1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud 2 00:00:04,001 --> 00:00:08,001 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud 3 00:00:08,002 --> 00:00:12,002 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud 1 00:00:19,769 --> 00:00:22,271 (narrator) May 26, 1940. 2 00:00:31,114 --> 00:00:34,450 Along roads lined with their smashed and abandoned equipment, 3 00:00:34,534 --> 00:00:38,912 British and French armies retreat to the only Channel port still open to them: 4 00:00:38,997 --> 00:00:41,248 Dunkirk. 5 00:00:41,332 --> 00:00:43,959 Ten miles away, along the Channel coast, 6 00:00:44,044 --> 00:00:48,047 German armour awaits Hitler's orders to attack. 7 00:00:49,090 --> 00:00:50,841 On the Dunkirk beaches, 8 00:00:50,925 --> 00:00:53,761 nearly half a million men - British and French - 9 00:00:53,845 --> 00:01:00,017 face surrender, or the slim chance of rescue by ships from England. 10 00:01:57,575 --> 00:01:59,159 (man) There were masses of troops 11 00:01:59,244 --> 00:02:02,079 and they came down in a sort of a V-shape 12 00:02:02,163 --> 00:02:06,708 to a crocodile, semi-single file, as they got near the water's edge. 13 00:02:06,793 --> 00:02:11,964 Of course, many of these soldiers were going out up to their necks in water 14 00:02:12,048 --> 00:02:14,091 and climbing into, say, minesweepers 15 00:02:14,175 --> 00:02:16,301 that could get in nearly as close as that. 16 00:02:16,386 --> 00:02:19,596 Others on the beach were embarking in the small boats. 17 00:02:19,681 --> 00:02:22,891 But there didn't seem to be any panic or worry at all. 18 00:02:22,976 --> 00:02:25,644 One came across lots of these small boats, 19 00:02:25,728 --> 00:02:29,940 many of them with perhaps a dozen or so soldiers on board, 20 00:02:30,066 --> 00:02:32,526 heading back for England resolutely. 21 00:02:32,610 --> 00:02:37,072 One quite offen offered to take their crews of soldiers off them 22 00:02:37,198 --> 00:02:39,408 so they could go back for more, and they said: 23 00:02:39,492 --> 00:02:43,495 "No fear. We've got our 12 pongos, and we're going back to England with them." 24 00:02:43,580 --> 00:02:45,164 "You go and get your own." 25 00:02:46,624 --> 00:02:49,251 (man) The beach was... There were thousands of men, 26 00:02:49,377 --> 00:02:52,421 like Margate beach on a bank holiday. 27 00:02:53,715 --> 00:02:57,342 The troops was in a pretty bad state. They were in a bad way. 28 00:02:58,094 --> 00:03:01,013 There was one man especially, l shall always remember. 29 00:03:01,097 --> 00:03:04,516 He came on board - he'd had his teeth blown out - 30 00:03:04,642 --> 00:03:07,936 and he was holding a rifle with a fixed bayonet. 31 00:03:08,021 --> 00:03:09,938 We had to take the arms off everyone, 32 00:03:10,023 --> 00:03:13,025 but we couldn't shiff the gun out of his hands. 33 00:03:13,109 --> 00:03:17,571 His hands gripped it, and they was... fixture. 34 00:03:18,740 --> 00:03:22,743 A chap was on the beach, and then he gets aboard a ship and thinks he's safe. 35 00:03:22,827 --> 00:03:25,120 But they really did think this. They said: 36 00:03:25,205 --> 00:03:29,041 "England, home and beauty - let us get there, boyo." 37 00:03:29,167 --> 00:03:31,668 (McBeath) We were most impressed. They were tired. 38 00:03:31,753 --> 00:03:34,630 Most of them went to sleep. 39 00:03:37,634 --> 00:03:41,094 Our job was to stop enemy aircraff getting at those troops 40 00:03:41,179 --> 00:03:46,225 because, believe me, if enemy aircraff had superiority of the air at Dunkirk, 41 00:03:46,351 --> 00:03:49,686 they would have massacred those fellows on the beach. 42 00:03:49,771 --> 00:03:52,439 They had no guns, they had no anti-aircraff. 43 00:03:52,523 --> 00:03:57,486 And German bombers and German dive bombers - the Stukas - 44 00:03:57,612 --> 00:04:02,157 would have just murdered them. And we couldn't have got those troops off. 45 00:04:02,242 --> 00:04:05,535 Another thing the Germans tried to do was to sink the ships. 46 00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:09,539 They knew that the fellows couldn't swim to England, 47 00:04:09,624 --> 00:04:11,708 so they had to try and get on the ships. 48 00:04:11,834 --> 00:04:16,838 And if they could sink these ships, the British army would have been trapped. 49 00:04:21,427 --> 00:04:25,389 (narrator) The RAF tried to keep the German air force away from the beaches, 50 00:04:25,473 --> 00:04:29,685 but six destroyers and over 200 craff were sunk. 51 00:04:33,022 --> 00:04:37,693 Fighter Command lost nearly half its strength in the French campaign - 52 00:04:37,777 --> 00:04:40,445 100 planes in the Dunkirk operations alone. 53 00:04:40,530 --> 00:04:42,614 (engine spluttering) 54 00:04:50,290 --> 00:04:52,833 Dunkirk was a major defeat, 55 00:04:52,917 --> 00:04:56,253 but the inspired efforts of the Royal Navy and the little ships 56 00:04:56,337 --> 00:05:00,799 saved 330,000 British and French troops. 57 00:05:02,010 --> 00:05:04,303 For a week, the weather was fine, 58 00:05:04,387 --> 00:05:07,389 and the German army was held off. 59 00:05:07,473 --> 00:05:12,227 (Good) l don't think they thought they would get them off. That's my opinion. 60 00:05:12,312 --> 00:05:14,646 But it was an act of God that they did. 61 00:05:14,731 --> 00:05:18,358 The weather was good, the sea was like a millpond, 62 00:05:18,443 --> 00:05:21,028 and this was a great help to everybody. 63 00:05:21,112 --> 00:05:24,781 lf it had been rough water, you'd have never got them off of Dunkirk, 64 00:05:24,866 --> 00:05:28,952 because when those rollers go up that beach, they go. 65 00:05:29,078 --> 00:05:32,456 (McBeath) Any moment, a breakthrough by the German army 66 00:05:32,540 --> 00:05:34,750 could have stopped the whole operation. 67 00:05:34,834 --> 00:05:38,545 l don't think, despite the valiant endeavours 68 00:05:38,629 --> 00:05:42,632 of the British and French troops who were keeping the Germans back, 69 00:05:42,717 --> 00:05:46,845 that they could have stopped the might of the German armour getting through 70 00:05:46,929 --> 00:05:49,389 if Hitler had so wanted to do it. 71 00:05:50,933 --> 00:05:55,270 (narrator) What was leff of Dunkirk surrendered on June 4. 72 00:05:55,355 --> 00:05:58,273 Thousands of troops could not be rescued. 73 00:06:01,235 --> 00:06:03,653 A fortnight later, France stopped fighting, 74 00:06:03,780 --> 00:06:07,491 and the British prime minister, Churchill, broadcast to the world: 75 00:06:07,575 --> 00:06:12,996 (Churchill) What General Weygand had called the Battle of France is over. 76 00:06:13,081 --> 00:06:17,167 The Battle of Britain is about to begin. 77 00:06:17,251 --> 00:06:23,173 Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island, or lose the war. 78 00:06:23,674 --> 00:06:28,220 lf we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free, 79 00:06:28,304 --> 00:06:34,476 and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. 80 00:06:35,269 --> 00:06:37,145 But if we fail, 81 00:06:37,230 --> 00:06:43,235 then the whole world will sink into the abyss of a new dark age. 82 00:06:44,362 --> 00:06:48,240 Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty... 83 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,827 and so bear ourselves 84 00:06:51,911 --> 00:06:56,498 that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth 85 00:06:56,624 --> 00:06:58,792 last for a thousand years, 86 00:06:58,876 --> 00:07:01,211 men will still say: 87 00:07:02,213 --> 00:07:05,257 "This was their finest hour." 88 00:07:17,145 --> 00:07:18,645 (whistle / cheering) 89 00:07:21,315 --> 00:07:24,776 (narrator) Britain prepared to face immediate invasion. 90 00:07:24,861 --> 00:07:28,447 A new evacuation of children began from the south and east-coast areas 91 00:07:28,531 --> 00:07:31,408 where a German landing might be expected. 92 00:07:34,495 --> 00:07:37,873 Some parents sent their children overseas to safety. 93 00:07:37,957 --> 00:07:41,251 But this was stopped when a U-boat sank a British liner 94 00:07:41,377 --> 00:07:44,004 with 90 children on board. 95 00:07:50,970 --> 00:07:54,514 To guard against invasion, over a million men not required by the forces 96 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,018 volunteered to form the Home Guard. 97 00:08:10,072 --> 00:08:13,575 They drilled with broomsticks as there were no rifles to spare, 98 00:08:13,659 --> 00:08:18,038 and rehearsed bloodthirsty defences against a German attack. 99 00:08:39,810 --> 00:08:44,022 The regular army's training seems to have impressed the newsreels. 100 00:08:44,106 --> 00:08:47,317 (newsreel) They have turned kick-starter pushers. 101 00:08:47,401 --> 00:08:50,445 Shanks's pony has given way to a spanking motorbike. 102 00:08:50,530 --> 00:08:54,658 The left-right, left-right blokes have both feet off the ground. 103 00:08:54,742 --> 00:08:57,327 They're part of Britain's mighty mobile mounties, 104 00:08:57,411 --> 00:09:01,957 all keen to welcome Adolf when he drops in for a cup of tea and a cream bun. 105 00:09:02,041 --> 00:09:04,960 A battalion of infantry on wheels is on exercise - 106 00:09:05,044 --> 00:09:09,297 a swift-moving striking force that will do the enemy a bit of no good. 107 00:09:09,382 --> 00:09:14,135 They learn under conditions they might meet with on active service. 108 00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:20,016 Up and down they go, but unlike the Hun they're always on the level. 109 00:09:21,227 --> 00:09:24,396 (narrator) The army had brought back their rifles from Dunkirk, 110 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,233 but almost everything else had been abandoned in France. 111 00:09:28,317 --> 00:09:33,613 ln June, the only fully-equipped division in Britain was Canadian. 112 00:09:33,698 --> 00:09:38,118 l remember in June going down to the Southeast corner of Britain, 113 00:09:38,202 --> 00:09:40,579 where General Thorne was in command - 114 00:09:40,663 --> 00:09:44,207 Kent, Surrey, Sussex, that sort of area, 115 00:09:44,292 --> 00:09:48,712 a possible landing area for the Germans, if they were going to attempt it - 116 00:09:48,796 --> 00:09:53,258 and l remember sending a memorandum to Winston which must be in his papers. 117 00:09:53,342 --> 00:09:55,760 lf l remember right, l said something like this: 118 00:09:55,845 --> 00:09:59,347 the troops were in very good heart and very well trained, 119 00:09:59,432 --> 00:10:06,146 but there was no antitank weapon of any kind, 120 00:10:06,230 --> 00:10:09,733 no antitank guns, and no tanks. 121 00:10:09,817 --> 00:10:14,195 That was in the area where, if the Germans landed, they might be expected. 122 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,531 The cupboard was bare. 123 00:10:17,158 --> 00:10:20,619 (narrator) The king rejoiced that Britain stood alone, 124 00:10:20,703 --> 00:10:23,288 with no more allies to pamper. 125 00:10:23,372 --> 00:10:26,416 The head of Fighter Command, Sir Hugh Dowding, agreed. 126 00:10:26,500 --> 00:10:30,295 He had lost too many planes helping the French. 127 00:10:31,631 --> 00:10:36,217 Station names and signposts were removed to baffle invading Germans. 128 00:10:36,344 --> 00:10:39,054 The effect was to baffle British travellers. 129 00:10:39,722 --> 00:10:45,226 Antitank barriers deprived the Germans or an easy advance along the railways. 130 00:10:50,733 --> 00:10:55,654 ln the invasion areas, the countryside disappeared under coils of barbed wire. 131 00:10:55,780 --> 00:11:00,116 The beaches, too, were wired to below low-water mark. 132 00:11:00,201 --> 00:11:03,745 JB Priestley remembers a visit to the seaside. 133 00:11:03,829 --> 00:11:09,626 l went down one hot summer day - late summer - 134 00:11:09,710 --> 00:11:13,838 to one of the seaside resorts on the Kent coast. 135 00:11:14,882 --> 00:11:17,467 The last time l visited, it was packed out - 136 00:11:17,551 --> 00:11:22,097 the beaches absolutely crammed, and all the fun of the fair going on. 137 00:11:22,181 --> 00:11:28,353 Then to see it on this strange, bright, empty day, 138 00:11:28,437 --> 00:11:33,274 the beaches deserted, a lot of barbed wire all over the place, 139 00:11:33,401 --> 00:11:39,739 l felt then that, in a way, this was a kind of symbol of what people felt, 140 00:11:39,824 --> 00:11:45,578 and that they were ready to abandon this for the time being 141 00:11:45,663 --> 00:11:48,164 in order to get on with the war. 142 00:11:50,751 --> 00:11:54,504 (narrator) Churchill was everywhere, no longer a suspect politician, 143 00:11:54,588 --> 00:11:58,133 but the living embodiment of the British will to resist. 144 00:11:58,217 --> 00:12:00,468 lt was a situation he seemed to revel in, 145 00:12:00,553 --> 00:12:02,846 describing a vivid picture of himself 146 00:12:02,930 --> 00:12:07,225 leading a last-man defence of a devastated Whitehall. 147 00:12:07,309 --> 00:12:12,147 lmmediately Churchill became prime minister, the pace in Whitehall changed. 148 00:12:12,231 --> 00:12:16,609 People started not merely to think fast, but to act fast. 149 00:12:16,694 --> 00:12:20,739 Distinguished civil serVants could be seen running down the passages. 150 00:12:20,823 --> 00:12:23,616 Churchill himself was physically very energetic. 151 00:12:23,701 --> 00:12:27,412 He would suddenly make the most extraordinary and energetic sorties. 152 00:12:27,496 --> 00:12:30,957 He would inspect troops, marching at great speed down the ranks, 153 00:12:31,041 --> 00:12:34,210 and outpacing all the younger men following him. 154 00:12:34,295 --> 00:12:38,840 l remember one evening he said he was going to inspect some new works, 155 00:12:38,924 --> 00:12:44,596 and although he was 65 years old, he vaulted over a brick wall 156 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:48,308 and landed feet first in a pool of liquid cement. 157 00:12:48,392 --> 00:12:51,978 And with an impertinence which in retrospect l'm surprised at, 158 00:12:52,062 --> 00:12:56,524 l said, "You've met your Waterloo," as he was stuck in the cement. 159 00:12:56,609 --> 00:13:00,779 He turned to me and said, "How dare you? Anyhow, my Blenheim." 160 00:13:05,075 --> 00:13:08,036 (narrator) ln the arms factories they worked long hours 161 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,371 to fill the gaps in British defences. 162 00:13:10,456 --> 00:13:13,875 Production reached a peak in June, then fell as workers tired. 163 00:13:13,959 --> 00:13:16,669 But the spurt lasted through the critical time. 164 00:13:19,048 --> 00:13:21,174 Production of fighter planes doubled. 165 00:13:21,258 --> 00:13:25,845 A hundred new Spitfires and Hurricanes a week replenished Dowding's forces. 166 00:13:25,930 --> 00:13:28,932 The minister of aircraff production, Lord Beaverbrook, 167 00:13:29,016 --> 00:13:33,686 took care to make ordinary people feel part of the production battle. 168 00:13:33,771 --> 00:13:37,273 My father was a master of propaganda. 169 00:13:37,358 --> 00:13:39,943 There were the pots and pans, 170 00:13:40,027 --> 00:13:43,321 where everyone was asked to give up pots and pans and railings. 171 00:13:43,405 --> 00:13:45,698 Stanley Baldwin didn't give up his gates, 172 00:13:45,783 --> 00:13:49,285 but most people gave up all they could in the way of metal. 173 00:13:49,370 --> 00:13:53,790 The pilots and we all knew you couldn't make aircraff out of pots and pans, 174 00:13:53,916 --> 00:13:58,711 but it brought the people to realise that it was a desperate situation. 175 00:13:58,796 --> 00:14:03,341 The response was tremendous. They had piles and piles of pots and pans - 176 00:14:03,425 --> 00:14:08,763 not knowing what to do with them. But he was a great propagandist. 177 00:14:08,848 --> 00:14:11,307 (narrator) But where was the German invasion? 178 00:14:11,892 --> 00:14:13,685 (♪ fanfare) 179 00:14:18,357 --> 00:14:22,360 ln June 1940, Hitler had not begun to think about invading Britain. 180 00:14:22,444 --> 00:14:27,699 He was celebrating his French victory, and expected Britain to make peace. 181 00:14:27,783 --> 00:14:31,160 Berlin gave him a hero's welcome when he returned there on July 6 182 00:14:31,245 --> 00:14:34,581 with Admiral Raeder and his other commanders in chief. 183 00:14:34,665 --> 00:14:38,835 Only the German navy seemed to have plans for an invasion. 184 00:14:38,919 --> 00:14:41,296 By the time Hitler began to take an interest, 185 00:14:41,380 --> 00:14:45,258 the army had its own plans and was critical of the navy's. 186 00:14:48,012 --> 00:14:51,431 Both looked to Göring, the Luffwaffe chief, to win control of the air - 187 00:14:51,515 --> 00:14:53,558 vital for an invasion. 188 00:14:53,642 --> 00:14:58,271 And Göring believed the Luffwaffe on its own could knock out Britain. 189 00:14:58,355 --> 00:15:02,817 Arguments between the serVices went on for months. 190 00:15:03,402 --> 00:15:05,778 The army at first wanted to land 40 divisions 191 00:15:05,863 --> 00:15:08,573 on a wide front between Ramsgate and Lyme Bay, 192 00:15:08,657 --> 00:15:11,993 and press on to a line from Maldon in Essex to the Severn Estuary, 193 00:15:12,119 --> 00:15:14,162 sealing off London. 194 00:15:14,246 --> 00:15:17,415 This was later scaled down to a landing by nine divisions 195 00:15:17,499 --> 00:15:21,669 between Folkestone and Brighton, supported by two airborne divisions - 196 00:15:21,754 --> 00:15:24,297 about 200,000 men in all. 197 00:15:24,423 --> 00:15:27,508 By September, Britain had overcome her earlier weakness 198 00:15:27,593 --> 00:15:31,971 and had 16 divisions available in the Southeast. 199 00:15:35,851 --> 00:15:40,813 An invasion fleet from all parts of Germany assembled in northern ports. 200 00:15:43,651 --> 00:15:46,486 Landing craff were built, and boats converted 201 00:15:46,570 --> 00:15:49,072 to carry troops and amphibious tanks. 202 00:15:51,283 --> 00:15:53,993 The army thought the fleet too small. 203 00:15:54,078 --> 00:15:57,372 The navy thought even that size fleet difficult to protect. 204 00:15:57,456 --> 00:16:00,625 Both agreed that air supremacy was vital. 205 00:16:00,709 --> 00:16:04,921 The invasion, codenamed Operation Sea Lion, was set for mid-September. 206 00:16:05,005 --> 00:16:10,301 The plans did not impress the Luffwaffe, on whom everything depended. 207 00:16:10,386 --> 00:16:13,638 (man) ln my opinion, the plan was not serious. 208 00:16:13,722 --> 00:16:21,020 Especially the navy didn't want to have the responsibility, 209 00:16:21,105 --> 00:16:25,400 and the navy has asked the air force first of all 210 00:16:25,484 --> 00:16:30,947 to establish the absolute... the absolute air superiority 211 00:16:31,031 --> 00:16:33,449 over the invasion area. 212 00:16:34,702 --> 00:16:39,038 The preparation the navy did was not very convincing. 213 00:16:39,123 --> 00:16:44,585 Also, our preparation... My wing was designated to be 214 00:16:44,712 --> 00:16:48,840 one of the two wings to be transferred to England, 215 00:16:48,924 --> 00:16:53,094 and our preparations were... ridiculous. 216 00:16:53,637 --> 00:16:57,390 The air force was not trained and prepared 217 00:16:57,474 --> 00:17:01,894 to conduct an independent air war over England. 218 00:17:14,158 --> 00:17:16,951 (narrator) The Luffwaffe's first targets 219 00:17:17,036 --> 00:17:19,454 were merchant convoys and harbours, 220 00:17:19,538 --> 00:17:24,000 particularly in the narrow seas of the Channel. 221 00:17:24,084 --> 00:17:26,586 Dover became known as Hellfire Corner. 222 00:17:26,670 --> 00:17:30,631 There was always something for the newsreel camera or the news reporter - 223 00:17:30,716 --> 00:17:34,302 for instance, Charles Gardner of the BBC: 224 00:17:35,429 --> 00:17:39,766 (newsreel) Now the Germans are dive-bombing a convoy out at sea. 225 00:17:39,850 --> 00:17:42,769 There are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. 226 00:17:42,853 --> 00:17:46,230 There's one going down on its target now. 227 00:17:46,315 --> 00:17:48,858 Boom. No, he hasn't hit a single ship. 228 00:17:48,942 --> 00:17:54,113 There are about ten ships in the convoy, but he hasn't hit a single one. 229 00:17:54,198 --> 00:17:59,494 hey come in a steep dive. You can see the bombs leave the machines. 230 00:17:59,578 --> 00:18:02,371 You can hear our own guns going like anything now. 231 00:18:03,207 --> 00:18:07,001 There's a fight going on. You can hear the machine-gun bullets. 232 00:18:07,086 --> 00:18:10,046 That was a bomb, as you may imagine. 233 00:18:10,130 --> 00:18:12,924 There's another bomb dropping. 234 00:18:13,884 --> 00:18:16,177 lt's dropped... lt missed the convoy. 235 00:18:16,261 --> 00:18:18,679 They haven't hit the convoy in all this. 236 00:18:20,015 --> 00:18:22,975 We've just hit a Messerschmitt! That was beautiful. 237 00:18:23,060 --> 00:18:28,439 He's coming right down now. l think definitely that was that first contest. 238 00:18:28,565 --> 00:18:32,193 Absolute steep dive. l'll just move round so l can watch him a bit more. 239 00:18:32,277 --> 00:18:35,238 Here he comes. He's going slap into the sea. 240 00:18:35,322 --> 00:18:37,156 And there he goes - bam! 241 00:18:37,241 --> 00:18:40,368 Oh, boy! l've never seen anything so good as this. 242 00:18:40,452 --> 00:18:44,872 The RAF fighters have really got these boys taped. 243 00:18:46,959 --> 00:18:50,920 (narrator) The convoy system was disrupted, and harbours like Dover hit. 244 00:18:51,004 --> 00:18:53,422 But while the town suffered casualties, 245 00:18:53,507 --> 00:18:57,718 Dowding had not yet been forced to commit his full fighter strength. 246 00:18:57,803 --> 00:19:00,179 The unique thing about Fighter Command 247 00:19:00,264 --> 00:19:03,724 was that when war broke out in September 1939... 248 00:19:04,476 --> 00:19:10,648 we had there a system covering the entire country for air defence. 249 00:19:10,732 --> 00:19:16,404 And that system was based on radar, or, as we called it in those days, RDF. 250 00:19:16,864 --> 00:19:20,074 We had this chain of radar stations around the coast, 251 00:19:20,159 --> 00:19:22,994 and they were looking out up to 100 miles. 252 00:19:23,078 --> 00:19:25,121 And they were feeding, on land lines, 253 00:19:25,247 --> 00:19:30,168 all the information to the headquarters of Fighter Command. 254 00:19:30,252 --> 00:19:33,212 (Aitken) Radar really won the Battle of Britain, 255 00:19:33,297 --> 00:19:37,550 because without it we would have been doing standing patrols - 256 00:19:37,676 --> 00:19:42,889 and with the limited number of aircraff and pilots, you couldn't have done it. 257 00:19:42,973 --> 00:19:45,892 As it was, we could wait on the ground, 258 00:19:45,976 --> 00:19:48,352 and then radar would watch. 259 00:19:48,437 --> 00:19:53,316 And through the various controls, we would be told to take off 260 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:58,446 at a time when the Germans were massing over Calais or over Abbeville. 261 00:19:58,530 --> 00:20:04,118 And so, therefore, we wasted no petrol, no time, no energy - 262 00:20:04,244 --> 00:20:08,289 in fact, we could sleep in between patrols. 263 00:20:08,373 --> 00:20:13,211 And then we'd take off, and we would be directed towards the German formation, 264 00:20:13,337 --> 00:20:18,007 given height, distance and their numbers - which was very important. 265 00:20:19,885 --> 00:20:23,387 (narrator) On August 13, Göring changed his tactics. 266 00:20:23,513 --> 00:20:26,891 He ordered an attack on radar stations and fighter airfields, 267 00:20:26,975 --> 00:20:30,603 which Fighter Command was bound to defend. 268 00:20:33,065 --> 00:20:37,526 While German bombers blitzed airfields that defended London and the Southeast, 269 00:20:37,611 --> 00:20:40,279 escorting fighters dealt with British fighters 270 00:20:40,364 --> 00:20:43,908 that came up to attack the bombers. 271 00:21:04,721 --> 00:21:08,683 Fighting over England put the Luffwaffe at a disadvantage. 272 00:21:08,767 --> 00:21:13,145 lt was expected, but not equipped, to win a decisive battle alone. 273 00:21:16,233 --> 00:21:20,152 The German bombers were not designed to carry a heavy enough bomb load. 274 00:21:20,237 --> 00:21:24,865 German fighters had only enough fuel to stay over England for half an hour, 275 00:21:24,950 --> 00:21:27,910 whereas the British fighters, close to their bases, 276 00:21:27,995 --> 00:21:33,082 could land and refuel quickly enough to rejoin the battle. 277 00:21:34,334 --> 00:21:36,419 (Galland) Our range was very limited, 278 00:21:36,503 --> 00:21:40,548 and we could only cover a small part of the British islands, 279 00:21:40,632 --> 00:21:43,467 including London. 280 00:21:43,552 --> 00:21:47,638 But over London, as an example, we could only stay for ten minutes, 281 00:21:47,723 --> 00:21:49,890 to come back to our bases. 282 00:21:52,019 --> 00:21:58,149 So this limited range of our fighters and the escort 283 00:21:58,233 --> 00:22:03,863 has been perhaps the... main point... 284 00:22:05,991 --> 00:22:11,203 which avoided an effective air offensive against Britain. 285 00:22:12,664 --> 00:22:15,166 (narrator) The Luffwaffe misled its pilots 286 00:22:15,250 --> 00:22:18,127 about the damage done to British airfields. 287 00:22:18,211 --> 00:22:21,047 They claimed eight had been virtually destroyed. 288 00:22:21,131 --> 00:22:23,382 ln fact, none had been knocked out, 289 00:22:23,467 --> 00:22:26,927 and those damaged were quickly patched up again. 290 00:22:27,012 --> 00:22:30,890 The German pilots, faced by resistance they hadn't expected, 291 00:22:30,974 --> 00:22:33,059 became pessimistic about winning. 292 00:22:33,143 --> 00:22:38,981 We fighting crews were convinced that we couldn't win the battle 293 00:22:39,066 --> 00:22:45,363 and we couldn't force England to surrender by attacking 294 00:22:45,447 --> 00:22:52,036 without any operation from the part of the army or the navy. 295 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:56,207 Therefore, we were asking that the High Command 296 00:22:56,291 --> 00:23:00,127 should order the invasion - the Sea Lion. 297 00:23:02,005 --> 00:23:05,966 (narrator) A mere 1 ,400 British fighter pilots and their ground crews 298 00:23:06,051 --> 00:23:08,552 stood between Britain and invasion. 299 00:23:08,637 --> 00:23:13,599 Their responsibility was great - too great, perhaps, to bear thinking about. 300 00:23:13,683 --> 00:23:16,811 The face they showed the world was dashing and carefree. 301 00:23:16,895 --> 00:23:21,565 (man) l think they took the situation not the least bit seriously, 302 00:23:21,650 --> 00:23:24,068 from the point of view of their lives generally. 303 00:23:24,152 --> 00:23:27,571 Some fellows would just kick a ball around or lie around, 304 00:23:27,697 --> 00:23:33,994 some would sleep, read paperbacks, listen to the radio - 305 00:23:34,079 --> 00:23:36,163 and that was our life. 306 00:23:42,087 --> 00:23:46,090 l wanted to shoot an plane down, but l didn't want to shoot a German down. 307 00:23:46,174 --> 00:23:48,050 l really did not. 308 00:23:48,135 --> 00:23:53,597 We did hear stories of Germans shooting our fellows in parachutes, 309 00:23:53,682 --> 00:23:56,434 and we used to think that was pretty horrible, 310 00:23:56,518 --> 00:23:59,812 but we weren't sure whether it was true or not. 311 00:23:59,896 --> 00:24:06,360 l know l had an experience of a German aircrew getting draped over my own wing. 312 00:24:06,445 --> 00:24:11,782 He'd baled out of a bomber and got caught on my wing with his parachute. 313 00:24:11,867 --> 00:24:17,121 l was jolly careful to get him off as easily and as quickly as l could, 314 00:24:17,205 --> 00:24:20,082 by yawing the aeroplane and shaking him off. 315 00:24:20,167 --> 00:24:23,586 There was no chivalry between the German air force and the British. 316 00:24:23,712 --> 00:24:27,465 Absolutely none. Not as far as l was concerned. l hated them. 317 00:24:27,549 --> 00:24:30,926 They were trying to do something to us - trying to enslave us. 318 00:24:55,118 --> 00:24:57,036 (narrator) The climax of the battle 319 00:24:57,120 --> 00:24:59,705 came at the end of August, start of September. 320 00:24:59,789 --> 00:25:04,376 Upon the result depended Hitler's decision to launch his invasion. 321 00:25:04,461 --> 00:25:11,425 But the battle was between a comparative handful of individuals on either side. 322 00:25:20,727 --> 00:25:23,687 (Aitken) The fights were rather extraordinary, 323 00:25:23,772 --> 00:25:26,524 because although there were a lot of aircraff about, 324 00:25:26,650 --> 00:25:31,654 suddenly, when you were fighting a particular man, the sky became empty. 325 00:25:38,954 --> 00:25:42,081 (Hoimes) No one ever considered that he would be killed. 326 00:25:42,165 --> 00:25:46,377 Death was something which was just put at the back of your mind. 327 00:25:46,461 --> 00:25:51,298 lf it was not, you'd have just got the jitters about it and been very worried. 328 00:25:51,841 --> 00:25:56,845 lf a fellow did go missing, it was just, "Poor old so-and-so, he's had it," 329 00:25:56,930 --> 00:25:58,973 and that was that. 330 00:26:01,893 --> 00:26:06,772 lnwardly, of course, you'd feel it tremendously if you lost a pal. 331 00:26:06,856 --> 00:26:11,277 But you didn't... you didn't dwell on the subject of death at all. 332 00:26:11,361 --> 00:26:16,407 Sometimes you could tell if a fellow was going to get killed. He sort of lost it. 333 00:26:18,743 --> 00:26:22,830 My greatest friend was killed. He was shooting at a Messerschmitt, 334 00:26:22,914 --> 00:26:25,624 and another Messerschmitt hit him from behind. 335 00:26:25,750 --> 00:26:30,129 l was shouting at him, and you couldn't do anything - and you saw him go in. 336 00:26:30,213 --> 00:26:33,382 That affected you, but you had to get on with it. 337 00:26:33,466 --> 00:26:37,803 Your friends affected you deeply. Terrible. But you couldn't help it. 338 00:26:41,224 --> 00:26:44,685 (narrator) ln the last week of August and the first week of September, 339 00:26:44,769 --> 00:26:48,230 103 of Fighter Command's pilots died. 340 00:26:48,315 --> 00:26:51,692 128 were seriously wounded. 341 00:26:53,695 --> 00:26:58,407 Six key airfields in the Southeast were put out of action for days at a time. 342 00:26:58,491 --> 00:27:00,784 Against German fighters and bombers, 343 00:27:00,869 --> 00:27:04,038 Britain was now losing fighters even faster than Germany - 344 00:27:04,122 --> 00:27:06,206 nearly 500 in two weeks. 345 00:27:07,834 --> 00:27:11,086 The last week in August, the first week in September - 346 00:27:11,171 --> 00:27:14,632 those two weeks were the worst for us, 347 00:27:14,716 --> 00:27:18,052 because by that last week in August, 348 00:27:18,136 --> 00:27:22,264 the Germans had been pounding the airfields mercilessly, 349 00:27:22,349 --> 00:27:27,978 and 31 August was probably our worst day. 350 00:27:28,063 --> 00:27:31,231 Fighter Command was very nearly on its knees. 351 00:27:31,316 --> 00:27:33,817 Dowding was very conscious of that. 352 00:27:33,943 --> 00:27:37,363 What was worrying him was the constant pounding of the airfields, 353 00:27:37,447 --> 00:27:41,742 and he was wondering how much longer he could hold out - 354 00:27:41,826 --> 00:27:44,286 when l say "he", l mean Fighter Command. 355 00:27:44,371 --> 00:27:47,122 Because he was still facing that big problem 356 00:27:47,207 --> 00:27:50,042 of denying the Germans air superiority, 357 00:27:50,168 --> 00:27:52,670 and yet they were knocking airfields to pieces, 358 00:27:52,754 --> 00:27:55,339 with the threat of knocking out Fighter Command. 359 00:27:55,423 --> 00:27:59,885 On 6 September, the king and queen visited Fighter Command, 360 00:27:59,969 --> 00:28:02,179 and there were quite a few people 361 00:28:02,263 --> 00:28:06,767 who commented on how tired Dowding appeared to be. 362 00:28:06,851 --> 00:28:10,604 The day affer, 7 September, 363 00:28:10,689 --> 00:28:16,485 an invasion alert was issued - "invasion imminent" - 364 00:28:16,611 --> 00:28:19,947 and all that day things were remarkably quiet. 365 00:28:20,031 --> 00:28:24,118 All of us were beginning to wonder what the devil was going to happen next. 366 00:28:24,202 --> 00:28:27,746 And then, late affernoon, the Germans launched 367 00:28:27,872 --> 00:28:32,876 what many of the pilots in the air having to face this onslaught 368 00:28:32,961 --> 00:28:36,630 found to be just about the heaviest attack they'd ever known. 369 00:28:36,715 --> 00:28:41,218 And then came what Dowding later described as "the miracle" - 370 00:28:41,302 --> 00:28:45,264 the attack didn't go to the airfields, it went to London, 371 00:28:45,348 --> 00:28:47,558 and the airfields were spared. 372 00:28:47,642 --> 00:28:49,768 Five minutes to five, 373 00:28:49,853 --> 00:28:52,104 the sirens went. 374 00:28:52,188 --> 00:28:57,234 Walking out onto my veranda, looking down the river, 375 00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,778 the sky was full of planes. 376 00:28:59,863 --> 00:29:05,284 Within a couple of minutes, the bombs started dropping in the Millwall Dock, 377 00:29:05,368 --> 00:29:07,953 and l could watch 'em. 378 00:29:08,037 --> 00:29:10,414 And it went on for some considerable time. 379 00:29:10,540 --> 00:29:14,168 On that first Saturday, they practically obliterated 380 00:29:14,252 --> 00:29:18,172 from the Silvertown Way to Silvertown. 381 00:29:18,256 --> 00:29:22,050 As a matter of fact, the whole of the Tidal Basin, Custom House, 382 00:29:22,135 --> 00:29:26,138 right up to Silvertown was obliterated - make no mistake about it. 383 00:29:27,265 --> 00:29:30,142 lf it had continued, that type of bombing, 384 00:29:30,226 --> 00:29:31,977 in the daylight... 385 00:29:32,061 --> 00:29:35,522 lt was hitting everything of consequence - 386 00:29:35,607 --> 00:29:39,610 shipyards, gasworks, 387 00:29:39,694 --> 00:29:43,489 oil firms, everything of consequence. 388 00:29:43,573 --> 00:29:47,701 Nearly all the bombs were dropping in the proper target area. 389 00:29:48,912 --> 00:29:52,164 (narrator) That night, 250 bombers returned - 390 00:29:52,248 --> 00:29:55,459 the burning docks and warehouses an unmistakable marker. 391 00:29:55,543 --> 00:29:59,004 But Göring's change of tactics relieved the pressure. 392 00:30:04,302 --> 00:30:07,930 Fighter Command regrouped. London burned. 393 00:30:33,456 --> 00:30:36,792 Affer the raid on September 7, many rescue workers and firemen 394 00:30:36,876 --> 00:30:39,461 worked 40 hours nonstop. 395 00:30:39,546 --> 00:30:42,923 "Most of us had the wind up to start with," one of them said, 396 00:30:43,007 --> 00:30:46,468 "but you looked around and saw the rest doing their job." 397 00:31:06,114 --> 00:31:10,367 On September 15, the Luffwaffe mounted another major daylight attack, 398 00:31:10,451 --> 00:31:12,536 expecting no opposition. 399 00:31:12,662 --> 00:31:16,331 But this time the Spitfires and Hurricanes were waiting for them. 400 00:32:10,845 --> 00:32:15,766 On that day, September 15, 56 German planes were shot down. 401 00:32:16,392 --> 00:32:19,645 Britain had retained command of the air by day. 402 00:32:23,483 --> 00:32:27,069 The Royal Air Force had won the Battle of Britain. 403 00:32:41,042 --> 00:32:43,669 September 1940. 404 00:32:43,753 --> 00:32:45,837 Now there were no more daylight raids, 405 00:32:45,922 --> 00:32:48,840 and there could be no invasion before the spring. 406 00:32:48,925 --> 00:32:53,178 But Britain's cities became targets for the night bombers. 407 00:32:53,262 --> 00:32:57,307 For 76 nights in succession, London was bombed. 408 00:32:57,392 --> 00:33:00,894 Queuing for shelter at dusk became an orderly ritual, 409 00:33:00,979 --> 00:33:06,358 the evening alerts, the dawn all-clear, part of Londoners' lives. 410 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,947 (air-raid siren) 411 00:33:20,039 --> 00:33:22,666 (hum of aeroplane engines) 412 00:34:12,175 --> 00:34:14,551 l used to hear the planes come over, 413 00:34:14,635 --> 00:34:19,181 and they was, in my opinion, trying to break the backs of the houses. 414 00:34:19,265 --> 00:34:21,933 l'd listen and shudder. "The next one's mine." 415 00:34:22,018 --> 00:34:27,147 They'd have, say, six bombs. "One, two, three, four... This is mine." 416 00:34:27,231 --> 00:34:30,358 "No." Over the next one, they'd go, and miss my house. 417 00:34:30,443 --> 00:34:32,194 That went on all night. 418 00:34:32,278 --> 00:34:37,240 About ten to eight, l said to my wife and my in-laws, "l'll be off now." 419 00:34:37,325 --> 00:34:42,245 l walked out of the door - lovely big three-floor houses they were. 420 00:34:42,330 --> 00:34:48,126 l walked up Approach Road, 20 yards from the church, which was our post, 421 00:34:48,211 --> 00:34:50,962 and suddenly there was a... (whoosh) 422 00:34:51,047 --> 00:34:53,173 Nothing, l heard nothing. 423 00:34:53,257 --> 00:34:56,259 l talked about this to people afferwards - 424 00:34:56,344 --> 00:34:58,762 the bomb that hit them, they never heard. 425 00:34:58,846 --> 00:35:02,891 Now, l wonder if the people sitting here now had that same experience. 426 00:35:02,975 --> 00:35:05,477 The bomb that hit you, you never heard. 427 00:35:05,561 --> 00:35:07,437 And l fell flat on my face. 428 00:35:07,522 --> 00:35:09,606 l picked myself up, l turned round. 429 00:35:09,732 --> 00:35:14,444 All l could see was a grey curtain hanging in the middle of a wide road - 430 00:35:14,529 --> 00:35:17,322 about twice as wide as this pub. 431 00:35:17,406 --> 00:35:20,492 There was just a brownish-grey curtain hanging there. 432 00:35:21,619 --> 00:35:23,745 ♪ Come, come 433 00:35:23,830 --> 00:35:25,705 ♪ Come and make eyes at me 434 00:35:25,790 --> 00:35:28,083 ♪ Down at the Old Bull and Bush 435 00:35:28,167 --> 00:35:29,835 ♪ La-la-la, la-la 436 00:35:29,919 --> 00:35:31,711 ♪ Come, come 437 00:35:31,796 --> 00:35:33,713 ♪ Drink some port wine with me 438 00:35:33,798 --> 00:35:36,466 ♪ Down at the Old Bull and Bush 439 00:35:37,552 --> 00:35:41,388 ♪ La-la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la-la 440 00:35:41,472 --> 00:35:45,016 ♪ Just let me hold your hand, dear 441 00:35:45,518 --> 00:35:47,227 ♪ Do, do 442 00:35:47,353 --> 00:35:49,146 ♪ Come and have a drink or two 443 00:35:49,230 --> 00:35:52,524 ♪ Down at the Old Bull and Bush, Bush, Bush! 444 00:35:53,067 --> 00:35:55,152 (man) No matter what shelter you went in, 445 00:35:55,236 --> 00:36:00,574 there was always someone there who would provide the entertainment 446 00:36:00,700 --> 00:36:03,368 to sort of take away the strain. 447 00:36:04,370 --> 00:36:09,291 (narrator) Underground stations, it was decided, must not be used as shelters. 448 00:36:09,375 --> 00:36:13,962 But people simply took them over and the authorities had to accept it. 449 00:36:14,630 --> 00:36:16,214 (woman) We was all singing, 450 00:36:16,299 --> 00:36:19,259 we was all happy - just gike there was no war at agg. 451 00:36:19,343 --> 00:36:20,594 There was a canteen. 452 00:36:20,678 --> 00:36:24,973 l used to sing as well and cheer people up when the bombs was going. 453 00:36:25,057 --> 00:36:29,936 Until one night, it was very bad, and l was praying for the big guns to start. 454 00:36:34,775 --> 00:36:39,863 l was talking to a gunnery sergeant who had been stationed in Hyde Park, 455 00:36:39,947 --> 00:36:44,534 and he told us without any hesitation - and he cried when he told us: 456 00:36:44,619 --> 00:36:47,495 "When we was sent into London, 457 00:36:47,580 --> 00:36:51,374 we simply elevated our guns to its maximum and fired." 458 00:36:51,500 --> 00:36:55,462 "We knew that every shell we pumped up had no chance of hitting a plane, 459 00:36:55,588 --> 00:36:58,798 but don't tell me it didn't give you courage." 460 00:36:58,883 --> 00:37:03,345 And there's not a person sitting round this table, l think, can say it didn't - 461 00:37:03,429 --> 00:37:07,432 once they heard those guns firing, they thought, "Good, we've got 'em now." 462 00:37:07,516 --> 00:37:11,478 But they only knew that it was the morale - and that's all it did to 'em. 463 00:37:11,562 --> 00:37:15,732 But the bombs just had to come down. There was nothing to stop them. 464 00:37:27,245 --> 00:37:28,912 (narrator) For 76 mornings, 465 00:37:28,996 --> 00:37:32,332 rescue squads dug through rubble, searching for surVivors. 466 00:37:32,416 --> 00:37:37,337 (man) A bomb dropped on a block of flats, about four storeys, 467 00:37:37,421 --> 00:37:39,881 and it took the whole front out. 468 00:37:39,966 --> 00:37:43,760 And they said, "There's an old chap up there. He won't go in a shelter." 469 00:37:43,844 --> 00:37:47,889 So we go up, and when we got up there, the old chap was snoring his head off, 470 00:37:47,974 --> 00:37:53,144 about 20 empty bottles round his bed, and the bed's nearly out in the street! 471 00:37:53,229 --> 00:37:55,814 And he never woke up then! 472 00:38:00,820 --> 00:38:06,116 We saw an old lady staggering around, and we said, "You'll have to come out." 473 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:07,951 She came out and all she had on 474 00:38:08,035 --> 00:38:11,705 was half of what should've been a nightdress. 475 00:38:12,331 --> 00:38:16,167 l said, "You'll have to put something on, make yourself a bit decent." 476 00:38:16,252 --> 00:38:19,879 She was about 80-odd, and she was completely in a daze. 477 00:38:20,006 --> 00:38:25,844 She said, "l'll go and get something," and she came out with her hat on! 478 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:35,562 (narrator) People somehow got to work through a nightmare of upended buses, 479 00:38:35,646 --> 00:38:38,732 cratered roads, bombed railways. 480 00:38:38,816 --> 00:38:41,192 (man on radio) London calling... 481 00:38:41,277 --> 00:38:45,989 (narrator) Radio reporters told America and the world that London could take it. 482 00:38:46,073 --> 00:38:48,742 The spirit of Londoners won sympathy and help. 483 00:38:48,826 --> 00:38:51,870 But the United States remained neutral. 484 00:38:52,872 --> 00:38:57,709 While Britain stood alone, from September 1940 to May 1941 , 485 00:38:57,793 --> 00:39:02,255 40,000 people were killed in raids - half of them Londoners. 486 00:39:03,758 --> 00:39:06,384 Hundreds of thousands of people were homeless, 487 00:39:06,469 --> 00:39:10,055 eating, living, sleeping in rest centres. 488 00:39:11,557 --> 00:39:14,976 Clothing and everything else had vanished with their home. 489 00:39:15,061 --> 00:39:16,853 But not morale. 490 00:39:16,937 --> 00:39:21,524 To be clean, you couldn't very well say, "l'm going to have a bath today," 491 00:39:21,609 --> 00:39:25,570 cos you was afraid the warning would go halfway through it. 492 00:39:25,654 --> 00:39:29,949 So you'd have a bowl of water, have a wash and perhaps get your neck done, 493 00:39:30,034 --> 00:39:32,535 and run and take all your things in the shelter - 494 00:39:32,620 --> 00:39:34,704 finish your bath perhaps the next day. 495 00:39:34,789 --> 00:39:38,750 Never actually have a bath properly. Step in and step out. 496 00:39:38,834 --> 00:39:42,253 You get used to it. You can get used to anything. 497 00:39:42,338 --> 00:39:49,177 lt was not an uncommon sight to see: "No windows but plenty of spirit." 498 00:39:49,261 --> 00:39:53,848 Or, "Sorry we've got no front door. Don't trouble to knock, just come in." 499 00:39:53,933 --> 00:39:57,519 And you'd see these funny little notices put up outside a door. 500 00:39:57,645 --> 00:40:01,940 This was the sort of thing that made you think there was something in it. 501 00:40:02,024 --> 00:40:06,069 The more you saw it, the more you felt encouraged to be able to go out. 502 00:40:06,153 --> 00:40:11,366 Once you'd gone out to go on to a job and your family were leff behind, 503 00:40:11,450 --> 00:40:14,160 you always felt that somehow: 504 00:40:14,245 --> 00:40:16,329 "The Joneses or the Smiths up the road, 505 00:40:16,414 --> 00:40:20,708 if anything happens at home, they'll look affer 'em." 506 00:40:24,588 --> 00:40:28,425 (narrator) Factories went on working, by night as well as by day. 507 00:40:28,509 --> 00:40:32,053 But night workers were constantly interrupted by raids. 508 00:40:32,138 --> 00:40:36,683 There was no real defence against German bombing at night. 509 00:40:36,767 --> 00:40:40,812 Fighter Command's helplessness worried its chief, Dowding. 510 00:40:40,896 --> 00:40:45,400 l once went to Redhill with him when the bombers were coming over London. 511 00:40:45,526 --> 00:40:50,280 There was a squadron commanded by a fellow called Jimmy Little. 512 00:40:50,364 --> 00:40:55,869 He said to me in the car going down, "Max, l hold my head in my hands 513 00:40:55,953 --> 00:41:01,249 at the thought of people being bombed and l cannot do anything about it." 514 00:41:01,333 --> 00:41:03,793 (narrator) To the relief of the authorities, 515 00:41:03,878 --> 00:41:07,422 Buckingham Palace was bombed as well as East London. 516 00:41:07,506 --> 00:41:12,051 Now it could be seen that king, queen and people were all in it together. 517 00:41:14,638 --> 00:41:19,267 King George and Queen Elizabeth won respect by touring the blitzed areas. 518 00:41:19,351 --> 00:41:23,771 They had come to the throne in the wake of the Duke of Windsor's abdication. 519 00:41:23,856 --> 00:41:28,526 Now, for the first time, they emerged as popular figures in their own right. 520 00:41:28,611 --> 00:41:30,695 (cheering) 521 00:41:31,780 --> 00:41:35,783 Churchill too, with exuberance, persuaded most political opponents 522 00:41:35,868 --> 00:41:38,077 to forget his past. 523 00:41:38,162 --> 00:41:41,998 (man) The average East Londoner didn't care twopence for Churchill, 524 00:41:42,082 --> 00:41:43,875 as a man or a politician, 525 00:41:43,959 --> 00:41:48,046 but the man who filled up Chamberlain's place, 526 00:41:48,130 --> 00:41:50,673 he was a leader. 527 00:41:50,758 --> 00:41:55,386 And every time he opened his mouth, he inspired confidence into the people - 528 00:41:55,471 --> 00:41:58,264 whether they accepted him as a ConserVative... 529 00:41:58,349 --> 00:42:03,269 But he was there, he was for 'em, and he was against the common enemy. 530 00:42:05,856 --> 00:42:09,567 (narrator) But sometimes he got a mixed reception. 531 00:42:09,652 --> 00:42:12,487 (man) l remember, just off Green Street, 532 00:42:12,571 --> 00:42:15,198 an avenue where Churchill came down. 533 00:42:15,282 --> 00:42:18,952 There was a devil of a great crater as big as this pub. 534 00:42:19,036 --> 00:42:23,748 There were crowds of women trying to get things out of the shattered houses. 535 00:42:24,625 --> 00:42:29,671 Churchill, affer having a look round, he said, "We can take it." 536 00:42:29,755 --> 00:42:34,759 And the women told him what they could take, in no unmistakable manner. 537 00:42:34,843 --> 00:42:39,264 They said, "We're the ones that are taking it - you're out of the way." 538 00:42:50,401 --> 00:42:53,486 (narrator) December 29, 1940. 539 00:42:53,571 --> 00:42:59,450 German planes scattering incendiary bombs set the City of London ablaze. 540 00:42:59,535 --> 00:43:03,246 There were 1 ,500 fires in and around the city. 541 00:43:03,330 --> 00:43:07,458 St Paul's Cathedral was surrounded by fire. 542 00:43:10,879 --> 00:43:14,090 (man) You could see the fire of London. 543 00:43:14,174 --> 00:43:17,760 60 miles away, you could see the fire. 544 00:43:24,184 --> 00:43:28,438 (woman) That night l was in a shelter, and it was burning above me. 545 00:43:28,522 --> 00:43:32,108 We all had to get out, and we wasn't panicking a bit. 546 00:43:32,192 --> 00:43:36,654 And we had to run to the top of Commercial Road, 547 00:43:36,739 --> 00:43:40,199 to a factory that had a shelter down below in the basement. 548 00:43:40,284 --> 00:43:43,745 And as we were running along, there was fires all burning around. 549 00:43:43,829 --> 00:43:47,498 l could feel the heat on the floor - the puddles were hot. 550 00:43:47,625 --> 00:43:52,128 And in the shelter, we stood all night, sleeping on each other's shoulders. 551 00:43:52,212 --> 00:43:57,133 l stood all night sleeping on somebody else's shoulder. 552 00:44:01,555 --> 00:44:06,309 (man) Eventually, we used so much water, we ran out of it. 553 00:44:06,393 --> 00:44:09,687 And there we stood, letting the fires burn - 554 00:44:09,772 --> 00:44:13,274 and we couldn't do nothing about it. 555 00:44:20,074 --> 00:44:23,284 (narrator) The heart of the City of London was destroyed, 556 00:44:23,369 --> 00:44:26,037 but St Paul's surVived. 557 00:44:27,956 --> 00:44:31,751 Manchester, Coventry, Birmingham, Swansea, Liverpool and many more 558 00:44:31,835 --> 00:44:35,672 shared London's ordeal - all were within reach of the German air force, 559 00:44:35,756 --> 00:44:38,091 with bases in France and the Low Countries. 560 00:44:38,175 --> 00:44:42,345 lt was more difficult for British bombers to reach German cities. 561 00:44:42,429 --> 00:44:48,267 The government looked for some other way of carrying the war to the enemy. 562 00:44:48,352 --> 00:44:52,438 We decided the only place where we could fight the enemy 563 00:44:52,523 --> 00:44:57,902 was the North African desert, the Middle East theatre generally. 564 00:44:57,986 --> 00:45:02,240 There was nowhere else. We couldn't hope to make a landing in France 565 00:45:02,324 --> 00:45:07,120 in any foreseeable future, and therefore couldn't injure the Germans that way. 566 00:45:07,204 --> 00:45:11,249 So the two alternatives... They weren't alternatives. 567 00:45:11,333 --> 00:45:16,170 The two possibles were bombing, and fighting in the Middle East. 568 00:45:16,255 --> 00:45:19,132 And that is why from those very early days 569 00:45:19,258 --> 00:45:25,346 we began to push, agitate, ask for more armour in the Middle East. 570 00:45:25,431 --> 00:45:30,309 We had to take the armour out of the line, out of the defence of Britain. 571 00:45:30,436 --> 00:45:33,688 There was no other way of doing it. 572 00:45:34,189 --> 00:45:35,857 (narrator) On December 10, 1940, 573 00:45:35,941 --> 00:45:39,652 two Commonwealth divisions under General Wavell 574 00:45:39,737 --> 00:45:43,823 attacked the big ltalian army in North Africa. 575 00:45:45,617 --> 00:45:49,912 Slightly to their own surprise, they advanced with great speed. 576 00:45:50,956 --> 00:45:53,082 Fortress affer fortress was taken. 577 00:45:53,167 --> 00:45:55,418 100,000 prisoners were captured. 578 00:45:55,502 --> 00:45:59,297 Now there seemed to be a chance to get at the main enemy, Germany - 579 00:45:59,381 --> 00:46:02,717 through Yugoslavia and Greece. 580 00:46:02,801 --> 00:46:06,554 We did think that if it were possible 581 00:46:06,638 --> 00:46:15,271 to bring certain Balkan countries into conflict with Hitler, 582 00:46:15,355 --> 00:46:20,193 the consequences of that might be really unforeseeable - 583 00:46:20,319 --> 00:46:22,320 couldn't predict the result. 584 00:46:22,404 --> 00:46:26,866 The view of the War Cabinet and the Defence Committee 585 00:46:26,950 --> 00:46:32,163 was that, if the Greeks were going to defend themselves against the Germans, 586 00:46:32,247 --> 00:46:35,541 we should bring them what help we could. 587 00:46:35,667 --> 00:46:37,418 And Dill and l were sent out, 588 00:46:37,544 --> 00:46:41,756 affer Wavell's victory, to Cairo to look into this business. 589 00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:46,761 When we got there, Wavell said, "l hope you won't mind what l'm going to say." 590 00:46:46,845 --> 00:46:50,014 "l didn't think l ought to waste time - 591 00:46:50,098 --> 00:46:53,100 l've begun the movement of troops and the concentration 592 00:46:53,185 --> 00:46:55,394 to enable us to go to Greece." 593 00:46:55,479 --> 00:46:59,732 (narrator) The landing in Greece was meant to forestall a German attack. 594 00:46:59,817 --> 00:47:03,361 To many Greeks, it seemed likely to hasten it. 595 00:47:03,445 --> 00:47:05,655 They had held their own against ltaly, 596 00:47:05,739 --> 00:47:09,242 but when the Germans attacked on April 6, 1941 , 597 00:47:09,326 --> 00:47:11,994 Greece was overwhelmed in three weeks. 598 00:47:12,079 --> 00:47:15,164 So was Yugoslavia, which had joined the Allies. 599 00:47:15,249 --> 00:47:19,460 50,000 Commonwealth troops were evacuated. 600 00:47:19,545 --> 00:47:22,839 One has to admit that... 601 00:47:24,007 --> 00:47:27,760 we didn't obtain the objectives we'd hoped for. 602 00:47:27,845 --> 00:47:32,098 We weren't able to conduct, with the help of the Yugoslavs, 603 00:47:32,182 --> 00:47:36,060 any effective campaign in the Balkans. 604 00:47:36,144 --> 00:47:39,814 Turkey, it is true, remained a defensive pad, 605 00:47:39,898 --> 00:47:44,485 but we lost Greece and lost many men - brave men - 606 00:47:44,570 --> 00:47:46,737 and more were captured. 607 00:47:47,447 --> 00:47:50,783 So in that sense, the balance sheet was much against us. 608 00:47:50,868 --> 00:47:55,371 And it was a depressing time, no question of that. 609 00:47:55,455 --> 00:47:58,207 (narrator) By May 1941 , Germany and her allies 610 00:47:58,292 --> 00:48:02,044 controlled most of Continental Europe. 611 00:48:02,129 --> 00:48:05,214 And in North Africa, a small German force under Rommel 612 00:48:05,299 --> 00:48:08,175 had recaptured nearly all the British gains. 613 00:48:08,260 --> 00:48:11,971 The British tried to hold Crete as a naval base. 614 00:48:18,020 --> 00:48:19,770 With complete command of the air, 615 00:48:19,855 --> 00:48:23,024 the Germans attacked Crete with 16,000 parachutists - 616 00:48:23,108 --> 00:48:28,195 the first large-scale airborne assault in the history of warfare. 617 00:48:29,156 --> 00:48:34,035 ln spite of heavy losses, they gained a foothold on a vital airfield, Maleme, 618 00:48:34,119 --> 00:48:37,038 which meant that more troops could be flown in. 619 00:48:57,100 --> 00:48:58,726 Helped by intensive bombing, 620 00:48:58,810 --> 00:49:03,439 the Germans were able to advance against a bigger Commonwealth force. 621 00:49:04,066 --> 00:49:07,568 Once again, air power won the battle. 622 00:49:07,653 --> 00:49:11,280 Commonwealth losses: 13,000 killed, wounded or captured. 623 00:49:11,365 --> 00:49:16,285 And another evacuation to add to the list of Norway, France, Greece. 624 00:49:16,370 --> 00:49:20,748 The British people wondered how much more they would have to take. 625 00:49:20,832 --> 00:49:24,752 (Coiville) Churchill thought Crete should be held at all costs. 626 00:49:24,836 --> 00:49:28,506 lf we lost Crete, we lost our base in the Eastern Mediterranean - 627 00:49:28,590 --> 00:49:30,675 our naval base and our air base. 628 00:49:31,343 --> 00:49:34,762 And he kept on telegraphing to Wavell, saying: 629 00:49:34,846 --> 00:49:41,769 "Surely you can spare just a dozen tanks for the defence of Maleme airfield", 630 00:49:41,853 --> 00:49:46,482 the chief airfield in Crete, "against German paratroops." 631 00:49:46,566 --> 00:49:49,276 And Wavell replied that he had no tanks - 632 00:49:49,361 --> 00:49:54,615 they were all having their tracks mended or their engines greased or something - 633 00:49:54,700 --> 00:49:57,702 and that he couldn't spare even a dozen. 634 00:49:57,786 --> 00:50:01,247 Well, Crete was lost. lt was a great disaster - 635 00:50:01,331 --> 00:50:04,875 upset everybody in the House of Commons, upset the country. 636 00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:10,214 lt was a low point for us in the war, in the spring of 1941 . 637 00:50:10,298 --> 00:50:15,720 l used to be up until 2:30 in the morning, 638 00:50:15,804 --> 00:50:20,474 broadcasting to America and the Dominions and so on. 639 00:50:20,559 --> 00:50:26,188 And l'd snatch some pretty dicey sort of sleep 640 00:50:26,273 --> 00:50:29,734 in the basement of Broadcasting House. 641 00:50:29,818 --> 00:50:35,406 l'd come out in the morning, and then l'd walk around, and l'd think: 642 00:50:35,490 --> 00:50:40,619 "l don't think there can be much more of this, because everything's going." 643 00:50:40,746 --> 00:50:43,998 On those mornings, you thought, "Another two weeks of this 644 00:50:44,082 --> 00:50:46,959 and there'll be nothing around here but rubble." 645 00:50:53,592 --> 00:50:56,052 (narrator) On May 10, 1941 , 646 00:50:56,136 --> 00:50:59,472 London suffered its most destructive night raid of the war. 647 00:50:59,556 --> 00:51:03,184 Over 3,000 people were killed or injured. 648 00:51:05,645 --> 00:51:08,856 Hundreds of fires had to be leff to burn themselves out. 649 00:51:08,940 --> 00:51:13,027 There seemed no end in sight to the slaughter and destruction. 650 00:51:13,111 --> 00:51:18,115 But although Londoners didn't know, it was the turning point. 651 00:51:18,200 --> 00:51:21,077 ln April, '41 , 652 00:51:21,161 --> 00:51:26,123 Hitler assembled all the commanders in France. 653 00:51:27,375 --> 00:51:31,003 And... during two hours, 654 00:51:31,088 --> 00:51:38,594 he talked to us about the part two of the Battle of Britain. 655 00:51:40,097 --> 00:51:44,183 And... he told us later - 656 00:51:44,267 --> 00:51:49,730 two of us, namely my friend Mölders and myself - 657 00:51:51,316 --> 00:51:57,905 that it has only been in order to camouflage the offensive against Russia. 658 00:51:58,740 --> 00:52:00,991 This has been in April, '41 . 659 00:52:02,035 --> 00:52:05,496 And the raid on 10 May 660 00:52:05,580 --> 00:52:09,834 can only be considered as a camouflage of the... 661 00:52:11,545 --> 00:52:15,923 beginning of the Russian campaign. 662 00:52:20,011 --> 00:52:22,972 (narrator) Among the victims of the raid on May 10 663 00:52:23,056 --> 00:52:24,598 was the House of Commons. 664 00:52:24,683 --> 00:52:28,727 For exactly a year, a year of disappointment and defeat, 665 00:52:28,812 --> 00:52:31,564 the Commons had sustained Churchill in office. 666 00:52:31,648 --> 00:52:34,441 But the important battle had been won. 667 00:52:34,526 --> 00:52:37,444 Britain had surVived. 668 00:52:37,529 --> 00:52:39,488 Now it was Russia's turn. 562 00:52:52,589 --> 00:52:56,301 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud 563 00:52:56,302 --> 00:53:00,302 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud 564 00:53:00,303 --> 00:53:04,303 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud