Not so hopeless
Mike7,
It's not as bad as people think.
True, when I worked upon a barge in Burgundy in 1994 ( long story ! ) the French chef, a very good guy then aged 24, was astounded when I lent him my copy of the B of B film; he'd never heard of the Battle of France let alone Britain !
Maybe there's a reason for that...
He already had his own hot air balloon and 'flew' a Mirage simulator in his cabin, so was quite air-minded; his eyes nearly came out of their sockets as I pointed out the stumps of bridges taken out either by allied infantry, retreating Germans or maybe Typhoons.
On the other hand, at Tangmere Museum, where I was a guide last year, a great effort is made to encourage schools, we would often host school parties who came prepared with projects either on 'what it was like', for civilians as well as pilots & groundcrew, or individual biographies.
It was heartening to see the number of young and indeed foreign people ( I remember once having a charming German couple to chat to, and explaining that the dummy & portrait etc depicting a German pilot was accidentally facing the British pilot against whom he'd fought ).
Plenty of West Sussex children know all about the Battle of Britain, hopefully the same applies elsewhere in the country.
Another example; once years ago I was sitting with a chum outside 'The Ship' at Itchenor one Sunday lunchtime, having sailed there for a weekend.
It shows it was a while ago, as a gang of 'punks' were outside too.
I thought I heard 'something significant' in the distance, then it materialised into a Merlin.
It was Nick Grace in his Spitfire, who proceeded to do an improptu ( may well have been practice ) display, seemingly all for our benefit.
The punks stood up and cheered...
So there is still hope for newer generations !
Last edited by Double Zero; 20th Aug 2010 at 21:13.