Viktor

😃

💄💄💄

I could have only seen them at airshows back in the 70s and 80s . They looked marvelous and sounded like thunder ... I had the pleasure of watching a Spitfire run through its paces . It was smaller than the others but just as powerful .

I even saw an Me109 and a Mitsubishi Zero

I worked with a bloke from Peckham, who as a kid, would hide when the siren went, then when the grown ups were in the shelters, he would come out and watch. Probably in more danger from British anti aircraft fire, although Peckham did get bombed. To watch it must have been amazing! Thanks for your memory.

Wow. What an incredible time to grow up in. Thank you for sharing that. 🫡 🇬🇧 🇺🇸

We won’t be here in a thousand years.

Ah yes. But both wars made some people very rich including communist leaders.

@@davidreinhart418 Este! @

There is a movie about the Polish Pilots....with the actor that was a bad guy in Game of Thrones....cant remember his name but the movie was great

@@sabrecatsmiladon7380 Hurricane is the film about Polish pilots. Dark Blue World is another good WW2 film about Czech pilots.

It must always be kept in mind that 75% of the Fighter Command pilots that turned the tide of nazism in Europe during the battle of Britain were British born.

My Family is from Orpington … my mum and siblings where evacuated during the V weapons blitz …

I am thankful that my country hasn't seen an invasion in 200 years , at least not on the mainland . Hawaii was attacked but we rebounded quickly . I admire the make do ethic of Brits . I have no such admiration for many of my own here on Louisiana . They think wearing masks is a bridge too far....

@@georgeelmerdenbrough6906 Masks are fine if YOU CHOOSE to wear them. The ORDER to wear them is one little baby step down the road towards what our parents and grandparents were fighting against. Too many are too thick to see that.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 They are fine even if mandated . Stop being selfish

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 You know whats thick ? The bs you just tried to push

OK - Luftwaffe fighter pilot Ulich Steinhilper points out that RAF fighter command avoided the 109 sweeps at 14:28 into the documentary.

Dowding's strategy was to attack only German formations with bombers. Fighters only were limited in what they could do, and RAF pilots had to be kept in reserve due small number. PARK was superb in defense

Park was an amazing chap, but the whole organisation is 'wot won it'. Radar (stations electronic, but telephone connected) and the Observer corps (telephone connected) for locating the enemy and the command and control system. Comms were based on Post Office Telephone, and Radio systems (TR9 in the Spitfire and Hurricane) providing ground-air control up to 35 miles, and air-air comms to at least 5 miles. A tiered regional command system, including comprehensive computational method for plotting data, and ageing data appropriately were vital to place the defensive aircraft where they were required, understand their remaining endurance, and so on. The aircraft themselves, the incredibly robust and agile Hurricane, the fast and manoeuvrable Spitfire, the high performance Rolls Royce engine, the high octane fuel from Shell with special additives, the well trained pilots, the intelligent use of airfields, the well trained ground-staff, mechanics, armourers. The browning .303" machine guns manufactured by BSA in several factories, the shadow factories for RR Merlin, including Ford at Dagenham, Rootes at Speke and others, the Dunlop tyres... It goes on and on and on. I do not know who made the flying suits and uniforms for the pilots, some of the aircraft instruments were probably made by Smiths and by Lucas. Having said that, Park was treated appallingly by the RAF and especially Leigh-Mallory, who would have been very much at home in the current brexiter government of idiots, fools and pr1cks.

Here is a story from my Wife's family. My Wife's Grandfather was a night fighter pilot in WW2. He started operations in A20 Havoc's with Turbinelight. Total nightfighter fail he said. Then Beaufighters and Mosquito's. By now with radar. He flew his Mosquito to Malta. Involved with the Italian campaign. Keith Park flew Colin's, that is Colin Hardacre Dickenson's Mosquito from Malta to the mainland for something or other. On return he buggered up the landing and wrote off Colin's plane! Colin had nothing good to say about Keith Park. And not just because of the mishap.

@@petergregory8864 "On return he buggered up the landing and wrote off Colin's plane!" Amazing, an aircraft was damaged in a war. There's a thing. That's enough to confirm that the greatest air-war strategist of WW2 was actually utterly incompetent, thanks for passing this on.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Victory_Celebrations_of_1946#Polish_refusal_to_participate 25 pilots of the Polish fighter squadrons in the Royal Air Force, who had taken part in the Battle of Britain, were invited to march together with other foreign detachments as part of the parade of the Royal Air Force [...] the airmen refused to participate in protest against the omission of the other branches of the Western backed Polish forces in exile. Polish pride seems to be a consistently negative trait.

@@penchanski673 78 thousand in the 2nd Corps 16,000 in the Armored Division of General Maczek 2.2 Independent Parachute Brigade At the end of May 1945, a total of 200-210 thousand Polish soldiers in the west and ... 25 invitees. Nice Your opinion would be appreciated by the historian Sir John Keegan, and I take note of it. You know, I know worse traits than vain pride - such a bad trait is memory shortage.

Yes i too have noticed the negative trait, alone amongst the allies. UK could not displace Stalin in Poland, nor the US. WSC tried his best but Russia had decided back early on in the war that they would occupy and eliminate many European leaders incl. Poland's democrats

@@glennpickard2239 Hi Glenn, Unfortunately, history likes to repeat itself and today we have a situation where the economically strongest country in Europe helps another country and sends it 5000 helmets. Will the canteen or the lines for military tents be next? Aggressiveness and the will to rebuild a great power are dangerous, but naivety and ignorance are much more dangerous. Times have changed, countries have changed, but unfortunately history repeats itself. I say this to my Canadian neighbors, colleagues, people and young and old - and they DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING. They only start to understand when you start talking about money. Such times. Thnx and regards

Jarek Kozera The Parade you are talking about was just for the British Military, BUT, Britain sent invitations to EVERY country that fought with them, asking if THEY would like to send a Flag party to the parade, Poland DID NOT RESPOND, they WERE asked. BRITAIN then contacted representatives of Polish ex service men still in Britain, they wanted a bigger representation than other countries, Britain said that would be unfair on everyone else taking part, the invitation was there, still open, but they never showed up to the parade, THEY DECIDED NOT TO PARADE. it is easy enough to get to the truth of this matter, so why not do it? But the truth can sometimes hurt and I bet you will not bother looking for the truth.

He was probably commenting on the amount of the bar bills... owed to the local publicans... :)

Well said Jorge... don't forget the ground crews and Observer Corps.

Absolutely. A well designed fully integrated defense system was a force multiplier.

The Germans had radar, and it was more advanced than ours. The Germans could only fly over England for 10 minutes, then they had to turn back or risk running out of fuel.

@@Gwynbuck They did not develop the ground control of fighters by radio, radar was only a part of the defensive system Dowding designed.

Exactly, perfectly put.

Fair comment. The Germans vast underestimated the rate at which fighter aircraft were being produced in Britain. They also initially didn't get how crucial radar was in the RAF's defence strategy......and could not quite understand why they were always being intercepted so readily each time they flew over Britain in daytime......

Theres a book called Spitfire which talks of how the production was spread over a wide range of workshops its very good.

You're completely right but you forget the spitfire was better in almost all respects right? So surly she takes the crown

It's something like 2 to 1, Hurricane to Spitfire.

BUT....which would you rather FLY? SPITFIRE!

Furthermore, the "battle of Britain" amounted to really a stalemate, as the Luftwaffe pulled many resources to the Russian front, giving the RAF/Britain a chance to rebuild and recoup.

@@amramjose The Russian offensive didnt start until June 1941 , the Battle of Britain ended end of October 1940 ...........The Germans, we beat them ...............know your history before you comment !

While we're at it, lets also give thanks to the British who gave safe haven to the refugees of Europe, and paid for and supplied them with the tools that enabled their contribution to the allied war effort, and to the >80% British born Pilots of Fighter Command on whose shoulders they stood.

And others from other nations. There was even one Irish!

No. Polish propoganda needs to stop.

Try reading your history.

@@dinerouk also Australia.

65

Hurricane was a well developed design using a steel tube frame with fabric plywood and aluminium covering. It could get home with considerable damage yet be repaired and back flying the next day. Spitfire was faster (etc etc), but it’s stressed skin construction was more vulnerable to damage and if they did get home, repairs were more difficult.

@@davidelliott5843 Not to mention that the Spitfire all metal construction basically guaranteed that a 20mm high explosive shell would detonate! Whereas, on most of the Hurricane it would pass through!!

True, except for saying that Britain and France “allowed” Poland to be annihilated. In September 1939, neither country had the means to send a military force to oppose the Germans in Poland.

Then of course the allies Reneged on their promises and turned Poland over to the Russians.

The Poles serving with the RAF during the battle of Britain had been filtered through months of combat so only the most successful made it to the UK, and those that did had more combat experience that any other fighter pilots in the RAF, so it would be a poor reflection in the Polish pilots if their experience plus some of the best fighter planes in the world didn't produce excellent results, for which we are grateful, as would be reasonably expected they were soon equalled in skill as the rest of the RAF pilots died or improved during the rest of the battle..

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 The Poles were using Hurricanes at that time. And They still managed to beat every RAF squadron at shooting down Luftwaffe. Plus take into account time. End of the October '39 they were flying P 11 or P 24 and some of them were pilots in France Air Force in May '40 on MS 406. I think this is something more than experience.

@@nynek13 The Poles were not some breed of "superior" pilot, they'd simply accrued more combat experience since Sept 1939, and as a result of their previous battles with the luftwaffe only the most succesful Polish pilots had made it to Great Britain, the less successful ones had already perished. As soon as the rest of the RAF pilots had gained more experience there was NO difference in skill levels, as is witnessed by the kill tallies at the end of WW2. Luckily for the Poles they were provided with world class fighter aircraft with world beating radar and defensive control systems courtesy of the RAF and the British taxpayer, rather than flying to their deaths in the likes of the PZL P.7. Though we Brits are nevertheless still appreciative of their contribution to our victory against the overconfident Luftwaffe, it must still be remembered that 75% of Fighter command pilots in the battle were of British birth.

The 58.5 confirmed kills of the Polish 303 Squadron were indeed a great help towards the total of 1385 confirmed Luftwaffe aircraft lost to enemy action between July to October 1940. They are STILL honoured EVERY year at remembrance day and battle of Britain day parades the length and breadth of the UK.

If you've not read it may i highly recommend 'RAF Biggin Hill'? It is surprising, informative, profound and at times very funny.

And lots and lots of Ammunition

Excellent. They do not speak German today. They speak Hindi, Urdu and Arabic and the British population is being replaced by another thanks to stupid policies of that nation. Very smart!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Plus those "Bloody Foreigners!" (Mainly Poles and Czechs, but also French and a few others.....). And the small number of those "Canadians" who had next of kin addresses listed a bit south of the 49th parallel...

With a little help from radar and the fighter controller groups. The Germans had marched into Poland, France, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and god knows where else, but not until they attempted to subdue Britain did they experience highly organised and determined resistance......

Mostly brains (radar invention)

The Invasion would not have ever been possible anyway, the Germans would have been slaughtered in the sea by the Royal Navy (Most Powerful navy on earth in 1939) and the British Army would be waiting for the invasion on land.

@@jetpigeon8758 Hi Jet Pigeon. I intend no disrespect of the British soldier but I have to ask the British Army was going to defend Britain with what? Unlike Dowding the senior commanders of the Army committed a great proportion of their materiel resources to the defence of France where they promptly lost them. You can read for yourself how sparsely defended where the British Isles in terms of guns, armour and even rifles and ammunition because these were all abandoned on French shores. What Britain did salvage from the debacle of France was men. Trained men who could in time be re-equipped but at that moment in history that time had not yet come. Stay safe friend.

@@te_piriti9220 The Germans didn't have the capabilities to actually invade England. England was so well dug in that if by some miracle Germany got through the Navy which is highly unlikely, the Airforce and soldiers left in England would have done enough. Britain had a massive rearmament after Dunkirk. Production of aircraft and the tactics the British had was far superior to the Germans going into what was the perceived invasion date. Remember that the RAF was the first line of defence, not the last when defending Britain. They even conducted a wargame scenario in the 1970's where they gave Germany all the advantages, taking away the Royal Navy, letting Germany land unopposed etc. and they still got slaughtered.

@@atheistmecca971 👓 😉

@@atheistmecca971 read it again...put your glasses on & see where it says 120000 ?...it says 12000....see the difference. ?

He's made himself look a fool & deleted his comment....adult illiteracy is a sad thing to see...or is it numeracy ?...😀😀😀

They should have built up before the war.

@@chodkowski01 They did but look how many aircraft and pilots were lost in France.

Breakdown of nationalities between July - Oct 1940...145 Poland...127 New Zealand...112 Canada....88 Czech....10 Irish...32 Australian....28 Belgian....25 South African....13 French....9 USA....2347 British

@@robertallen7435 Agreed. But none the less all these guys helped to make the difference. The issue facing fighter command was not really one of aircraft production as this was keeping ahead of losses. The critical issue was having enough trained pilots, these 589 pilots were vital.

@@ianmarsden1130 absolutely agree....their sacrifice & determination was a credit to them & the countries they came from....just as it is for the British pilots , ground crew & the forgotten hero's the radar operators who were overwhelming women...a real team effort

@@robertallen7435 You good chaps, you 👍😊👍

@@ianmarsden1130 Bless you Both 🤝🏻🤝🏻

He obviously didn't take into account the 1947 UK Polish resettlement act, then did he?

I REMEMER MY BROTHER TELLING ME HE SEE A DOG FIGHT OVER EAST LONDON

Richard Rozmanowski: I did not know this. Thank you for the comment.

My dad had just gotten the nerve up to ask his Aunt Esther to sign a letter of consent for him to fly for The Polish Air Force on the morning of December 7th..

Richard Rozmanowski Did this shameful act include the British Government giving British citizenship to over 250,000 Polish servicemen AND their family's, well did it?.

Exactly. Towards the end of the BoB, the UK was actually out-producing Germany in terms of fighter aircraft production.

The CRUs would be a great topic!

Yup. Goering didn't account for those planes.

@@bobpage6597 The Germans vastly underestimated British fighter production during the BoB, estimating it to be around 50% of the actual total......

Why do people compare numbers? The number of fighters on both sides was fairly similar. Not like the bombers were dogfighting with the British fighters.

@@PDZ1122 many spitfires and hurricanes were destroyed on the ground, before they could even engage the enemy.. not sure your comment holds up!!

@@PDZ1122 Sad wehraboo, trying to make out the battle was equal. Or Course it wasn't equal, the RAF were FAR superior to the luftwaffe, inspite of being outnumbered in the defence of Britain by a margin of 4 luftwaffe aircraft to every 1 RAF fighter.

@@marksudlow5083 ly, Spitfires and Hurricanes were almost never caught on the ground because the RAP had an excellent radar system and coast watcher system. It was nearly impossible to surprise the RAF.

We had a similar number of fighter aircraft. Why only use RAF fighter numbers, but the whole of the Luftwaffe. We were hitting Germany as well with Bomber Command, so to show the true strength of the air forces, you need to compare like with like. The Battle of Britain wasn't even close, that was just how Churchill wanted it to be portrayed. With radar, only engaging the Luftwaffe over England, everything was in the RAFs favour. People say the RAF was on its knees, yet the Luftwaffe only managed to knock one airfield out for more than a few hours. It was completely one sided, due mainly to Dowding and his vision.

The Channel is 21 miles wide.

israel

It was more likely that losing a huge amount of equipment at Dunkirk actually delayed the introduction of the 6-pounders and prolonged the production of the inadequate 2-pounders instead. By the time the 6-pounders appeared in quantities, the Germans had already moved onto their superior 7.5 cm Pak 40 and KwK 40.

Weren't Spitfires at the time more likely to stall? They had carburetters which caused the engines to flood and cut out. The ME 109 had fuel injection in their engines

@@Gwynbuck The carburettors had no effect on stalling. The issue with the carburettors is that they would "hiccup" when put under negative G. So the English pilots had to learn to do a half roll before diving, unlike the German pilots who could go from straight and level into a dive without hesitation. Stalling is quite different. It's when the airflow over the airfoil (wing) is disrupted, causing loss of lift. (a stall)

Battle of Britian movie goes some way toward giving the Poles credit.

The Polish squadrons had the highest kill rates, but there were squadrons and pilots from many countries involved.

@@ohgosh5892 I think we all need to remember that the Polish Air Force had recent experience with the Luftwaffe, as the Luftwaffe pilots did in Spain in the 1936 civil war. Not only experienced pilots, but now given two of the best fighter aircraft, controlled by the best integrated radar and communications systems in the world. The Germans did not know what they were flying into. I believe the RAF had pilots from 13 different countries and the non UK pilots were 18% of the total in B of B

@@glennpickard2239 The command and control system was superior, also, the RAF had Keith Park, a superb strategist.

I doubt this

Thomas, you touch on an idea that is never discussed. The battle of Britain was the fight between two wimps. Both nations flying short hops and neither could knock out each other. The German bombers were useless, they totally lacked any destructive capacity. The British air force also lacked any destructive capacity of its own.

@@dhardy6654 Germany should have had 4 engine heavy bombers capable of a 10,000 payload. But they did n`t. The RAF had the Lanc and

The Mosquito and others so u r somewhat ignorant of the RAFs bombing strengths

@@glennpickard2239 england sucked. The night bombings were totally ineffective, just like Germany's blitz on London. Here is how bad the British actually were..... 44% of the British that flew in bomber command died, that how bad the British aircraft actually were. 4x that's how much more bombs were dropped on Germans by americans in accurate day missions... Meanwhile bombing during the day killing the entire German air force as it came out to attempt to defend it's nations airspace... You suck. Stop making up lies that British even mattered In WW2. It's a joke....

My grandfather was in the Royal Navy, he was in the fleet that oversaw the disastrous Dieppe landings where many Canadian soldiers were killed and wounded. Canada's contribution and sacrifice might be lost in the makers of documentaries, but never with the servicemen who took part.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 There were plenty of Americans and Canadians dying to help send England supplies before either ever officially ended the war, so you are wrong. Dave the Canadian was right. If England had _truly_ been left alone, it's not clear they would have made it.

@@MotosAndMachines BRITAIN ALONE was being assaulted by the might of the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1940. Canada as a commonwealth country supplied men and goods to support her, the US did almost utterly NOTHING without being paid. Don't try and portray it any other way. That is all fact.

As a Canadian i point out that when observers used the word "alone" they meant left standing alone to continue fighting the Nazis as a country in Europe. Not as the Group fighting the Nazis, a different opinion: for its size, Canada gave everything it was possible to give, incl. basic Training for thousands of commonwealth aircrews and the RCN with the RN so important contribution to win the B of Atlantic. Not to forget the USNs contribution and other navies.

@@glennpickard2239 I do NOT mean to diminish the courage and resolve of our Commonwealth compatriots, Britain was the "mother country" of a vast empire who all gave their best in the fight against tyranny. We are all stronger together. All the best.

What?.

Yes must be. Not mentioned 15th September.

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fZuReKlhs9vOgnk.html

You missed out Sydney Camm.

True but Hurricaines" hits were mostly bombers and 110's. With the exception, I'm sure of very skilled pilots they weren't a match for E-4 109

P-51 would destroy both, end of conversation

@@BradyDearden But only with a Rolls Royce Merlin engine, license built by Packard. Anyway, this is 1940…..

@@findo12 I know it’s 1940 (obviously) I know it has a rolls Royce engine I’m saying it would still destroy both.

@@BradyDearden The P51 was a great aircraft until it was outclassed by jets, thanks to Sir Frank Whittle. End of conversation.

What a complete pile of BS. When were they "forced out of the UK"? Go read about the 1947 UK Polish resettlement act from the UK Govt legislation website, It was the act of parliament that conferred in UK law FULL UK citizenship and residency rights (including access to ALL welfare benefits) to ALL Polish service personnel who had served in the British armed forces during WW2 AND their families. Not ONE Polish soldier/airman/sailor was forcefully repatriated at the end of WW2. A small number did understandably CHOOSE to return to their homeland and lived to regret that decision. Please remember the maxim "It is better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt".

Why is there an ill informed "303 squadron bore" in every discussion. Who mocked and ridiculed the Poles?

@@johnbrewer8954 Ill informed huh??? Well since none of us were there, I’ll take the accounts that I have learned. I studied under a British Professor here in the states for a few years and his Grandfather was an RAF pilot during the Battle of Britain. He seems to remember it a little differently then the written history on the subject. So take your ill informed opinion somewhere else. I’ve sat with 100’s of Vets from the ETO…and so many of their accounts don’t line up with what was wrote years ago. That’s why there has been a flood of new literature about WWII in the last 10-15 years. The vets started telling their versions. I’ve sat with the likes of authors like Mark Alan Bando and listened to his verbal accounts of the history that the Veterans don’t wish to be published. You should have tried it. Actually listening to the men who were there or from reliable sources. I attended the 100th Birthday of a 101st Airborne trooper a few years back and he had 5 others at his event. Their story of what they sat thru during the Bulge differs from damn near every book I’ve read on the subject…which is at least a half dozen. Hahahaha…ill informed. What a joke

@@GNXXRAY If you actually did all that you wouldnt post the tripe you post, you are a fantasist, this comments section is full of you. Just look at how many "experts" mention 303 or Polish squadrons. Anyone who knew no better would think they formed a major part of the RAF.. They were not the highest scoring squadron, Their highest scoring pilot was a Czechoslovakian who was a "guest", he took off with 303 then did his own thing, his scores could have been tagged on to any other squadron, but any other squadron would not be allowed to indulge a pilot. 303 were a squadron of squadron leaders, any other such squadron would have been dispersed to spread expertise around the RAF, but the Poles couldnt or wouldnt because of language, other pilots were not indulged in this way. There were an equal number of Poles who didnt join Polish squadrons, they were much loved by their colleagues and the ladies and liked their life as a "squadron mascot".

@@johnbrewer8954 Calling me a liar? My first comment was what I was informed of. The comment I made to you was just a small tip of what I have done in the last 10 years of travelling and visiting with the Veterans that are or were still alive. You can read a book then talk to some Veterans and get a different perspective or opinion. That is why authors like Mr Bando need several interviews with soldiers over a period of time to see if the story changes with age or the surroundings it’s being told in. A face to face story is gonna differ from a version told in front of a pile of people where embellishing may alter the details. I don’t take the written history as gospel but rather a point of view and then I read another’s account and add up the similar facts. I can then make a reasonable comparison of the accounts and have a better idea. I am perfectly aware that not all the Poles were in one squadron. I am aware of the Chech pilot. I am aware that some poles didn’t want to fly with their countryman. But…opinions vary on many of the detail from that period of time in the war. Opinions also vary on what happened to those men after. Whether it was ordered or highly recommended they do one thing or another. Things changed almost immediately after Roosevelt’s death and then when Winston was voted out…it really changed. You have a pleasant day.

The Axis should have bombed with Goering.😃

@@Russia-bullies I’m curious as to what his aerodynamic characteristics would be …. Probably ideal for a bouncing bomb

AN OUT OF SHAPE EXAMPLE OF A LEADER TO HIS PILOTS , GROUNDCREW AND SOLDIERS ! 👎😣

THE " DAM BUSTERS" COULD HAVE USED HIM AS A "BOUNCING BETTY " ! 👍😁

It would have suited the Allies to "overplay" the threat of invasion, so as to make control of the battle more complete. The British command and control system was an enormous advantage in the conflict.

@@brianmacadam4793 I agree it was especially advantageous for the British to overplay the risk because that helped motivate the population to accept hardships they might not otherwise (and to encourage help from others, especially the US) but from what I've read politicians and military leaders in the UK were not consciously overplaying the risk. The fall of France was a shock to everyone, even to the Germans, they never expected to win that fast. So I think that led to both sides feeling that the old rules of warfare didn't matter anymore given the new mechanized warfare the Germans had created and I think that is why both sides downplayed what in hindsight was still a major issue: crossing the channel.

There were NO Indian pilots in Fighter command during the battle of Britain. The first Indian pilots arrived in April 1941.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 so where where F/O Pujji from then?

@@bronsonperich9430 Mohinder Singh Pujji was from Himachal Pradesh, India, volunteered for the RAF and arrived in the UK during October 1940. Although having his own prewar pilot's licence, he underwent RAF training and as I stated above became an operational pilot in April 1941. He served honourably throughout the rest of the war, and received the DFC for his skill and daring during reconnaisance flights over Burma. A statue in his honour currently stands in Gravesend Kent, England. This video is regarding the battle of Britain, and I'm just correctly stating that NO Indian pilots flew during the battle. I am NOT denying their honourable and valued service AFTER the battle.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 so what he and all the other Indians just watched the bombs falling over England in 1940 then?

@@bronsonperich9430 If you read my response above, you will see that he arrived in the UK in OCTOBER 1940 as an unqualified pilot candidate at the very end of the battle of Britain, though he was in Britain during the blitz that followed. Not that he and his fellow Indian trainee pilots would have seen much bombing, they were undergoing their initial pilot training at Prestwick (near Glasgow) then RAF Hullavington (in Wiltshire), followed by "operational conversion" at RAF Sutton Bridge (in Lincolnshire), before fully qualifying as RAF pilots in April 1941.

Great fighter no doubt, but not relevant to the documentary.

@@MarkloopRAF Just Americans still smarting that while they sat on the sidelines and profiteered from both sides, they actually had next to no involvement in the heroic battle against European totalitarianism at the time.

Oh you mean the US fighter designed by the British, that only really performed well when fitted with a Spitfire engine? Is that the one you mean?

Spot on they are T34/75's with German markings

Had to search the comments and see if anybody else had noticed that as well. Lol. Good eye!

Yes...but Germany used a good number of allied tanks they captured

@@sabrecatsmiladon7380 indeed but it was later they captured t-34s, this was 1940

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the M3 half-track(s) a little bit before that which is another favourite substitute for the *Sd.Kfz. 251* aka _Hanomags_ possibly called that because that was the company that manufactured them.

True, but homefield wasn't much of an advantage for the Germans when the tide of war had turned....

@@austroish whats your point? germany was out produced on all fronts late in the war. why make 1 tiger tank when u can make 10 shermans. you comparing apples and oranges

@@bclmax No austroish is illustrating that the nazis were outplayed in every aspect of the war.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 that makes no sense and way too simplistic of a view

See above!

True and very brave they were. There were also a few volunteer Americans and Canadians, others, even one Israeli. Gallant and idealistic men, a rarity today ! However the fact remains most of the RAF fighter pilots were British.

@@gordonfrickers5592 Gordon you are right, I remember as a child in spending our summer holidays in a small town called La Cumbre in the province of Cordoba Argentina, two friends of my great parents who served during WWII one as pilot and the other as mechanic at the RAF. Both were anglo argentineans, good fellows. They spoke seldom about the war but I saw their photos at a spitfire and hangars

Really?

@@dinerouk yes Peter,

What about Poles?

...and let's not forget the Czechs @@FNG0000.

@@mikejunior80 All remember that except British 🤣🤣🤣🤣

@@FNG0000 agreed ,free french etc but Canada build some plains and trained the pilots not to mention the convoys ...we all helped in our own way

There were also American pilots. The Eagle Squadron.

No chance now..The Englishman of today only has English as a second language.

@@4realexpat That's a very bizaare thing to say. English is spoken by 1.9 BILLION people on the planet.

@@4realexpat That is uncalled for.

Number 8.Boris sends British troops to defend Poland’s border with Belarus , yet he can’t defend our own southern border against the invasion that is happening there, and believe me it is an invasion. Funny old world ain’t it ?

I was on the cliffs at St Margaret's when thy filmed in 1969....I think the intro said 68 which is wrong.

This uses many of the same sequences as used in the BoB.

At least they should have the courtesy to fly upside-down!

Oh just get over it or stump up the dosh to restart the Messerschmitt and Daimler-Benz engine production lines.

yeah - the USAAF made quite a mess of the Daimler-Benz factories, how careless of them !! So the Spanish & Israeli Air Forces had to purchase Rolls Royce Merlins to power their post-war licence-built Buchons. Even the Italian Air Force couldn't get enough DB spares for their own use either

@@stevesoutar3405 I didn't know that, but I understood that Israeli 109's were from Checkoslovakia and had very unreliable copies of Jumo engines and fixed pitch props that made them almost useless.

Annoys me too.

Nice idea, the Spitfire and Hurrican couldnt climb together.

Now it is Mohammed.

From the movie

Unlike the British Rolls Royce employees, the Germans used slave/prison laborers with forced production-line methods in their aircraft factories. Combine that with each Supermarine Spitfire was practically a hand made aircraft.

The Spanish did, actually. These are postwar aircraft manufactured in Spain.

The Merlins were used by the Spanish as the DB engines supplied with the airframes were lost in a fire. When they had a chance to build them after the war Merlins were more easily available somthey used those hence the deeper nose cowling, similar issue with the Heinkels engines.

It may also surprise you to now that the very first Me109 (in 1936 I think) prototype had a Rolls Royce engine........

Battle of Britain is a 1969 British Second World War film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Few

Not quite true, my heroes as a kid were: Roland Beamont, Peter Townsend, Al Deere, Paddy Finucane, “Ginger” Lacey, John Cunningham and a bunch of others...

@UC6dMA87XNi8nUmXrAXYavGg hero's everyone of them

the highest scoring ace was Flt Lt Eric Lock with 21, the highest scoring non Brit was 10 July to 31 October 1940

@@johnvaleanbaily246 though the top ace of the actual battle was Flt Lt Eric Lock

Without the Britisch army, Germany would have won the war. Every body helped contribute

@@thundinarora7131 85% of all German casualties were on the Eastern Front. I'm not decrying the effort, sacrifice or bravery of the Western Allies- just putting things in perspective.

@@bryandavies6074 it’s not what you do it’s how that you do it. Casualties are a pretty narrow view of effort and skill. Both regimes fighting in the east had little regard for their soldiers really Individualism is nothing the State is everything plus the absence of humanity meant everyone fought harder because they knew being a prisoner was probably a longer death.

@@bryandavies6074 forgive me but tell that to the Western allies that got killed as they marched across the desert, crawled up the boot of Europe and died in the hedgerows of Northern Europe. Drowned in the sea or ploughed into the ground from the sky. Apparently they didn’t do enough killing so their contribution was bagatelle

@@allenomalley4014 What combination of my words did you fail to understand?

Really what about Radar Observer Corps other nationalities in the RAF you know British guys fought and died too Respect to all who fought freedom

Sqd 302,303 flew hurricanes,who went after bombers ,spitfires took on fighter escorts ,me 109s

There were Poles, Canadian, American, South African volunteers, and many others from virtually every part of the British empire.

@@amramjose In the Battle of Britain 90% of the pilots were British.

@@michellearmstrong7903 team work

That's not war footage, rather clips from a film.

@@timbutton4990: I know that. However it is still a mistake and they should fire the technical advisor. So, do you disagree with my comment?

That's because they are late version Spanish H1112 Buchons powered ironically by RR Merlin / griffin engines.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 : yea, guess if they can use T34 tanks, they can use later produced Spanish BF 109s.

Who has the Russians

They used them to make the motion picture since they are available in large numbers, unlike the German ones.