1016
01:13:01,040 --> 01:13:04,040
I think it was just kept completely
under wraps.

1017
01:13:04,040 --> 01:13:07,160
9412, south.

1018
01:13:07,160 --> 01:13:13,160
'RAF Uxbridge was the nerve centre
on 15th September, the decisive
day of the Battle of Britain.'

1019
01:13:13,160 --> 01:13:16,880
Wow. I've seen this room
in so many movies, have you?

1020
01:13:16,880 --> 01:13:18,840
Yeah, it's weird, it's kind of...

1021
01:13:18,840 --> 01:13:20,360
Look at all this.

1022
01:13:20,360 --> 01:13:24,360
'70 years on,
the room has been preserved

1023
01:13:24,360 --> 01:13:27,960
'just as Keith Park would have known
it on the day he scrambled
his squadrons

1024
01:13:27,960 --> 01:13:30,200
'to meet the great Luftwaffe attack.

1025
01:13:30,200 --> 01:13:35,080
'The first few hours were crucial for
the outcome of the Battle of Britain.

1026
01:13:35,080 --> 01:13:40,840
'For the very first time,
we've pieced together the records for
each phase of the German attack.

1027
01:13:40,840 --> 01:13:46,400
'These RAF personnel will help us
plot the raid moment by moment.

1028
01:13:46,400 --> 01:13:50,640
'They'll be doing exactly what their
predecessors did 70 years ago.'

1029
01:13:50,640 --> 01:13:52,440
Four zero seven nine!

1030
01:13:52,440 --> 01:13:58,120
'And Stephen Bungay is on hand
to take us through the key moments
of 15th September 1940.'

1031
01:13:58,120 --> 01:14:02,160
The weather reports are good, the
day is fine, there's a little bit

1032
01:14:02,160 --> 01:14:06,400
of haze on the ground,
but visibility
on the ground's about four miles.

1033
01:14:06,400 --> 01:14:10,080
It's about 14 degrees centigrade,
it's a beautiful late summer day.

1034
01:14:10,080 --> 01:14:13,080
It's great weather for
strolling to the pub,

1035
01:14:13,080 --> 01:14:16,520
reading the newspaper in the garden,
and launching major air attacks.

1036
01:14:16,520 --> 01:14:18,560
And guess what choice they made.
Right, right.

1037
01:14:18,560 --> 01:14:23,800
So on they come and Park here
is waiting for them.

1038
01:14:25,400 --> 01:14:28,600
Keith Park didn't have to wait long.

1039
01:14:28,600 --> 01:14:32,440
At 10:10am, the Germans
took off from their bases

1040
01:14:32,440 --> 01:14:34,400
on the French coast.

1041
01:14:34,400 --> 01:14:39,680
The bombers circled over the
English Channel as they waited for
their fighter escorts to arrive.

1042
01:14:39,680 --> 01:14:44,280
Then Goering's great air armada
began its attack run.

1043
01:14:47,000 --> 01:14:51,280
Back in London, the Prime
Minister, Winston Churchill,
had noticed the fine weather.

1044
01:14:51,280 --> 01:14:54,640
He sensed it
would be another big day.

1045
01:14:56,200 --> 01:14:57,560
He drove to Uxbridge

1046
01:14:57,560 --> 01:15:01,000
and arrived at 10:30am as
the drama began to unfold.

1047
01:15:02,240 --> 01:15:07,400
Park went up, met him, reminded
him that he couldn't light his cigar

1048
01:15:07,400 --> 01:15:10,600
because the air conditioning
here won't cope with that.

1049
01:15:10,600 --> 01:15:17,480
He was in here? He was just up there
with an unlit cigar clenched between
his teeth throughout the day.

1050
01:15:17,480 --> 01:15:19,440
Stand by for a new raid.

1051
01:15:19,440 --> 01:15:23,760
Hostile zero four William
X-ray, zero six six one...

1052
01:15:23,760 --> 01:15:27,440
'At 10:51am, the first
marker went on the board.

1053
01:15:27,440 --> 01:15:31,840
'30 hostile aircraft
had been detected
by Britain's air defence system.

1054
01:15:31,840 --> 01:15:35,640
'It was the spearhead
of the German attack.'

1055
01:15:35,640 --> 01:15:39,440
All squadrons
come to readiness...

1056
01:15:39,440 --> 01:15:42,720
'At 11:03am, Park scrambled the
first fighter squadron.'

1057
01:15:44,400 --> 01:15:47,000
He sent out the Biggin Hill
Wing of Spitfires,

1058
01:15:47,000 --> 01:15:49,040
two Spitfire
squadrons, 72 and 92,

1059
01:15:49,040 --> 01:15:52,320
up high to patrol Canterbury,
to hit them over the coast.

1060
01:15:52,320 --> 01:15:54,320
He sent them up to
about 25,000 feet.

1061
01:15:54,320 --> 01:15:59,200
When they arrived, they were above
the German top cover.

1062
01:15:59,200 --> 01:16:01,560
Park had laid an ambush.

1063
01:16:01,560 --> 01:16:04,040
When the German bombers
and their fighter escorts

1064
01:16:04,040 --> 01:16:09,560
arrived over the south coast,
the RAF was waiting, high above.

1065
01:16:09,560 --> 01:16:13,800
Park's strategy was to send
out Spitfires to engage
the Messerschmitt 109s.

1066
01:16:13,800 --> 01:16:16,320
The 109s would be forced to fight.

1067
01:16:16,320 --> 01:16:19,840
That would strip the bombers
of their protective shield.

1068
01:16:21,680 --> 01:16:24,600
At 11:40am, the
first dogfights began.

1069
01:16:24,600 --> 01:16:26,480
Park's strategy was going to plan.

1070
01:16:30,720 --> 01:16:35,040
While the dogfights raged, the
German bombers pressed on for London.

1071
01:16:35,040 --> 01:16:38,320
But now another
unforeseen problem arose.

1072
01:16:40,960 --> 01:16:46,720
A 90mph headwind had blown up,
which cut the ground speed
of the bombers in half.

1073
01:16:46,720 --> 01:16:50,600
It would take them twice as
long to reach their target.

1074
01:16:50,600 --> 01:16:55,600
Raid hostile, zero four
Robert seven three...

1075
01:16:55,600 --> 01:16:58,640
Goering had promised that
Fighter Command was finished,

1076
01:16:58,640 --> 01:17:02,080
but German aircrew had
endured a terrible ordeal.

1077
01:17:02,080 --> 01:17:05,480
They'd been attacked on all sides
since they crossed the south coast.

1078
01:17:05,480 --> 01:17:07,720
And it was about to get even worse.

1079
01:17:11,560 --> 01:17:13,920
'Keith Park now delivered
his master stroke.

1080
01:17:13,920 --> 01:17:19,720
'He'd always been sceptical about
the Big Wing and the value
of a risky all-out attack.

1081
01:17:19,720 --> 01:17:26,200
'But it was time for the RAF's hammer
blow, so he summoned his great rival,
Douglas Bader, to lead the charge.'

1082
01:17:30,440 --> 01:17:33,560
At 12:09pm, the German
bombers arrived over London.

1083
01:17:33,560 --> 01:17:38,240
To their horror, 60 Big Wing
fighters were waiting for them.

1084
01:17:39,800 --> 01:17:42,040
Bader launched an all-out attack.

1085
01:17:49,160 --> 01:17:51,200
FIRING

1086
01:18:02,200 --> 01:18:05,680
There were so many British aircraft
that they got in each other's way.

1087
01:18:05,680 --> 01:18:09,320
Only six German bombers and
12 fighters were shot down.

1088
01:18:09,320 --> 01:18:15,040
But the appearance of so many RAF
planes shattered Luftwaffe morale.

1089
01:18:15,040 --> 01:18:21,800
The psychological impact of this on
the German flyers, of course,
was shock.

1090
01:18:21,800 --> 01:18:26,520
But on the commanders,
it was a sudden realisation

1091
01:18:26,520 --> 01:18:30,360
of what had actually been going on
for the previous month.

1092
01:18:30,360 --> 01:18:35,920
"We thought we'd got them on
their knees and oh my God,
we've been getting nowhere.

1093
01:18:35,920 --> 01:18:38,920
"We've no time left,
what can we do?"

1094
01:18:41,600 --> 01:18:49,000
When the Luftwaffe finally
tallied up their losses, 15th
September had cost them 56 planes.

1095
01:18:49,000 --> 01:18:51,800
They'd experienced far worse days.

1096
01:18:51,800 --> 01:18:55,840
'The real significance
was what the battle revealed.

1097
01:18:55,840 --> 01:19:01,440
'After two months of fighting,
the RAF was even
stronger than before.

1098
01:19:01,440 --> 01:19:06,200
'With Fighter Command
controlling the skies,
the invasion couldn't take place.

1099
01:19:07,800 --> 01:19:11,880
'Two days later,
Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion.'

1100
01:19:18,160 --> 01:19:21,840
There's one more flight left and
it's the most amazing flight of all.

1101
01:19:23,440 --> 01:19:26,000
There's a chance to go up
in a Spitfire once more,

1102
01:19:26,000 --> 01:19:28,320
but this time
I'd be flying in formation with

1103
01:19:28,320 --> 01:19:32,320
a Hurricane and Spitfire from the
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

1104
01:19:35,040 --> 01:19:40,080
Flying alongside other Battle
of Britain aircraft is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

1105
01:19:40,080 --> 01:19:44,160
But can I really take two
trips in a Spitfire,
when my brother Ewan has had none?

1106
01:19:52,600 --> 01:19:56,120
Fancy a go?
How do you mean, "fancy a go"?

1107
01:19:56,120 --> 01:19:58,680
Do you fancy a go? How do you mean?

1108
01:19:58,680 --> 01:20:00,880
Am I going to get to
go up in it with you?

1109
01:20:00,880 --> 01:20:03,120
Not with me. Oh, no?

1110
01:20:03,120 --> 01:20:05,880
Well, I'd love to have
a go, yeah, of course. Right.

1111
01:20:05,880 --> 01:20:08,120
I'm not
going to go today, you're going.

1112
01:20:08,120 --> 01:20:11,400
What do you mean you're not going
today? You're going to go in it? Why?

1113
01:20:11,400 --> 01:20:15,440
Cos you're going to go
on it, I'm not.
I thought you were going in it today.

1114
01:20:15,440 --> 01:20:17,080
I'm going up in the back of it?

1115
01:20:17,080 --> 01:20:19,200
You're going up in the back of it?
Where are you going to be?

1116
01:20:19,200 --> 01:20:24,680
I'm going to be on the ground.
Seriously? Seriously.

1117
01:20:24,680 --> 01:20:29,920
But don't you feel like you'll
miss out on your go? I've had my go.

1118
01:20:29,920 --> 01:20:31,600
You need to see what it's like.

1119
01:20:31,600 --> 01:20:35,320
That's why you were telling
me to bring a flying suit
this morning, isn't it? Yeah.

1120
01:20:36,320 --> 01:20:39,360
That's fantastic. OK.

1121
01:20:39,360 --> 01:20:42,480
Here's me asking you how you'd
parachute out of it!

1122
01:20:42,480 --> 01:20:44,680
Which was quite relevant.
OK question to ask.

1123
01:20:47,560 --> 01:20:49,560
Oh, my God, that's
going to be amazing.

1124
01:20:53,840 --> 01:20:55,880
HE TAPS

1125
01:21:05,000 --> 01:21:06,240
Ooh-hoo!

1126
01:21:32,280 --> 01:21:36,520
They're coming into formation here.
That is amazing.

1127
01:21:40,760 --> 01:21:44,360
There's a Hurricane and a Spitfire
and then, at the far side of the
formation,

1128
01:21:44,360 --> 01:21:46,280
I'm in the back of the two-seat Spit.

1129
01:21:48,400 --> 01:21:51,360
HE LAUGHS

1130
01:21:51,360 --> 01:21:54,760
They are so close, I feel like
I could reach out and touch them.

1131
01:21:54,760 --> 01:21:57,120
Our wing tips are only feet apart.

1132
01:21:58,400 --> 01:22:00,880
I can't express, it's unbelievable

1133
01:22:00,880 --> 01:22:04,640
to see the Spitfire
right off my wing like that. Woo-hoo!

1134
01:22:07,160 --> 01:22:12,800
We're retracing the route the Battle
of Britain pilots would have taken
as they patrolled the south coast.

1135
01:22:20,880 --> 01:22:25,200
We're all in formation.
I've never been so
close to another aircraft in the sky.

1136
01:22:30,120 --> 01:22:34,600
'The skill of the pilots is awesome,
but flying in formation
is just the start.'

1137
01:22:34,600 --> 01:22:37,240
They're going to show me what
these war birds can really do.

1138
01:22:40,600 --> 01:22:43,040
One, two, three.

1139
01:22:43,040 --> 01:22:47,120
Woo-hoo! Ha-ha!

1140
01:22:47,120 --> 01:22:50,040
Oh, yes!

1141
01:22:52,400 --> 01:22:55,120
Oh, that is amazing.

1142
01:22:55,120 --> 01:22:59,200
The people in this city
are getting the show of their life.

1143
01:22:59,200 --> 01:23:01,360
Absolutely. Absolutely right.

1144
01:23:01,360 --> 01:23:03,400
Break, break, go. One, two, three.

1145
01:23:12,120 --> 01:23:15,480
Oh, yes!

1146
01:23:18,040 --> 01:23:20,440
Look at that Hurricane go like that!
Woo-hoo!

1147
01:23:20,440 --> 01:23:23,000
That is awesome.

1148
01:23:28,840 --> 01:23:33,600
I can't believe the pilots used
to be able to do this after
such little training,

1149
01:23:33,600 --> 01:23:37,840
maybe 10 hours' training
in this aircraft before
they were expected to do this.

1150
01:23:37,840 --> 01:23:39,680
It's mind-blowing.

1151
01:23:39,680 --> 01:23:42,000
Listen to this noise!

1152
01:23:54,320 --> 01:23:56,200
HE LAUGHS

1153
01:24:00,240 --> 01:24:03,200
Right, how big is
his smile going to be?

1154
01:24:24,760 --> 01:24:28,680
How was that? That was unbelievable.

1155
01:24:28,680 --> 01:24:30,680
I think you'll need one of them.

1156
01:24:30,680 --> 01:24:34,240
Thanks a lot, mate.
Cliff, that was amazing!

1157
01:24:34,240 --> 01:24:39,040
I had more "Oh wow's" and...
What, more than me?

1158
01:24:39,040 --> 01:24:42,320
Oh, my God, you are so close
together, you are so close.

1159
01:24:42,320 --> 01:24:45,360
That's the one thing that I hadn't,

1160
01:24:45,360 --> 01:24:48,400
I hadn't really...

1161
01:24:48,400 --> 01:24:50,920
fully entertained in my mind.

1162
01:24:50,920 --> 01:24:55,400
You're like literally on each other's
wing and you're looking over there

1163
01:24:55,400 --> 01:24:59,400
at another aeroplane in the sky,
and it's bumpy sometimes, you know?

1164
01:24:59,400 --> 01:25:04,480
Oh yeah. And when it moves,
I was like "... hell."

1165
01:25:04,480 --> 01:25:07,560
I didn't say it, cos I knew he'd
hear me, but I loved the peel-offs.

1166
01:25:07,560 --> 01:25:14,160
And I wish I had a camera here
looking, so you could see what I saw,
cos it was nuts how close we were.

1167
01:25:14,160 --> 01:25:18,400
So the next trip, Ewan, scramble the
McGregor Big Wing? How about that?

1168
01:25:18,400 --> 01:25:21,040
Yeah, nice one, dude.
We'll do that then.

1169
01:25:25,000 --> 01:25:27,720
It's been wonderful to fly
these planes,

1170
01:25:27,720 --> 01:25:32,440
but it's been an even greater
privilege to meet
the heroes that fought in them.

1171
01:25:32,440 --> 01:25:36,200
What we've learned about the Battle
of Britain has brought home to us

1172
01:25:36,200 --> 01:25:38,320
the significance of their victory.

1173
01:25:38,320 --> 01:25:42,040
It was a battle that turned the tide
of world history,

1174
01:25:42,040 --> 01:25:44,880
but it took place
over our green fields.

1175
01:25:46,520 --> 01:25:51,920
That's what makes it unique to me,
that it was happening right here,
right above us.

1176
01:25:51,920 --> 01:25:55,960
And it involved everyone,
it involved everybody.

1177
01:25:55,960 --> 01:25:58,000
So everybody had to pull together.

1178
01:25:59,200 --> 01:26:01,920
Yeah, I think it's
almost incomprehensible.

1179
01:26:01,920 --> 01:26:06,920
I don't think we can understand what
it would have been like if it
had gone the other way. Yeah.

1180
01:26:06,920 --> 01:26:08,480
I think it's true.

1181
01:26:08,480 --> 01:26:11,720
I think that this war
that happened in the skies here

1182
01:26:11,720 --> 01:26:14,760
has enabled us all to have the lives
that we've had,

1183
01:26:14,760 --> 01:26:18,200
and will continue
for our children and their children.

1184
01:26:18,200 --> 01:26:20,320
It's really extraordinary.

1185
01:26:22,520 --> 01:26:27,320
Our journey ends here, at
Capel-le-Ferne on the Kent coast.

1186
01:26:29,760 --> 01:26:34,000
This is the memorial to the
3,000 airmen who fought
in the Battle of Britain.

1187
01:26:38,040 --> 01:26:39,920
Here's Douglas Bader, look.

1188
01:26:39,920 --> 01:26:41,680
Oh, yeah, yeah.

1189
01:26:43,840 --> 01:26:49,920
'Most of them were British,
but hundreds came from
overseas to defend our shores.'

1190
01:26:49,920 --> 01:26:52,520
There's Czech and Polish pilots,
wasn't there?

1191
01:26:57,520 --> 01:26:59,960
'There are those who died
70 years ago

1192
01:26:59,960 --> 01:27:03,320
'and those who survived,
men we've been privileged to meet.'

1193
01:27:03,320 --> 01:27:06,560
There's Geoffrey Wellum's down
there. Oh yeah, yeah.

1194
01:27:06,560 --> 01:27:10,240
That's what I like about it,
that it's for the pilots who died

1195
01:27:10,240 --> 01:27:13,480
and the pilots that lived, it's not
just a memorial of the dead pilots.

1196
01:27:13,480 --> 01:27:15,520
It's for all the airmen
that took part. Yeah.

1197
01:27:17,560 --> 01:27:21,120
'544 RAF airmen were killed.

1198
01:27:21,120 --> 01:27:24,040
'Their average age was just 22.

1199
01:27:26,760 --> 01:27:30,920
'We'd like the last word to go
to Spitfire pilot William Walker.

1200
01:27:30,920 --> 01:27:35,240
'At 97, he's one of the oldest
survivors of the Battle of Britain.'

1201
01:27:37,880 --> 01:27:45,600
Remember those not here today
and those unwell or far away

1202
01:27:45,600 --> 01:27:50,760
and those who never lived to see
the end of war and victory

1203
01:27:50,760 --> 01:27:58,400
and every friend who passed our way
remembered as of yesterday

1204
01:27:58,400 --> 01:28:00,760
It's absent friends
we miss the most

1205
01:28:00,760 --> 01:28:04,120
To all, let's drink a loving toast.

1206
01:28:15,560 --> 01:28:18,600
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

1207
01:28:18,600 --> 01:28:21,680
E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk