Original subtitles

The fate of Western Europe hangs in the balance.

Waves of Nazi bombers are heading for London.

Hitler believes Britain is on its knees.

Information from the secret services

they mentioned that the British still had 200 fighter jets.

The RAF, the Royal Air Force, raises them all in the air

to defend the capital.

It will be a fight to the death.

You had to be a killer.

You had to have a criminal instinct.

You open fire at 180 m,

And when you finished saving, you were 15 meters from the enemy.

If the Nazis defeat the RAF,

may begin the invasion of the British Isles by sea .

The Battle of Britain is one of the most heroic clashes

of the Second World War.

Rare recordings from around the world, professionally restored,

I'm telling the story like you've never heard it before.

May 10, 1940.

Hitler shocks the world by launching lightning strikes

against the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Armored divisions are also sweeping their way ...

with air support from the German Air Force,

Luftwaffe.

The Luftwaffe is considered the star of lightning war.

Psychologically, she seems omnipotent.

Stuka planes plunge into dizzying sirens,

bringing terror and carnage.

As the crisis deepens,

Winston Churchill is named British Prime Minister.

British troops sent to France to help their last ally in Europe,

they are forced to retreat shamefully.

The shock of defeat is strong,

The British Expeditionary Forces are cornered

in the only remaining port on the English Channel , Dunkirk.

Despite a miraculous evacuation ...

the German war machine seems unstoppable.

GERMANY - NORTH SEA

Britain and its empire stand alone in Hitler's armies.

But Hitler, a great admirer of Britain, is not sure of the invasion.

I think the Nazis were amazed

how quickly they defeated France.

Hitler had a dilemma. He didn't know what to do next.

Hitler's long-term plan was to attack the Soviet Union.

He was content to make peace with Britain.

He even promised Britain that he would not attack her.

Some members of Churchill's war cabinet

insists on a deal with Hitler.

But the prime minister is adamant.

Churchill refused to negotiate.

He refused to negotiate. He said, "I will not talk to that individual."

Churchill thought Hitler was the kind of man

which takes your whole hand if you give it a finger.

We are calm

And we overcome the shock of terrible defeat.

The battle of France is over.

I expect the Battle of Britain to begin.

Hitler knows that if he doesn't defeat us on the island,

lose the war.

Churchill knows the British

they urge harder.

Churchill didn't just push everyone,

but kept alive the threat of invasion.

We will fight on the beaches.

We will fight on landing grounds.

We will fight in the fields

And on the streets. We will fight on the hills.

We will never surrender.

In 1940, Churchill acted brilliantly by first convincing them

that the British are capable of something great

And then convincing them that they had done something great.

Churchill's priority is to stop the invasion.

France being under German occupation,

His main concern was that the German Navy

will have at its disposal the French fleet.

Reluctantly, he instructs the Royal Navy to sink the French fleet

anchored on the coast of Algeria.

1,300 French soldiers were killed.

Churchill believes that attacking a former ally

It was an odious decision.

But the French fleet can no longer play any role in the German invasion.

Hitler is steadfast.

For Hitler, the army means everything.

He does not realize that the British armed forces

it does not mean military or military aviation, but the British Royal Navy.

He doesn't understand his enemy.

But the attack sends a clear message.

Britain is ready for battle.

Hitler's hope for a deal crumbles.

He knows Churchill won't negotiate

unless he is convinced that the German invasion is a real possibility.

While the British Royal Navy controls the sea,

Hitler's military aviation controls the air.

The almighty Luftwaffe can attack the marine convoys of the English Channel

weakening British supply lines

And attracting enemy air forces,

Royal Air Force.

The Luftwaffe was probably the most powerful air force

of the world at that time.

It was almost twice the RAF.

They were hastily building airfields in France

to launch medium -range German bombers .

They were escorted by fighter jets ...

formidabilele Messerschmitt 109.

Messerschmitt 109,

The single-engine fighter jet is

the best in the world in the summer of 1940.

It gains altitude faster than any other aircraft.

He has the most powerful weapons.

His machine guns had ammunition for 55 seconds of continuous fire

It is also equipped with cannons.

Hermann Göring, comandantul Luftwaffe,

orders his forces to block commercial traffic in the Canal.

Göring was a former pilot in World War I ...

And probably the closest person to Hitler.

He was very passionate about luxury.

Göring was the Nazi who really enjoyed power.

Instead of focusing on his mission,

He wastes time buying works of art.

Göring promised Hitler that in just four days,

His air fleet will destroy the British defense in the south

And the entire RAF in four weeks.

The Germans were incredibly arrogant.

They believed that if they sent an air force into battle

strong as theirs,

England will be destroyed in one fell swoop.

It's July 10, 1940.

The fighting over the English Channel is becoming more intense

When 60 German bombers attack a large naval convoy.

The Battle of Britain had begun.

But when approaching British ships,

the pilots see something unexpected.

Five squadrons of the RAF Fighter Command

He greets them there.

It's as if the British knew about their arrival.

At the forefront of defense is a plane

dreaded by Luftwaffe pilots ...

Supermarine Spitfire.

The Germans had not faced Spitfire

than in the battles of Dunkirk,

where he surprised them, because, for the first time,

they had encountered a plane capable of facing the Messerschmitt 109E

from equal to equal.

Spitfire was a sensational plane.

He was handsome, had charisma, and ignited everyone's imagination.

German bombers sank a single British ship ...

but they lost ten planes.

The Luftwaffe has learned a hard lesson.

But Göring's intelligence services did not want to hear that.

Head of Aviation Intelligence Services

era Beppo Schmid.

He ignored the defensive system,

essential for the air defense capability of the British.

He fueled the illusion that the Luftwaffe could win.

Schmid tells Göring that the Luftwaffe pilots

are superior to the British and that they can be recruited faster.

Schmid's biggest problem

It's that he always told Göring

what he wanted to hear.

He was not at all interested in finding out the truth.

In principle, he invented phantasmagorias.

It was based on the least credible information.

What Beppo Schmid presented to Göring

it was completely untrue.

Göring's confidence that the Luftwaffe can defeat RAF ...

plays an important role in Hitler's decision

to intensify the threats of invasion.

On July 16, Hitler decided

the beginning of Operation Sea Lion,

start of preparations, and, if necessary,

the invasion of Great Britain over the English Channel.

He said he was preparing for this invasion

because he could not reach an agreement with the British.

Germany is preparing for the invasion.

River barges are brought to the coast of France.

They are transformed into landing craft to transport

almost 500,000 people across the English Channel.

Paratroopers train to attack key targets.

But Hitler still hopes Churchill will change his mind

He will make an offer of peace.

On July 19,

Hitler threatens Britain to negotiate, otherwise he suffers the consequences.

Hitler said, "Make peace with us and everything will be fine."

You have been foolish, the British, to oppose.

Attacking Poland has nothing to do with you.

You shouldn't have attacked me.

Half an hour after the speech,

the offer is rejected by the United Kingdom.

Hitler now knows he has to show Churchill

how real the threat to Germany is.

Immediately afterwards, Hitler gives a directive

asking the Luftwaffe to intensify its airstrikes on Britain

to get air superiority over the beaches

And increase the credibility of the threat of Operation Sea Lion.

Hitler said: " Britain has no escape.

The war is already won. By U.S.??

August 1940.

Hitler asks Göring to lay the groundwork

total destruction of British fighter jets ...

through Operation Eagle Day.

The Luftwaffe was to bomb aerodromes in south London.

More than half of the RAF fighter jets are there.

Operation Eagle Day begins on August 13th.

Certainly in a few hours, the RAF Fighter Command

it will no longer be possible to oppose the Luftwaffe.

Eagle Day marked a series of attacks on key airfields

of Group 11, in the south of England.

The bombers had to attack in waves, destroying

Command's ability to generate surprise attacks

in the extreme south

And then push the RAF inland

for the Luftwaffe to cement its superiority over the Canal.

But bad weather reports are being received .

Göring decides to postpone the attack.

On Eagle Day, some pilots are ordered to return to base.

Some receive the order too late,

and some do not receive it at all.

The order to start the operation

was given at about 14:00.

As German bombers approach the British coast,

RAF response is fast and deadly,

a real shock to the Luftwaffe.

Not to mention the easy victory promised by Hitler.

47 German planes are shot down,

and 86 pilots are killed, missing or captured.

Eagle Day losses

they are quite humiliating for the Luftwaffe.

The dive bombers, who seemed invincible in France,

they were extremely vulnerable

a concerted attack by fighter jets.

Are you safe? Did you hit a bastard?

Then, at knife point, 109 ºi to Dornier.

The Germans were dangerously confident.

Each branch of the army had been told to prepare separately for the invasion.

What does the Luftwaffe want?

Their plan was: "We will destroy the RAF."

They had no coordination.

Hitler going to the Alps then was like ...

Churchill allegedly went to a cottage in Scotland

at that time.

It was completely inappropriate.

He showed arrogance.

He showed her his inability

to understand his enemy.

The Germans didn't know

that the British had developed an advanced warning system,

called the "Dowding System".

Stuffy ?? ?? Dowding was the commander of the Combat Aircraft Command.

He had overseen the development

a coordinated air defense system .

There is no such thing in the world.

At the base of the defensive system is the "Radar Chain",

twenty-one 110 m high radar antennas on the south and east coast,

which could detect planes 193 km away.

If German planes flew under the detection ceiling,

were detected by 30 smaller radars, the Low Radar Chain.

The principles of radar detection were known

by the Germans, who also had their own system.

What they didn't understand

it's the way the radar was integrated

in an air defense system.

Once German planes were in sight,

over 30,000 volunteers on duty day and night ...

Thirty enemy planes across the Channel are flying west.

They followed them and reported their position.

Radar notifies you of the approach of a band, but does not tell you

size or altitude, this being done

by observers in interspersed positions

located on the coast and inland of England.

They were equipped with binoculars

And with a tool called a pantograph,

a kind of giant sextant.

The instrument gave them the compass head, the distance and the altitude

the squadron they were pursuing.

Reports reached the Fighter Command

in less than 40 seconds.

At the Bentley Priory were the control room and the filter room.

Bentley Priory is the headquarters of the Aircraft Command .

The filter chamber analyzes the information

come only from radar stations.

The control room coordinates

information from the filter chamber

And the information coming from the body of observers.

The Luftwaffe has no idea that the RAF knows that German planes are approaching

since they are above the north of France.

Enemies, two, four, south.

The positions of their aircraft are reported directly to Command.

Reacþie din south-east forþele

I'm under the command of a man ...

Vice President Keith Park.

While the German squadrons had several commanders,

Park alone coordinated more than 30 squadrons in the south-west of England.

During Eagle Day,

some German bombers inevitably pass the defensive shield.

Some RAF aerodromes of Group 11 coordinated by Park are hit.

But the decisive blow that had to be given to RAF on Eagle Day

it turns into a squabble taken by the Luftwaffe.

47 German planes are shot down,

and the RAF loses only 13 aircraft.

But Beppo Schmid tells Göring much more RAF losses,

claiming that the Luftwaffe shot down 70 British planes.

Part of the problem was information

which reached Göring.

Our friend Beppo Schmid was sending inaccurate reports.

Göring doesn't know exactly what's going on.

Schmid underestimates speed

with which the RAF repairs planes and runways.

Engineers were quickly rebuilding the planes.

The craters left by the bombs were quickly filled .

Most RAF bases were operational again within 24 hours.

British fighter jets were built faster than ever.

The aviation industry had been restructured

And now he was producing non-stop. Everything had been optimized.

In July 1940, the Minister of Aviation

manufactured 496 Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft ,

while the Luftwaffe had manufactured only 240 Messerschmitt 109.

Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aviation,

establishes the Spitfire Fund,

to raise money for the production of aircraft.

LOCAL AIRCRAFT FUND

The public wanted to contribute,

And not just in the UK or the Commonwealth,

but all over the world,

people wanted to donate

for the manufacture of these wonderful objects.

Due to the fact that the battles were over England,

The RAF still had an advantage over the Luftwaffe.

Although Eagle Day caused significant damage,

This is not reflected in the number of pilots.

The pilots are shaken, but if they are not seriously injured,

they return immediately to the squadron

He gets on a new plane the next day.

Well-trained people are saved and go back into battle,

while Göring loses his crews forever.

Every Luftwaffe plane shot down

it means the loss of a plane and its crew.

Those pilots become a valuable source of information.

Crews are interrogated,

and German aircraft are analyzed in the smallest detail.

The word "Knickebein" is found in a Heinkel bomber.

written on a note.

Recently captured pilots are heard in secret conversations

using the same word.

It is known that ?? Knickebein ??, ?? lame foot ?? in Romanian,

It's a radio communications system

which allows pilots to navigate at night.

It's a threatening discovery.

The Germans plan to bomb England at night.

The Knickebein system transmits a sequence of dots and lines.

The pilots flew between two beams to their intersection.

Thus they knew how to follow the course without resorting to maps.

No one thought that the Germans would develop a system

sailing at night.

Parallel to the Battle of Britain is taking place

another technological and scientific battle,

whose purpose is the bombing by night, not by day.

Defensive Strategy of the Combat Aircraft Command

it is based on the fact that observers and pilots see the enemy.

If the Germans start bombing at night,

British cities and industry remain defenseless.

Meanwhile, Göring realized that

that the south of England is very well defended.

So change strategy.

Maybe the rest of Britain is more vulnerable.

On August 15, they launched an extensive offensive.

It is clear that the south of England is well defended,

but it was not clear that the north was the same.

The main raid took place over Yorkshire.

There were Heinkel 111 planes

escorted by twin-engine aircraft, Messerschmitt BF 110.

More than 2,000 Luftwaffe planes are launched across the UK.

But Göring receives another painful lesson.

This time, 75 German planes are shot down.

The Luftwaffe called that day " Black Thursday".

Churchill called it "one of the greatest days in history."

The Dowding system is just as vigilant in the north as it is in the south.

The Germans then realized that radar systems

they surrounded the coast

And that they were not only facing Group 10 and 11,

but also Group 12 in the Midlands, and Group 13 in the north and Scotland.

Göring's famous Stuka bombers

suffered the greatest losses.

So he changed tactics again.

Stuka were annihilated because they work best

if they have full control of the airspace.

Göring begins to adjust his tactics and tells the fighter jets:

You should escort the bombers closely.

You need to provide escort.

It means they have more to do

And they lose their advantages.

They are deprived of their main advantage,

speed and surprise element.

Instead of flying at over 480 km / h

And have an inherent advantage

on RAF aircraft at the beginning of the battle,

109E planes now fly at 320, 400 km / h,

near bombers at low altitude.

That was a huge mistake by Göring.

RAF loses 32 fighter jets on 15 August.

Airplanes and airfields are repaired quickly.

But mental stress affects pilots on both sides.

In August, the life of a regular RAF pilot

It was like a schizophrenic experience.

When they were on duty, they flew five, six missions a day.

The situation was very intense.

The fighting was very intense.

Then, after half an hour, I return to the ground

I'm sitting next to the hangar,

completely exhausted.

The youngest Spitfire pilot in the Battle of Britain,

Geoffrey Wellum, I reduce my instruction time

to get directly into the fight.

At ten and a half months

since leaving Serbian life at the boarding school,

I found myself in the middle of the action, in a squadron of Spitfire.

I stayed longer, moaning and waiting.

The tension of waiting in the hangar is something I will never forget.

When the bell rang, you became ...

tense.

You were climbing Spitfire.

Once you were in the cockpit,

you could feel the vibrations of the engine in the seat and you could understand

that then it's up to you.

Once again, British pilots have an advantage

on those in the Luftwaffe.

It was a special thing to be a soldier in the Royal Air Force.

Even more interesting was being a pilot.

But be a fighter pilot

it was by far the coolest thing.

One in five fighter pilots were foreigners.

They were French, Belgian

And many Poles.

I drank at night, came home, slept for two hours

And then they flew on a mission.

British pilots went to the local bar

where they were received as heroes,

unlike the German pilots who always had something to do.

In the evening they had to discuss tactics and write reports.

If they had little free time, they would go to a local bar,

but there they came across a French bartender who looked at them suspiciously.

Nobody praised them.

Morally, it was harder for the Luftwaffe.

On August 16, Lufwaffe reports

finally some victories in the Battle of Britain.

Radars detect Luftwaffe formations crossing the English Channel

And heading south.

Eighty-four Stuka bombers

apãrate de 214 Messerschmitt 109

And 43 Messerschmitt 110 is heading for Southampton.

Eight British squadrons intercept them over Portsmouth and Lee-on-Solent.

Göring's new tactic pays off.

RAF aircraft are outnumbered by escort aircraft

They allow bombers to cause major damage.

Ventnor Radar Chain Radar Antenna on the Isle of Wight,

She was hit by 22 bombs.

It will be taken out of use in a month.

A great success of the Luftwaffe.

The RAF base in Tangmere is severely damaged.

Ten soldiers are killed and the hangars are destroyed.

American pilot Billy Fiske fights Luftwaffe,

it is hit and the fuel tank catches fire.

He initially survives, but then dies from his injuries.

Fiske becomes the first North American victim of World War II.

AN AMERICAN GIVES HIS LIFE FOR SURVIVAL OF ENGLAND

There are signs that the Luftwaffe is learning

how to overcome the RAF defense.

The Luftwaffe has achieved some success by avoiding detection,

not using heavy bombers.

Flight below the radar detection threshold

proved more effective than heavy bombers

flying at medium altitude.

And losses continue to rise.

Sunday, August 18,

day that RAF considered a worst case,

Winston Churchill înflãcãreazã naþiunea.

Never in the history of human conflicts

So many people owed something to so few.

The few were RAF pilots

desperately resisting the German attacks.

More important were those with more than five planes shot down ...

elite pilots.

Elite pilots were important

because they shot down a disproportionate number of planes.

Exceptional shooters,

people willing to get very close ,

mostly Poles and Czechs.

The novice pilots were a disappointment.

Most went through the war without hitting anything.

You had to have fantastic reflexes,

Have the desire to get closer.

You had to be a killer. Have a criminal instinct.

You had to be able to stab in the back,

to Play a Dirty Game |

Many RAF pilots were shot down.

They didn't even see the plane he was firing from.

They were shot down by 109 planes that did nothing they could

in front of the bombers, trying to shoot down the RAF pilots

approaching the bombers.

Over 80% of the pilots shot down

they did not see who shot at them.

The solution was to avoid it permanently,

shoot a short volley, then release.

The other was always killed, not you.

Despite the heroism of the RAF pilots,

Hitler's operation, the Great Lion,

It is scheduled for mid-September.

Without real information, Göring doesn't realize it

how successful his recent raids have been

And, unnecessarily, it changes tactics.

The only thing they didn't understand

It's that they did very well

with aerodrome bombing.

They were getting good results.

They came quite close to RAF Group 11.

This is the group defending the south-east of England

And who had to retire.

But they did not realize what they had done.

Göring tells his exhausted pilots

to make night raids using the Knickebein navigation system,

when RAF pilots were not ready to intercept them.

The plan is to attack Britain non-stop,

until Churchill surrenders.

Hitler had forbidden any direct attack on London.

This was a political act

He wanted the decision to attack London to be his own.

However, one August night, some Luftwaffe bombers

trying to bomb the Thames Haven oil refinery,

they missed the target and the bombs fell on the East End.

Dwellings were destroyed

And nine civilians perished.

Accidental or intentional,

The raid gives Churchill a chance

to attack the enemy.

RETALIATION

For Churchill, this is an unexpected opportunity.

It's the perfect excuse to do what he wanted to do long ago,

that is, to ask the war cabinet for approval

to attack Berlin.

This was a problem,

because Berlin is on the edge of its sphere of action

of RAF bombers at the time.

The first night raid of the British on Berlin

it is doomed to failure.

But a few days later, eight German civilians are killed.

Although the number is relatively small,

has a huge impact on Germany.

It's a huge shock to German psychology.

Suddenly, war comes upon them in Berlin.

For Göring, it is a humiliation. And Hitler is angry.

The Combat Aircraft Command is presented as the key pawn of the battle,

but the Bombardier Command also played an extremely important role.

Their target is the new German airfields in northern France.

The Germans are bombed daily by the British

in Pas-de-Calais.

But what bothers the Nazis the most is the bombing of Berlin.

At that time, Hitler was in the mountains at the Eagle's Nest.

He was informed and said: ?? Okay,

attack Berlin.

Vom riposta. ??

Hitler's concept was: " Instead of destroying the RAF,

We better destroy the British desire to continue.

Therefore, we will bomb the cities.

If we change tactics and attack at night,

using the Knickebein system when RAF aircraft are powerless,

they will not be able to detect the bombers at night. ??

Hitler believes that the disaster caused by the bombing in London

He will turn the citizens against Churchill.

On September 4, he sends a frightening message

in Berlin, at Sportpalast.

"If the British attack our cities, we will destroy theirs."

When Göring first reached the coast of France,

conveys an ominous tactic change .

On the morning of September 7, the Luftwaffe gathered together

over 700 triangular planes .

September 7th was an incredible day for Londoners.

Of course, creepy,

at the sight of the air fleet flying over the Thames,

an operation different from the ones they were used to.

The planes did not part, going after different targets.

They were all heading for London.

Until 4:30 p.m.,

all 21 squadrons defending London took off .

They had never seen such an attack before.

There were aerial battles over the Thames estuary ...

involving more than 1,000 aircraft.

The Luftwaffe bombers return at night,

as they will do for the next 57 nights, except for one.

Operation Blitz had begun.

London is on fire.

Londoners are witnessing these scenes

all night.

People felt the savagery of the Nazis.

London Docks is the most important shopping center in the world.

There were huge stocks

with goods from all over the world.

Especially timber and molasses, both highly flammable.

For example, the Surrey lumber fire

It is one of the most powerful ever.

He melted the paint on the fire boats

And the asphalt.

On the morrow of,

Churchill goes to the East End to see the disaster with his own eyes.

Churchill described London as memorable.

He was like a huge prehistoric monster who had suffered a lot

but not nearly killed.

The poor in the East End have suffered greatly.

They were the hardest hit by Operation Blitz.

At the sight of the bombs falling on them,

Surprisingly, they did not revolt.

It was awful and those people,

especially the poorest, they suffered

enormous.

I'm not leaving my house so easily.

Go, you have to go to work.

TO THE EVACUATION TRAINS

The evacuation of children to rural areas is intensified .

Britain is preparing for the Nazi invasion.

The bombing of London was a shocking event for the people.

But it 's a good thing for fighter jets ,

for they have a break, a rest.

After the bombing of London, Group 11 has no problems.

Hitler had believed that the British would turn against the leaders,

give and dezamãgit.

Citizens are with their unwavering prime minister.

By mid-September, the Luftwaffe had failed

to obtain the air superiority necessary for an invasion.

If I don't get it soon,

the invasion will have to be postponed until spring.

The bombing of Britain is intensifying .

On September 12, Spitfire pilot Geoffrey Wellum, 18,

enters the fight for the first time.

The squadron leader and I woke up in front

an enemy force of over 150 aircraft.

There really seemed to be over 150 planes.

I told myself that the war had become serious.

These guys didn't come to play.

They were serious.

If you chose one,

especially if he was a little out of the band,

you followed him, shot at him quickly, and then walked away.

I saw a Heinkel returning to France,

at maximum speed,

but I managed to shoot ...

pretty good at it.

Eventually it collapsed.

Because the weather is bad,

Göring had another chance to prove his abilities.

Information received from intelligence services

they said the British still had a maximum of 200 fighter jets.

Another small effort and they won.

The Luftwaffe knew the weather was soon to come

too unpredictable for a naval invasion

that year.

On September 15, when the weather calmed down,

Luftwaffe attacked.

The Luftwaffe had the last chance on September 15 ...

distance, 6,400 kilometers ...

day that becomes known as the "Day of the Battle of Britain".

ªi a plane the 4.800 ...

The first information reached Group 11 in Uxbridge

about 11:00.

The first raid was carried out by 145 planes.

It was the first time British planes

outnumbered Luftwaffe aircraft,

275 pilots in the air.

Group 12, from north London, launched the Grand Squadron,

led by Douglas Bader.

56 planes took off to directly intercept the bombers.

At 12:00, six German bombers had been shot down ,

one just above Victoria Station in London.

This was just the prelude, the main raid

starting shortly after noon.

Two-six-zero, zero-nine-five ...

They were now attacking 475 planes.

Three Luftwaffe squadrons

attack from the south, targeting London.

The Grand Squadron takes off again.

As the Germans cross the coast,

The RAF greets them with waves of squadrons.

As the Luftwaffe sends more planes, the losses increase.

I felt we were stronger.

I knew we were causing them great losses.

The Germans lost a lot of planes.

In fact, the Luftwaffe

he never recovered

after the humiliation of the Day of the Battle of Britain.

Finally, 56 German planes are shot down ,

compared to only 28 RAF aircraft.

Exactly twice as many.

They are intercepted by a huge number of planes.

All RAF pilots take part in the action.

It's very clear, even to Göring,

that the operation failed.

Their deception is over.

They understood that the British defense was not weakening at all.

It was just as strong, if not stronger.

It was a turning point for the Luftwaffe.

The Luftwaffe believed that the British were defeated,

when, in fact, it turned out they weren't.

Hitler lost confidence in Göring's air force.

Transport ships and troops stationed on the coast of France are relocated.

Operation Sea Lion has been countermanded.

It's a crushing victory for the RAF.

This is a disastrous defeat for the Luftwaffe

And for Nazi Germany.

The reason for the victory is that the British are fighting

exactly as they prepared, and they do it with mastery.

But the elements involved are much more,

contrary to what is presented.

Several divisions took part, the Bombers Command,

Coast Command ...

The naval forces were also involved.

Three names must be remembered.

The first, Winston Churchill.

He is the one who decided that the British will fight.

Al doilea, Hugh Dowding.

He is the one who created the weapon that facilitated the victory.

Third, Keith Park, commander of Group 11.

The man who wielded the gun.

After the defeat of France and the evacuation of Dunkirk,

the Nazi rise through Europe was halted.

Hitler turned to the Soviet Union.

Contrary to forecasts,

RAF came out victorious.

Although Britain was in a better position

than supposed,

the legend of the few brave young men

who fought, risked their lives or perhaps died

defending his homeland is the quintessence of this battle

And we should not forget.

If there were no glorious legend

to expel the Luftwaffe,

it would have been difficult for Churchill

to maintain the morale of the British

through the very difficult years that followed.

In October I understood that the Germans

they had not achieved their goal.

He shot me three times.

ªi am scãpat.

I'm grateful I survived.

I feel privileged that I could

defend this country from the hand of a Spitfire in the Battle of Britain.

IN MEMORY OF GEOFFREY WELLUM DECORATED WITH THE MILITARY CROSS, 1921 - 2018