Battle of Britain - Untold Story

[williamp]

repeet pleeze

[Jasandjules]

Pothole said:

Brought a serious lump to my throat, this documentary.

It did me as well.

I had in my mind that there were 2-3 polish/czech pilots who constantly disobeyed orders and would attack the German planes with a zeal - and why not, they were killing the people who invaded their homeland, BUT I had no idea that they were sold out in such a disgraceful manner by the Allies. Britain really should have done far, far more for them and the others who fought and died so that our freedoms could be protected.

[williamp]

Dont forget that the Poles also had a large hand in helping to crack the enigma code, by working on the machines and giving this intelligence to the UK.

[ettore]

Jasandjules said:

Pothole said:

Brought a serious lump to my throat, this documentary.

It did me as well.

I had in my mind that there were 2-3 polish/czech pilots who constantly disobeyed orders and would attack the German planes with a zeal - and why not, they were killing the people who invaded their homeland, BUT I had no idea that they were sold out in such a disgraceful manner by the Allies. Britain really should have done far, far more for them and the others who fought and died so that our freedoms could be protected.

You'll find that many Poles stayed, settled, and integrated into the UK. As mentioned, this is a complex subject that deserves a seperate programme although I fear that modern TV commissioners often don't feel the audience is up to complex, nuanced argument!

[FourWheelDrift]

williamp said:

repeet pleeze

They are showing the Battle of Britain film along with Dark Blue World free of charge at Hendon Air Museum on 11th-12th September as part of the BoB 70th Anniversary.

[RichB]

Eric Mc said:

Don't also forget the Polish and Czech squadrons in Bomber Command and Coastal Command.

Watching Battle of Britain on TV right now, so searching I found this thread. My son's grandfather (i.e. the previous Mrs Branch's father) was a Polish RAF Bomber Command pilot, flew numerous sorties over Germany in Lancsters. After the war he went on to fly Canberras in Germany and then Tridents for BEA. My younger son has his log books now which are interesting to read. He's also obtained a model Canberra to build (not sure what make) but it is a model of an actual Canberra his granddad flew.

[Langweilig]

The Poles certainly were tenacious fighter pilots. Most RAF fighter jocks fired on Luftwaffe aircraft from 400 yards. The Poles fired at Goering's goons from 100 yards.

[Flintstone]

Wonder if they got so close due to poor eyesight? The last Polish pilot in the RAF was having his annual medical check when the medic asked him if he could read the bottom line on the chart. "Read it?" said the Pole "I know him!".

[ninja-lewis]

The BBC have a Battle of Britain season coming up, including a drama based on Geoffrey Wellum's First Light.

[Jasandjules]

ninja-lewis said:

The BBC have a Battle of Britain season coming up, including a drama based on Geoffrey Wellum's First Light.

Excellent. The more air time this gets the better, so that people never forget.

[slipstream 1985]

history is written by the victors....

[jmorgan]

slipstream 1985 said:

history is written by the victors....

This is a phrase that baffles me at times on the web. I know the winners can big it up, Richard the third for example but are there not enough clues for an honest deduction or is the case that winners will always twist the truth or more to point give their version? So we won easily, we won after a slog or we just won and the enemy was really only out for look see and we bounced them unfairly? (of course the "we" refers to those that were there whatever nation they were from)

[Jasandjules]

slipstream 1985 said:

history is written by the victors....

Yes but in this case there is little to "hide". We were being invaded by air armadas on a daily basis and young men (on both sides) lost their lives. There were no travesties or mass slaughters of unarmed troops etc (as happened in other battles which the British have mysteriously glossed over).

[Eric Mc]

slipstream 1985 said:

history is written by the victors....

Not always.

There are plenty of good books out there written by German airmen which are well worth reading.

And I certainly would never refer to Luftwaffe aircrew as "Goering's Goons".