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The author and publisher have provi
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ContentsList of Maps and FiguresNot
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47 Exhaustion48 Last FlightPostscri
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RAF FIGHTER COMMAND ORDER OF BATTLE
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Note on the TextSo as not to cause
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Truly, the Battle of Britain is an
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anticipation of the beginning of ho
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lower so that at last he could see
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2The Eve of BattleDAVID CROOK FLEW
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contempt for the French but he did
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had already written Achtung Panzer!
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Chamberlain, who she wished would b
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An ashen and rather shell-shocked C
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insignificant, was his close friend
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his secretaries since 1933, when Hi
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Ardennes. ‘Our reconnaissance bat
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3The Go-for-Broke GambleAT HALF-PAS
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Arriving at Felsennet at around 6 a
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been poor too. Yet now Hitler wante
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because it ran counter to the more
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Sedan, ensnaring the bulk of the Al
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British forces all the way to the C
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of the way, he quickly got his two
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4Hook, Line and SinkerGUNNER STAN F
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emphases. An armoured - or panzer -
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telegraphy and portable radio commu
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agreed between the British and Fren
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attack. Georges was not enthusiasti
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friends, Stan had been greatly reli
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One last effort was made to persuad
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personal photographer, a hospital w
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Germany’s oil and synthetic-rubbe
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and a little over 1,500 twin- or si
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a French area of operations. In fac
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laughing, reporting that Ops were i
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turned to Kesselring and snarled,
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someone as passionate about shootin
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were horribly under-armed with just
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310 fighters had been built, and 33
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slopes rose sharply. There were als
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time in the world to reach the Dina
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Yet although the bulk of Army Group
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Loerzer readily agreed but in the m
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fire, he dropped his bombs and then
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‘Joy riding in canoes on the Meus
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groups. That is why I did not forwa
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not have been better. Murrow needed
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according to Nazi law. ‘There are
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material, yet Hilda thought little
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Goebbels held a ‘ministerial conf
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In 1933, the Volksempfänger (‘pe
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8A Battle Against TimeWHAT WOULD BE
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election, a National Labour MP. Lik
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‘Confidentially, I wish I weren
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Royal Flying Corps to gain his wing
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committees, too much discussion and
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The difference with this latest com
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production problems had been resolv
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9The Battle is LostON 13 MAY, Gener
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As the unfolding Allied disaster at
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time to wait for reinforcements. Th
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messages from Gamelin and Georges r
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Poor French logistics were symptoma
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perfect mine-laying terrain, while
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10Emergency MeasuresFROM ALMOST THE
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which raised around 20,000 firearms
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Columnists,’ says John, ‘and fr
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been in a mess together before and
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England will never give up so long
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maintain his position as a reluctan
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there, Hajo began his flying missio
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JG 2 decided to give him a chance t
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David Crook had been during his fir
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Günther’s Curtiss go down in a s
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Siegfried Bethke, for example, and
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locomotives and shipping were conve
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restructured the Luftwaffe in early
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178, whose maiden flight was in Jun
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side of the River Rhine, and within
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Larry and his crew were airborne at
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Incredibly, he made it back, but it
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and the rest of the flight arrived
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One person who was certainly taking
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Daladier and Gamelin, Churchill, fo
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should that be the case: to fall ba
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were all more or less now in line w
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hearing news that things were looki
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enjoyed spending considerable time,
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considerations, long-term plans, fo
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other words, less than a division,
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short way, taking over part of the
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had seemed like an impossibly long
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rumour. At the farmhouse where the
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the banks of the Escaut at Tournai
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Rundstedt, a conservative, agreed w
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wondered Pownall. ‘It seems almos
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15Fighter Command Enters the FrayTH
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the new demands on Fighter Command
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at him, but on Tony’s second burs
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Three and a half years later, he wa
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Tommy was that should Britain be le
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also the Italians to consider. On 1
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when this was completed, and having
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as a new order, and it meant von Ru
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the Canal Line, so instead Gort dec
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‘I agree that this point is worth
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minutes later. At about 4 p.m., Rey
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majority of the War Cabinet agreed
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Shipping had met Ramsay at Dover on
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Only once the raiders had passed di
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Oskar tried to follow but failed. C
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spires of northern France. Hans was
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shirked his new responsibilities. T
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to consider any terms offered by Hi
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18Dunkirk: The Beginning‘WE NOW A
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Lord Gort, meanwhile, finally caugh
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a bandage. He and his men were filt
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It was typically stirring stuff, bu
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caught fire. Huge clouds of thick,
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After that episode, they had sunk a
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19Dunkirk: In the BalanceON THE AFT
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was the easternmost point of the Br
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The Germans, he told them, were now
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Squadrons were also moved around fr
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rain - but no wind. The Channel rem
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at Bray. Sid saw queues of people f
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20Dunkirk: The MiddleTHERE WAS STIL
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that had made him determined to joi
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attacking around Bergues, it report
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It was not, however, for Lieutenant
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George Oakley was not so lucky, how
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Stan might have been safe, but thos
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artillery, while holding the line i
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the ship - there was a sharp flash
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Then suddenly he heard a loud crack
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circled, dropping flares that hung
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fall back at round 4.30 p.m. that a
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having first crossed the decks of t
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22What Next?THE RAF HAD continued t
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It was with this in mind that beach
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Yet although the Government was now
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Göring had dismissed such plans. T
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intact but then came up against the
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23The End in FranceAT 8 A.M. EXACTL
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manned the U-boats were tough, hard
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Colville, ‘who referred to our tr
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The British were determined to pres
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would agree to join the fight. If t
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all France’s arms contracts in th
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24Hitler’s DilemmaWHEN HITLER HEA
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generous. He told Mussolini he had
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nation of German peoples rather tha
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Japan and Italy were not prepared t
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purges of 1936-7 in which the Red A
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How the tables had now turned. In t
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25All AloneIN BRITAIN, THE NEWS tha
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remember cheering when France colla
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them badly.’‘The President can
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prevalent gloom. One’s worst fear
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But however hemmed in and threatene
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landed in England on 22 June. About
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allowing nothing to get in the way
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colleagues and displaying single-mi
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was the loss of nearly 300 pilots i
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for approval to spend development m
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when minds were focused. Britain’
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27
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well; indeed, many were friends.
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defensive measures to guard against
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Following Munich and the instigatio
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continually refined his estimates,
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neither hit, although one did explo
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28Bringing It All TogetherIN EARLY
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of Britain’s southern coastline a
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least his Luftflotten would have bu
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would light up from the transmissio
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pilots. On the wall opposite the co
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and Balloon Command. Each had his p
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Trouble at Sea: Part 2ON 3 JULY, TH
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dive-bombed. Flaming ships flounder
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‘Me, sir!’ Ron replied.‘We’
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destroying British merchant trade t
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attention to Hartlepool. Because of
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30Crooked LegBY THE END OF the Fren
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distraught and begged Ulrich to get
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of taking the attack to England, JG
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with their own units in the air, bu
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ordination. ‘Our communications,
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pointing in slightly different dire
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31First CombatIT HAD BEEN A miserab
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The only solution was to send half
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three Me 110s bearing down on him.
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distracted by thinking about their
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been based at Boscombe Down and had
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Tall, good-looking, with a floppy m
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began to heat up, as surely it now
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Britain would not now roll over. An
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either of their doctrines. For most
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standing of the person who had give
- Page 453 and 454:
of Fighter Command; indeed, he did
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Before Halifax broadcast his reply,
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war. Somehow, almost overnight, the
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evacuation of the BEF, his position
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Germany. Towards the end of June a
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Hugh Dalton, the Minister for Econo
- Page 466 and 467:
worked. ‘They can do nothing,’
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34Hotting UpJUST AFTER 5 A.M., on W
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The third Gruppe of JG 52 had reach
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The next day, Thursday, 25 July, wa
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been fearsome, but the pilots simpl
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upon British shipping. A destroyer
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unnecessary and avoidable, and at t
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35Bombs on Germany, Bomben auf Engl
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of exploding flak could prove letha
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them and from that get a fix. Larry
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altimeter he could see 2,300 metres
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there were still to be no bombings
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plans only, a fall-back and nothing
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ashore in the initial attack, incre
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But there was another considerable
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took pride in the fact that they we
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Britain’s coastal lifeline. Despi
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This was a perfectly sensible plan,
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because the engines were to the sid
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however, all the pilots made it bac
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flown his first missions over Engla
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Two hundred yards away was HMS Vict
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darting tracer, four Dorniers were
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The cloud did begin to clear as the
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David’s section was flying slight
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38The Biggest Air BattleTHE PREVIOU
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much on edge,’ noted Jock Colvill
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There were, for example, forty Free
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signalling to his groundcrew to sta
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suffered at Ventnor, which would ha
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he pressed himself forward to count
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all the British fighters would be i
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could see for ever. All of England
- Page 538:
It was now too late. Suddenly the a
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further afield. The Luftwaffe’s r
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who was flying Tom’s Hurricane. A
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casualties, few people were being k
- Page 547 and 548:
Eventually emerging from the mêlé
- Page 549 and 550:
Pete, who shot down his second conf
- Page 551:
throughout the whole of August only
- Page 554 and 555:
he noted, ‘we had no insight into
- Page 556 and 557:
design of four independently functi
- Page 558 and 559:
effective attacks had been by a lon
- Page 560 and 561:
they actually got to it. Since Knic
- Page 562:
factory where Hilda Müller worked.
- Page 565 and 566:
the German fighter airfields of Gui
- Page 567 and 568:
at Farnborough of two intact Me 109
- Page 569 and 570:
turn. The theoretically minimum tur
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his 109 when he took off and sudden
- Page 573 and 574:
the Hurricanes and Spitfires was fu
- Page 575 and 576:
the RAF at seventeen, he had later,
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42Breaking PointIN CHURCHILL’S SP
- Page 580 and 581:
be mortal” if allowed to get out
- Page 582 and 583:
being knocked down, the German rear
- Page 584 and 585:
they wanted a warm jacket, then the
- Page 586 and 587:
been proved already. The raiders ha
- Page 588 and 589:
such as these. Almost exactly a yea
- Page 590:
further operation. It meant sending
- Page 593 and 594:
‘Don’t let America,’ added Be
- Page 595 and 596:
a very contented life near the Balt
- Page 597 and 598:
number of existing airfields, and o
- Page 599 and 600:
the way forward and the only tactic
- Page 601 and 602:
pillars of smoke rising into the sk
- Page 603 and 604:
In London that afternoon was RV Jon
- Page 605 and 606:
George Barclay had force-landed som
- Page 608 and 609:
44Summer MadnessSATURDAY, 7 SEPTEMB
- Page 610 and 611:
sobbed quite openly, the tears stre
- Page 612 and 613:
difficulties of flying in a large f
- Page 614 and 615:
so he stayed at Pembrey, too excite
- Page 616 and 617:
which had already been lit by the d
- Page 618 and 619:
allowed to go out on benders if the
- Page 620 and 621:
extraordinarily calm in the plane,
- Page 623 and 624:
45The Crux‘THERE’S NO WORD I ca
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England is, of course,’ he told t
- Page 627 and 628:
have too few pilots,’ said anothe
- Page 629 and 630:
counterparts had been given. It was
- Page 631 and 632:
At Biggin Hill, most of 92 Squadron
- Page 633 and 634:
‘Hello, Gannic. Gannic Leader. Ca
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and saw he was dangerously low on f
- Page 637 and 638:
Once again, the Prime Minister watc
- Page 640 and 641:
46WolfpackAS IT HAPPENED, the fadin
- Page 642 and 643:
Across the Channel, the pilots had
- Page 644 and 645:
convoys. Having had another success
- Page 646 and 647:
losses are assuming serious proport
- Page 648 and 649:
as the British are taking it.’ In
- Page 650 and 651:
finally driven back to Biggin Hill,
- Page 652 and 653:
‘There was a terrific explosion a
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47ExhaustionON 19 SEPTEMBER, Church
- Page 657 and 658:
‘They were frightful old chaps -
- Page 659 and 660:
across the Channel to shoot at shad
- Page 661 and 662:
achieving air superiority. On 4 Oct
- Page 663 and 664:
two tin legs had still returned to
- Page 665:
Salmond’s report, he ticked three
- Page 668 and 669:
little, then suddenly the jolting s
- Page 670 and 671:
Thames estuary below - he thought h
- Page 672:
But then the moment passed as he be
- Page 675 and 676:
telegram announcing that John was m
- Page 677 and 678:
1940, the Luftwaffe had lost 3,701
- Page 679 and 680:
was grossly incompetent. Nor did th
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finally joined the fight, and in th
- Page 683 and 684:
Zumbach survived, but with no Polan
- Page 685 and 686:
masterpiece, The Rise and Fall of t
- Page 688: ABOUT THE AUTHORJames Holland was b
- Page 691 and 692: thank you for all your huge help. I
- Page 693: Sheila Lee, Larry Finlay, Katrina W
- Page 696 and 697: Steele, Joe, HMT Dalmatia and Darth
- Page 698 and 699: Beamont, Roland, My Part of the Sky
- Page 700 and 701: D’Este, Carlo, Warlord: A Life of
- Page 702 and 703: —, Göring (Macmillan, 1989)—,
- Page 704 and 705: Orange, Vincent, Dowding of Fighter
- Page 706 and 707: Vansittart, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Less
- Page 708 and 709: Blair, Clay, Hitler’s U-Boat War:
- Page 710 and 711: Dallek, Robert, Franklin D. Rooseve
- Page 712 and 713: Goss, Chris, Brothers in Arms: The
- Page 714 and 715: Lampe, David, The Last Ditch: Brita
- Page 716 and 717: Otter, Patrick, Yorkshire Airfields
- Page 718 and 719: Shirer, William L., The Rise and Fa
- Page 720 and 721: Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John (ed.), Ac
- Page 722: Schmider, Klaus, ‘The Last of the
- Page 725 and 726: Bethke, Siegfried, I/JG 2 (c/o Chri
- Page 727 and 728: ‘And then what…in any case’ G
- Page 729 and 730: ‘at this extremely grievous and f
- Page 731 and 732: 13. New Appointments‘I am exhaust
- Page 733 and 734: ‘It is all a first-class mess-up
- Page 735 and 736: ‘On political grounds…’ WSC,
- Page 737: ‘Well, it boils down to this…
- Page 741 and 742: ‘Recent reports and information
- Page 743 and 744: ‘Atmosphere cheerful…’ Cocket
- Page 745 and 746: ‘Nobody was keen…’ IWM 26952
- Page 747: ‘I still think this war…’ JPK
- Page 751 and 752: IndexThe index that appeared in the
- Page 753 and 754: and 15 September raid303 Kociuszko
- Page 755 and 756: airfield repairsAlanbrooke, Viscoun
- Page 757 and 758: Hurricane action at Louvainon sleep
- Page 759 and 760: Blumentritt, General GüntherBob, H
- Page 761 and 762: trapped near coastBritsum, hit by S
- Page 763 and 764: Chiefs of Staffanticipate immediate
- Page 765 and 766: on Churchill’s no surrender speec
- Page 767 and 768: Dietrich, Obergruppenführer Sepp,
- Page 769 and 770: 1st Panzer sent toBEF withdrawal to
- Page 771 and 772: Fairey Battlesat SedanFall Gelb (Ca
- Page 773 and 774: and invasion defenceson pointless a
- Page 775 and 776: Geschwader commanderon Beppo Schmid
- Page 777 and 778: lost interestmeetings at Carinhallo
- Page 779 and 780: Harding, Plt Off GeoffHargreaves, N
- Page 781 and 782: HMS VictoryHMS Wakeful, lost at Dun
- Page 783 and 784: Jabo pilotsJackson, Andrewand Berli
- Page 785 and 786: and Canal Line consolidationand hal
- Page 787 and 788: London Treaty Submarine ProtocolLon
- Page 789 and 790:
KG 4KG 51KG 54LuftflotteLuftflotteL
- Page 791 and 792:
29th Minesweeping FlotillaRoyal Nav
- Page 793 and 794:
Northolt, 609 SquadronNorway, defea
- Page 795 and 796:
Panzer Group Kleistat Canal Lineatt
- Page 797 and 798:
invasion, attitudesPoling RDF stati
- Page 799 and 800:
Reims ChampagneReinhardt, General G
- Page 801 and 802:
KenleyRudorrfer, FeldwebelRuhr Vall
- Page 803 and 804:
Soviet UnionGermany andinvasionreac
- Page 805 and 806:
technologyBritish army andBritish s
- Page 807 and 808:
Vassincourt, 1 SquadronVentnor RDF
- Page 809:
Zerstörers (Me 110s)92 Squadron an
- Page 812:
1 SD was the Nazi abbreviation of t