German bombers head towards northern England with no fighter escort - complete unaware a squadron of spitfires has been relocated there. From the movie "The Battle of Britain"
There is a story that a German pilot shot down by a Hurricane insisted that it was a Spitfire that shot him down...That shows how legendry the Spitfire was, but the Hurricane was the work horse.
Quite possibly the best WWII av1ation film ever IMHO... My paternal great uncle flew Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain - He was actually shot down and killed in 1942 flying a Lysander back from France in the very early hours of the morning...
this is my favorite scene of any film EVERY! stil makes me laugh when the first guy gets owned in the face, if you look carefully you can actually see something getting thrown/sprayed on his face LOL absolutely brilliant :) thanks for sharing this i havent seen it for years! made me think of my grandad who's now passed away, he bought it round and watched it with me for the first time ever when i was 8! anyway, thanks again =)
"SHPITFOYAR!" Lol....love this movie and this s one of my favourite scenes. It was very gracious of the Spanish air force to allow the production team to not only use their fleet of Heinkel 111 bombers, but to also daub them in Luftwaffe and Nazi insignia for the movie.
Enjoy this movie, as you will probably never see such a beautiful display of (mostly) real aircraft, in a historically accurate context. So much CGI these days.....
To answer your question, the Germans did send escorts on their bomber raids. On longer-range missions, they used Messerschmitt 110s as escorts, which was the same as no escort at all. The movie does take a bit of liberty here, but it's for practical reasons: there were no airworthy 110s available. Considering the aircraft's lack of maneuverability, that's not surprising.
Well I've nothing but admiration and respect for the free Polish pilots that fought alongside us in the Battle of Britain, and 303 Polish Squadron notched up the highest kill ratio of that battle. They played their part, as did every other flyer in the RAF, be they British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, South African, Czech, Free French, Belgian, and American volunteer.
This is truly an epic war movie. So many war movies today rely on CGI, these are original aircraft (although I believe the Heinkels were borrowed from the Spanish Airforce).
The 190 was a nasty shock to the RAF when it first appeared, but at that time the Mk.V was the predominant version of the Spitfire. Frantic attempts were made to improve the Mk.V to a point of equality with the 190, but it took the Mk.IX to restore the balance. The Spitfire Mk.IX was flown in combat trials against a captured 190 and for all intents and purposes, the two aircraft were as close a match as any. At the end of the day, it all came down to pilot skill anyway.
I read about this part of the battle. The Nazis thought they could bomb Scotland from Norway. Their fighter escort couldn't reach. They didn't realize the Brits had moved squadrons of Spitfires north to cover this eventuality. In 1999 I was in Edinburgh and I met a taxi driver who witnessed these battles as a kid. He said that the Germans would try to fly across Scotland to bomb the shipyards in Glasgow and the RAF would intercept them over Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth.
my Grandad was a bomber pilot,he said at th end of the war flying over germany you couldnt see a building standing for miles ,he even said they went far over the top in the bombing dept ,and any area was a bombing target he never forgot the first time they flew daylight missions and saw the end results
Several of the "Heinkels" were assembled from a scrapheap, so many of those seen in the opening groundscenes could not fly. One sees as most about 17 at a time in the air. When there are more than 2 "Heinkels" seen together with several attacking Spitfires, the Spitfires are actually Buchons ("Me 109's)", since the bomber formations were filmed in Spain, with only 1 Spitfire participating. 2 "Heinkels" were brought to England to be attacked by formations of Spitfires and Hurricanes.
I've recently seen a documentary where a RAF vet said the 303 British machine gun was useless and described it as a peashooter compared to the ME109's 20mm cannon,bafflled how we inflicted so much damage on the Luftwaffe
The shot at :59 was also used at the end of "Das Boat" when the crew are jumped by British bombers while returning their crippled sub to base. Thanks for the clip!
In this particular scene, it was a turkey shoot for those Spitfires. It makes you wonder what the Germans were thinking by sending those bombers in without fighter escorts. Great action film as well as a fantastic video!
Bit of artistic licence in this scene,which is now one of the myths of the Battle of Britain.The Germans did have a fighter escort on the North East raids, they were twin engined Messerschmitt 110s,en cumbered by long range fuel tanks that couldn't be jettisoned,and a lot were shot down.There were and still are no Me110s that can fly,so no fighter escort in the film.
I have watched this movie like a hundred times since I was a kid. My only gripe is the thrown ketchup on the facemask on one of the German gunners. But yes, it was the late 60's.
Yes, in fact they were remote controlled (bu not like modern R/C, they used large models on cables (which you can see on the He111 going into the train station, if u look real close). Stukas were ALL models (although there was a full size replica built but never flown. Most of the spits were rebuilt from either gate guards or rented from owners, there were only 2-3 flyable hurricanes available. The German aircraft were in fact Spainish manufactured Me-109's/He111's using Merlin engines .
Forgot to mention that he was a Night Fighter pilot, shooting down British bombers. Actually, he shot down 57 aircraft at night and 15 during the day, flying conventional fighters. Was flying Bf109s and FW190s, during the day. I think that they shot down a few Spitfires, sir!
The movie crews went around the world to acquire and restore original Spitfires and Hurricanes. The Bf109s were actually Spanish HA-1112s and the He-111s were also Spanish Air Force. Ironically the Spanish planes had Rolls-Royce Merlin engines instead of Daimler Benz 605s.
The Bf110 did well as a night fighter. My cousin Wilhelm flew them, along with the fighter version of the JU88 and he was quite successful (72 kills/57 at night).
Sorry to be a tedious train spotter, but it was the Spitfire MkV that had a hard time with the FW 190. The MkIV, of which only one was made, was a test bed for the Griffon motor, that later entered service in the MkXII Spitfire.
I have always wondered why they didn't maintain formation. A bomber defensive strength is achieved when the group stays together, even though the B-17s over Germany faired little better w/o fighter escort. Oh, and this is one of my favorite movies of all times. I do love the Spitfire!
Never forget, that the German Luftwaffe was never designed for bombing citys. She was designed to support the infantry. This is why they never build a bomber with B17-size. -And this is why the Luftwaffe had to loose the battle of Britain.
Oh yes The RightStuff hisx-15-broke-in half Scott Crossfield.(on landing)I got his autograph.He was big on supersonic passenger planes.Said something like Mach 5 @100,000feet is only 200mph indicated.I learned a lot at his lecture.great man.
The blood spattering his goggles is from wounds elsewhere being blown in his face by the aircraft slipstream as the mg burst from the spitfire has shattered the plexiglas nose of the heinkel
@freakyflow British aircraft employed in the movie: Spitfires, airworthy: 1 Mk ia, 1 Mk IIa, 1 Mk Vb, 1 Mk Vc, 2 Mk IXb, 1 Mk IXc, 2 Mk Tr IX (twoseaters), 1 Mk XIV, 2 Mk XIX. Taxiable: 1 Mk Vb, 6 Mk XVIe. Static: 1 Mk Vb, 1 Mk IXc, 2 Mk XVIe, 2 Mk XIX, 1 Mk F 21. Hurricanes, airworty: 2 Mk IIc, 1 Mk XII. Taxiable: 2 Mk I. Static: 1 Mk IIc. The later marks of Spitfires were shown only at very long distance in the mass-scenes, since their Griffon-engines and broader fins would give them away.
This clearly show how vulnerable the bombers were if unescorted to their mission. That's why the P-51 Mustang was built later to escort B-17s during its mission against the Axis, in order to avoid huge losses from Luftwaffe fighters.
Excellent video this film was a true testament to the sacrifices made by many young men on both sides of the conflict. As much as hollywood would like to portray that Ben Affleck won the BOB single handed historical fact shows us otherwise. It takes a lot of courage to face the things those young men faced everyday and I for one will always have respect for them after all they gave their tomorrow so that we could have our day and stopped the world falling under the whim of a mad man.
I freaking love this sequence! To me this IS the climax of the movie (not that other clip you got ;) ) As for retouching and/or remaking the movie... don't... this is a classic as it is! This movie is simply brilliant... if you haven't seen it yet... then you're missing out! :)
Your comment is very true but keep in mind Heinkels. Ju88. Doniers 17 were meant for a limited war with inferior enemy aircraft. They showed their real shortcommings when pitted against a REAL air force such as Britian. America and the Russians. Stutkas and ME 110 is another example. Have a great day!
It's difficult for me to judge the film without bias because I'm English - the Battle of Britain is part of my heritage. Most of what you see in the movie really happened though - as unbelievable as that might seem. I should watch the Guns of Navarone and Eagles Dare again, I haven't seen them since I was a kid.
You mean the Focke Wulf 190!It was not yet operational in the summer of 1940 though!It entered service in 41 and shocked the Spitfire mk1V pilots and held the upper hand until the introduction of the Spit mk 1X.
I showed this film to a friend in college, and he was amazed at how sympathetic it was to the German side. There's one part of the film (which I unfortunately didn't upload) where the German pilots are seated at a dinner table and are looking sadly at the empty chairs.
Thumbs up who gets a lump in their throat when the theme music starts!!! The Heinkels going on to the North Sea was done by Radio Controlled models. They had to insert the shot of bullets hitting the cables to give a reason for the R/C antennae protruding out the back in a long shot.
the raf were very clever. where possible, spitfires were detailed too deal with the 109s and the very tough hurricane was used as a gunbus too shoot down the bombers. a very effective tactic when it could be employed.
@TheAfrikaanerMP: No prbs, and thanks to your family for their service. I stayed with a Dutch family near Arnhem when I was a teenager and they told me stories about the occupation and the Dutch underground, and the hardships suffered in the 'hongerwinter' of 1944. Great people the Dutch, always got time for the 'Orange' and a Heineken! Cheers.
@henerymag I think the one reason the 50 caliber was NOT used is that it was not available to the British until later in the war. Later spitfires ended up with the "e" wing, which had the 2 20mm Hispano Cannons and 2 50 caliber Browning M2 machine guns and NO .303 British caliber machine guns.
@ BigJohn308 (Cont) Some Spitfires were fitted with just two 20mm cannons during the Battle of Britain, but the early ones were prone to jamming so only one Squadron was equipped with them. It wasn't till 1941 that the problem was sorted out, by then they found that a mix of two 20mm cannons and four .303 Caliber machine guns was best
@shackvan Just one fibreglass replica was built and filmed in England. The one that lays on the ground after a crash landing. All the others are Spanish C.A.S.A. 2111's. One never sees more than 17-18 in the air at one given time, and as You say: Several were assembled from a scrap heap. Two of the bombers seen at the line up during the inspection were the transport version without gun positions, but with windows along the sides.
These were heinkel squadrons coming from Norway to attack scotland and the industrial midlands. The Germans assumed that spitfire squadrons were concentrated in the south. They were wrong.
It's interesting to note that despite the effectiveness of the 2 Hispano/4 Browning setup, some Spitfires (particularly Mk.Vs operating out of Malta) were actually field-modded with 4 Hispanos and no Brownings at all. They weren't very common, but there were definitely a few.
From the BOBMF website.... You may have seen the article in the Daily Mail today speculating about the future of the BBMF. Air Command have advised us that the potential demise of the BBMF as a cost saving measure is untrue; There is no plan to cut any funding from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
This was Luftflotte 5 flying from bases in Norway, they actually did have a fighter escort of Me110's with their rear gunner removed to save on weight, which was a fatal mistake.
@BigJohn308 The Spitfire Mk Ia and IIa were both armed with eight .303 Caliber machine guns. The only Spits armed with four .303 Caliber machine guns were ones with the 'b' or 'c' type wing as they were also fitted with two 20mm cannons.
"Although the Mk. XIV was not as accurate as the Norden at altitudes over 20,000 feet, for typical night bombing altitudes between 12 and 16,000 feet, any differences in accuracy were minor. When the need for more accuracy for use with the Tallboy bombs arose in 1943, the Stabilized Automatic Bomb Sight (SABS), a development of the ABS, was introduced in limited numbers."
@Ismalith The He-111s in the video would have been flying from Norway. The Germans didn't have any 109s there though. The 109 only had enough fuel for about 30 minutes over London, the northern raids were well beyond their range. In reality the bombers would have been escorted by Bf-110s, but there weren't any 110s flyable at the time or now for that matter
Another thing-If you want to see this movie in full you can buy it on DVD quite easily. Also, It would probably be illegal to put it all on RUclips because the film is copyright. I had similar wished to you, and I found it quite easily and cheaply on DVD at a museum.
Yes but it must also be remembered in hindsight despite these films portraying 'everything is up in the air' on the part of the attack they still had squadrons in the north in reserve. Infact by the end of the BoB, Britain was outproducing the Germans in fighters. The RAF overestimated the Luftwaffe strength but the Luftwaffe vastly underestimated the strength of the RAF
Thanks for uploading all the excerpts of one of my favorit movies! There is another good fight where Michael Caine is shot down. If you find the time it would be great if you uploaded that one, too.
In the actual battle, the Germans had sent a squadron of decoy seaplanes to draw the Spits up further north away from the bombers. But due to a navagational error on the part of the bombers, they flew the same path as the seaplanes . . . and right into the path of the waiting Spits. 10% of the Luftflotte (airfleet) in Norway and Denmark was destroyed in this ill-fated raid.
great movie... one anecdote: the director added the scene of the control wires snapping (2:47) to justify the fact that in the next scene you can see the wires holding the model. Difficult to see in low res but on the dvd u can see them clearly
@spotswood4444 Just some more information: In one of my magazines there is a list with all the fighters (and the two bombers brought to England), both fliers and non-fliers used in the filming. Their military registrations and, regarding the fliers, civil registrations. All Buchons ("109's") came from the Spanish air Force. One Hurricane was privately owned by a Canadian. The rest of the Hurricanes and almost all Spitfires came from RAF. Many had been "Gate Guardians" at RAF bases.
this reminds me of another battle in the film...where the RAF launch a large counter attack against an incoming flight of fighters and bombers. Again only 1 Heinkel remains and crash lands in France. If anyone can remember this battle they should upload it. I would but do not have the DVD.
I read in several books that some German bomber crews would wear the M35 steel pot to help against flak but in this movie you don't see a single crew member wearing one, I just thought that strange
Also, as you said, this was one of the first times they showed the British winning. The scenes before this were the Germans bombing British airfields and gaining the upper hand. That's why the scene plays out so triumphantly, because it's like, "YES! The good guys are winning finally!"
I remember watching this one time with a friend who said that it would be cool if he could be in one of those MG positions on the HE-111's. Of course his opinion changed drastically once that scene came up showing the Heinkel gunner's goggles fill up with blood.
As I understand it this scene represents the attack of the norwegian Luftflotte on northen england. I think the Germans thought this areas defences had been stripped to fight in the south, however their pilots had exageratted losses caused, and the RAF were rotating pilots, so the unescorted bombers hit a pile of 11 and 12 group experiencd resting pilots, whilst in the south Luftwaffe pilots had unexpected success against the 13 group who had been rotated in from the north
There is a story that a German pilot shot down by a Hurricane insisted that it was a Spitfire that shot him down...That shows how legendry the Spitfire was, but the Hurricane was the work horse.
Quite possibly the best WWII av1ation film ever IMHO...
My paternal great uncle flew Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain - He was actually shot down and killed in 1942 flying a Lysander back from France in the very early hours of the morning...
this is my favorite scene of any film EVERY!
stil makes me laugh when the first guy gets owned in the face, if you look carefully you can actually see something getting thrown/sprayed on his face LOL absolutely brilliant :)
thanks for sharing this i havent seen it for years! made me think of my grandad who's now passed away, he bought it round and watched it with me for the first time ever when i was 8!
anyway, thanks again =)
"SHPITFOYAR!"
Lol....love this movie and this s one of my favourite scenes. It was very gracious of the Spanish air force to allow the production team to not only use their fleet of Heinkel 111 bombers, but to also daub them in Luftwaffe and Nazi insignia for the movie.
Enjoy this movie, as you will probably never see such a beautiful display of (mostly) real aircraft, in a historically accurate context. So much CGI these days.....
+okedoke1234 so sad. there go the good old days. today the actors are "acting" infront of a blue screen.
if they're there at all. Ever seen Flyboys? Even the actors in the planes are CG.
Midway 2019 is a bore
The last part is particularly nice. The gallantry that includes not delivering the coup de grace to the last remaining Heinkel.
To answer your question, the Germans did send escorts on their bomber raids. On longer-range missions, they used Messerschmitt 110s as escorts, which was the same as no escort at all. The movie does take a bit of liberty here, but it's for practical reasons: there were no airworthy 110s available. Considering the aircraft's lack of maneuverability, that's not surprising.
this is the best scene ever.
thanks for putting it up, it good to be able to watch it without having to get my dvd out!
achtung Spitfire!!!
I'm doing a project on that for History class right now, Why the Battle of Britain was the most important battle of WW2.
love how all the aircraft in this film were the real deal...unlike todays computer generated crap. Brilliant film, no doubt one of my favorites.
Well I've nothing but admiration and respect for the free Polish pilots that fought alongside us in the Battle of Britain, and 303 Polish Squadron notched up the highest kill ratio of that battle.
They played their part, as did every other flyer in the RAF, be they British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, South African, Czech, Free French, Belgian, and American volunteer.
i remember my dad taking me to see this film when I was 7yrs old, I think I must have seen it about 50 times since ! Epic Movie : )
This is truly an epic war movie. So many war movies today rely on CGI, these are original aircraft (although I believe the Heinkels were borrowed from the Spanish Airforce).
A stunning film and peerless flying from all involved
The 190 was a nasty shock to the RAF when it first appeared, but at that time the Mk.V was the predominant version of the Spitfire. Frantic attempts were made to improve the Mk.V to a point of equality with the 190, but it took the Mk.IX to restore the balance. The Spitfire Mk.IX was flown in combat trials against a captured 190 and for all intents and purposes, the two aircraft were as close a match as any. At the end of the day, it all came down to pilot skill anyway.
I read about this part of the battle. The Nazis thought they could bomb Scotland from Norway. Their fighter escort couldn't reach. They didn't realize the Brits had moved squadrons of Spitfires north to cover this eventuality. In 1999 I was in Edinburgh and I met a taxi driver who witnessed these battles as a kid. He said that the Germans would try to fly across Scotland to bomb the shipyards in Glasgow and the RAF would intercept them over Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth.
This is by far my favourite scene from any movie, has been ever since I first saw it as a kid.
i like how they break formation to escape the fighters of the RAF
There is no escaping the RAF
my Grandad was a bomber pilot,he said at th end of the war flying over germany you couldnt see a building standing for miles ,he even said they went far over the top in the bombing dept ,and any area was a bombing target
he never forgot the first time they flew daylight missions and saw the end results
Several of the "Heinkels" were assembled from a scrapheap, so many of those seen in the opening groundscenes could not fly. One sees as most about 17 at a time in the air.
When there are more than 2 "Heinkels" seen together with several attacking Spitfires, the Spitfires are actually Buchons ("Me 109's)", since the bomber formations were filmed in Spain, with only 1 Spitfire participating. 2 "Heinkels" were brought to England to be attacked by formations of Spitfires and Hurricanes.
Best scene in the film. Brings a tear of pride every time I see it.
I've recently seen a documentary where a RAF vet said the 303 British machine gun was useless and described it as a peashooter compared to the ME109's 20mm cannon,bafflled how we inflicted so much damage on the Luftwaffe
The Germans called it a "Spitfeuer" because "fire" is "feuer" in German. In German the diphthong "eu" is pronounced like "oi" in "boil".
The shot at :59 was also used at the end of "Das Boat" when the crew are jumped by British bombers while returning their crippled sub to base. Thanks for the clip!
In this particular scene, it was a turkey shoot for those Spitfires. It makes you wonder what the Germans were thinking by sending those bombers in without fighter escorts. Great action film as well as a fantastic video!
Bit of artistic licence in this scene,which is now one of the myths of the Battle of Britain.The Germans did have a fighter escort on the North East raids, they were twin engined Messerschmitt 110s,en cumbered by long range fuel tanks that couldn't be jettisoned,and a lot were shot down.There were and still are no Me110s that can fly,so no fighter escort in the film.
The exhaust pipes are up high on the cowling too, as opposed to down low. The DB engines used on 109s were all inverted.
lol the looks on the gerries facs was priceless!
Really nice part of the movie, I really like this stuff... thx for uploading it!
I have watched this movie like a hundred times since I was a kid. My only gripe is the thrown ketchup on the facemask on one of the German gunners. But yes, it was the late 60's.
Couldn't agree more with that. I got that little shiver too.
This is an awesome clip 5/5 stars
Yes, in fact they were remote controlled (bu not like modern R/C, they used large models on cables (which you can see on the He111 going into the train station, if u look real close). Stukas were ALL models (although there was a full size replica built but never flown. Most of the spits were rebuilt from either gate guards or rented from owners, there were only 2-3 flyable hurricanes available. The German aircraft were in fact Spainish manufactured Me-109's/He111's using Merlin engines .
Forgot to mention that he was a Night Fighter pilot, shooting down British bombers. Actually, he shot down 57 aircraft at night and 15 during the day, flying conventional fighters. Was flying Bf109s and FW190s, during the day. I think that they shot down a few Spitfires, sir!
The movie crews went around the world to acquire and restore original Spitfires and Hurricanes. The Bf109s were actually Spanish HA-1112s and the He-111s were also Spanish Air Force. Ironically the Spanish planes had Rolls-Royce Merlin engines instead of Daimler Benz 605s.
The Bf110 did well as a night fighter. My cousin Wilhelm flew them, along with the fighter version of the JU88 and he was quite successful (72 kills/57 at night).
"Tomate Eins" , also the Leader of this Wing, speaks to every Aircraft in this Formation
Sorry to be a tedious train spotter, but it was the Spitfire MkV that had a hard time with the FW 190. The MkIV, of which only one was made, was a test bed for the Griffon motor, that later entered service in the MkXII Spitfire.
I have always wondered why they didn't maintain formation. A bomber defensive strength is achieved when the group stays together, even though the B-17s over Germany faired little better w/o fighter escort. Oh, and this is one of my favorite movies of all times. I do love the Spitfire!
Never forget, that the German Luftwaffe was never designed for bombing citys. She was designed to support the infantry. This is why they never build a bomber with B17-size. -And this is why the Luftwaffe had to loose the battle of Britain.
Oh yes The RightStuff hisx-15-broke-in half Scott Crossfield.(on landing)I got his autograph.He was big on supersonic passenger planes.Said something like Mach 5 @100,000feet is only 200mph indicated.I learned a lot at his lecture.great man.
The blood spattering his goggles is from wounds elsewhere being blown in his face by the aircraft slipstream as the mg burst from the spitfire has shattered the plexiglas nose of the heinkel
@freakyflow British aircraft employed in the movie:
Spitfires, airworthy: 1 Mk ia, 1 Mk IIa, 1 Mk Vb, 1 Mk Vc, 2 Mk IXb, 1 Mk IXc, 2 Mk Tr IX (twoseaters), 1 Mk XIV, 2 Mk XIX.
Taxiable: 1 Mk Vb, 6 Mk XVIe.
Static: 1 Mk Vb, 1 Mk IXc, 2 Mk XVIe, 2 Mk XIX, 1 Mk F 21.
Hurricanes, airworty: 2 Mk IIc, 1 Mk XII.
Taxiable: 2 Mk I.
Static: 1 Mk IIc.
The later marks of Spitfires were shown only at very long distance in the mass-scenes, since their Griffon-engines and broader fins would give them away.
One of my fav movies. Thanks for sharing.
this is my favourite scene from this film.
This is a really good WW2 film.
This clearly show how vulnerable the bombers were if unescorted to their mission. That's why the P-51 Mustang was built later to escort B-17s during its mission against the Axis, in order to avoid huge losses from Luftwaffe fighters.
Excellent video this film was a true testament to the sacrifices made by many young men on both sides of the conflict. As much as hollywood would like to portray that Ben Affleck won the BOB single handed historical fact shows us otherwise. It takes a lot of courage to face the things those young men faced everyday and I for one will always have respect for them after all they gave their tomorrow so that we could have our day and stopped the world falling under the whim of a mad man.
Ironic, to say the least. This movie was filmed around 1968-69, long before CGI, yet it's still more real-looking than anything made today.
So the Nightingale didn't sing in Berkeley Square for you ?
Me neither :-)))
This music is always stirring!
nothing more unnerving for a bomber pilot without escort is seeing a load of fighters turning toward you.
That must be one of the most horrifying experiences you could imagine. Being stuck in a burning bomber plane plunging from the sky.
gee, thanks for that history lesson.
I freaking love this sequence! To me this IS the climax of the movie (not that other clip you got ;) )
As for retouching and/or remaking the movie... don't... this is a classic as it is!
This movie is simply brilliant... if you haven't seen it yet... then you're missing out! :)
These scenes showcase how vulnerable he 111s were to allied fighters during ww2. The RAF USAAF and red air force shot down many heinkels
Your comment is very true but keep in mind Heinkels. Ju88. Doniers 17 were meant for a limited war with inferior enemy aircraft. They showed their real shortcommings when pitted against a REAL air force such as Britian. America and the Russians.
Stutkas and ME 110 is another example. Have a great day!
It's difficult for me to judge the film without bias because I'm English - the Battle of Britain is part of my heritage. Most of what you see in the movie really happened though - as unbelievable as that might seem.
I should watch the Guns of Navarone and Eagles Dare again, I haven't seen them since I was a kid.
You mean the Focke Wulf 190!It was not yet operational in the summer of 1940 though!It entered service in 41 and shocked the Spitfire mk1V pilots and held the upper hand until the introduction of the Spit mk 1X.
I showed this film to a friend in college, and he was amazed at how sympathetic it was to the German side. There's one part of the film (which I unfortunately didn't upload) where the German pilots are seated at a dinner table and are looking sadly at the empty chairs.
'This was their finest hour'
Happy 90th Birthday R.A.F!!
you just miss the scene where that smoking plane is seen by all the germans limbing back which is my fav moment in this film
Thumbs up who gets a lump in their throat when the theme music starts!!!
The Heinkels going on to the North Sea was done by Radio Controlled models. They had to insert the shot of bullets hitting the cables to give a reason for the R/C antennae protruding out the back in a long shot.
the raf were very clever. where possible, spitfires were detailed too deal with the 109s and the very tough hurricane was used as a gunbus too shoot down the bombers. a very effective tactic when it could be employed.
@TheAfrikaanerMP: No prbs, and thanks to your family for their service. I stayed with a Dutch family near Arnhem when I was a teenager and they told me stories about the occupation and the Dutch underground, and the hardships suffered in the 'hongerwinter' of 1944. Great people the Dutch, always got time for the 'Orange' and a Heineken! Cheers.
@henerymag
I think the one reason the 50 caliber was NOT used is that it was not available to the British until later in the war. Later spitfires ended up with the "e" wing, which had the 2 20mm Hispano Cannons and 2 50 caliber Browning M2 machine guns and NO .303 British caliber machine guns.
@ BigJohn308 (Cont)
Some Spitfires were fitted with just two 20mm cannons during the Battle of Britain, but the early ones were prone to jamming so only one Squadron was equipped with them. It wasn't till 1941 that the problem was sorted out, by then they found that a mix of two 20mm cannons and four .303 Caliber machine guns was best
"alright chaps home and tea" My fave!
MEIN GOTT ....SPITFIRE !
@shackvan Just one fibreglass replica was built and filmed in England. The one that lays on the ground after a crash landing. All the others are Spanish C.A.S.A. 2111's. One never sees more than 17-18 in the air at one given time, and as You say: Several were assembled from a scrap heap. Two of the bombers seen at the line up during the inspection were the transport version without gun positions, but with windows along the sides.
"Hollywood dramatizes that ridiculously"
Its a British-made film, by Shepperton Studios, England.
These were heinkel squadrons coming from Norway to attack scotland and the industrial midlands. The Germans assumed that spitfire squadrons were concentrated in the south. They were wrong.
It's interesting to note that despite the effectiveness of the 2 Hispano/4 Browning setup, some Spitfires (particularly Mk.Vs operating out of Malta) were actually field-modded with 4 Hispanos and no Brownings at all. They weren't very common, but there were definitely a few.
From the BOBMF website....
You may have seen the article in the Daily Mail today speculating about the future of the BBMF. Air Command have advised us that the potential demise of the BBMF as a cost saving measure is untrue;
There is no plan to cut any funding from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
This was Luftflotte 5 flying from bases in Norway, they actually did have a fighter escort of Me110's with their rear gunner removed to save on weight, which was a fatal mistake.
A truly rousing movie, great score
It's great. My all time favourite film.
One of the greatest war movies ever
@BigJohn308
The Spitfire Mk Ia and IIa were both armed with eight .303 Caliber machine guns. The only Spits armed with four .303 Caliber machine guns were ones with the 'b' or 'c' type wing as they were also fitted with two 20mm cannons.
"Although the Mk. XIV was not as accurate as the Norden at altitudes over 20,000 feet, for typical night bombing altitudes between 12 and 16,000 feet, any differences in accuracy were minor. When the need for more accuracy for use with the Tallboy bombs arose in 1943, the Stabilized Automatic Bomb Sight (SABS), a development of the ABS, was introduced in limited numbers."
My grandfather died in a german prisoner of war camp.
He fell off the guard tower.... BOOM BOOM!
@Ismalith The He-111s in the video would have been flying from Norway. The Germans didn't have any 109s there though. The 109 only had enough fuel for about 30 minutes over London, the northern raids were well beyond their range. In reality the bombers would have been escorted by Bf-110s, but there weren't any 110s flyable at the time or now for that matter
Another thing-If you want to see this movie in full you can buy it on DVD quite easily. Also, It would probably be illegal to put it all on RUclips because the film is copyright. I had similar wished to you, and I found it quite easily and cheaply on DVD at a museum.
No. If you see the movie itself, you'll hear officers saying beforehand they're on their way to middle England.
Yes but it must also be remembered in hindsight despite these films portraying 'everything is up in the air' on the part of the attack they still had squadrons in the north in reserve. Infact by the end of the BoB, Britain was outproducing the Germans in fighters. The RAF overestimated the Luftwaffe strength but the Luftwaffe vastly underestimated the strength of the RAF
Thanks for uploading all the excerpts of one of my favorit movies! There is another good fight where Michael Caine is shot down. If you find the time it would be great if you uploaded that one, too.
Yup. I saw they needed to be put up here on RUclips.
In the actual battle, the Germans had sent a squadron of decoy seaplanes to draw the Spits up further north away from the bombers. But due to a navagational error on the part of the bombers, they flew the same path as the seaplanes . . . and right into the path of the waiting Spits. 10% of the Luftflotte (airfleet) in Norway and Denmark was destroyed in this ill-fated raid.
Yeah. They used a modified B-25 as a camera ship and painted it with various colors and stripes so the pilots could use it as a reference point.
great movie...
one anecdote: the director added the scene of the control wires snapping (2:47) to justify the fact that in the next scene you can see the wires holding the model. Difficult to see in low res but on the dvd u can see them clearly
Favourite scene in the film! :-)
@spotswood4444 Just some more information: In one of my magazines there is a list with all the fighters (and the two bombers brought to England), both fliers and non-fliers used in the filming. Their military registrations and, regarding the fliers, civil registrations. All Buchons ("109's") came from the Spanish air Force. One Hurricane was privately owned by a Canadian. The rest of the Hurricanes and almost all Spitfires came from RAF. Many had been "Gate Guardians" at RAF bases.
this reminds me of another battle in the film...where the RAF launch a large counter attack against an incoming flight of fighters and bombers. Again only 1 Heinkel remains and crash lands in France. If anyone can remember this battle they should upload it. I would but do not have the DVD.
I read in several books that some German bomber crews would wear the M35 steel pot to help against flak but in this movie you don't see a single crew member wearing one, I just thought that strange
My favourite part start at 2:52, I very like that music, especially when I see burning He 111.
Not only that, but it's harder to bomb at night, than it is in the day, and Bomber Command often flew without much (if any) fighter escort...
Also, as you said, this was one of the first times they showed the British winning. The scenes before this were the Germans bombing British airfields and gaining the upper hand. That's why the scene plays out so triumphantly, because it's like, "YES! The good guys are winning finally!"
I remember watching this one time with a friend who said that it would be cool if he could be in one of those MG positions on the HE-111's. Of course his opinion changed drastically once that scene came up showing the Heinkel gunner's goggles fill up with blood.
As I understand it this scene represents the attack of the norwegian Luftflotte on northen england. I think the Germans thought this areas defences had been stripped to fight in the south, however their pilots had exageratted losses caused, and the RAF were rotating pilots, so the unescorted bombers hit a pile of 11 and 12 group experiencd resting pilots, whilst in the south Luftwaffe pilots had unexpected success against the 13 group who had been rotated in from the north
@xn117 agreed, Luftwaffe bombers where only suited to their short range Blitzkrieg style of warfare, inadequate for a long range bombing campaign.