Channel 5 1825 tonight (2nd)
 

One for men of a certain age. "Battle of Britain", starring Michael Caine and... well

...Ms York's stocking tops?

Come in Blue Two?

Sorry say again....

Repeat please.

Thanks for that, just seen it & turned over. The wife is impressed, NOT!

Not a bad rainy afternoon, Bridge too Far and then BoB. My domestic supervisor was out riding, no problems there.

we either stand down or blow up my engine is overheating and so am I

good afternoon .....good afternoon my arse get your hand up.

Sir David,
I'm again instructed...
:14:08
to emphasize that
the CAA wishes...
:14:11
to avoid further bloodshed.
:14:13
British Licensed Pilots is not
our natural enemy...
:14:16
the CAA offers guarantees
for the British Pilots
:14:19
if you give EASA
a free hand in Europe and the right to take all your jobs in England.
:14:22
Ryanair and Buzz
would like to flatten London...
:14:25
as a prelude to market dominance.
:14:27
It's two lumps you take,
isn't it?
:14:30
What's left of your aviation industry
:14:32
abandoned its weapons at Kemble and Cardiff

:14:34
You're defenseless
and just playing for time.
:14:37
We know of the moves
you're making in Crawley.
:14:41
We know the Department of Transport
won't be drawn in.
:14:43
Their Grant Shapps in London
gives you two weeks.
:14:48
So what's stopping you?
:14:53
Look, David. The CAA
is being very reasonable.
:14:56
He offers guarantees.
:14:59
Experience shows the CAAs
guarantees guarantee nothing.
:15:03
What about BALPA
:15:05
After our last appeal,
what do we hear?
:15:08
"We will fight them
on the beaches."
:15:11
With what?
:15:13
BALPA gets
carried away sometimes.
:15:15
With liquid courage.
:15:18
That's what they tell me.
:15:20
Clearly, you don't know him.
:15:23
David, we are not
asking for anything.
:15:25
Europe is ours.
:15:27
We can walk into Britain
whenever we like.
:15:31
If you think
we're going to gamble...
:15:33
on the CAAs guarantees,
you're making a grave mistake.
:15:37
All those years in England seem
to have left you none the wiser.
:15:41
We're not easily frightened.
:15:44
Also, we know how hard it is for
the CAA to organise a piss up in a brewery.
:15:49
The last little CAA Chairman
to try it came a cropper.
:15:53
So don't threaten
or dictate to us...
:15:56
until you're
marching up Whitehall!
:15:59
And even then we won't listen.

And here endeth the member for BALPA

....and not one word about Bomber Command's part in the "Battle of the Barges" which caused to harbours to be emptied well before the official end to the Battle of Britain, or indeed any reference that "The Few" in Churchill's speech were the "British Airmen" including Bomber Command and not just the fighter pilots - a myth that has been perpetuated for many years!!

I only caught bits of it , but my imagination, or was it a different 'cut'? Some of the sequences didn't seem to fit right and I'm sure some dialogue was different!?

Ms York certainly had the best parts in that sequence. :)

I see we won again and Micheal Caine didn’t blow up.

The chaps spoil her.

James Holland's book on the battle goes into the Bomber Command activity over France in attacking airfields and docks at night. well worth a read.

And Stephen Bungay’s excellent book, Most Dangerous Enemy completely re-writes the story of the Battle, demonstrating that far from being a close run thing, it’s was a thorough drubbing of an amateurish Luftwaffe at the hands of a ruthless war machine.

The efforts of Bomber and Coastal Commands during the Battle of Britain are well documented in "The Other Few" by Larry Donnelly DFM.

I know hindsight is 20:20 vision, but when you look at the air defence network we had in place, with Chain Home, the Observer Corps, the reporting and control network, Anti-Aircraft Command and squadrons equipped with some of the most modern aircraft then available, led by very intelligent and clever men, you almost feel sorry for the Luftwaffe.