This opening was an experience in itself. Seeing all of the real planes, real actors was a treat, as was reading the names in the credits- I got quite a surprise seeing Adolf Galland’s name there.
Galland was a very highly respected fighter pilot & was engaged as an expert advisor on everything from equipment to protocol - & combat tactics for both sides. He was one of the very few who saw it all from start to finish. Saw everything - Flew everything - Survived everything.
@@grahampalmer9337 After the War he was released and hired by the Argentine Government to act as an Technical Advisor for our Air Force...he helped to organise the Fighter force which had been reequipped with 100 Gloster Meteors F.4
A very underappreciated film. I saw this as a kid on TV as a kid in 1972 on CBS and thought it was the greatest war movie of all time. It is still amongst the greatest IMHO.
Fifteen years old the first time I watched it …..mesmerised, leading to a life time aloft, counting tens of thousands of flying hours from ultralights to Jets, no doubt inspired by ‘The Few’. Watched it a zillion times since, then again another zillion times with my eight year old son, who began to pretend to be a German pilot ! Another zillion times with my grandson, who was just as mesmerised as I had been, at a mere five years of age…..no kidding. He knew all the lines….’Booms a daisy, enough to make you weep’….’and.. you can make monkeys fly better than that ‘ ! We came off a rocky tour boat once with the family, when little Rohan rather relieved from the experience, piped up…..’well done chaps home and tea for us’ …….!! What a lifetime treat this wonderful Movie has been. As real as it had played been out.. In my seventies now, Sadly watching them leave us one by one. We’ll watch them for another Lifetime. They shall not be forgotten.❤
@@MarkHarrison733 To be expected with historical films not licking America hole, Dunkirk only made money because of Harry styles - still better films and more accurate then anything the yanks produce.
It is the expertise on display here that is breathtaking by modern film-making standards - no bloody blue screen, no whizz kid Korean geniuses faking it all with CGI, just real equipment and men. Yes, some of the cast had served in the war, but the movie also was able to use a plethora of experts led by Adolf Galland, the Luftwaffe air ace, while the British pilots included Wing-Comm Stanford Tuck and, with respect, Air Chief Marshal Harris`s deputy, Wing Commander Robert Wright. And then Ron Goodwin produces the best German march ever written by a non-German. Thanks to all involved.
Well in 1969 there were lots of vintage second world war two aircraft left for movie making. But today 55 years later that’s no longer the case. Today it’s either use CGI and green screens or no movie.
This honour is awarded to Henry Hugh Pearson's "O Deutschland hoch in Ehren" (Oh Germany in high esteem), a song with a meaning comparable to "Rule Britannia" as an inofficial German national anthem. Even the nazis used it as background music for a newsreel showing the capture of Athens: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CeWS98AYTH4.html
This movie ranks among THE very best of war action/drama films. While set in WW2, it had an "ahead of its time" feel to it, largely due to the style & skills of Harry Saltzman who, along with Albert Broccoli, co-produced the James Bond films (all of which had the same "ahead of time" effect); Sir Guy Hamilton, who directed this and the 007 films as well, and- last, but not least & more like most of all- Ron Goodwin with the musical part of it. A definite winning combination !!!
Goodwin at his very best sets the tone for the German air assault on a crippled England. What a jaunty march full of confidence and arrogance....because they had it. What an exceptional film that stands the test of time!
The BIIGER Irony is that both the first and last Bf109's were powered by RR engines. The British lent the Germans some RR engines in exchange for 1 He 70
It is hugely ironic that Ron Goodwin, an Englishman, composed the Aces High March (the music that companies this video), which is quite possibly the finest German march ever, as part of a movie depicting the defeat of the German Luftwaffe by the British Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, the event that was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.
The sheer, historically-accurate visual minutiae lavished upon this film is surely peerless and perhaps best exemplified at approx 2:30 mark of which briefly shows labourers repairing war-damaged infrastructure. Naturally most films would've simply requisitioned a few extras portraying German soldiers to strip to their vests to perform such a function. Here though they correctly depict the khaki-clad German Labour corp, 'Organisation Todt' instead! Inevitably 'Todt is _very_ rarely (if ever) represented in WW2-themed films for it's recreation requires distinctive/bespoke uniforms.... and here they're only on screen for a paltry couple or so seconds! As I say, an incredible, if not unsurpassed attention to detail.
Labourers? you mean Combat Engineers ,a vital arm of the military that never get the recognition they deserve for the hugely important work they do and before you ask,yes I`m a retired Combat Engineer so I might be a bit biased,so sorry not sorry.
Would you know if there is something special about the laborers shown at the 3:15 mark? They appear to be poorly dressed and digging a large ditch of sorts. Are they being disciplined?.
+Damar158 Britain would rather consider why it is ranked the third on the list of so called "Nanny states" in Europe, and why it has laws and practices of internet censorship comparable to Russia, Turkey, China and Saudi Arabia. That does not come from the EU, that is something the UK government created itself. While the UK patronizes its own population, the London Financial District holds the largest laundry engine of the world's crime, drug and terrorism finance.. The City stands above all law and is protected by the government. These finance people are already in Whitehall now, and the UK government actually listens to them! Kick them out in stead of Brexiting!
Just imagine what the world would be like now if the RAF had lost the Battle of Britian. There's a good chance Britian would have turned into another Vichy satellite of Germany, and the million or two German soldiers protecting the west would have joined the invasion of Russia. What ifs in WW2 are too numerous to even dwell on, but losing the Battle of Britian would have changed history.
The Battle of Britain was irrelevant as Hitler never intended to invade the UK. As soon as Stalin broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on 28 June 1940 the OKW started preparing for Barbarossa.
@@wcstevens7 and in many cases, rightfully so. Destroying my generations prospects in the name of "sovereignty", which we never lost. The EU is the among the greatest things to happen to the UK, and you can fuck off if you think some gammons should have the right to take it's benefits away from us with a small majority victory.
@@patrickjohn33 Try taking that apostrophe from "it's" and putting it in "generations". Then you might want to remove the obscenity in the third line. There's really no need for it, you know. And finally, as a last general piece of advice, why not take your head out of your backside and do some thinking for a change before writing such twaddle?
The more I read of this battle the more I am amazed by the courage and determination of the British people. I was glad to learn the British were able to build all those incredible planes at least in part with tons of metal and other materials sent to them by the US. Shouldn't blame the US too much for hoping to avoid anther war so soon, war is nasty business. But at least the US was sending numerous shiploads of high grade steel, cloth, rivets, leather etc. The US lost many ships that were sunk by the U boats, so that war was already costing millions before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The US being NEUTRAL at this point in history was conducting "business as usual" with BOTH sides of the European war. Britain saved itself in 1940 INSPITE of the US as much as it did BECAUSE of the US.
@@MarkHarrison733 Yes, it's why he made a film that portrays the resounding British smashing of the luftwaffe !!!! God he must've REALLY hated us, strange really seeing as he spent most of his life living here in the UK !!!!
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Britain lost the Battle of Britain and World War II very badly. Saltzman wanted the UK and its empire destroyed so Israel would be created. PS: Michael Rosen hates the UK, yet lives here.
@@charlessawyer6953 It's certainly up there with the best of them, especially when he responds to the Germanic swagger with two lumps of sugar. I bet though when I first saw this film as a child I fidgeted all the way through the scene and couldn't wait to get back to the war and the planes.
Where on God's green earth did they find all the aircraft... Vehicles, uniforms.. Everything is spot on authentic 😁 Love how they Play the disciplined Germans and Upper class British snobbery 🇬🇧😂
For the German aircraft, the producers obtained 32 CASA 2.111 twin-engined bombers, a Spanish-built version of the German Heinkel He 111H-16. They also located 27 Hispano Aviación HA-1112 M1L 'Buchon' single-engined fighters, a Spanish version of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109. The Buchons were altered to look more like correct Bf 109Es, adding mock machine guns and cannon, and redundant tailplane struts, and removing the rounded wingtips.
I wonder if they purposely displayed nothing but traditional military salutes or if it was an afterthought. The Luftwaffe were vehemently Nazi, moreso than the Army but not on the Waffen SS level. You'd have to think that Goehring made it mandatory (through Hitler) that all saluting to any officer would include it, or both. Still, this opening perfectly depicts just how sky high German morale was in May 1940.
The principal military advisor for the film, an actual WW2 German ace hated how Kesselring was made to give a Nazi salute and even ran onto the set to complain
There’s a guy at the end of this film ( Extras ) while there waiting. Who kept trying to get me to bet On a horse ( Red Rum ) he finally won and so did I. This while I vas working.
Forget Putin "the bogeyman".... It's Klaus Schwab (of the corporate globalist "boy's club" the WEF), George Soros and Bill Gates who need telling to "f@ck off".
s g It's a MOVIE. Does it matter one iota if Spanish planes with a different engine were used? NO! I'm so sick and tired of all these people nit-picking about miniscule things in movies. HEY! Did you know that the chariots used in Ben-Hur were not the real ones used during Roman times? You're as big an idiot as that guy is a whiner! Comprehend THAT, mo-fo!
It wasn't a German march, it was written for the film in a German style with a emphasis on tubas, horns and glockenspiels. It was originally called "Luftwaffe March" but later renamed "Aces high march"
"Don't dictate to US, until you are marching down WhiteHALL !............and even then we won't listen !" always brings tears to my eyes, for a dear, late friend of mine who had been in charge of an Auxiliary Unit Patrol in 1940 told me that was EXACTLY their attitude ! ! and then, "Its unforgiveable !.......I lost my temper !"🥲🥲...WONDERFUL people !
I guess some thing why those british war movies from the 60ies appear so authentic was, that all warfaring nations' staff was played by actors from those nation whose most had served in their respective armies during the real war. That enables them to naturally display the typical styles of their very individual military behaviour, in words, body language and all that. Films made today never reach that standard again.
That's quite true Michael. One of the most authentic war films is called "Their's is the Glory" which was made soon after the war. It is the same story as "A Bridge Too Far" and was actually filmed in the ruins of Arnhem before reconstruction began post-war. There are no actors in it - all the parts are played by the survivors of the actual battle. As one film critic later commented, at times you can see the fear in their eyes, they weren't acting the roles, they were re-living them!
Best comment ever on authenticity was by Richard Todd in the longest day. So called advisor said why did you do that it's wrong. What do you know? Todd replied I was with lovatts commandos
Remember seeing it at the flicks as a boy , I would be about 8 , I guess around 1970 . On Holiday in Southsea with mum dad my sister and two brothers . We thought it was great , I even remember us talking about how good it was in the interval , we had the little tubs of ice cream and tiny spoons . We lost one of my brothers only 14 years later in a car crash . This film brings back happy memories of him , ironically he had his accident in a Spitfire , a triumph spitfire though . I miss him every day, as all my family do .
I have just read your comment. I am very sorry for your loss. We are about the same age. I was born in 1959 and my dad took me to the cinema in Buenos Aires in 1969. Later on, my dad bought me little "Airfix" models of "Spitfire" and Me-109" to assemble. My dad passed away in 2016 aged 96. A real gentleman. Regards.
Mark Harrison So you think that just because a movie doesn’t make that much money, this means by default it is shit? Remember Tora Tora Tora? It was a box office FLOP, BUT IT IS STILL REGARDED AS ONE OF THE MOST ACCURATE MOVIES RELATING TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR. So what is your point? Matter over mind????
@James Henderson You seem to be keen to get into every thread and repeatedly peddle your liberal leftie 'racist' comments. It was not racist and whether it made money of not has the square root of fuck all to do with the quality of the musical score, the accuracy, and the attention to detail. Kindly fuck off.
I love this opening (actually 8 minutes into the film) but don't forget the opening to the Bridge on the River Kwai when the British POW's enter the Japanese work camp.
The German planes in this film I recall were sourced from Spain as they were part of their current airforce. I bought the musical score as I was so impressed by it. I was in my early teens then. Just now I’m in Normandy and close to to invasion beaches. I’d recommend anyone to visit the area. Now in my 60s and my interest hasn’t changed.
Yep! it was like that! In fact Spain had just retired them from service. The german soldiers on reviewn appearing in this opening were Spanish conscripts during their military service arround the area of Seville where the geman planes of the movie were purchased.
I stand corrected, but in my defense I was thinking of a black and white photo in the book of the movie, which I read many years ago.......so much for memory
++David Shepherd No probs. I'd love to see a real Wellington flying. The Ju52 in the film is still flying AFAIK. It also appeared in the film "Where Eagles Dare", though how a Ju52 was going to fly through Europe in daylight was rather glossed over. In the book it was a Mosquito, which created its own problems.! I saw that Ju52 at Blackbushe Airport with one of the He111s from the film plus a Sea Fury and once flying over London.
I was once in a hotel room in Vienna, doing a bit of channel hopping on the TV. I came across the film 'Battle of Britain' dubbed into German. It was a very bizarre experience!
@@ChaoticModelmaker Not to mention the Royal Navy, which outnumbered the Kreigsmarine 10 to 1 in destroyers alone, plus cruisers, battlecruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers. The RAF didn't stop the invasion, the RN did, just by being there and not making a big song and dance about it. Mind you, I think the RN would have loved the Germans to have tried to invade, it would have been a slaughter.
@@rogueriderhood1862 And the coal and steel and food and ammunition for the navy was supplied or financed by the largest empire in the world. Britain was not alone in WWII, even before the USA joined the war.
@@rogueriderhood1862 No, no, no. Navy would not stop Luftwaffe and good luck with keeping them on a Chanel or in ports. There was a reason why RAF was defending Britain instead evacuating everything but leaving Navy.
@WielkaStopa-qh1rr That is not the case, the Luftwaffe could not have done anything to stop the RN. Ships are very difficult to bomb, particularly if they are manoeuvring at speed as destroyers would have been. Additionally, the plan for Sealion called for a night crossing of the Channel, which would certainly have taken the Luftwaffe out of the picture. Can you imagine an invasion fleet of barges being toed at 4 knots being confronted by a force of destroyers at 30 knots? The destroyers wouldn't even have to fire their guns, manoeuvring at high speed through the fleet would have swamped and sunk the barges and drowned the soldiers. You might be interested to read 'Invasion 1940' by Derek Robinson, which goes into this at some length.
In writing this march Ron Goodwin really outkrauted the Krauts. Magnifient piece of work. If I hadn't known any better I'd have thought it was a genuine German march dating back to WWII.
I know it's an eight years old comment but when you listen to a lot of german military march, you can definitively hear than this one doesn't match a german military march, I don't know how to say it but the feeling isn't there. On the contrary it looks more of a british march.
A great sequence - from Dunkirk, to the Luftwaffe bomber airfield, then to Berlin and the British embassy in Switzerland, and finally the RAF fighter command station. In those few minutes, the whole story of the lead up to the Battle of Britain, and what the battle would mean, is summed up. And that music - perfect. :O)
A group of rich American aircraft-preservationists restored a CASA 2.111 into flying condition and then managed to crash it. Something similar happened more recently with a veteran B-17.
They were available as Spain at this point was still ruled by the fascist dictator and personal friend of Hitler, Franco. Not sure I would be glad about this.
Must be one of the best opening film credits ever produced. Saw this in the cinema on release and this intro really wet your appetite for the coming film. Brilliant.
Saw this movie literally dozens of times as a kid growing up in the 1970s and 80s. Never tired of watching it and it still kicks butt to this day. Especially considering the terrible quality of even the so-called "best" war movies made in the last 25 years (and yes, that includes "Saving Private Ryan"). Hundreds of extras, uniforms/costumes that are period correct in every detail, and a whole lot small things that make the movies feel far more real.
I love this piece of music. typically German. They are at that moment in time, riding high, the world at their feet they must think of themselves as nigh on invincible. Little did they realize the rug was going to be torn out from under them.
He's a diplomat, his job was to smooth talk Germany unil Britain could adequately defend itself. Britain needed time, it was his job to buy Britain that time but instead he challenged a superior foe to q fight. The German knew his weak spots, hit them all, and made him forget what his country needed from him. A really powerful scene.
I remember an episode of the classic TV series "Family Affair" in which Sebastian Cabot's character, a gentleman valet to Brian Keith...said something similar after an argument he had with a difficult person, "a gentleman never loses his temper".
@@genericfakename8197 No he told the Nazi just what he wanted to tell him. the OLD proverb" Don't count your chickens before they hatch' Just what the US did in Vietbnam
"The battle for France is over; the Battle of Britain is about to begin." Peter Jackson used that as inspiration for a quote from Gandalf in The Two Towers! "The battle for Helm's Deep is over; the Battle for Middle-Earth is about to begin."
If you have ever wondered why the vehicle is exchanged at minute 03:10: Usually, the squadron leader of the unit drives behind the generals in the car to answer possible questions about the condition of the squadron. If the flight squad to be inspected changes, so does the squadron leader and thus the car. This procedure remains in the german Luftwaffe until today. Greetings from a fellow air force member GAF OF-D.
Immaculate tailoring, concise to the last detail. No high water hems, no tight waists or short backs, the shirt and coat sleeve lengths are precise, and the cuffs do not cinch the wrists. Those were the days when men knew how to dress, they wore subdued colors that by themselves would not even warrant a glimpse, but in combination with other hues of the same nature caused a contrast that pleased the eye, and gave the wearer a sense of dereguerre and civility.
James.Henderson. Racist? Too whom? Yes the Polish and Czechs would have been treated differently than today it was unfortunate and would now be seen as unacceptable. But not at this particular time. I also have Polish friends who love this film. As for pilots being too old- as the shortage of pilots at the time was so crucial do you relieve believe that, at this desperate time they would say to experienced pilots ‘sorry old chap but your over twenty five. Cant possibly have you in a cockpit’. They put anyone in the air who could fly from kids of 19 who only had nine hours flying time to a great uncle of mine who was thirty five, a pre- war RAF recruit who’d been flying for three years. And unlike the 19 year old kids he survived the entire war.
The British were in a bit of a tight spot after Dunkirk but this movie overlooks Britain's many strengths. The British had an excellent radar network, observer corps, antiaircraft artillery, and an information processing system for RAF Fighter command to help guide their fighters to the incoming warplanes of the German Luftwaffe. The Fighter Command sector control could guide their fighters eliminating the need for endless patroling. This RAF air defense system allowed RAF pilots early warning without getting caught on the ground during airfield attacks. RAF Fighter Command Air Chief Hugh Dowding was a brilliant officer. He made this complex air defense system and sector command system work almost flawlessly. The Luftwaffe wasn't just fighting Hurricanes and Spitfires. The Luftwaffe was fighting a brilliantly coordinated and carefully managed air defense system. The RAF had shortages of fighter pilots but the Commonwealth countries made up the differences in pilots and kept the British RAF Fighter command in the fight. The main point forgotten here is the British had been rehearsing their air defense system since the middle 1930's, for a Battle of Britian type scenario. The German Kriegsmarine lacked many important destroyers, cruisers, and landing craft for any amphibious invasion of Britain. The Germans had suffered heavy naval losses during the Norwegian campaign in early 1940. Plus, RAF and French resistance over France during the Battle of Dunkirk caused further considerable Luftwaffe aircraft losses. The whole British Empire of Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, Rhodesia, and New Zealand were at war with Germany. Many occupied European Allied nations, with troops on British soil, offered these soldiers and trained pilots to help Britain. These countries included Poland, France, Czechoslavakia and various Scandinavian countries. The British had comparable fighter planes with the Hawker Hurricane and probably superior fighter planes in the Supermarine Spitfire. The British enjoyed naval superiority, which as long as the RAF challenged the skies over Britain, meant German naval forces would be blasted out of the water making any amphibious invasion extremely costly for Germany. So Operation Sea Lion was really a fictional German plan without the naval and logistical means to carry it forward. British resistance in Norway and Dunkirk had an accumulative effect with beneficial results in the summer of 1940. The United States started aiding the British soon after the fall of France. Lend Lease aid came later on after the Battle of Britain but lots of other aid went to the British during the Battle of Britain. FDR realized at somepoint, the United States would be forced to enter the war. So he understood, that helping the United Kingdom stay in the fight was actually furthering American interests. Many American manufacturers started switching over to Lend Lease military aid. The American industrialist base lacked many of the important machine tools and industrial components to convert a civilian economy to a wartime economy overnight. These conversions took time but were rapidly accomplished as was the military draft and calling up Guard and Reserve divisions for federal service. Many First World War artillery and infantry small arms were dragged out mothballs in depots and converted to modern weapons. The Americans did a few things right from the beginning to get ready for war despite strong isolationist sentiment. The most important aspect of the American Lend Lease program was to build the necessary QUANTITY of adequate military weapons through mass production. The Curtiss P-40 fighter was built in huge numbers with a majority going to the British Commonwealth, including the Soviet Union and Nationalist China.The M-3 tank was a Lend Lease tank built by Mr. Knudson, President of Chrysler in a new plant in Detroit exclusively for tanks. The M-3 tank had a 75mm gun in sponson with a 37mm gun in a turret. This awkard looking but still effective medium tank helped keep the British going in North Africa until the M-4 Sherman arrived during the Battle of El Alamein. The M-3 Grant tank went to the Soviet Union with about 1,000 seeing combat at Leningrad, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Petsamo. The British sent their old P-40's and all their old M-3 Grant tanks to Burma using them until the end of the war against the Japanese. The British Army used refurbished First World War artillery from Lend Lease from the United States in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy including the M-3 halftracks with 75mm guns for mobile artillery. The Americans provided enormous amounts of canned food stuffs, infantry small arms, vehicles and trucks, telephone wire and equipment, boots and uniforms, even locomotives and ships for the British Commonwealth and later the Soviet Union. None of America's weapons under Lend Lease were necessarily the best weapons of WW 2. But much of U.S. Lend Lease aid kept the British and the Soviet Union in the war. Much of the Lend Lease aid and weapons went to secondary theaters or theaters that were less critical to the war effort. But this is extremely important because it allowed the British and the Soviets to concentrate their best units and equipment in the main combat areas. So the legacy of the Battle of Britain is that of American Lend Lease aid to the British. British aid to the Soviet Union helped stabilize the front and win the Battle of Moscow. British aid to the Soviet Union mattered greatly in 1941. But no British aid could have made it to the Soviet Union until American Leand Lease aid came after the Battle of Britian.
Actually most important role which lend-lease played is not the weapons and trucks which they supplied to UK and USSR, but their aids on UK and USSR's industry. For example, official website of "Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense", there were only about 1/5 of the materials which USSR received from Lend-lease were directly related to the military use, the rest 4/5 of the materials were related to the USSR's military industrial production, that's why Lend-Lease is Very crucial for USSR to survive and keep the war. That's also a reason why the importance of lend-lease is often understated by people and even some historians. Soviet production of tanks, guns and aircrafts were largely relying on the industrial raw materials (e.g. nonferrous metal, rubber, armor steel, and chemical raw materials) and machine tools provided by the Lend-Lease cuz they lost too many industries and equipments at the beginning of the war. For example, the construction of "Stalingrad Tractor Plant" (one of the major tank factories of USSR during WW2) was carried out with the assistance of the United States, and most of its equipments are made in USA. Therefore, Lend Lease improved the efficiency of USSR military industry and improved the productivity of weapons and ordnance goods dramatically (e.g. Lend-lease provided ordnance goods (like ammunition, artillery shells, mines, and assorted explosives) amounted to 53 percent of total USSR domestic production). Without lend-lease, USSR couldn't produce so many aircrafts, tanks, shells, bombs, and guns during the war, and so as UK
One of Britain's main strength,was the fighting power of the Commonwealth and the food and supplies we sent as well.We sent our blood in WW1 and went again in WW2 .The ANZAC's,Canada,India,South Africa,Rhodesia and many of the African Nations too.New Zealand was only a small country,but we fought every where on all fronts.In the air,at sea and on land.
I saw this at The Dominion, Tottenham Court Road. All up the front of the cinema was the film title. I was so excited and only 15. That was in 1969. In the film The Black Windmill, Michael Caine is on a bus going past that cinema, with the film emblazoned across the front of it.A film he starred in.
Imagine with all we face today, to think back on that Summer of 1940 and what Britain was staring at across the English Channel. It was a honestly frightening and defining time for England. You were either frightened to tears or energized by the challenge. And an immense challenge they did face as bombs rained down on London later on. Imagine being there in 1940.
divisioneight A "defining time for England" you say. You do know, I take it, that the rest of Britain was under threat as well? Hitler had intended, had "Operation Sealion" been a success, to make Edinburgh Castle a regional HQ for the Gestapo, and to have Holyrood Palace as his official residence on visits to that part of Britain. I also can't help but notice that you refer only to bombs raining down on London. Firstly, in RAF Fighter Command (aside from the over 500 volunteer pilots from the Commonwealth and elsewhere) there were pilots from Wales, Scotland and Ulster that were in the Squadrons in Number 11 Group area (the south-east of England), which bore the brunt of the Battle. In fact, from my own home city, 603 Squadron (City of Edinburgh) were moved down from RAF Turnhouse to RAF Hornchurch - in 11 Group's area in August 1940. It became the highest scoring squadron in Fighter Command during the Battle. Secondly, although London was the primary target for the Luftwaffe, many other towns and cities around Britain were bombed during the Blitz as well - Bristol, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Dover, Coventry, Newcastle, Swansea, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow (Clydebank), Belfast, etc. It is wearisome for those of us in the rest of the UK to always be told that this was "England's" victory, and that "the Blitz" was only confined to London. It wasn't.
Downfall Dolfy And do you know WHY the RAF bombed Berlin initially? No? I thought not. German bombers, albeit accidentally it later turned out, ditched their bombs over residential areas of London during an abortive raid early in the period of The Battle of Britain. And if you are going to point an accusing finger over the bombing of non-military targets, how about starting with the shelling of coastal towns in England - Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby - by the German Navy (December 1914), as well as German Zeppelin and Bombers bombing London during World War 1. And what about the Luftwaffe's bombing of the Spanish town of Guernica in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War (forgotten about that, had we?). Or their bombing of Warsaw (flattening would be a more accurate description) in 1939, or the bombing of Rotterdam in 1940? Oh, and had you also forgotten that it wasn't only London that was bombed during 1940/41 but most of the major cities of the UK (yes, not just in England, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). So you point is what, exactly?
Downfall Dolfy The point is you are saying that the Germans were justified in bombing London because we bombed Berlin. But you don't seem to grasp that the reason we did so was because the Germans bombed London first. Understand? And my my point about bombings "in completely different wars (how were the bombings of Warsaw and Rotterdam "completely different wars? They both happened in WW2. ) And there is also the moral issue, which is why I pointed out that Germany had bombed and shelled civilian targets (ie., non-military targets) long before the British, or anyone else, did. Yes, that IS relevant because it means you can't simply suggest that in bombing London the Germans were somehow only getting their own back because the beastly British did it first. (And, as I pointed out, but you have forgotten, or didn't even know, they also bombed EVERY major population centre in Britain. Are you seriously telling me you knew nothing of the devastating bombing of Coventry, which destroyed the entire centre of the city?) The Germans were perfectly prepared to bomb innocent civilians when it suited them, both during WW2 and in earlier conflicts, so lets have no more of the "poor Germans, they only did it because we did it to them" attitude. There are plenty of videos on youtube about poor innocent German civilians killed by the RAF - and the USAAF. But nobody seems to think that the 60,000 innocent British civilians killed by the Luftwaffe in 1940/41 - before the RAF raids on Germany began in earnest in 1942 - are worthy of mention. Why is that? Don't they matter? Is it only German civilians we should grieve over? And as for "You don't have to act like I should know everything about the war you know." - well if you are going to argue about which side did what to the other, you damned-well SHOULD know. Its called "research".
I saw the movie in its entirety...pretty accurate description of the conflict that arose after France fell in the spring of 1940...most historians agree that this chapter in Great Britain's history is their finest hour....imagine being outnumbered and with limited resources. The United States was remaining neutral and won't be involved until December, 1941...a little island stood up against Hitler and won....if Hitler had beaten England,. ..the U.S. was next on his radar...this and the prevention of Germany developing "heavy water" for the Atomic bomb were some of the few key moments that helped win the war...if you read more about this historical time in Wikipedia and other sources, you'll realize how great a victory this was for England.
pst702 we had already defeated axis forces in the Middle East and east Africa and ultimately won the North Africa and Indian Ocean campaigns; as well as the battle of the Atlantic
The Australians had the first major WWII victories. Germany at Tobruk and Japan on the Kokoda track. Although prior to that the British did clean up the Italians in Africa.
To be honest, the 9th Division 2nd AIF was assisted in Tobruk with British artillery, armour and Indian troops - the first land victory against the Japanese was actually at Milne Bay (PNG) and not Kokoda
@18tangles Middle east and east Africa were done by 41 and as I said ultimately the other campaigns where won; North Africa was sped up by US forces and the US shipping industry helped with the merchant Navy losses
What a great movie. Just to see all those Spanish Heinkel 111’s, (no CGI there) and Spanish built Buchón’s its an amazing sight to see. They were “loaned” (for a price) by Franco’s Ejército del Aire. He may have been a dictator, but his government contributed in the making of one of the best WW2 movies ever.
”Midway” was a hilarious assembling av scenens, cut from other movies. Just think of Charlton Heston: He jumped into a Dauntless, took off in an Avenger, fler in a Vindicator and crashed in a Panther (a jet!). All during the same flight...
@@YDDES actually they used actual footage of plane flights during the air battlescenes and Charleton Heston was not flying until the like the last 30 minutes into the movie. They also used Hellcats during that battle
What's really interesting about the openings is that the Germans are all pomp and ceremony and honour guards, when Air Vice Marshal Park flies into an operational station it's in a Spitfire wearing flying overalls. British officers don't need ceremonial to show who's in charge, they leave that nonsense to royalty and politicians...
The movie opens with the German's theme instead of the now famous theme, because at this point the movie is still about their triumphant march to victory. But they'll figure it out soon enough.
I read somewhere many years ago that all those Heinkel 111's were loaned from the Spanish air force for the making of this film. It is noticeable that they are all fitted with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, I can only surmise that the German industries were so heavily bombed that the original engines could no longer be produced after the war.
Spain had a few German engines but the supplies dried up at the end of the war. Rolls Royce had developed universal cowling and engine packages for several aircraft and these were adapted to the CASA aircraft.
Interesting - I have just viewed a video of this aircraft and the Merlin engine has rather distorted the sleek shape of the original aircraft. thanks for your comments.
