YES. SIR! I've educated myself so much over the past 2 or 3 years on WW2 and many other wars through history, and I've come to realise there are so many examples of incredible selfless bravery that we all owe our freedom to. It's a beautiful thing. Bless these men and women. The final few moments of this video for sure had me choked up with great pride and gratitude.

Peter Blazeby, Let us remember too that these pilots were, on average, little more than teenagers. The average age of an RAF pilot was 20. At age 18 or 19, some actually were teenagers. These were young men who sacrificed, and in many cases, gave their youthful lives to generations yet unborn.

Same here.

Absolutely, and never forgotten, what a brave bunch of woman and men.

Those were years of intense passion of purpose. At almost 70, I feel great sympathy for the young of today. To what great cause is there to which they could give themselves? In the US, from where I hail, every symbol and institution, from flag to family, is frail, tarnished and saturated with doubt and uncertainty. The symbols of today's masculinity and femininity are decadent and unhealthy, not at all good for the young. What can we do? Nothing but what we do with every period of illness....endure and live through it to the other side.

And the way he and Keith Park were treated was an utter disgrace.

I would do this

@@CaptYellow331 it's not as easy as saying it people your laughing with joking with making a bond with before getting sent out, chances are you might never see them again, do you reckon you could handle the ptsd, even if you joined the army now you will never see the action these guys faced, not only in the war but if you rolled up to one of them death camps that in its self is a experience you could never imagine even myself the smell and sight them guys experienced would of been out of this world

@@D-A-A- I’m not laughing I was saying I would join the war if you had more than 10 iq

There have been a few wars since then granted not on the same scale. But combat is combat a terrible thing everyone fights his on battles and continues to do so long after the shooting stops.

@Definitely Maybe badly let down by incompetent politicians. One in particullar. Too bad politic in WW 2 turned them all into communists Montgomery included.

@@michaelmcneil4168 Montgomery Burns?????

Absolute sky warriors!

Absolutely!

Agreed. Park also. Disgrace.

Same happens in large companies / corporations / organisations the world over. This does not excuse their truly AWFUL treatment, but its not something peculiar to the British.

The flexibility required was to be able to evaluate any plan whollistically, in terms of total costs and benefits to the total war effort. I think Dowding could think tactically very well and had a strategy for an "air war for territory" only.. but then after the Battle of Britian, it was far from that. The air force was not going to fight a battle to win territory in Europe, they were going to battle to attrition Europe, gaining little territory (such as airfields in France. ) until the final months before the total collapse of the Nazis. Its short term vs long term. Dowding did the short time just fine. How about the long term strategy.. is focusing on defending Britain the right thing to do ?

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Yes this was my first thought. Just like any coorperate envirnoment. Always someone behind you working to undermine.

Pat. The truly critical issue was that the Kriegsmarine could not have achieved a successful amphibious landing / invasion. And the RN's home strength was way superior. Reality, not myth. I am not trying to diminish Fighter Command, but how about we get real.

@@timboinozify , How long did H.M.S. Prince of Wales and H.M.S. Repulse survive, while providing mutual support for each other off the coast of Malaya against nothing but enemy aircraft? Note: the Japanese aircraft that sank those two ships were deployed from a lot further away than 22 miles. I realize you respect the contributions of the R.A.F. -- both ground personnel and pilots. I just wanted you to consider that one example when friendly air cover was unavailable. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse

@@ieatoutoften872 Comparing the japanese naval and land based anti ship capabilities to that of the Germans is like comparing Manchester United to Scunthorpe town. Nazis in 1940 had NO torpedo bomber, no dedicated anti ship aircraft, in fact no recognisable blue water anti-ship capabilities at all. The closest being the Stukas, but they didn't fare too well at Dunkirk did they? THOUSANDS of ship targets available and a sinking rate of less than 1%?

Pat Fontaine, since you have studied this battle so closely, I would like to know your opinion on what would have happened if the Nazis had won the Battle of Britain and gained air superiority. In particular, I would like to hear your opinion on whether German air superiority would have translated into naval superiority as well, as we saw with the US in the pacific following the battle of midway in 1942. All the US needed was a few aircraft carriers to get their planes in range (and radar as well I believe).

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 , Regarding your comment about the Luftwaffe's ability to sink ships off the coast of Dunkirk ... 225 total British ships were sunk in the Dunkirk evacuation (not including the dozens damaged) divided by a total of 693 British ships engaged in the Dunkirk evacuation = 0.3247 = 32.47 percent sunk by Luftwaffe (much higher than one percent) . And don't forget, this is with as much air cover as both RAF and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) could sortie from dawn to dusk from a relatively short distance. Imagine if the RAF and FAA had been destroyed before the Dunkirk evacuation. Note: I did not include the one British ship sunk by the Kriegsmarine in my calculations. H.M.S. Wakeful was sunk by a torpedo from the E-boat S-30 on 29 May 1940. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation ---end of this comment.

And the pathetic polititions constantly fritter away our way of life

It was squandered on the Silent Generation who drove the Boomers into madness!

And then you look up from your screen and see the ungrateful recent generations throwing it away. Arguing for censorship of mean words........how many died based on the ideals of our founding documents, just to have all they sacrifice thrown away. I have honestly never been more ashamed of my fellow countryman as I have been the last few years. Sorry, rant over

They're acknowledged EVERY year at remembrance and battle of Britain day parades across the length and breadth of the UK. Something you would already have known had you REALLY cared for their honour and memory, instead of posting meaningless "virtue signalling" messages on YT.

Thank you for his service

A Generation of Heroes, my friend, a Generation of Heroes. And thank you for his service.

Lost credibility mate ..can't spell Britain!

Where is Britton? It's not in my atlas.

All United in 1 cause

Czech?

the french help was pathetic, possibly a dozen pilots only and only one dying. Great credit should go to commonwealth, Czech and polish pilots, french stats are appalling

+Mark Williams My grandpa was Swedish and his Swedish friends flew Wellingtons and he flew Spits with norwegian pilots

You have to hand it to the colonels that they still had alligence to the motherland The Poles and others were so brave and good, they had first hand knowledge of the evil of the Nazi's because their own countries had been invaded and they knew Britain was their last hope to help them fight the enemy and in doing so protect England We owe these brave young men our eternal gratitude

Free world? You must be joking! Don't you know anything about the World Economic Forum? Does walking around like zombies with a face mask not tell you anything? We are living in an Orwellian world now! And it is going to get worse. You will be forced to have vaccines when they do not even work but in fact damage your health and immune system! Governments and mainstream media are corrupt and act as propaganda narratives for the global elites.

Were the German people "free" during ww2?

@Dal J yupp, and the Earth is flat...

The Poles had lost their country and families to the Nazis,they had everything to fight for.we just had young teenages with our hopes and prayers. We must never forget the human loss of life.

Richard Rozmanowski Poland had 145 pilots, the U.K. had 2,342 pilots, did they help the Polish pilots in any way?, or were they all down the pub while Poland was winning the Battle of Britain.

What were the men and women who participated in WW1, chopped liver?

@@GhettoRanger01 Certainly not. That is not my intention at all to disrespect the fallen .

that was always the case throughout the war, certainly up to that point, you could say the reserves were the rear groups other than 12 group.

God bless all & R I P all

Hear hear!

Operation Market Garden was one of the biggest British war blunders.

@@charonboat6394 Would you say that OMG was a bridge too far?

Tell us again what happened to those two?

Another intressting fact was polish air force was a separate allied formation and polish squadrons was incorporated in RAF structures with squadron numbers and command structure still being foreign airforce. More intressting fact is Polish emmigration gouvernement in London paid for every expense including airplanes fuel ammo and even uniforms food and accomodation to British gouvernement. It was done from Polish National Bank reserve with was evacuated via Romania to Britain in sept. 1939. So basically Polish purchased a whole airforce from Britain provided pilots and ground personnel and lone it for free to RAF. Polish flyers or any other polish soldier in Britain was EXCLUDED from victory parade in London at the end of the war in Europe. Demobilized flyers was in most causes sent back to communist occupied Poland after war. Directly in hands of communist secret police, where they was prosecuted as traitors or western spies. Polish exile gouvernement was soon ignored in favour of Stalin installed communist regime in Warsaw. Gold reserve was sent back to communists. It was used to pay soviets for their help in "liberation" of Poland.

@@datamek The whole sad, sorry history of Poland's treatment throughout the 20th century is a disgrace. As an Englishman, I felt ashamed of our reaction of many of my countrymen who complained about 'Polish plumbers' etc who came here looking for work in the nineties. Such short memories!

during the whole war perhaps but in fighter command 2 squadrons, 32 in 303, 34 in 303, with a few czecks and Brit commanders.

@Denise Bond oh don’t be such a damn bleeding heart, our technology, navy and island being used as a stepping stone were crucial to the victory we got, don’t be so quick to tarnish every fighting man with that tarred brush of yours because without them, you may not even be here.

When you say per capita it depends on your criteria. New Zealand had more pilots in the Battle related to that countries population at the time than any country including the UK. Behind Bader’s glory hunting Churchill was influential in this disgraceful removal of Dowding and Park.

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Nice my friend! Back at you!

From Britain: god bless our American cousins.🇬🇧🇺🇸🇬🇧🇺🇸

Everyone in that war should of been knighted

I don't think country can say they've been beacons of morality in the past or at present. Simple thing is, we learn from them. And as for our history, we had successes and defeats. But. We're all proud of our countries.

You need to buy a new keyboard. This one is stuck on caps lock.

@Darren Morgan yes it hurts to learn the truth

@@youbidoubidou Yes, why all the shouting at us?

NOT TRUE! Our military forces are made up of young men and women who sacrifice their lives, often in dubious conflicts True WW2 was a bit nasty but today's forces are something we should be proud of these youths for their dedication to duty sacrifices of life and limb. It would be my fervent wish that there was no need for military but until then we have the finest ,courageous and positive young people Protecting you and I without a thought about themselves I salute them and honor them and I feel great sorrow when I hear about a loss.

@@julianwaugh968 not as many as what you think, I'm young many people I know won't join the army cos it doesn't seem a just cause the wars in afghan and Iraq scream corruption why would i put my life on the line for that ? There was a cause for stopping the nazis it was reasonable and just, I don't know what the guys on about who made the original comment if that man or woman has kids I hope they stick to their advice basically saying if yoy haven't been or seen a war or death then your a greedy human who wants everything, so I hope they send their kids into some war torn country to build their character like they are pretty much suggesting

Just curious how many wars have you fought in ?

Filming real aeroplanes in the sky at its best

Especially when you think that it was a multhiethnic and multinational force who defended britain. Not much left when you see todays bexitland.

@@TOFKAS01 75% were native British and the othe 25% were Canadians Polish, Czechs and Australians (mainly from British and Irish descent). I believe there were a small number of Indian men also. All very courageous.

@@lckoolg622 You forgot the Americans.

Gun fire is very loud, much louder than what movies portray.

AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, THEY NEW THEY WERE IN THE RIGHT

@@pollyg562, unfortunately I can't remember which british pilot it was but he said he didn't want those damn germans flying over his country and he was right to defend it :0)

I can't exactly agree with that but I have to say the Raf pilots were better otherwise being outnumbered and outgunned by the 20mm they would really have been beat when stupid Goering said they were. But some German pilots have more Kills than a 100 Raf pilots together and those aces were keeping the war going with the damage they did. And of course I know Raf pilots had big balls all around and the Germans did not have near that many but defending your homeland makes a difference

@1manuscriptman So then why were the German's sehr klug und flessig so inept at not paying attention to intelligence they didn't like. Perhaps, it was because their leader was a paranoid, sociopathic narcissist suffering from delusions of grandeur.

@1manuscriptman Do you spell balls with a "t"? I've experienced both British and German balls and I couldn't discern any dif. Both had big balls. What I believe robert was alluding to is that British pilots knew they had to win and for the German's it was more like an extended sortie. When things didn't work out as planned the German's turned to Russia.

I'm not sure, but I would love it if they did, as my Grandfather was one of the lucky ones evacuated from Dunkirk.

Wow, did you think of that all by yourself?

@@GhettoRanger01 Yep, but it is true they were very good cannons with rapid fire

The shithole of modern globalist infected London is about as far removed from what the young men of the RAF were fighting for in 1940.

Michael Painter ...Britain at its unbeatable best....Make war, but NOT on the English.

Me in Chislehurst same!

They were great words however it wasn't really about the few. The pilots did their jobs and risked death at any second but each pilot was backed up by 100s if not 1000s of people: - those in the factories making the aircraft, those in the ships supplying the fuel and materials - many killed at sea, the ground support staff - mechanics and engineers, the radar operators and technicians, the enormous supply chain and logistics. The scientists and engineers who designed up to date, modern, powerful aircraft. I could go on and list 1000 jobs - this was a team effort from a whole country that won the Battle of Britain. It was nation fighting against nation.

Same old divisive BS.

No, Midway was far more decisive because it crippled japans offensive power. The BoB just had shown that the Nazireich was not that strong that it could defeat the british in the air. Thats all. Saved by germanys insufficient capacities for a strategic bombing-campaign and by foreign pilots from eastern-europe.

TOFKAS01 good points, also mention that Hitlers obsession with conquering Russia were luckily more important to him and Operation Seelowe would have to “wait”. Let’s not forget that the Bof B was a “very close run thing”,

Fair points but USA wasn't getting invaded and shafted if she lost that battle, Britain was!

@@davefloyd9443 Maybe not shafted, but the entire west coast would have been open for invasion with very little resistance.

@@billschomburg6853 Had never really thought about that possibility. I guess Washington could have sacrificed the western side of the continental divide and withdrawn to the East like the Soviet plan. Undoubtedly there would have been Commonwealth allies fighting South from Canada. If Hitler's mob couldn't mobilize an invasion fleet from the whole of occupied Europe to cross 23 miles of English Channel I cant see Japan pulling off a 5000 mile version against a front stretching from Alaska to Mexico. Blighty stood alone with her Commonwealth and we would "never surrender". As the Brigade of Ghurkas moto states "Better to die than be a coward"

A bit more detail on your interesting comment please .

but but but but but they weren't .50 cals (the yanks would whine)