How Did Britain Survive The Blitz? | Battle of Britain | War Stories

in the summer of 1940 a small group of young men and their aircraft were all that seemed to stand between the british people and invasion by the nazi war machine in the months that followed the few of raf fighter command would engage the luftwaffe in savage aerial combat over southern england in the summer of 1968 some of those aircraft were in the skies again to appear in the classic british feature film battle of britain now using unseen footage from that production this series will tell the real story of the battle of britain throughout august 1940 the luftwaffe's relentless attacks on the raf in the air and on the ground had threatened to destroy fighter command but as the germans switched to a terrifying new attack the raf is given a vital breathing space and the opportunity to hit back [Music] [Music] [Music] over the past month huge formations of german bombers have targeted vital raf installations including airfields aircraft factories and radar stations many such as raf manston are bombed repeatedly the outnumbered pilots of fighter command fought back against this onslaught few in number they hurled themselves again and again against fast enemy formations [Music] now people say to me i'mma needed to shoot down now i never looked back believe me i've never looked back uh to see what damage i'd done uh squirting down the whole row of bombers because we were outnumbered about four to one uh and in fact the the the one one overs and the 109s got in one another's way trying to shoot at us so the the secret of success and survival was not to fly in a straight line for any length of time you did a squirt here and a squirt there remembering of course that we had considerably more targets to shoot at than the enemy one day i did five trips in succession and it was very stressful it was more stressful waiting uh trying to read the book or sleep most people seem to appear to try and relax and sleep but you were obviously very much on edge and in a way i was much happier when we've been scrambled than i was waiting no i didn't know what was gonna happen when we got in the air i started off about being petrified that i'd been shot down on my first trip i finished up the battle wanting them to bring more over so i could shoot more down this is because i was only 20 and was very cocky by the end of august the raf had lost more than 400 fighter aircraft and more than 200 pilots had been killed or wounded eric actually was shut down behind me and jumped out the parachute and it malfunctioned so he was killed but after that episode i definitely didn't make any more friends close friends and i'd already shied away from most i didn't even know the names of some of the people that joined the squadron and subsequently got killed for all the skill and courage of its pilots fighter command was in danger of losing the battle for air superiority over southern england [Music] but hitler was impatient he had been incensed by raf bombing raids on berlin now luftwaffe intelligence reported that britain's fighter shield was on the brink of collapse and so he ordered goring to proceed to the final climactic phase of the air war against britain london and other industrial cities were to be targeted by massive bombing raids britain's war industries would be obliterated attacks on the capital would force the raf's last fighter reserves into the air where they would be destroyed by waves of german fighter escorts the people of britain would then see sense forcing their government to seek terms [Music] almost 1 000 german aircraft head for england raf controllers alerted as always by the chain of radar stations guarding britain's coastline scramble 11 squadrons they expect this fast formation to split up when it reaches the english coast proceeding to raf airfields and installations across southern england [Music] but the huge formation continues on its steady course the controllers realize it can only have one target london [Music] okay try to scramble squadrons already airborne patrolling 11 groups airfields are hastily redeployed a further 10 hurricane and 9 spitfire squadrons waiting at dispersal are ordered into the air [Music] [Applause] the spitfires of 602 squadron are amongst the first to make contact with the huge lukewarm formation [Music] the raf pilots are no strangers to disparity in numbers outnumbered over ten to one they attack swarms of fighter escorts pounce on the british aircraft beginning a desperate twisting dogfight as the bomber formations fly on every available raf squadron is in the air racing to intercept but the bombers reach london high explosive and incendiaries rain down upon the city's docklands the east end of london is soon a blaze there were hundreds and hundreds going over there was no end to them and everybody was looking up and because my mother she when she heard a bomber she would bury her head in the couch and say oh my god help us there is intense air combat over kent and the thames estuary as british fighter squadrons ripped through the returning bombers [Music] [Music] [Applause] as night falls more bombers arrive over london sheltered by the darkness they are now safe from attack but the darkness offers no protection to the stricken city guided by huge fires they add their bombs to the destruction below the attacks continue throughout the night tons of high explosive and thousands of incendiary bombs rain down upon the capital my boyfriend and i were standing on the corner saying good night and we could see all these fires i mean really the sky was lit up red and yonder you know you knew well that's london sirens were going uh fire engines [Music] the first massed raid over london had cost the luftwaffe 40 aircraft fighter command had lost 26 aircraft with 11 pilots reported killed [Music] they had not started bombing london and they'd kept up bombing the airfields we may have kept up with um aircraft we would run out of pilots and so if that being the case you know they could have won [Music] as luftwaffe bombers turned their attention to the capital by both day and night fighter command was given a much needed respite and despite the terrifying destruction wrought at the nation's heart the new german strategy played right into the raf's hands [Music] as dawn broke over london about 350 londoners lay dead killed by german bombs 1 500 had been injured the german high command was encouraged their bombers had got through london was a blaze surely the end was near for britain and her disintegrating defenses the strategy was confirmed the luftwaffe would concentrate its efforts on one target london of course when um we see the papers and went to work they were all saying didn't london have it last night at london's expense the country's air defenses had gained a reprieve [Music] dowding took action to nurse his battered organization back to health [Applause] to overcome the desperate problem of fatigue amongst the most battle-weary squadrons and the lethal lack of combat experience in the squadrons that replaced them he introduced three categories for his operational squadrons [Music] the first category were the frontline squadrons to be kept fully operational at full strength and fed replacements as necessary [Music] the second category consisted of squadrons at full operational strength and capable of being called upon to assist the frontline units gentlemen i'm pleased to say that at long last the final category consisted of squadrons in quiet sectors where experienced pilots could be rested while they passed on their knowledge to others fresh from training as pilots recovered or newcomers gained experience they would be fed back into the front line squadrons just having his squadrons that he moved about he could conserve his forces join the actual business of fighting when you're as i say when you're 19 you're too busy ducking and weaving to pay too much attention as to what you're doing the strategy of the situation the strategy of the war even some of the tactics of the war you know you're not really too worried about they don't concerned you because you're too busy trying to keep yourself alive well gentlemen i'm pleased to say that at long last we have 12 battle tactics were refined squadrons were to attack in pairs they were discouraged from pursuing damaged planes but to find fresh targets we'll be flying which had borne the brunt of the assaults emphasized the importance of early and accurate interceptions breaking up the formations stripping the bombers of their fighter escorts head-on attacks on the bomber formations were encouraged huge concentrations of aircraft continue to attack london [Music] number one canadian squadrons hurricanes are amongst those engaged by the fighter escorts but this earns other squadrons a clear run at the bomber formations london was at the very edge of the me109s range burning fuel rapidly at combat speed they could spend only a few minutes over the capital foreign despite their successes tensions had surfaced among senior raf commanders keith park commander of 11 group believed it was vital to intercept early using the advantage gained by radar small numbers of aircraft would hit the enemy as soon as they crossed the coast disrupting german raids before they reached their targets as german escort fighters became entangled in dogfights other squadrons could then attack the unprotected bombers [Music] [Music] lee mallory commander of 12 group believed in assembling several squadrons into one large formation before hitting the enemy with concentrated force and aggression keith park disagreed vehemently with this big wing concept as did others okay can make a big impact but it takes time and the one thing that wasn't available during the battle was time and we said well what a waste of time forming up and all at that time the bombers are coming in and they're probably on the way out and to imagine trying to sitting around waiting to form up into a big wing i'd say would be a total fat would have been a total failure as autumn approached the weather became less suitable for air operations nevertheless the luftwaffe mounted large raids resulting in fierce dogfights over kent and london so and the nightly blitz on london continued in spite of the difficulties of locating the enemy in the dark attempts were made to intercept these nighttime raiders the only way you could identify what the airplane was was by getting underneath it at night and getting a plan view from looking from underneath up at the shape of the wings and we slowly flew up and closed in formation behind it so i could get my gun sight onto it and open fire one or two interceptions later that the air ministry were pressed by newspapers as to why i had had success at night the eminency were determined not to give away the fact that we had effective radar or something in our night fighter that allowed us to close in on other aircraft at night and they ominously said that i had exceptional night vision cat's eyes cats are supposed to be able to see by night i think that was how my name started swiftly fighter command was recovering the numbers of trained pilots available for operations was increasing daily new fighter aircraft were being produced and delivered to squadrons at a rate that exceeded their losses [Music] [Music] reich marshall guring meanwhile reassured by over-optimistic intelligence of the kind he liked and expected to hear believed the enemy to be fatally weakened now was the time for maximum effort a single raid of such overwhelming force that it would bring about london's ruin and the certain annihilation of fighter command [Music] german bomber squadrons rendezvous over the paddock alley circling above them the fighter escorts burn fuel as they wait for the huge formation to assemble [Music] starting from a few aircraft to suddenly having to put up 250 plus was very very scary [Music] at 11 groups operations room at uxbridge the day had begun quietly the personnel in the underground plotting room wild away the time the prime minister had chosen this day to make an unexpected call on park and his command forbidden to light his cigar within the confines of the underground bunker churchill settled himself above the operations room its large map and indicator boards reflected the uneasy calm watched by the electronic eye of the british radar chain the german formation continued to mass on the other side of the channel [Music] churchill watched as a waff plotter acting on the information fed through the system moved the markers representing the first of the hostile aircraft to head towards the english coast with ample time to organize squadrons and alert supporting aircraft from surrounding groups the air defenses of britain are ready and waiting for the incoming raid [Music] more markers crawl across the plotting table squadrons from biggin hill northholt and kenley scramble to get airborne with radar giving the enemies course and height and knowing london is the target raf controllers confidently position their forces as the leading german formations cross the coast the raf fighters sweep in the german pilots braced themselves to receive these last few british fighters the spitfires dive out of the sun bouncing the fighter escort the air is full of weaving aircraft as me109s attempt to fend off five british fight squadrons [Music] a second wave of raf squadrons arrive attacking head-on the bomber formation struggled towards london most of the fighter escorts remain over kent entangled in desperate dog fights with raf spitfires at this moment the big wing of twelve group joins the action given plenty of warning five squadrons of twelve group 55 aircraft have assembled and now pile into the fray [Music] [Music] with raf fighters attacking them from all angles many bombers jettison their bombs immediately and turn for home but even as the remains of the morning's raid land back at their bases another larger formation was mustering over the coast as always it is monitored by the watchful eye of british radar [Music] raf squadrons land on are rapidly re-armed and refueled exhausted pilots will only have a few moments respite [Music] the german formations fly out over the channel in three huge columns the british fighters are scrambled for the second time every squadron available to 11 group is soon airborne 250 british fighter aircraft in the air and ready [Music] as the cumbersome formations cross the english coast fighter squadrons from hornchurch fall upon them [Music] two german bombers are destroyed before the 109s can intervene locking the raf pilots in a frantic dogfight it is a repeat of the morning's fighting with one grim variation the british controllers have assembled a large number of their fighter squadrons at the point where the german fighter escorts will be getting low on fuel 213 and 607 squadrons from tang mia tear through the enemy formation near bigen hill the me109 escorts attempt to fend them off their engines burning fuel as they push their aircraft to full power over london duxford's big wing has returned to rejoin the fight the luftwaffe has battled its way towards london losing aircraft to constant attacks now over the city it is hit by a total of 17 fighter squadrons goring's claims of an enemy on its last legs are revealed as a fantasy of bad intelligence and his own complacency [Music] the german escorts their fuel warning lights glowing are forced to disengage the bomber formations scatter their bombs and turn to their bases staggering under the constant fighter attacks the surviving aircraft are harried all the way back across the [Music] channel [Music] at the end of the day that will become known as battle of britain day the raf had lost 26 aircraft and 13 pilots killed or missing the luftwaffe had lost 60 aircraft an enormous toll if not the 179 aircraft claimed by raf pilots [Music] the following day goring again claimed that fighter command ought to be finished in four or five days he dismissed reports from his pilots about the strength and skill of the british fighter defense [Music] but goring was blind to the truth his luftwaffe had been decisively bloodily repulsed and britain's aerial defenses were now stronger than ever [Music] [Music] [Music] on the 17th of september hitler himself recognized that an invasion of britain had become unfeasible the enemy air force is still by no means defeated on the contrary it shows increasing activity the weather situation as a whole does not permit us to expect a period of calm the fuhrer therefore decides to postpone operation sea lion indefinitely [Music] now hitler would try to bomb britain into submission london would continue to suffer night after night the bombers returned to the battered city which burned like a terrible beacon [Music] strangely enough we expected to be bombed [Music] because you knew then that they were coming over and then the drone of the bombers which was a very familiar sound getting louder and louder and louder and the guns crash crash crash crash and then the whistling and the bombs falling i was traveling through london and you could hardly get off the tube trains because of all the people sleeping in the tubes you have to walk walk virtually walk over bodies and i also remember the place shaking so the whole building shaking and one would have thought the building was going to fall down you just was in the air raid shelters and you just stay down there and that's all you did do petrified you're afraid to go out but the danger and destruction did not break the people's will instead it strengthened their determination after the bombing in london the shops would be damaged the roads would be damaged the buses weren't running but among everybody was this need to get back into the office that day whether they walked cycled got a lift and it was this determination to stay fighting we still went out seven o'clock in the morning to get the tram to go to work and i mean you couldn't go out once you went in the building because she was too frightened we just went over the road to get something to eat and come back to work and then when we came out six o'clock at night we hadn't got down to the old bailey and the sirens would go and you'd just have to run for your life then to get on the tram to get home the the courage the morale of the british people in 39 1940 i find absolutely wonderful despite their terrible losses on the 15th of september the luftwaffe did not entirely abandon daylight attacks [Music] with large numbers of fighter escorts sweeping ahead of them the bomber formations cross the english coast interception by 15 raf squadrons is swift [Music] now the german escorts have to fight their way back for some this means a low-level desperate chase across the english countryside others use the 109's greater climb rate to escape the conflict and head for home at the end of the day when the luftwaffe failed to hit any of its primary targets they lost 55 aircraft they are af28 on the last day of september the luftwaffe launches a number of separate raids across the channel raf fighters intercept each raid as it crosses the english coast rather than fight their way through to their targets the formations retreat scattering their bomb loads at random but hidden by cloud one small group of bombers and their escort managed to reach central london [Music] that racist september was as his pilots perished in the cold waters of the channel so too did goring's vain hopes for the success of his luftwaffe the german losses this day 47 aircraft the raf lost 20 it was the last time the luftwaffe would mount large daylight raids over england goring had sent his air force against a nation prepared as the pilots of fighter command rose up to meet the aerial invaders from the all-seeing eye of radar to the system of communication and control the pilots of fighter command were supported by an air defense system of unparalleled sophistication far in advance of anything goring or luftwaffe intelligence had anticipated the consequences were more than 900 german aircraft destroyed the luftwaffe lost 3 000 of its most experienced pilots and aircrew killed injured september october our next right information the english the royal air force and the redstone the royal air force field striker the is happened [Music] the battle of britain had been won and although air combat would continue throughout the autumn of 1940 the few who fought in the skies above england had held the luftwaffe at bay they had stopped the seemingly unstoppable march of the german military machine and ensured that britain would not crash to defeat as others before them they had proved that britain was willing and able to fight on [Music] by their example the few gave the people of both the free world and the conquered nations hope and belief in a final victory both would be desperately needed in the dark days ahead for there were many brutal costly battles yet to be fought i was very very proud to have been taking part in what was going on in 1940 over this country it had tremendous effect on me because when i went into that because of my background i was immature [Music] scared afraid to say boots or goose i was just nobody and it was obvious to me i was made to feel that in a way but after that written i could make decisions on anything i could do anything i was afraid of nothing my main feeling of course we didn't know it was in battle britain we didn't know these historical significance but i at the time or now feel that almost a hypocrite in other words these are all these wonderful people died some of them were wonderful racism were killed and had some wonderful friends who were killed and i feel that now i'm getting sort of say some publicity or credibility which really belongs to them i feel enormously privileged in the sense that i must feel i feel i suppose as same as the chaps who took part in trafalgar or cressie or agincourt or battle of waterloo we happen to be the right age the right place the right time but really all i am is representing those who died the raf lost 715 fighter aircraft 544 pilots were killed nearly one in five of those who flew on operations amongst those who died defending the skies over britain were pilots from canada australia new zealand south africa poland czechoslovakia france america and belgium a quarter of the legendary few were from overseas a debt that is often forgotten in november 1940 the commander-in-chief of fighter command sir hugh dowding sent a signal to his fighter pilots i wish i could say all that is in my heart i cannot surpass the simple eloquence of the prime minister's words never before has so much been owed by so many to so the few remains and will increase god bless you all [Music] you

Channel: War Stories

Views: 133,826

Keywords: London Blitz, Luftwaffe, Nazi Germany, aerial warfare, archival footage, armed forces, combat strategies, conflict resolution, historical accounts, historical accuracy, historical documentaries, military archives, military campaigns, military leadership, propaganda warfare, storytelling of war, wartime courage, wartime heroism, wartime photography, wartime propaganda

Id: zMUAhtmTZmA

Length: 45min 44sec (2744 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 01 2021