0:00:06 > 0:00:10In the summer of 1940, Britain was in terrible danger.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Nazi Germany was planning to invade our shores.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Only the fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force could stop them.
0:00:22 > 0:00:2570 years ago, in these very skies above our head,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28there was a brutal and savage war waged,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32the outcome of which determined our very existence as a nation on this island.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35This is my brother Colin, who was a fighter pilot in the RAF
0:00:35 > 0:00:38and who served in some of our modern conflicts.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41And I know from my experience there's a huge network of people
0:00:41 > 0:00:46supporting our pilots, and we wanted to discover how their contributions combined to give us victory in 1940.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50And what it was that made the Battle of Britain Britain's finest hour.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56We've always been fascinated by the Battle of Britain.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01Now we're going to meet the real-life heroes who inspired us when we were kids.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05These are the last of the 3,000 pilots who saved our country.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10The men Winston Churchill called "the few".
0:01:10 > 0:01:15We'll explore the technology that enabled the RAF to withstand the Nazi attack.
0:01:15 > 0:01:21We'll find out about the dangers the fighter pilots faced.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25And Colin will go through the same training as Battle of Britain airmen.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30If he makes the grade, he'll fly one of the greatest fighter planes of all time -
0:01:30 > 0:01:32the Spitfire.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Amazing machines, extraordinary characters.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37Woo! Ha, ha, ha!
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Let us share with you one of the most remarkable stories in our history.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04June 1940.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09The leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, was on a victory tour.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14Paris was the latest capital to fall to his invincible armies.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19In less than a year, almost all of Europe had been overrun.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23Only one small and isolated country was left in the war.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28Hitler was convinced that Britain would have to surrender, and soon.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33But the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was determined to continue the fight, whatever the cost.
0:02:33 > 0:02:39He rallied his countrymen with one of the few weapons he had - words.
0:02:48 > 0:02:54'What General Weygand has called the Battle of France is over.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57'The Battle of Britain is about to begin.'
0:02:57 > 0:03:02"Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06"Upon it depends our own British life
0:03:06 > 0:03:12"and the long continuity of our institutions and our empire.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17"The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24"Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves
0:03:29 > 0:03:33"that if the British Empire and its commonwealth
0:03:33 > 0:03:39"last for 1,000 years, men will still say this was their finest hour."
0:03:41 > 0:03:44SIREN
0:03:45 > 0:03:51We did expect an invasion, when all the signposts had been
0:03:51 > 0:03:55taken down and all the names on stations and things,
0:03:55 > 0:04:00which gave you a sense that something serious could happen.
0:04:04 > 0:04:11Only 20 miles away, there was the most powerful army and air force in the world.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13So on one or two occasions,
0:04:13 > 0:04:18it was suggested that the invasion bells were going to be rung.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23Yes, it was a bit heart-stopping that it might be the last battle.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28The German invasion was codenamed Operation Sea Lion.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31It had to take place in September before the weather turned bad
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and the English Channel became too rough to cross.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39The first step was for the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe,
0:04:39 > 0:04:44to destroy the RAF so they could land troops on the south coast.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Only a few fighter pilots could prevent this invasion.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55The fate of our country depended on their skill and their courage.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04They were fighting for us. We're all sitting here because of what they did.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07We all owe them a great deal of gratitude for that.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12I think in the RAF, there's a real camaraderie with the pilots
0:05:12 > 0:05:16that's very like a brotherhood, a fraternal thing going on there.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21So having a couple of brothers telling the story is maybe not such a bad idea.
0:05:21 > 0:05:28I think we grew up with old planes and we were always making them,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31we were always building Airfix models of Spitfires and Hurricanes
0:05:31 > 0:05:35and we'd hang them from the ceiling on bits of fishing wire or something.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39There was a complete romanticism about it.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43A romantic aspect to the planes and the pilots.
0:05:43 > 0:05:49And very kind of gung-ho and chocks away.
0:05:49 > 0:05:56That kind of sowed the seed in my head, I guess, from about age nine or ten.
0:05:56 > 0:06:01I used to read Commando comics as well.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06They were just full of stories of Spitfire aces, and it kind of started from there, really.
0:06:06 > 0:06:0920 years later, I'd become a pilot.
0:06:09 > 0:06:15I flew one of the RAF's front-line fast jets, the Tornado GR4.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19It was big, heavy, but really responsive.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Really comfortable.
0:06:21 > 0:06:22Lots of power.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Very nice aeroplane to fly.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26I was able to fly once with Colin in his Tornado.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31They arranged for me to take a ride in the navigator's seat.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36When we took off, the feeling of acceleration and the force,
0:06:36 > 0:06:41you were pushed back into your seat flying at that speed, it was just unbelievable.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45He was completely relaxed, completely in his zone.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47I was so proud of him.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49I've never felt such pride before.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52I was able only to see the corner of his helmet
0:06:52 > 0:06:59down at the side of the cockpit, but I'd never seen him at work before, flying this extraordinary aircraft.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04This is where my RAF career began.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Cranwell in Lincolnshire.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09It's the spiritual home of the Air Force.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14The place where raw recruits have been turned into officers, almost since the RAF began.
0:07:14 > 0:07:20When I arrived here 20 years ago, I was just the latest in a long line of airmen.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Many Battle of Britain pilots went to Cranwell too.
0:07:23 > 0:07:30My brother's two years older than I am, and was always very academic, and he was sporting.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33He was the captain of the cricket team.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Always had fantastic-looking girlfriends.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39One of whom I'll always be slightly in love with.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41I won't mention any names.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Then went off and learned to fly very early.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49Like, when he was 16 or 17, he got a flight scholarship from the RAF.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51Parade!
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Turn!
0:07:55 > 0:08:00Colin was always quite set on coming here, being in the RAF.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05He learnt to fly and then went to university and then came here after that.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09Colin at university was mainly just drunk all the time.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13And then he came here, and was mainly drunk here instead.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17He became more of a classy drunk here.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21More of a kind of officer-type drunk here.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23My picture's up here somewhere.
0:08:23 > 0:08:29I think it's quite funny, if you read down... 127, 131.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Here it is, 131.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Is that you right at the end?
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Oh, aye. Flight Officer CJ McGregor, BSc.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Bullshit.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Certificate.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46And you're right next to the bogs.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Prime place, prime position.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Well, everybody gets to see it.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56'I spent 18 weeks at Cranwell before graduating as an RAF officer.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00'But it was only then that my flying training began.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03'It was another four years before I was sent to the front line.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07'In my case, Iraq.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09'70 years ago, it was very different.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14'The RAF were so short of men that training was cut back.
0:09:14 > 0:09:21'Inexperienced pilots had as little as ten hours of solo flying before being sent to the front line.'
0:09:21 > 0:09:25I started flying in the autumn of 1938,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28and in six months, I did eight hours of flying
0:09:28 > 0:09:31because we only flew at weekends and the weather was dreadful in 1938,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34so I didn't have much opportunity to fly.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39I continued my flying training on the Hawker Harts and Hawker Furies,
0:09:39 > 0:09:44still biplanes, and it was all First World War stuff.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49There was no mention of Spitfires or Hurricanes or anything like that.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54Then in the spring of 1940, I was sent to a fighter squadron.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58I find it amazing that these men could be sent
0:09:58 > 0:10:02into battle with only a few hours of solo flying under their belts.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06It's impossible to fully understand what that was like.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09But I want to get some sense of what they went through.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15So I'm going to experience flying training as it was done back in 1940.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17We're on our way to Duxford.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20The start of three days of flying,
0:10:20 > 0:10:221940s style.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25So I know that I've got to prove that I can fly these
0:10:25 > 0:10:30two aircraft first before they let me loose on a Spitfire, so there's a bit of pressure.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32I can definitely get a sense of that already.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37You're always nervous about flying an aircraft for the first time,
0:10:37 > 0:10:38and how you're going to get on.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41But hopefully experience will take over.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47The guy who'll be training me is Air Marshall Cliff Spink.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Cliff was a top RAF fighter pilot.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53He's been flying classic planes for the last 20 years.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55- Cliff.- Hey, Colin. Welcome. - Pleased to meet you.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Yes, and you. Are you ready for this then?
0:10:58 > 0:11:00I think I'm ready, yes.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02- Getting pretty excited. - Don't excite me too much.
0:11:02 > 0:11:09- I'll try not to!- If you get your kit on and we'll have a look at the operational machinery.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12- Brilliant, can't wait. - All right? There you go.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14- Thank you very much indeed. - Go and put your knickers on.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17- OK, cheers.- Cheers.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20We're going to be flying dual all the time.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22If we have an emergency...
0:11:22 > 0:11:24'Colin is obviously an experienced jet pilot.
0:11:24 > 0:11:31'But the techniques and skills, we've almost got to unlearn him
0:11:31 > 0:11:36'to build him back up so that he can fly a prop aeroplane.'
0:11:36 > 0:11:43And one of the biggest problems associated with prop aeroplanes
0:11:43 > 0:11:47is the fact that you've got to manage the whole aeroplane.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51You've got to understand the engine, you've got to manage the engine
0:11:51 > 0:11:57in a way where prop speed, engine power, everything is mechanical.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00There's no concession to computers at all.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03- Right. The machinery.- Yes.
0:12:03 > 0:12:09We'll start with the Tiger Moth, which is entirely appropriate to what was going on in World War II.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Thousands of those guys
0:12:11 > 0:12:15cut their teeth flying on the Tiger Moth.
0:12:15 > 0:12:21Then we'll graduate to the Harvard, which was sort of the advanced flying training.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23So we've got quite a tight programme.
0:12:23 > 0:12:29In some ways, Colin, that's not unrealistic, because there's a time compression there
0:12:29 > 0:12:34which was very much time compression in World War II.
0:12:34 > 0:12:41- Those guys were so badly needed at the front line that they were really being pushed through.- OK.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46It really will be, even the time compression in its own way is appropriate.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49PLANE ENGINE OBSCURES SPEECH
0:12:49 > 0:12:52- So we'll be doing that on Friday, yes?- Oh!
0:12:58 > 0:13:00With the RAF so short of pilots,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03it needed to ease its trainees into
0:13:03 > 0:13:07very fast and potentially dangerous fighter planes like the Spitfire.
0:13:07 > 0:13:13Because they were very basic, Tiger Moths were perfect for teaching trainees how to fly.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17The first thing to do was learn how to take off and land.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20And it was a very different technique back then.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24In modern planes, you have a third wheel at the front of the plane,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26but in these old aircraft it's at the back.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Which is why they're known as taildraggers.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35In a taildragger, you have to land with all three wheels touching down at the same time.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37It's a tricky technique to master.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41And I've only got one day to get it right.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Now, you take control. You've got everything.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49'In these old aircraft, you have to use your feet to move the rudder.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52'It's the rudder that helps steer the plane.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57'I've got to get my feet moving to get the Tiger Moth going in the direction I want.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59'It's not as easy as it sounds.'
0:13:59 > 0:14:00That's it, that's right.
0:14:00 > 0:14:07- OK, so we're clear to go. Let her ride up onto the main wheels.- OK.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09OK? Keep her nice and straight.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14OK. Now, that's it. A bit more power.
0:14:21 > 0:14:28- Get her level, I think. - OK.- Get a bit of speed, OK?- Yep.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35We're going a bit sideways at the moment.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38- Yeah.- And I'm getting a draught in my right ear.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41Got you, yes.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44- So you've got to keep the instructor happy, by not making him cold!- OK.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49- It just needs smooth and progressive use of the rudder.- OK.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53- I'm freezing my nuts off so I'm going to wear my jacket next time. - It's a bit chilly, yeah.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Tiger Moths were the ultimate planes.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59You could do anything you liked with a Tiger Moth.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02It was an absolute delight to fly.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07Very light. You could loop the loop with it and do all sorts of things.
0:15:07 > 0:15:14They were fragile and easy to damage but, touch wood, I never actually damaged one.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18A Tornado has a top speed of 900mph.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21In a Tiger Moth, it's just over 100.
0:15:21 > 0:15:27It really is like travelling back in time, and I love the freedom you feel in this open cockpit.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31After some practice, my feet are getting used to controlling the rudder,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34but I've still got the most difficult part ahead.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37I've got to land the Tiger Moth on all three wheels.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40OK, nice speed, nice approach.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42Power off now. Power off.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49That's it. That's it. The speed is good. Keep it coming down.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Down a bit more. Keep that throttle closed.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56That's it. OK, keep her straight.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59- A couple of little hops.- Yep.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03- That will be acceptable, son. - OK! Good!
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Right, that's good. OK.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Just bring her to a halt now.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11It's at this point you understand you've got no brakes!
0:16:14 > 0:16:17It's like going back to school again. But it was good.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22I told him he's got to keep the wind out of the instructor's ear.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25He also owes me a beer
0:16:25 > 0:16:29for bouncing the aeroplane!
0:16:29 > 0:16:34The RAF was on a steep learning curve in 1940. Most of its fighter pilots
0:16:34 > 0:16:38had never been in action before.
0:16:39 > 0:16:46Facing them was a truly formidable enemy. The Luftwaffe had been battle-hardened by years of war.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50It had fought campaign after campaign across Europe.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54Every enemy it encountered it had destroyed.
0:16:54 > 0:17:01Key to its success was one of the best fighter planes of all time - the Messerschmitt 109.
0:17:03 > 0:17:09The 109 could cruise at 350mph, and was armed with two cannon,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12which could blast enemy planes out of the skies.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16On the eve of battle, the German High Command was super-confident.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19They outnumbered the RAF by four to one.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22This campaign would be like all the others.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25They would crush the Royal Air Force in a matter of weeks.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34The RAF faced almost overwhelming odds, but it did have
0:17:34 > 0:17:39one secret weapon which helped level the playing field - radar.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44These masts outside Dover are the last survivors of what was, in 1940,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47the most sophisticated air defence system in the world.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Radar worked by sending out a radio beam.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55If the beams hit enemy aircraft, they bounced back.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Radar gave the RAF 20 minutes' warning of a German attack.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05It allowed Fighter Command to send the right amount of aircraft to the right place at the right time.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13In 1940, Britain had a chain of these masts all along the coast.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18But they were just the front line of the air defence system.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25Inland, there was also the Observer Corps, 30,000 plane spotters
0:18:25 > 0:18:27who tracked each enemy raid.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31Information from radar and the Observer Corps
0:18:31 > 0:18:34was sent to Fighter Command headquarters.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38They then alerted the fighter groups, who would scramble their planes.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44The mastermind behind this system was the head of Fighter Command.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47He's a hero of the Battle of Britain,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50though few nowadays would know his name.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54To find out more about him, I've dragged Colin away from his training
0:18:54 > 0:18:57to meet Stephen Bungay, a Battle of Britain expert.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02So who was this guy who was in charge of Fighter Command at that time?
0:19:02 > 0:19:05He was a teetotaller,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08who lives with his sister,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12who talks to the dead, believes in fairies,
0:19:12 > 0:19:20and thinks that he's the reincarnation of a 13th-century Mongol chieftain.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24So this is the guy in charge of Fighter Command in 1940.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29- And this was Dowding? - Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Tremenheere Dowding, what a name!
0:19:32 > 0:19:35However, he had two characteristics along with this eccentricity,
0:19:35 > 0:19:42that above all others were needed then, which was great imagination and great attention to detail.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46You often found those in different people, he brought them together.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50He constructed, between the time he took over Fighter Command in 1936
0:19:50 > 0:19:56and when war broke out, what is by far the most formidable air defence system
0:19:56 > 0:19:58in the world. It's one of the most extraordinary
0:19:58 > 0:20:02intellectual and technological feats of the 20th century.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07It's in fact so far forward looking, what he created in fact was an internet,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10except that it was analogue so you didn't send e-mails.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13You'd send something on the teleprinter, and you didn't grab
0:20:13 > 0:20:17your BlackBerry or whatever, it was the telephone.
0:20:17 > 0:20:18The same principle, a network.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22A command and control system, which didn't only mean everybody
0:20:22 > 0:20:26could talk to everybody, but it was extremely robust.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31Amazingly, an updated version of Dowding's system still protects us today.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36I've come to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, a modern radar station, to see how it works.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40So, Mark, what are we looking at on the screen here?
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Primarily looking at the UK airspace,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45and the number of aircraft flying within it at one time.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49So every line on the screen there represents a flight?
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Absolutely, and every plot represents a radar return.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56OK, and you're looking at civilian aircraft and military aircraft?
0:20:56 > 0:20:58- The whole raft of them.- Everything.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01- Absolutely, all of it. - How big an area are we looking at?
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Basically a million square miles.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06A million square miles?
0:21:06 > 0:21:08My goodness, wow.
0:21:08 > 0:21:15The technology is light years ahead of what they had in 1940, but the system is pretty much the same.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18If rogue aircraft are spotted, then fighters are scrambled.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22It's something they train for time and time again.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26SD, I've two unidentified aircraft coming in from the north.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29- OK!- What's happening?
0:21:29 > 0:21:32OK, we've got two aircraft that have entered UK airspace.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36They've not met the rules and procedures of recognition, so what we're doing now is
0:21:36 > 0:21:40getting everyone in, including the master controller, to look at these aircraft
0:21:40 > 0:21:45and see what threat they present to us and, if necessary, he'll take tactical action.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49Operations in QRA, this is the Scampton master controller, acknowledge?
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Climb flight level 4-0-0, set speed mach one decimal two.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59So he's scrambling aircraft in response to the two unknown aircraft in the airspace.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02For QRA, call signs Q1 and Q2.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Scramble, scramble, scramble, acknowledge?
0:22:09 > 0:22:12BELL RINGS
0:22:27 > 0:22:31These Typhoons are doing the same job as Spitfires 70 years ago,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33but back then there were no training exercises.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Every scramble was for real.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50By July 1940, the Luftwaffe was ready to launch its air onslaught.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55More than 1,000 fighters and 1,800 bombers were poised to strike.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58The Battle of Britain was about to begin.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16For Hitler's invasion to take place, the Nazis had to drive the Royal Navy out of the Channel,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20then they could ferry tens of thousands of troops across to the south coast.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26It was the job of the Luftwaffe's bombers to destroy the British ships.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30One of these attacks was recorded by the BBC.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37BBC NARRATOR: '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, there are about ten German machines
0:23:37 > 0:23:41'dive-bombing a British convoy which is just out to sea in the Channel.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44'There's one going down on its target now.'
0:23:51 > 0:23:57On bases across the country, airmen waited for the order to intercept the bombers.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Tom Neil was a 20-year-old Hurricane pilot.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04On his radio, he could hear the build-up of each German attack.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08This information would be relayed to us and we'd be sitting there,
0:24:08 > 0:24:13and the information could involve 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 200, 300...
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Oh, my God! You know, 300, 400.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21You knew they were coming towards you and you looked round and there were just 12 of you.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Where do you start?
0:24:23 > 0:24:28Guarding the bombers were the Messerschmitt 109s.
0:24:28 > 0:24:33Tackling these fighters was an almost impossible task for rookie pilots.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38They would rush up behind us 100mph faster than us, fire their guns
0:24:38 > 0:24:42from very close range, then disappear either upwards or downwards.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44We could never catch them.
0:24:44 > 0:24:51They used to watch us attacking the bombers and they used to come down and attack us from behind.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56Surviving the first few dogfights was a lottery for inexperienced pilots.
0:24:56 > 0:25:03Tony Iveson had only ten hours in a Spitfire before he was sent to his fighter squadron.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07The first few trips were the most dangerous.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10You just had to be lucky, and I mean that.
0:25:10 > 0:25:16I don't know why one was selected to be lucky, but you had to be.
0:25:18 > 0:25:23Despite the lack of experienced pilots, the RAF put up a good fight.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27German planes were shot down at a rate of two to one.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31But the Nazis still sunk so many ships that, within two weeks,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34the Royal Navy stopped sailing through the Channel.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38In the Battle of Britain, it was round one to the Germans.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50It's the second stage of my 1940s training regime.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Having learned the basics of flying on the Tiger Moth,
0:25:53 > 0:26:00trainee pilots transferred to a much more sophisticated American-built plane called the Harvard.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02I'm a bit more nervous this morning.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07I can't really work out why but I've found myself pacing around a bit more. I'm quite conscious of it.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Whereas yesterday it was kind of...
0:26:09 > 0:26:13Rock up and just go flying in a pretty basic little Tiger Moth, you know?
0:26:13 > 0:26:16But today is the real crunch day.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20I've just got to calm down a little bit.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24The Harvard was the next step up from the Tiger Moth and, because
0:26:24 > 0:26:30it's a monoplane, and has just one wing, it handles much more like one of the RAF's frontline fighters.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36- Are you ready for this? - I'm ready as I'll ever be, yes.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41I'm the one who gets nervous when you nervously laugh, OK?
0:26:41 > 0:26:43'The Harvard is a very good trainer.'
0:26:43 > 0:26:47The historical context for this is that there were literally thousands
0:26:47 > 0:26:49and thousands of these built
0:26:49 > 0:26:55and they were the standard advanced trainer in the Second World War.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59It's got 600 horsepower, but it's a pretty heavy aeroplane.
0:26:59 > 0:27:06It weighs almost as much as a Spitfire so it plods a bit, the Harvard, but it does its job.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16The most nerve-jangling moments are always the takeoffs and landings.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21In the year leading up to the Battle of Britain, more than 200 pilots died in training alone.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27I had an enormous crash
0:27:27 > 0:27:31on my first solo night flight.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35I got into a steep turn as I took off, and that was it.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38I simply went up in the air and down again,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43and crashed at 200mph with such force that the engine
0:27:43 > 0:27:47jumped off and finished 200 yards away from the plane.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51That's what saved me. If the engine had still been there, it would have caught fire.
0:27:51 > 0:27:57All that was left of the plane was a little bit of seating where I was sitting!
0:27:58 > 0:28:04I walked back to the aerodrome, walked into the crew room,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06and everybody thought they were seeing a ghost
0:28:06 > 0:28:09because they had sent out an ambulance to bring back the body!
0:28:11 > 0:28:13OK, off you go then.
0:28:18 > 0:28:19That's it.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24That's enough power. That's good.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Rolling off the wheels.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Very nice.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45- Nice takeoff, Colin. - Thanks.- Very nice takeoff.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51The Harvard was a wonderful aircraft.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54It was so advanced for its age.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59And being American, it had a lot of power and a nice snappy engine
0:28:59 > 0:29:02and automatic undercarriage, which we weren't used to.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05You're looking like a real fighter pilot up there.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12No RAF aircraft I heard of had been blessed with such modern sanitation.
0:29:12 > 0:29:18It had a little tube which fixed to a clip under the seat, so if you got caught short
0:29:18 > 0:29:22on an hour or two's trip, you could use this tube, you see.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27The trouble was, if you were doing aerobatics and you did a roll and it wasn't properly clipped,
0:29:27 > 0:29:32this thing would drop itself and dangle in front of your face. You don't know who'd used it last!
0:29:35 > 0:29:39- OK, that's very good. How are you feeling?- Yes, I feel good, yes.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43Absolutely, and you're keeping it nicely balanced as well.
0:29:46 > 0:29:51The closed cockpit and modern controls make me feel much more at home than in the Tiger Moth.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54The Harvard can cruise at 200mph.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56It's powerful and sturdy.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59A really comfortable plane to fly.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03Now that's a nice speed now.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07That's...fine.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09Just a little tad fast.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11Get the power back.
0:30:12 > 0:30:18That's it. Now as she comes down, really get the power and ready for the flare.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27I hate you, young man!
0:30:27 > 0:30:31- Very nice landing.- Good. - Very nice landing.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34'I think it's been a pretty successful trip, but it's up to
0:30:34 > 0:30:37'Cliff to decide if I've done enough to fly the Spitfire.'
0:30:40 > 0:30:46- We're now going from something which is lively, but not overly lively...- Yes.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48You're going to a real thoroughbred.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51It's definitely chocks away tomorrow.
0:30:51 > 0:30:52- If that's the right saying.- Yes.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54So, have a good sleep.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56Yes, OK.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58I'll go and check my insurance policy.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00Only joking!
0:31:04 > 0:31:07I still can't believe that it's actually going to happen. It's just...
0:31:07 > 0:31:11one of your wildest dreams as a pilot and as a kid,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14growing up watching airshows and what have you.
0:31:14 > 0:31:20I've got less than 24 hours and I'm actually going to be doing it so it's just fantastic.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Everyone's heard of the Spitfire.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27It's one of the most famous aircraft of all time.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31But there were two British fighters in 1940.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39The other, often overlooked aircraft is the Hurricane.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44There were 1,700 Hurricanes and less than 400 Spitfires.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47The Hurricane was the workhorse of the Battle of Britain.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52The Hurricane was never as eye-catching as its rival.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55It was lumpier and bumpier.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58Based on a much older aircraft design.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02Chop the top wing off a biplane and you see how the Hurricane evolved.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04Only the front end had a metal skin.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09The rear section was built out of a wooden frame covered in canvas.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13It sounds primitive, but this made the Hurricane easy to repair.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16The Hurricane had the same Merlin engine as the Spitfire,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19but it was less aerodynamic so it was never as fast.
0:32:19 > 0:32:26To find out more about both of these planes, we're meeting up with Flight Lieutenant Antony Parkinson
0:32:26 > 0:32:28from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33The BBMF has a unique collection of historic planes.
0:32:33 > 0:32:39Parky, we're here with the two leading players in the British side, the Hurricane and the Spitfire.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43As I've been thinking about this, I've always fancied myself as a Hurricane pilot.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45More of a Hurricane man. And Colin...
0:32:45 > 0:32:48I've always thought of myself as a Spitfire guy.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53And standing here, I realise I am, I prefer it. What's the difference?
0:32:53 > 0:32:56What's the difference in them? Because you fly them both.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59I do. They're actually both beautiful to fly.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01They're not that different.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04I guess the Spitfire has the edge on performance. It's faster.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07The Hurricane probably turns slightly better but they're both
0:33:07 > 0:33:09fabulous aircraft to fly. They're easy.
0:33:09 > 0:33:14Once you get them airborne, they're not difficult and you can see why the guys would have loved flying
0:33:14 > 0:33:16them in the war in terms of their handling qualities,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19their performance - pretty awesome for their time.
0:33:19 > 0:33:24- This one was earlier, it was around before the Spitfire, the Hurricane, right?- Physically it was.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26It was an earlier generation. You can see the canvas on it.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28The Spitfire is all metal design.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32It's got a much thinner, elliptical, beautiful wing.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34The Spitfire really was state-of-the-art.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37An all-metal construction and it would have been like looking
0:33:37 > 0:33:41at the space shuttle in 1940. It was a 400mph performance aircraft.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44- It was breathtaking.- 400mph?- Yes.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46Wow. I didn't know it went that fast.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49What were their roles? What were the different roles for them?
0:33:49 > 0:33:51I think they tended if possible for the Spitfires
0:33:51 > 0:33:54to go more for the fighters and the Hurricanes more for the bombers.
0:33:54 > 0:33:59- And that was purely based on turning performance, that a Spitfire could out-turn a 109?- Yes, exactly.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02I think the Hurricane could actually out-turn a 109 as well,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05but it was more the top speed, the performance of the Spitfire.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07It was more on parity with the 109.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09You were saying about the pilots themselves,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12we're going to meet some of the men that flew these aircraft,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15that they downplay it a little bit.
0:34:15 > 0:34:16They do, yes.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18It's one of the joys of the job.
0:34:18 > 0:34:23You've almost got something in common with these heroes, to chat about flying a Spit.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25But for us, the landing's the scary bit.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28For them, that's just something that you did between re-arming.
0:34:28 > 0:34:29And...
0:34:29 > 0:34:32ENGINE ROARS
0:34:32 > 0:34:36Keep it down! We're doing an interview for the BBC over here!
0:34:41 > 0:34:48Yes, without them and without these planes, we'd be goose-stepping around, wouldn't we?
0:34:48 > 0:34:52- Drinking schnapps. It would be a nightmare!- I don't think the BBC will like that one.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54That's for all my German friends.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01If there was one man who confirmed some of those Nazi stereotypes,
0:35:01 > 0:35:06then it was the super-sized head of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12Goering was vain and arrogant.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17He was so confident of success that he bought himself a new white suit and a shiny gold baton
0:35:17 > 0:35:20just to celebrate victory in the Battle of Britain.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27Goering exuded confidence but he had a dark secret
0:35:27 > 0:35:30and one that affected his leadership during the Battle of Britain.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34Goering was a junkie.
0:35:34 > 0:35:39He got wounded in the groin and as a result was treated with morphine
0:35:39 > 0:35:40and became a morphine addict
0:35:40 > 0:35:43which has a rather strange effect on people's moods.
0:35:43 > 0:35:48It can make them very pessimistic and then over-optimistic.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50It can cloud their judgment.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53He had no understanding of technology.
0:35:53 > 0:35:59He had no understanding of how to organise a complex, modern military organisation
0:35:59 > 0:36:05and there he was in charge of the most sophisticated of Germany's armed forces.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11Goering put his faith in the German warrior spirit
0:36:11 > 0:36:16as well as the Luftwaffe's superior numbers of planes and men.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22After a month of fighting over the Channel, he was ready for the next step.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24Goering would take the war to the British mainland.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30The German plan was codenamed Eagle Attack.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34It would be the biggest air campaign seen so far in history.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50Eagle Attack began on 12th August 1940 with a raid along the south coast.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57Three radar stations were bombed and put out of action.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Without the RAF's eyes and ears,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03a huge stretch of southern England
0:37:03 > 0:37:05was wide open to attack.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09Emergency work began to repair the system.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Partial radar coverage was eventually restored.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18The masts had been difficult targets for the Luftwaffe to hit
0:37:18 > 0:37:21and even when they had been bombed, the RAF had got them up and running again.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27Goering concluded that the attacks had been a waste of time.
0:37:27 > 0:37:32He cancelled further systematic bombing of the radar network.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35Leaving Britain's air defence system in place
0:37:35 > 0:37:37was Goering's first great error.
0:37:37 > 0:37:43Whenever the Luftwaffe attacked, radar would be watching and the RAF would be waiting.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04Three days later on 15th August, the Germans launched the second phase
0:38:04 > 0:38:08of Eagle Attack with a massive raid on the Midlands and north.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13Goering believed the RAF was so short of pilots and planes
0:38:13 > 0:38:16that every one of its fighter squadrons had been sent to defend the south east.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20He sent more than 100 bombers to attack northern England,
0:38:20 > 0:38:22with no fighters to protect them.
0:38:22 > 0:38:26When they arrived over the Yorkshire coast, they had a nasty surprise.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32We were having lunch and the whole squadron suddenly heard
0:38:32 > 0:38:37on the RT616, "Squadron, scramble, scramble!"
0:38:37 > 0:38:40And we dashed out and got in our planes and took off
0:38:40 > 0:38:43in all directions and we were sort of formed up.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47We were vectored on to about 80 Junkers 88s.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51They were unescorted and though they were flying in formation,
0:38:51 > 0:38:53you couldn't miss them!
0:38:56 > 0:38:59The Luftwaffe had underestimated the strength of the RAF
0:38:59 > 0:39:01and they were severely punished for it.
0:39:03 > 0:39:0775 German aircraft were shot down.
0:39:07 > 0:39:12Luftwaffe pilots called it Black Thursday.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20One day later, the Luftwaffe attacked again.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22More than 400 aircraft
0:39:22 > 0:39:24pounded targets along the south coast.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34Keith Park was the commander of 11 Group, which covered the south east...
0:39:34 > 0:39:36the front line in the Battle of Britain.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40Park was scrambling squadron after squadron to repel the German attack,
0:39:40 > 0:39:45when in the heat of battle, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, suddenly showed up.
0:39:45 > 0:39:51Churchill decided to visit Fighter Command's 11 Group headquarters in Uxbridge.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55He turned up unannounced, as so often, and watched events.
0:39:55 > 0:40:01And he said that when he realised that Park had got all his fighters into the sky,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03he felt sick with fear.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06"The margins", he said, "were so small".
0:40:09 > 0:40:13One of the pilots Keith Park scrambled was Nigel Rose.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17He was only 22 and had never been in combat before.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21We saw this enormous gaggle of aircraft coming in and for one
0:40:21 > 0:40:27who'd never seen one single German aircraft before, to see, my squadron commander said there were 100,
0:40:27 > 0:40:29about 50 bombers and 50 fighters...
0:40:29 > 0:40:34When you see all of these in one huge great gaggle of various heights and so on...
0:40:34 > 0:40:36That was quite impressive.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40So one thought, you know, turn the gun button to "fire"
0:40:40 > 0:40:43and the squadron commander said, "Well, pick your man."
0:40:43 > 0:40:49So we came round firing eight Browning machine guns at once.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51And some smoke came out
0:40:51 > 0:40:52of the aircraft.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54This was a Messerschmitt 110.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58And one thought, "Gosh. I must have hit him!"
0:40:58 > 0:41:02He turned over on his back and went absolutely vertically downwards.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04I thought, "Gosh".
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Being in a fighter squadron and...
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Surely that's one I can claim?
0:41:10 > 0:41:14Some planes were fitted with cameras to film these battles in the skies.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17Amazingly, a few frames survive
0:41:17 > 0:41:21of the moment Nigel Rose fixed a German plane in his gun sights.
0:41:26 > 0:41:31For Winston Churchill, 16th August had been a deeply moving day.
0:41:31 > 0:41:36He'd seen for himself the almost impossible odds the RAF fighter pilots faced.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41Churchill drove away in the afternoon and he turned round
0:41:41 > 0:41:47to General Ismay, one of his aides in the car, as they were driving back to London and said,
0:41:47 > 0:41:53"Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few."
0:41:55 > 0:41:59A few days later of course, Churchill wove them into the speech
0:41:59 > 0:42:00that he gave in the House of Commons.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06"The great air battle which has been in progress over this island
0:42:06 > 0:42:11"for the last few weeks has recently attained a high intensity.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14"The gratitude of every home in our island,
0:42:14 > 0:42:20"in our Empire and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty,
0:42:20 > 0:42:22"goes out to be British airmen...
0:42:22 > 0:42:29CHURCHILL: "..who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger
0:42:29 > 0:42:35"are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38"Never in the field of human conflict
0:42:38 > 0:42:42"was so much owed by so many to so few."
0:42:47 > 0:42:52At the height of the Battle of Britain, there were around 1,300 fighter pilots.
0:42:52 > 0:42:57It really is the case that our country's fate depended on... the few.
0:42:57 > 0:43:0070 years on, their ranks have thinned.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Now only 100 or so remain.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06So for us it's a privilege to meet two of them.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09I don't think I know the meaning of the word instinct!
0:43:12 > 0:43:16Geoffrey Wellum was 17 years old when he joined up.
0:43:16 > 0:43:22He recounted his experiences as a Spitfire pilot in an autobiography called First Light.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25'It's a classic account of the Battle of Britain.'
0:43:26 > 0:43:31Bob Foster was 20 and flew Hurricanes in the summer of 1940.
0:43:31 > 0:43:36He was a crack fighter pilot who shot down seven German planes.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40When you first stepped into your Hurricane and you into your Spitfire, and you
0:43:40 > 0:43:47landed it successfully and stepped out and kind of survived that first experience, were you really elated?
0:43:47 > 0:43:49- You felt, I'm now a fighter pilot. - Yes.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52- In my case, a little bit thankful. - Really?
0:43:52 > 0:43:56I looked down. There was the grass.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59I must have landed. A Spitfire has landed with Geoff Wellum in it.
0:44:02 > 0:44:08How much training on the aircraft did you get before you were expected to go up and use it in anger?
0:44:08 > 0:44:13We were posted up to begin on September 7th, when the battle was at its height.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17We replaced 87 Squadron that had been shot up
0:44:17 > 0:44:20and knocked about a bit.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23The first time I ever went into real combat was there.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26I had about 30 hours on a Spit.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28- I was lucky to get that. - To have that much.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30A lot of pilots had less, I take it.
0:44:30 > 0:44:36Did you have a real sense you were in a battle for Britain's survival at that time?
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Were you just going up there to do your job?
0:44:39 > 0:44:41Yes. There were invasion alerts.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43The church bells rang - it meant they were invading.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48Everybody in the south of England was aware it was possible.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Whether we really knew that we were in a battle for the survival...
0:44:51 > 0:44:54A battle for personal survival.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56Yes, certainly.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58The implications of the thing.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01I suppose we did. It was the least of our worries, put it that way.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05It never really registered to me until the first day we were sent off from Biggin.
0:45:05 > 0:45:11We were vectored on to 150 plus coming in over Dungeness
0:45:11 > 0:45:15and I saw this mass of aeroplanes,
0:45:15 > 0:45:18looked like a lot of gnats on a summer evening.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20I thought, these chaps mean it.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22This is serious.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26That's the first reaction I really had.
0:45:26 > 0:45:32There was a dreadful thing - where do we start on this lot?
0:45:32 > 0:45:35Was there any particular day or occasion when you felt,
0:45:35 > 0:45:39we're going to lose it, we're going to lose the battle?
0:45:39 > 0:45:43One day I do remember and this must be mid-September, I suppose.
0:45:43 > 0:45:48Where we were told to be in the cockpits an hour before dawn, which is pretty early.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52Something like that. We thought, OK, the invasion's on.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55That was the thought of it.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59We got in our planes an hour before dawn, sat there and I remember sitting on the airfield
0:45:59 > 0:46:04at Croydon, which was a big grass airfield with hares running around
0:46:04 > 0:46:06and the odd airman sitting on the starter axles.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10I was thinking to myself, with 12 little Hurricanes sitting there,
0:46:10 > 0:46:14if this is the invasion, then God help us.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Can I ask a sensitive question about your job then?
0:46:18 > 0:46:24In terms of what it was like to engage with an enemy for the first time
0:46:24 > 0:46:26and, if you were successful
0:46:26 > 0:46:30and you take down an aircraft, then how must that have felt?
0:46:30 > 0:46:33- I don't know what it may have felt like.- Good.- It did.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37Yeah. I don't think we ever thought about pilots in the other aeroplane.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40- I didn't.- No, nor did I.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42- These chaps were coming over bombing us.- Exactly.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44Dropping bombs all over the place.
0:46:44 > 0:46:49- They started it. - What were they doing over here...
0:46:49 > 0:46:53dropping these bombs on villages and just...
0:46:54 > 0:46:56- I personally didn't have any... - No, nor did I.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58They started this bloody nonsense.
0:46:58 > 0:47:03Obviously, this was going on day after day.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08You must have been bloody knackered, having to go up three or four times a day, maybe more.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11We were young, we were 20.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13We were enthusiastic.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15Yes, and we had some beer at night.
0:47:15 > 0:47:20If you got to five o'clock, you think, the day thou gavest, Lord, is ended.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23- And then straight off to the White Hart at Brasted...- That's right.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27Rubbing shoulders with local people, perhaps a game of darts,
0:47:27 > 0:47:30suppressing thoughts of mates who haven't turned up.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32That's right.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36And generally knocking back the pints.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39If there were pretty ladies around,
0:47:39 > 0:47:40try your luck.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42LAUGHTER
0:47:42 > 0:47:46It's the same with our own people, too.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49People say, "Did you miss your colleagues?"
0:47:49 > 0:47:55Well, you did. On the other hand, I've always said, in July, I'd never met these chaps before.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57They were not close friends.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00They were squadron... They were great chaps and so on.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04- You couldn't allow it to get you down.- Yeah.
0:48:04 > 0:48:05You had to put it behind you.
0:48:05 > 0:48:11I had one close chap and he went fairly quickly.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13Yeah.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17It hit me.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21We went down to the pub that night and I thought, "That's it.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23"He's gone, bear up."
0:48:23 > 0:48:27- That's right.- "Bear up, my soul." - Yes.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31Did it affect you when you got in the cockpit the next day?
0:48:31 > 0:48:33- No.- You couldn't think about it then, could you?
0:48:33 > 0:48:37In fact it was better. The waiting was the problem with me.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40I don't know about you. I hated it.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43The moment I got in that aeroplane and felt
0:48:43 > 0:48:46the vibration of the engine through the seat of my pants
0:48:46 > 0:48:50and I was strapped in, the ground crew got off the wing, and waved me,
0:48:50 > 0:48:54I felt, "OK, it's up to me."
0:48:56 > 0:48:58'For me, there's one extra treat.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02'Bob knows I've got a thing for Hurricanes so he took me off to meet
0:49:02 > 0:49:03'an old comrade in arms -'
0:49:03 > 0:49:06not a person, but a plane.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10The actual Hurricane he flew during the Battle of Britain.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26Whoa!
0:49:27 > 0:49:32This is the only surviving Hurricane which fought in the Battle of Britain that is still flying today.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35That's fantastic. Amazing sight, isn't it?
0:49:35 > 0:49:39- When it's coming straight at you, you do feel like you want to run. - That's right.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49ENGINE ROARS
0:49:51 > 0:49:53That's an amazing sound.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55Yeah. Wonderful.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00- It must take you right back now. - You can't miss it, can you? You can't mistake it.- No.
0:50:08 > 0:50:13Bob's Hurricane came into service at a crucial moment.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15Just a day after it joined his squadron,
0:50:15 > 0:50:20the Luftwaffe launched the bloodiest attack of the Battle of Britain.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41A month into the Battle of Britain and Goering was under pressure.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45His strategy for the destruction of Fighter Command was not going to plan.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Goering had assumed the Luftwaffe would crush the RAF,
0:50:49 > 0:50:55just as it had crashed every other enemy, by shooting its planes out of the skies.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01But the radar network and the RAF's pilots and planes
0:51:01 > 0:51:04had proved a match for the Germans.
0:51:04 > 0:51:09After weeks of air combat, the RAF was holding its own.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12Goering's new strategy was to destroy the RAF,
0:51:12 > 0:51:15not in the air, but on the ground.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19If fighter stations were bombed, it would be difficult to take off and land.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22Exhausted pilots would be unable to rest.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24A key target was the RAF base
0:51:24 > 0:51:28which covered the main attack route to London - Biggin Hill.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31In its heyday, Biggin Hill was the most famous
0:51:31 > 0:51:34and important air base in the country.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39Its Spitfires and Hurricanes shot down 1,600 Luftwaffe planes.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45Those glory days are long gone now.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49The Air Force left Biggin Hill 20 years ago.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53I visited the base just before it shut down.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57I came here in 1987. This was my first experience of the RAF.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00This is where I went through my selection to join the air force.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04This was before Cranwell.
0:52:04 > 0:52:11I had no concept at the time as to how important a base this was in the overall campaign during 1940.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13Walking round these buildings now,
0:52:13 > 0:52:17we get a real sense of the past and of the ghosts.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19This place took a real pounding by the Luftwaffe.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21It was right on the frontline.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27To find out more about what happened on 18th August,
0:52:27 > 0:52:32I joined Patrick Bishop, who is a writer and historian.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35He showed me the woods which have swallowed up much of the old fighter base.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39I wanted to show you this, Colin.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43- This is a pillbox, built in 1940. - Yeah.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46It gives you an indication of how serious the fears were of an invasion.
0:52:46 > 0:52:52This was put here to protect the airfield against paratroopers or an invading force.
0:52:52 > 0:52:57There was a real feeling at this point that an invasion was inevitable.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00Biggin Hill was right on the front line.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03It took a real pounding on 18th August 1940.
0:53:03 > 0:53:09That's right. This was the day when they launched attacks on these big, significant bases.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13Biggin Hill, of course, being one of them.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16It was a Sunday morning. You can sort of picture the scene.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20We know what was going on. This was a rural area.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24You'd have people going off to church locally.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26The cooks in the canteen would be making Sunday lunch.
0:53:26 > 0:53:32The first reports come through that Kenley is being bombed and then Croydon's being bombed
0:53:32 > 0:53:37so it's natural to assume that Biggin Hill was going to be next, which indeed it was.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41So, everyone around here would have seen it. They would have been looking up at what was going on.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43They would have been hearing the crump of the bombs.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47Everyone knew they were on the front line at this point.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52Biggin Hill was attacked twice on the hardest day.
0:53:52 > 0:53:5480 tons of bombs fell on the base.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57The runways are peppered with craters.
0:53:57 > 0:54:02The hardest day was just the beginning of weeks of bombing.
0:54:02 > 0:54:0412 days later, 40 people died
0:54:04 > 0:54:07when their air raid shelter took a direct hit.
0:54:10 > 0:54:16This is one of the places where fighter pilots lived out those days of fear and uncertainty.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23So, this is a sleeping shelter.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25This is where
0:54:25 > 0:54:30the ground crews and the pilots, if they were on an early start, if they were on a dawn detail,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33they'd come up the night before and spend the night here.
0:54:33 > 0:54:41Yeah. It must have been horrendous conditions to live in day after day.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45I suppose it's that feeling that there's no line that you can retreat behind, where you're going
0:54:45 > 0:54:50to be safe, which must have had a pretty wearing effect on the nerves.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53There was no just, you know, you've done your fighting,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56you land and then that's basically you done for the day.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00I think that began to tell very much in that period when
0:55:00 > 0:55:06reading the memoirs, you get a very strong sense of people getting to the end of their tether.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08Yeah. They're kind of living it 24 hours a day.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12That constant fear, not only when they're flying but on the ground as well
0:55:12 > 0:55:15they're going to get caught out. It must have been pretty horrendous.
0:55:18 > 0:55:24Seeing these sleeping quarters and dispersal areas at Biggin Hill,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28it's really brought it home to me just how intense that period was.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32The guys weren't just fighting for their lives in the air, four or five sorties a day,
0:55:32 > 0:55:35but they were fighting for their lives on the ground as well.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39They were living under the constant threat of bombings.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43I'm used to combat sorties where you can come back at the end of a day,
0:55:43 > 0:55:48and albeit it's to an air-conditioned tent somewhere in the desert but at least it's home.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52You've got good food and you can sleep undisturbed.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56For these guys, it was just constant.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58The stress must have been incredible.
0:55:58 > 0:56:03They must have wondered just how long they could keep that up - how much more they could take.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11With the Battle of Britain now in its seventh week,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14combat stress was beginning to tell.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19Many pilots were being scrambled into action
0:56:19 > 0:56:20four or five times a day.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24I found the waiting period difficult.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27It's probably the most difficult.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31You almost felt like going outside and throwing up.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34Sitting around, waiting for that telephone -
0:56:34 > 0:56:36always had a certain ring.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38The corporal would pick it up,
0:56:38 > 0:56:41stick his head out of the window and say, "Scramble."
0:56:41 > 0:56:45You'd be on your feet, racing to the aeroplane.
0:56:45 > 0:56:51Waiting for that to happen, I think, many people would say,
0:56:51 > 0:56:55I found it very unsettling, as it were.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58You couldn't... You were apprehensive.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01Let's face it, probably scared stiff, really.
0:57:03 > 0:57:05The strain of weeks of intense fighting
0:57:05 > 0:57:07wasn't just affecting the pilots.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11It had also begun to tear the leadership of Fighter Command apart.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14War had broken out amongst the RAF top brass,
0:57:14 > 0:57:18about the way the battle was being fought.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21It pitted Keith Park, the Commander of 11 Group,
0:57:21 > 0:57:26which covered the south east, against one of the RAF's rising stars.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31Douglas Bader was already a legend when war began.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35He had lost his legs in a plane crash but went back to flying.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39In 1940, he led 12 Group, which defended the Midlands
0:57:39 > 0:57:44and the east coast - an area which was less involved in the battle.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47He was itching to get into action.
0:57:47 > 0:57:51He's the sort of guy who wanted to be out there, leading the pack.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53He wanted to be number one.
0:57:53 > 0:57:58And the back seat role that 12 Group seemed to be playing in the battle
0:57:58 > 0:58:00didn't really appeal to him.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06Bader had his own theory on how the Battle of Britain should be fought,
0:58:06 > 0:58:08which he called the Big Wing.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12The idea was to get dozens of planes in the air at once.
0:58:12 > 0:58:14In one huge battle, the Big Wing
0:58:14 > 0:58:17would deal the Luftwaffe a killer blow.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19But there were practical problems with the Big Wing.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22Getting 50 fighters in the air took time.
0:58:22 > 0:58:27The Luftwaffe was often halfway home by the time Douglas Bader arrived.
0:58:27 > 0:58:31For Keith Park, who knew just how short of men the RAF was,
0:58:31 > 0:58:33the Big Wing was a dangerous gamble -
0:58:33 > 0:58:36risking dozens of pilots in a single battle
0:58:36 > 0:58:39threatened to fatally weaken Fighter Command.
0:58:40 > 0:58:43This shortage of pilots was the critical issue
0:58:43 > 0:58:46as the Battle of Britain reached a decisive point.
0:58:51 > 0:58:55Airmen weren't just being shot at by the Luftwaffe,
0:58:55 > 0:58:57many were falling prey to a merciless killer.
0:58:57 > 0:58:59In less than a month,
0:58:59 > 0:59:04the RAF lost more than 200 airmen, almost all over the sea.
0:59:07 > 0:59:10'As I know from my RAF training, if you ditch into the ocean these days,
0:59:10 > 0:59:13'you're pretty confident you'll survive.
0:59:13 > 0:59:16'We've immersion suits, lifeboats, and emergency supplies.'
0:59:18 > 0:59:21So I want to know what was so different in 1940.
0:59:21 > 0:59:24What made the sea such a killing zone?
0:59:33 > 0:59:34Oh!
0:59:36 > 0:59:37Oh!
0:59:39 > 0:59:41Oh, my God, that's so cold!
0:59:42 > 0:59:45It really takes your breath away, the shock.
0:59:49 > 0:59:54'I'm only wearing a simple flying suit, just as pilots would have done in 1940.
0:59:54 > 0:59:58'What I'm experiencing is known as cold shock.'
0:59:58 > 1:00:00I've been in a few minutes now
1:00:00 > 1:00:06and my hands are getting really cold, my toes are cold, and I've...
1:00:06 > 1:00:10I'm really breathing hard. I can feel myself hyperventilating.
1:00:11 > 1:00:14'Hyperventilating was one of the signs of cold shock.
1:00:14 > 1:00:16'Breathing became more frantic
1:00:16 > 1:00:18'and pilots would swallow more and more water.
1:00:18 > 1:00:22'Most died from cold shock within five minutes.
1:00:23 > 1:00:26'Anyone who did survive the first few minutes
1:00:26 > 1:00:29'still had little chance of getting out alive because,
1:00:29 > 1:00:33'during the Battle of Britain, there was no system to rescue pilots lost at sea.'
1:00:37 > 1:00:40I'm just kind of looking around me and...
1:00:40 > 1:00:43it's quite choppy and I can't see anything. I can't see any...
1:00:43 > 1:00:47I can see the odd ship now and again when I'm bobbing up and down,
1:00:47 > 1:00:51but apart from that... it's just...it's just nothing.
1:00:51 > 1:00:57It must have been absolutely hell to think you've managed to survive getting out
1:00:57 > 1:01:01of your burning Spitfire, and this will be your final resting place.
1:01:01 > 1:01:03It's just horrendous.
1:01:05 > 1:01:08To be honest, I think you'd probably just want to drown,
1:01:08 > 1:01:10get it over with,
1:01:10 > 1:01:13because there's just no...
1:01:13 > 1:01:15no hope really of anybody coming to see you.
1:01:15 > 1:01:17It must be horrible.
1:01:22 > 1:01:27If you're lost at sea or stuck up on a mountain, you'll be lucky that these guys come and get you.
1:01:27 > 1:01:32They save up to 2,000 people a year, but it's because of the people, the pilots that ditched at sea
1:01:32 > 1:01:35during the Battle of Britain, that we have Search and Rescue today.
1:01:37 > 1:01:42'With so many experienced airmen being lost, Search and Rescue began.
1:01:42 > 1:01:44'Its main task was to pick up airmen lost at sea.'
1:01:44 > 1:01:50That's him up ahead now, he's over here, up to our right!
1:01:50 > 1:01:52All right, Colin!
1:02:20 > 1:02:23Are you freezing?
1:02:23 > 1:02:26You good?
1:02:26 > 1:02:31When you can see that yellow helicopter coming, it's just the most fantastic sight, you know?
1:02:31 > 1:02:33- Yes.- "My God, they're here."
1:02:33 > 1:02:34- I've found a new job.- Have you?
1:02:34 > 1:02:36I'm going to do this, yeah.
1:02:36 > 1:02:39I'm trading in my rouge and my lipstick.
1:02:39 > 1:02:41I'm going to be a winchman!
1:02:46 > 1:02:50'Search and Rescue was set up in August 1940.
1:02:50 > 1:02:54'In the years to come, it would save thousands of lives,
1:02:54 > 1:02:59'but it came too late to stem the losses which were seriously weakening Fighter Command.'
1:03:19 > 1:03:23By early September, the RAF had reached its lowest ebb.
1:03:23 > 1:03:27They were losing far more pilots than they could replace.
1:03:29 > 1:03:33It was a war of attrition and Fighter Command was bleeding men.
1:03:33 > 1:03:37It seemed that only a miracle could save the RAF from extinction...
1:03:39 > 1:03:41..and Britain from invasion.
1:03:44 > 1:03:48Then, on 7th September, something remarkable happened.
1:03:48 > 1:03:52The Germans launched another huge attack.
1:03:52 > 1:03:57750 Luftwaffe planes flew towards the RAF's fighter stations,
1:03:57 > 1:04:00just as they had done for the last few weeks.
1:04:00 > 1:04:05But this time they passed right over the airfields
1:04:05 > 1:04:07and carried on towards London.
1:04:07 > 1:04:10The game had changed.
1:04:10 > 1:04:13It was now no longer about two air forces confronting each other,
1:04:13 > 1:04:16but it was about two nations confronting each other
1:04:16 > 1:04:19because they came back to lop London that night.
1:04:19 > 1:04:21And the night of September 7th
1:04:21 > 1:04:26can be counted as the first day in what we now call the Blitz.
1:04:28 > 1:04:32A week earlier, the RAF had bombed Berlin.
1:04:32 > 1:04:36Goering had publicly declared that the German capital was safe from attack,
1:04:36 > 1:04:39so the bombing was a personal humiliation.
1:04:39 > 1:04:43He ordered a revenge raid on London.
1:04:43 > 1:04:46The Blitz would prove traumatic, but during the first week
1:04:46 > 1:04:50in which London was targeted, no bombs fell on air bases.
1:04:50 > 1:04:54Goering had eased the pressure on the RAF.
1:04:54 > 1:04:57Squadrons were re-equipped with new Spitfires.
1:04:57 > 1:05:00Fresh pilots were drafted in.
1:05:00 > 1:05:06Fighter Command was overhauled in anticipation of the next great challenge.
1:05:06 > 1:05:09AIR RAID SIRENS
1:05:14 > 1:05:16'Finally my big day has arrived.
1:05:16 > 1:05:23'I'm going to fly the Spitfire, and with this flight, my flying career comes full circle,
1:05:23 > 1:05:28'because I'll sit in the same cockpit as the heroes who inspired me to become an RAF pilot.'
1:05:29 > 1:05:33- HE LAUGHS - I can't tell you how excited I am!
1:05:33 > 1:05:35It's just like you've kind of dreamt about this moment
1:05:35 > 1:05:40since you were a kid and suddenly the day has arrived, it's here, I'm going to do it.
1:05:40 > 1:05:44It's a beautiful day and there's puffy white clouds around,
1:05:44 > 1:05:47and blue sky. It just couldn't be any more perfect so...
1:05:49 > 1:05:51I just can't really believe it's going to happen.
1:05:51 > 1:05:53It's fantastic, absolutely amazing.
1:05:55 > 1:05:59- Are you nervous?- No, I'm not nervous, I'm not nervous.
1:05:59 > 1:06:03I'm really not. I've sat in the cockpit and had a look around
1:06:03 > 1:06:04and I've read through my notes.
1:06:04 > 1:06:09Everything is there, and I think it's because
1:06:09 > 1:06:10I've had a bit of training.
1:06:10 > 1:06:13I've gone through the training. I've done the Tiger Moth and the Harvard,
1:06:13 > 1:06:18and it's the logical next step, and I'm really not nervous. I'm just...
1:06:18 > 1:06:22I'm just... Well, you can tell, can't you, really?
1:06:23 > 1:06:26- OK, clear prop.- And contact.
1:06:26 > 1:06:28OK. Contact!
1:06:34 > 1:06:35'Good start, well done.'
1:06:35 > 1:06:37You'll need to kick her out
1:06:37 > 1:06:40- almost straight away with a bit of left rudder.- Yeah.
1:06:40 > 1:06:43Flying a Spitfire won't be easy.
1:06:43 > 1:06:45At 350mph, she's really fast.
1:06:45 > 1:06:48A Spitfire is a thoroughbred who needs handling with care.
1:06:48 > 1:06:51We're pointing in the right direction, Colin.
1:06:56 > 1:07:01Hatch closed. Just gradually inch the power up bit by bit.
1:07:01 > 1:07:04- ENGINE REVS INCREASED - That's it, that's good.
1:07:04 > 1:07:08Keep her straight. A bit of left rudder.
1:07:08 > 1:07:10We're riding on the wheels,
1:07:10 > 1:07:16we've got nice power, very nice. Let her fly when she wants to.
1:07:16 > 1:07:19That's it. Very good.
1:07:37 > 1:07:40- You did that on your own.- Oh!
1:07:45 > 1:07:48Just sitting in the cockpit is an overwhelming experience.
1:07:48 > 1:07:55The Merlin engines roaring away, and there's that unforgettable smell of leather and oil and grease.
1:07:57 > 1:08:01OK, round to the right we go.
1:08:05 > 1:08:07I'm amazed at how light and agile the Spitfire is,
1:08:07 > 1:08:10it's really responsive to the touch.
1:08:10 > 1:08:13Now I understand why so many pilots have fallen in love with her.
1:08:19 > 1:08:21It was a real lady, the Spitfire,
1:08:21 > 1:08:25a beautiful aircraft, not just to look at, but to fly.
1:08:27 > 1:08:34You had a fairly small cockpit, so that when you were sitting in it, you were very much part of the plane.
1:08:34 > 1:08:36You and the plane were together.
1:08:38 > 1:08:43It was beautiful, so smooth and almost like a rhythm of it.
1:08:45 > 1:08:47It had all the right characteristics.
1:08:47 > 1:08:52It behaved so beautifully and it was beautiful to look at, so what more can you say!
1:09:09 > 1:09:14The Spitfire is wonderful in the air, but down on the ground, it's a real beast to handle.
1:09:14 > 1:09:16Landing is the most difficult part.
1:09:16 > 1:09:22The Spitfire has a long nose, so it's hard to see over it to work out how close I am to the ground.
1:09:22 > 1:09:24Just fly her down like you did the Harvard.
1:09:24 > 1:09:30Just fly her down, keep her coming down, keep her coming down, keep her coming down, keep her coming down,
1:09:30 > 1:09:32drop the power and hold her off.
1:09:32 > 1:09:35Hold her off, hold her off, hold her off.
1:09:35 > 1:09:38Very nice. Now watch that rudder.
1:09:38 > 1:09:40The left rudder.
1:09:40 > 1:09:44Left rudder! Left rudder, that's it.
1:09:44 > 1:09:46Keep her straight.
1:09:46 > 1:09:51Don't get a wiggle on, don't get a wiggle on, don't get a wiggle on.
1:09:51 > 1:09:52That's it, well done. Well done.
1:09:52 > 1:09:55Ooh, exhausting!
1:09:55 > 1:09:57A bit of brake, a bit of brake.
1:09:57 > 1:10:04That's it, that's it. You have to work at it, don't you?
1:10:04 > 1:10:05- Bloody hell!- OK!
1:10:08 > 1:10:10That was a lovely landing.
1:10:10 > 1:10:12I'm happy about that.
1:10:12 > 1:10:15I presume you were talking to the aeroplane and not your instructor.
1:10:15 > 1:10:18I was definitely talking to the aeroplane!
1:10:18 > 1:10:22- THEY LAUGH - Oh, my God.
1:10:27 > 1:10:33- Excellent.- Sorry, I'm just having a little moment.
1:10:34 > 1:10:36- Are you all right in the front? - Yeah, yeah.
1:10:40 > 1:10:44When the heartbeats come back to something which isn't on danger level...
1:10:44 > 1:10:48- HE LAUGHS - Well!
1:10:51 > 1:10:53That's amazing, amazing.
1:10:53 > 1:10:55I can't believe I've just done that.
1:11:00 > 1:11:02It's really incredible.
1:11:04 > 1:11:06Oh, man!
1:11:08 > 1:11:10Oh, my God, that was...
1:11:10 > 1:11:13I don't think I've ever had an experience like that in my life,
1:11:13 > 1:11:17- it was just the most incredible thing to do. - Quite emotional, really.
1:11:17 > 1:11:18Yes, it is, it is.
1:11:18 > 1:11:20Really emotional, yes.
1:11:20 > 1:11:23I wasn't sure it would be, but it is.
1:11:23 > 1:11:26There he was on a bright blue day
1:11:26 > 1:11:30over the green fields of England doing aerobatics in a Spitfire.
1:11:30 > 1:11:32Doesn't get much better than that.
1:11:48 > 1:11:51A week of foul weather followed the first day of the Blitz.
1:11:51 > 1:11:55Fighter Command pilots were confined to base.
1:11:55 > 1:12:01Luftwaffe squadrons flying over Britain encountered very few RAF aircraft.
1:12:01 > 1:12:07Their reports convinced Goering that Fighter Command was down to its last 200 planes.
1:12:07 > 1:12:10Time was running out. He had only a few days left
1:12:10 > 1:12:14to destroy the RAF before Hitler's invasion had to begin.
1:12:16 > 1:12:21Goering believed that one more blow would crush Fighter Command,
1:12:21 > 1:12:26and with the bad weather breaking, the day of reckoning had arrived.
1:12:47 > 1:12:50So is this going down to the command centre?
1:12:50 > 1:12:55Yes, this was the headquarters of 11 Group, their Ops Room.
1:12:55 > 1:12:56Right. Top secret down here.
1:12:56 > 1:13:00- I think it was secret, I don't think the Germans ever knew about this place.- No?
1:13:00 > 1:13:03It was just kept completely under wraps.
1:13:03 > 1:13:069412, south.
1:13:06 > 1:13:12'RAF Uxbridge was the nerve centre on 15th September, the decisive day of the Battle of Britain.'
1:13:12 > 1:13:16Wow. I've seen this room in so many movies, have you?
1:13:16 > 1:13:18Yeah, it's weird, it's kind of...
1:13:18 > 1:13:20Look at all this.
1:13:20 > 1:13:24'70 years on, the room has been preserved
1:13:24 > 1:13:27'just as Keith Park would have known it on the day he scrambled his squadrons
1:13:27 > 1:13:29'to meet the great Luftwaffe attack.
1:13:29 > 1:13:34'The first few hours were crucial for the outcome of the Battle of Britain.
1:13:34 > 1:13:40'For the very first time, we've pieced together the records for each phase of the German attack.
1:13:40 > 1:13:46'These RAF personnel will help us plot the raid moment by moment.
1:13:46 > 1:13:50'They'll be doing exactly what their predecessors did 70 years ago.'
1:13:50 > 1:13:52Four zero seven nine!
1:13:52 > 1:13:57'And Stephen Bungay is on hand to take us through the key moments of 15th September 1940.'
1:13:57 > 1:14:01The weather reports are good, the day is fine, there's a little bit
1:14:01 > 1:14:06of haze on the ground, but visibility on the ground's about four miles.
1:14:06 > 1:14:09It's about 14 degrees centigrade, it's a beautiful late summer day.
1:14:09 > 1:14:12It's great weather for strolling to the pub,
1:14:12 > 1:14:16reading the newspaper in the garden, and launching major air attacks.
1:14:16 > 1:14:18- And guess what choice they made. - Right, right.
1:14:18 > 1:14:23So on they come and Park here is waiting for them.
1:14:25 > 1:14:28Keith Park didn't have to wait long.
1:14:28 > 1:14:32At 10:10am, the Germans took off from their bases
1:14:32 > 1:14:34on the French coast.
1:14:34 > 1:14:39The bombers circled over the English Channel as they waited for their fighter escorts to arrive.
1:14:39 > 1:14:44Then Goering's great air armada began its attack run.
1:14:46 > 1:14:51Back in London, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, had noticed the fine weather.
1:14:51 > 1:14:54He sensed it would be another big day.
1:14:55 > 1:14:57He drove to Uxbridge
1:14:57 > 1:15:00and arrived at 10:30am as the drama began to unfold.
1:15:01 > 1:15:07Park went up, met him, reminded him that he couldn't light his cigar
1:15:07 > 1:15:10because the air conditioning here won't cope with that.
1:15:10 > 1:15:17- He was in here?- He was just up there with an unlit cigar clenched between his teeth throughout the day.
1:15:17 > 1:15:19Stand by for a new raid.
1:15:19 > 1:15:23Hostile zero four William X-ray, zero six six one...
1:15:23 > 1:15:27'At 10:51am, the first marker went on the board.
1:15:27 > 1:15:31'30 hostile aircraft had been detected by Britain's air defence system.
1:15:31 > 1:15:35'It was the spearhead of the German attack.'
1:15:35 > 1:15:39All squadrons come to readiness...
1:15:39 > 1:15:42'At 11:03am, Park scrambled the first fighter squadron.'
1:15:44 > 1:15:46He sent out the Biggin Hill wing of Spitfires,
1:15:46 > 1:15:48two Spitfire squadrons, 72 and 92,
1:15:48 > 1:15:52up high to patrol Canterbury, to hit them over the coast.
1:15:52 > 1:15:54He sent them up to about 25,000 feet.
1:15:54 > 1:15:58When they arrived, they were above the German top cover.
1:15:58 > 1:16:01Park had laid an ambush.
1:16:01 > 1:16:03When the German bombers and their fighter escorts
1:16:03 > 1:16:09arrived over the south coast, the RAF was waiting, high above.
1:16:09 > 1:16:13Park's strategy was to send out Spitfires to engage the Messerschmitt 109s.
1:16:13 > 1:16:16The 109s would be forced to fight.
1:16:16 > 1:16:19That would strip the bombers of their protective shield.
1:16:21 > 1:16:24At 11:40am, the first dogfights began.
1:16:24 > 1:16:26Park's strategy was going to plan.
1:16:30 > 1:16:34While the dogfights raged, the German bombers pressed on for London.
1:16:34 > 1:16:38But now another unforeseen problem arose.
1:16:40 > 1:16:46A 90mph headwind had blown up, which cut the ground speed of the bombers in half.
1:16:46 > 1:16:50It would take them twice as long to reach their target.
1:16:50 > 1:16:55Raid hostile, zero four Robert seven three...
1:16:55 > 1:16:58Goering had promised that Fighter Command was finished,
1:16:58 > 1:17:01but German aircrew had endured a terrible ordeal.
1:17:01 > 1:17:05They'd been attacked on all sides since they crossed the south coast.
1:17:05 > 1:17:07And it was about to get even worse.
1:17:11 > 1:17:13'Keith Park now delivered his master stroke.
1:17:13 > 1:17:19'He'd always been sceptical about the Big Wing and the value of a risky all-out attack.
1:17:19 > 1:17:26'But it was time for the RAF's hammer blow, so he summoned his great rival, Douglas Bader, to lead the charge.'
1:17:30 > 1:17:33At 12:09pm, the German bombers arrived over London.
1:17:33 > 1:17:38To their horror, 60 Big Wing fighters were waiting for them.
1:17:39 > 1:17:41Bader launched an all-out attack.
1:17:48 > 1:17:50FIRING
1:18:01 > 1:18:05There were so many British aircraft that they got in each other's way.
1:18:05 > 1:18:09Only six German bombers and 12 fighters were shot down.
1:18:09 > 1:18:14But the appearance of so many RAF planes shattered Luftwaffe morale.
1:18:14 > 1:18:21The psychological impact of this on the German flyers, of course, was shock.
1:18:21 > 1:18:26But on the commanders, it was a sudden realisation
1:18:26 > 1:18:30of what had actually been going on for the previous month.
1:18:30 > 1:18:35"We thought we'd got them on their knees and oh, my God, we've been getting nowhere.
1:18:35 > 1:18:38"We've no time left, what can we do?"
1:18:41 > 1:18:48When the Luftwaffe finally tallied up their losses, 15th September had cost them 56 planes.
1:18:48 > 1:18:51They'd experienced far worse days.
1:18:51 > 1:18:55'The real significance was what the battle revealed.
1:18:55 > 1:19:01'After two months of fighting, the RAF was even stronger than before.
1:19:01 > 1:19:05'With Fighter Command controlling the skies, the invasion couldn't take place.
1:19:07 > 1:19:11'Two days later, Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion.'
1:19:17 > 1:19:21There's one more flight left and it's the most amazing flight of all.
1:19:23 > 1:19:25There's a chance to go up in a Spitfire once more,
1:19:25 > 1:19:28but this time I'd be flying in formation with
1:19:28 > 1:19:32a Hurricane and Spitfire from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
1:19:34 > 1:19:39Flying alongside other Battle of Britain aircraft is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
1:19:39 > 1:19:43But can I really take two trips in a Spitfire, when my brother Ewan has had none?
1:19:52 > 1:19:55- Fancy a go? - How do you mean, "fancy a go"?
1:19:55 > 1:19:58- Do you fancy a go?- How do you mean?
1:19:58 > 1:20:00Am I going to get to go up in it with you?
1:20:00 > 1:20:02- Not with me.- Oh, no?
1:20:02 > 1:20:05- Well, I'd love to have a go, yeah, of course.- Right.
1:20:05 > 1:20:07I'm not going to go today, you're going.
1:20:07 > 1:20:11- What do you mean, you're not going today?- You're going to go in it?- Why?
1:20:11 > 1:20:15- Cos you're going to go on it, I'm not. - I thought you were going in it today.
1:20:15 > 1:20:16I'm going up in the back of it?
1:20:16 > 1:20:18- You're going up in the back of it? - Where are you going to be?
1:20:18 > 1:20:24- I'm going to be on the ground. - Seriously?- Seriously.
1:20:24 > 1:20:29- But don't you feel like you'll miss out on your go?- I've had my go.
1:20:29 > 1:20:31You need to see what it's like.
1:20:31 > 1:20:35- That's why you were telling me to bring a flying suit this morning, isn't it?- Yeah.
1:20:36 > 1:20:39- That's fantastic.- OK.
1:20:39 > 1:20:42Here's me asking you how you'd parachute out of it!
1:20:42 > 1:20:44- Which was quite relevant. - OK question to ask.
1:20:47 > 1:20:49Oh, my God, that's going to be amazing.
1:20:53 > 1:20:55HE TAPS
1:21:04 > 1:21:06Ooh-hoo!
1:21:31 > 1:21:36They're coming into formation here. That is amazing.
1:21:40 > 1:21:44There's a Hurricane and a Spitfire and then, at the far side of the formation,
1:21:44 > 1:21:46I'm in the back of the two-seat Spit.
1:21:48 > 1:21:51HE LAUGHS
1:21:51 > 1:21:54They are so close, I feel like I could reach out and touch them.
1:21:54 > 1:21:56Our wing tips are only feet apart.
1:21:58 > 1:22:00I can't express, it's unbelievable
1:22:00 > 1:22:04to see the Spitfire right off my wing like that. Woo-hoo!
1:22:06 > 1:22:12We're retracing the route the Battle of Britain pilots would have taken as they patrolled the south coast.
1:22:20 > 1:22:25We're all in formation. I've never been so close to another aircraft in the sky.
1:22:29 > 1:22:34'The skill of the pilots is awesome, but flying in formation is just the start.'
1:22:34 > 1:22:37They're going to show me what these war birds can really do.
1:22:40 > 1:22:42One, two, three.
1:22:42 > 1:22:46Woo-hoo! Ha-ha!
1:22:46 > 1:22:49Oh, yes!
1:22:52 > 1:22:54Oh, that is amazing.
1:22:54 > 1:22:58The people in this city are getting the show of their life.
1:22:58 > 1:23:01Absolutely. Absolutely right.
1:23:01 > 1:23:06Break, break, go. One, two, three.
1:23:11 > 1:23:15Oh, yes!
1:23:17 > 1:23:20Look at that Hurricane go like that! Woo-hoo!
1:23:20 > 1:23:22That is awesome.
1:23:28 > 1:23:33I can't believe the pilots used to be able to do this after such little training,
1:23:33 > 1:23:37maybe ten hours' training in this aircraft before they were expected to do this.
1:23:37 > 1:23:39It's mind-blowing.
1:23:39 > 1:23:41Listen to this noise!
1:23:54 > 1:23:55HE LAUGHS
1:23:59 > 1:24:02Right, how big is his smile going to be?
1:24:24 > 1:24:28- How was that?- That was unbelievable.
1:24:28 > 1:24:30I think you'll need one of them.
1:24:30 > 1:24:33- Thanks a lot, mate. - Cliff, that was amazing!
1:24:33 > 1:24:38- I had more "Oh, wow's" and... - What, more than me?
1:24:38 > 1:24:42Oh, my God, you are so close together, you are so close.
1:24:42 > 1:24:45That's the one thing that I hadn't,
1:24:45 > 1:24:48I hadn't really...
1:24:48 > 1:24:50fully entertained in my mind.
1:24:50 > 1:24:55You're like literally on each other's wing and you're looking over there
1:24:55 > 1:24:59at another aeroplane in the sky, and it's bumpy sometimes, you know?
1:24:59 > 1:25:04Oh, yeah. And when it moves, I was like "... hell."
1:25:04 > 1:25:07I didn't say it, cos I knew he'd hear me, but I loved the peel-offs.
1:25:07 > 1:25:13And I wish I had a camera here looking, so you could see what I saw, cos it was nuts how close we were.
1:25:13 > 1:25:18So the next trip, Ewan, scramble the McGregor Big Wing? How about that?
1:25:18 > 1:25:20Yeah, nice one, dude. We'll do that then.
1:25:24 > 1:25:27It's been wonderful to fly these planes,
1:25:27 > 1:25:32but it's been an even greater privilege to meet the heroes that fought in them.
1:25:32 > 1:25:35What we've learned about the Battle of Britain has brought home to us
1:25:35 > 1:25:38the significance of their victory.
1:25:38 > 1:25:41It was a battle that turned the tide of world history,
1:25:41 > 1:25:44but it took place over our green fields.
1:25:46 > 1:25:51That's what makes it unique to me, that it was happening right here, right above us.
1:25:51 > 1:25:55And it involved everyone, it involved everybody.
1:25:55 > 1:25:57So everybody had to pull together.
1:25:58 > 1:26:01Yeah, I think it's almost incomprehensible.
1:26:01 > 1:26:06- I don't think we can understand what it would have been like if it had gone the other way.- Yeah.
1:26:06 > 1:26:08I think it's true.
1:26:08 > 1:26:11I think that this war that happened in the skies here
1:26:11 > 1:26:14has enabled us all to have the lives that we've had,
1:26:14 > 1:26:17and will continue for our children and their children.
1:26:17 > 1:26:20It's really extraordinary.
1:26:22 > 1:26:27Our journey ends here, at Capel-le-Ferne on the Kent coast.
1:26:29 > 1:26:33This is the memorial to the 3,000 airmen who fought in the Battle of Britain.
1:26:37 > 1:26:39Here's Douglas Bader, look.
1:26:39 > 1:26:41Oh, yeah, yeah.
1:26:43 > 1:26:49'Most of them were British, but hundreds came from overseas to defend our shores.'
1:26:49 > 1:26:52There's Czech and Polish pilots, wasn't there?
1:26:57 > 1:26:59'There are those who died 70 years ago
1:26:59 > 1:27:03'and those who survived, men we've been privileged to meet.'
1:27:03 > 1:27:06- There's Geoffrey Wellum's down there.- Oh, yeah, yeah.
1:27:06 > 1:27:09That's what I like about it, that it's for the pilots who died
1:27:09 > 1:27:13and the pilots that lived, it's not just a memorial of the dead pilots.
1:27:13 > 1:27:15- It's for all the airmen that took part.- Yeah.
1:27:17 > 1:27:20'544 RAF airmen were killed.
1:27:20 > 1:27:23'Their average age was just 22.
1:27:26 > 1:27:30'We'd like the last word to go to Spitfire pilot William Walker.
1:27:30 > 1:27:35'At 97, he's one of the oldest survivors of the Battle of Britain.'
1:27:37 > 1:27:45Remember those not here today and those unwell or far away
1:27:45 > 1:27:50and those who never lived to see the end of war and victory
1:27:50 > 1:27:58and every friend who passed our way remembered as of yesterday
1:27:58 > 1:28:00It's absent friends we miss the most.
1:28:00 > 1:28:03To all, let's drink a loving toast.
1:28:15 > 1:28:18Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd