Even a few yanks joined the RAF

All brave men

Artful Bodger. Still, the vast majority of pilots were British.

polish pilots also joined without them it would have been harder.

@@elizabethnicoll The Polish fighter pilots were brutal.

I believe it was the Polish (603?) squadron had the best kill rate. I worked with a Polish ex fighter pilot when I was young (60's) and later with another Pole who had escaped to Britain and had been a spy for us in Germany. He had learned German in his Polish school from a German teacher from Berlin, so had a perfect Berliner accent. The poles are a great people. They saved Europe in the 1680's.

That's what I've always learnt

squadron 303 @@ronparaman3732

@@ronparaman3732 303 squadron 🙂

Yes there is a film made in 1966 called the Battle of Britain. I grew up in Kent near Biggin Hill aerodrome and can remember seeing ex pilots who had been badly burnt. Sadly the are all gone now. A local pub called the White Hart in a call age called Brasted was n major drinking place for these pilots and still has the photos. On a side note a Hospital in East Grinsted became experts I dealing with major burns and injuries and developed new ways of care. Check out the Guinea Pig Club.

Utterly absolutely....... kids think they know hard times.... they know ZERO.

Same with my parents. It really means something to us.

Amen!!!🙏🙏🙏

Oh no...... Winstons seen the mess bill!

Brings tears to my eyes ! The best people the world will ever see !

I’m almost 66 and you’ve made me cry !

during the 2008 banking crisis i changed that speech to Never in the history of banking has so much been paid by so many to so few, if currency was to last a 1000 years people will say THIS was their finest scam"

​@@philiprice7875 stay on topic, or it is disrespectful

Vi setter fortsatt pris på gesten! Takk til folket I Norge! (Beklager, Norsken min er ikke veldig god)

I'm a British Veteran and extremely proud of what our Parents / Grandparents achieved in WW2. I'm also extremely relieved thar the Germans are on our side now!

@@Ghostdancer4444 As am I

That's a very appreciated and nice gesture. The kind of thing we would never get from the French these days.

I believe you send one to Coventry to ?

Awesome 👌 respect 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇲❤️⚘️

There's a Spitfire at Rochester Airport, Kent over the road, you hear it before you look up and see it. It's the same engine as on the 4 engined Lancaster bomber. The American Mustang was rubbish until they fitted Merlin engines to it and it become the best fighter of World War 2.

Try now, the ethnic brit is now the minority in 4 or 5 towns in uk.

@@barbaradyson6951 I see you know little of how many and from where lots of the Armed Forces came from who fought in the World Wars. Maybe you should do some research it may help you understand better, from a Veteran.

@@barbaradyson6951 I live in Manchester, probably one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the UK. Yes, I see faces of a variety of colours everyday. The majority are however still white.

@@ianphillips9455 er my uncles were in the army during ww2 my father was navy my cousin was RAF and my hubby was army, enough military for you. Oh and my father has the Burma Star. I probably know more about ww2 than you.

@@barbaradyson6951 Just because your Uncles and some other family where in the forces does not mean YOU know what you are talking about, many of my Uncles Grandfathers etc and myself served in the forces in most of UK wars and have many Medals including Burma Star etc but that does not alter the fact that many Millions from Commonwealth countries served in ALL parts of the Armed forces, as I said try doing some research before making daft statements.

People don't realise that for the average age of 19, half were younger. Some even lied about being old enough

20

that was in Vietnam. n.n.n.n.nnn.nineteen

19, nnnnnnn nmnnm 19.

As other people would have you believe patriotism Isn't a crime.. I am proud to be English too

'There"ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover. Just you wait and see".Dame Vera Lynn! RIP

Burma my father's combat zone he was a Chindit and survivor of Kohima thanks Dad.

thank you for your service im incredibly proud of anyone of all who helped tell anyone BRITAIN is no soft touch we fight and stand.

Thank you Sir for keeping Britain safe its an honour

God bless you sir,thank you for your service. I hope you have many years in good health with friends and families. Thanks you again.

Fight against might, for they might only be better. Your might be better, are you ready to fight? Fight with all your gained might, because in the end the wrong will always lose the fight. Use all your might to win the fight for the right.

The sensible people are very very proud of how we stood alone and we should ALWAYS be proud of what we achieved. We should not allow anyone to try to get us to forget or to try to "woke" us out of remembering!

It is absolutely astonishing how hard their lives were. Its only because of those brave men and woman and countless other like them that we are blessed with this easy life. I am so grateful. It puts my little problems in perspective.

Also says that if Germany had done better on this day that Britain would have been lost. Hardly. Germany's war industries were less efficient than Britain's. Germany was producing fewer aircraft. They were also training fewer pilots to replace losses. Add to this that much of the fighting was over Britain such that Germans who survived bailing out were taken prisoner while half of British/Allied pilots bailing out survived. So the Luftwaffe was being depleted in an extended battle of attrition. (By around this point, Luftwaffe fighter squadrons were down to about 67% strength). Meanwhile, overall, RAF fighter strength was growing. At the beginning of the Battle of Britain, RAF Fighter Command had 650 operational fighter planes. In one bad week in August, when the Luftwaffe turned its attention against the airfields and radar stations, there was concern because the Germans inflicted (for that one week) losses at a faster rate than the RAF could replace them, reducing RAF operational fighter strength down to 700. But then the RAF resumed growing. (they just assumed that the Germans were growing too at a similar rate, overestimating the strength of the Luftwaffe as they had done going back to before the war.) "Battle of Britain Day" is significant because of the losses on German bombers inflicted by the RAF. The numbers showed a clear sign Britain was winning the battle. It wasn't a change in facts so much as a realization of those facts. The story of the Battle of Britain was Germany's consistent inability to deliver a knock out blow on the RAF, until Germany eventually gave up. Stats I have seen for the Luftwaffe indicate that the air strength available to the Luftwaffe in June 1941 was less than the strength they had in July 1940. Even with months to rebuild since the end of the Blitz, the Luftwaffe still hadn't recovered from the Battle of Britain. So Battle of Britain wasn't THE day Britain was saved. It was the day it became clear to the British that Britain was not going to be lost.

plus bombing continued right up to 1944

Actually 6 brave Americans flew in the Battle of Britain...

@@glastonbury4304 Yep, plus another 6.

@@archiebald4717 ...just 6 out of the 10 were pilots, might of got shot down 6 times and went back up in another plane though!? 🤷‍♂️😉

Rolls Royce Merlin engine........... what you hear is the SOUND OF FREEDOM

Agree with what you say. Just one point Hurricanes and Spitfires had an almost identical R R Merlin fitted, sounded the same.

@@daveandow2809 Really? I can honestly tell the difference any time I see / hear one on a video or in person at an air display. There's a slight difference in the deeper end of the classic burble - the Hurricane sounds a bit more high pitched than the Spitfire. At least to my ears it does.

The Hurricane did the work and the Spitfire took the glory in the Battle of Britain. No German airman would admit having been shot down by a Hurricane. The Hurricanes went on to be fitted with missiles and become ground assault aircraft on D Day and the Battle of the Bulge, so much for it being obsolete.

Memphis Bell was an American story, about and American crew of an American bomber. There is no connection to the RAF

@@monza1002000 oh! I watched a documentary years ago about a British crew and they said in it that the film was based on them. I stand corrected

@bethcushway458 There is a lot of confusion but the Americans made a big thing of the Memphis Bell by taking the bomber home with her crew to raise funds and morale. The Brits just went with the crew and the aircraft carried on flying

it has no actual footage . bloody great film thou

Also there was the TV Series "Piece of Cake"

😪

if you were only 8 at the time god bless you

I want to thumbs up, but it feels so weird thumbs upping that someone died when someone else lived... I'm sorry for your mum's loss

The Germans were unaware of this and subsequent to the BoB they took to night raids and could not understand how the Brits were able to put up fighters to intercept them. The Ministry of War (not defence in those days) put out a story that they were feeding carrots to the pilots because this gave them the ability to 'see in the dark'. This was a myth that even the Brits believed for some years after the war (I was born in 1945) and any kids who did not want to eat carrots was told that if they so they would be able to 'see in the dark'.

that is a series that needs to be redone it came out in the early 70s how much has come out since then? in the WaW there is no mention of the role of Blechley park, role of woman ferry pilots, the photo analysis team, and so much more

@@philiprice7875 I agree. As long as they keep the haunting theme at the start.

"The Observer" series of books were also great for learning aircraft

I have a vivid memory of being held up at my bedroom window in the outer suburbs north of London, the house, of course, being entirely dark, as well as no street lighting outside, because of the wartime night time blackout, and at a probable distance of about 14-16 miles from the London Docks, and seeing the sky brilliantly illuminated by the River Thames side warehouses burning during heavy bombing on London. All windows had to be closely covered - my father made screens of heavy black craft paper mounted on battens to cover every window. I think most children in the areas of heavy bombing could distinguish the profiles and sounds of enemy aircraft. The calm and stoicism of my parents, friends and relations ensured that I took air raids and overhead dogfights pretty much in my stride!

Omfg that's freaking horrible

Think they joined 1941 after Pearl Harbour

@@mikeymikeFType my point was more focused on the fact that Americans ALWAYS brag about rescuing us in world war two, like they were our big protective brothers coming over to defend us, for no other reason than to be our allies. When in reality, they joined because Japan hit them, which Hitler did NOT authorise, did not know it was planned, and was pissed off with Japan doing that. I guarantee every Brit on here, in some comment section or other, has had an American say to them at least once: "you owe us your lives! If it wasn't for us you'd be speaking German by now!" Honestly, it gets OLD, the ego and bragging is just so tedious. It was refreshing to hear an American really cheering us on and being genuinely proud of us. That's what I really meant. BTW....in Germany, a place called Angles, some Germanic tribes who came to England LOADS of years back, thought "this is a nice place! Let's set up home here!" So they built homes and created a settlement, then another and another etc. They called their new country Angle Land...after their German home town. Angle Land Angleland England That's how our country was named England! SOOOOOO the thing is, these Anglo Saxon ancestors brought traditions and language with them. Obviously we had Vikings from Scandinavia do the same. Dutch people from Holland settled in Ireland / Scotland. And French arrived with a King, and was England's official language in the middle ages. Mix them all together and you get the English we speak today. So we ALREADY SPEAK GERMAN in an ipso facto kinda way! And so America, do YOU! 😜😜😜

@@tamielizabethallaway2413 . Just simply pointing out the time frame but yes agree with where you are coming from. It was surprising how much support the Nazis received from America in the run up.

@@mikeymikeFType And it was the Germans who declared war on .America, after Pearl Harbour. My theory is that America was waiting to see who were winning.

@@iriscollins7583 . Interesting take on it. Have you heard about War Plan Red? Plans drawn up by the States on a hypothetical war with the British between 1919-1939

James has definitely gotta watch The Greatest Raid..

oh God yes the greatest raid 40 pages of action, targets, aims, for the attack for the evac "go to the end of the breakwater, if any boats not sunk on fire get on them and they will take you home" to anybody with a IQ above shoe size this means "one way/suicide mission" yet when given a chance to opt out, no takers, brave men to a tee

Yes, absolutely. I watched that last year. Superb documentary.

The greatest raid was pure courage by young men who knew it was probably a 1 way trip, god bless them all.

I watch in awe what my family in London went through in.the forties...........the only " just" war l never knew.............the fascists got off so, so lightly.................they had planned to wipe England/Scotland/Wales/ part of Eire, off the map.........mass annihilation and torture/death for all...............& Adolf used to admire the British.........fun.guy...............

the general staff at sandhurst did war game this out the invasion fleet would have been wiped out by the RN but at a massive loss this would have made the "battle of the Atlantic" more devastating to the supply routes. any German paratroopers without the heavy support of panzers would have been contained and captured. with the loss of so much front line troops it would have weakened the German army. BUT as a side note IN protecting the coast, Churchill had authorised the use of Gas weapons

My ex's granddad was in the RAF too and he told me once that he was a gunner and his plane was shot down and he was captured as a POW. Only time I've ever seen him cry, and he was in his late 80's when he told me about the men in his plane who didn't survive the crash. They were his brothers and he felt their loss just as keenly so many many years later. He rarely spoke of his war years or of living as a POW, but he talked often of the honourable men he served with, their lives and families, and how proud they all were to serve their country. And how the thought of his fiancee (who he did eventually marry and they both lived into their 90's) waiting for him kept him going through the awful years as a German prisoner. When I first met him I'll admit I thought he was stuffy and belligerent because he'd get mad at sales people or in restaurants when things weren't "perfect," but when I got to know him and saw the other side of his personality, and how much pain and loss he'd experienced at such a young age, that completely changed my opinion of such a brave, proud and humble man. I was honoured to consider him a friend, and I found time to visit him and his wife with my young son (who he adored) as much as I could.

Yeah like the polish

The Ukrainians sided with the nazis ffs

@@markscouler2534 a superpower invades a country in 2019, annexes it. Same superpower, invades same country again. Kills innocents. Uses propaganda to mislead its citizens. Drafts prisoners. Who are the Nazi's?

@eumaeus197 you do know this has been going on since 2014, right when Ukraine started bombing and killing ethnic Russians