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The Battle of Britain
'Never n the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.' Churchill's famous line sums up the magnitude of the importance of the victory in the 'Battle of Britain'.
Over 170 splendid photographs from the Daily Mail archives shows much of how this was achieved both on the ground and in the air.
Over 170 splendid photographs from the Daily Mail archives shows much of how this was achieved both on the ground and in the air.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 15, 2023
It is an acknowledged fact that The Battle of Britain, although five years before the end of World War II, contributed greatly to our subsequent success, at least that was the sense of history we got from our reading and hearing about it. Well, although Maureen Hill's magnificent book contains over 170 fantastic images, there is a lengthy introduction and plenty of informative captions coupled with the revealing photographs that convince us that this is so.
Hitler had set 15 September as 'der tag', 'the day' that would begin the invasion of Britain, codenamed Operation Sealion. In order to further his proposed invasion of the country he had to defeat the RAF in order to prevent its aircraft from attacking the troop barges he intended to use to land his attacking forces.
However, by the end of the first day of The Battle of Britain after one of the fiercest air battles of the war had been fought the RAF had lost 27 aircraft to the Luftwaffe's 56. Even then, although we did not know it, the writing was on the wall and by the end of the bigger battle the score was RAF 915 lost, Luftwaffe 1733 lost. And during the crucial few months, liberty hung in the balance both in the hands of men and women who operated ground defences and in the hands of the aircrew high in the sky where young men were prepared to risk their lives thousands of feet above their homeland. And it should be noted that at the start of the battle, the Luftwaffe with 2,800 aircraft stationed in France, Belgium, Holland and Norway, outnumbered the RAF by four to one.
And Maureen Hill has chosen well to get this message across in these magnificent (an I apologise for repeating the adjective) photographs that prove the truth of Churchill's words, 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.' These dramatic photographs from views of aircraft being built and refurbished in the hangers, to pilots relaxing, and laughing, prior to taking to the skies again, to formation flying above the south of England and beyond, to individual aircraft in action, shooting down enemy 'planes, to men and women operating the anti-aircraft guns, to operation planning in the various Observer Corps control rooms and even crash sites of both German and British aircraft, show the intensity of the action.
After the first two days of the battle, Hitler postponed indefinitely Operation Sealion and never again did the Luftwaffe come in such numbers to engage Fighter Command. The war was far from over but much praise must go to the heroes of the summer of 1940 that helped to turn the war in our favour and this book shows plenty of those heroes in splendid action.
Hitler had set 15 September as 'der tag', 'the day' that would begin the invasion of Britain, codenamed Operation Sealion. In order to further his proposed invasion of the country he had to defeat the RAF in order to prevent its aircraft from attacking the troop barges he intended to use to land his attacking forces.
However, by the end of the first day of The Battle of Britain after one of the fiercest air battles of the war had been fought the RAF had lost 27 aircraft to the Luftwaffe's 56. Even then, although we did not know it, the writing was on the wall and by the end of the bigger battle the score was RAF 915 lost, Luftwaffe 1733 lost. And during the crucial few months, liberty hung in the balance both in the hands of men and women who operated ground defences and in the hands of the aircrew high in the sky where young men were prepared to risk their lives thousands of feet above their homeland. And it should be noted that at the start of the battle, the Luftwaffe with 2,800 aircraft stationed in France, Belgium, Holland and Norway, outnumbered the RAF by four to one.
And Maureen Hill has chosen well to get this message across in these magnificent (an I apologise for repeating the adjective) photographs that prove the truth of Churchill's words, 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.' These dramatic photographs from views of aircraft being built and refurbished in the hangers, to pilots relaxing, and laughing, prior to taking to the skies again, to formation flying above the south of England and beyond, to individual aircraft in action, shooting down enemy 'planes, to men and women operating the anti-aircraft guns, to operation planning in the various Observer Corps control rooms and even crash sites of both German and British aircraft, show the intensity of the action.
After the first two days of the battle, Hitler postponed indefinitely Operation Sealion and never again did the Luftwaffe come in such numbers to engage Fighter Command. The war was far from over but much praise must go to the heroes of the summer of 1940 that helped to turn the war in our favour and this book shows plenty of those heroes in splendid action.
January 24, 2020
First published in 2003, 'The Battle of Britain' is a collection of over 170 photos taken from the Daily Mail archives. The pics purport to relate to the Battle of Britain, although is not entirely the case. A few clearly relate to the times immediately before and after the battle. This is not really a problem, as they are properly captioned as such. The exception is a pic on page 44 - this pic is a still from the making of the Battle of Britain movie in 1969, and I cannot imagine what sort of clumsy editing allowed to pass muster. A pity, as in other respects the selection is very good.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews