Battle of Britain is a 1969 British war film documenting the events of the Battle of Britain, the war for aerial supremacy between the German Luftwaffe and the defending Royal Air Force waged over British skies during summer of 1940. The nature of the subject drew many respected British actors to accept roles as key figures of the battle, including Laurence Olivier as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Trevor Howard as Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, and Patrick Wymark as Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory. Directed by Guy Hamilton and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz, it also starred Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, and Robert Shaw as Squadron Leaders. The script by James Kennaway and Wilfred Greatorex was based on the book The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster.

The film endeavoured to be a generally accurate account of the Battle of Britain, when in the summer and autumn of 1940 the British RAF inflicted a strategic defeat on the Luftwaffe and so ensured the cancellation of Operation Sea Lion, Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain. The film is notable for its spectacular flying sequences. It was on a far larger scale than had been seen on film before, or since, making the film's production very expensive.

Plot During the Battle of France in June 1940, RAF pilots evacuate a small airfield just ahead of advancing German ground forces and an attack by Luftwaffe aircraft. As the deserted beaches of Dunkirk are shown following the evacuation of Allied forces, the BBC reports British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's declaration that "what General Weygand called the 'Battle of France' is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin."

In neutral Switzerland, the German ambassador proposes new peace terms to his British counterpart. Both realize France's fall and U.S. isolationism has left Britain alone in the war against Germany. Hitler delays attacks against England, hoping that Britain will accept peace terms and British commanders use the delay to train pilots and ground controllers in anticipation of an aerial campaign. German troops train for amphibious landings in the British Isles, but the RAF must be destroyed first to ensure the safety of such an invasion.

The Germans launch their air offensive on "Eagle Day" hoping to destroy the RAF on the ground before it has time to launch its Spitfire and Hurricane fighters. Two British radar stations at Ventnor and Dover are put out of action and a number of RAF airfields are damaged or destroyed, but losses are relatively light. A gruelling battle of attrition ensues, with airfields in Southern England repeatedly attacked.

Tensions develop between commanding officers of RAF 11 Group, and 12 Group. Trafford Leigh-Mallory's 12 Group is tasked with protecting airfields while Keith Park's 11 Group is aloft engaging the enemy, but in raid after raid 12 Group aircraft are nowhere to be seen. Leigh-Mallory explains to Air-Marshall Dowding that the "Big Wing" tactic he proposes to attack the Germans from above takes time to form up. Park complains it takes too long, and the tactic doesn't work.

The battle turns when lost German bombers unknowingly jettison their bombs over London. In retaliation to what was seen as a deliberate attack on civilians, the RAF bombs Berlin. An enraged Adolf Hitler publicly orders London to be razed. The switch to night bombing takes the pressure off the RAF fighter forces. Hermann Göring arrives in France to personally command the battle, confident in their new tactics. Their bombers can attack British cities at night virtually unopposed. Park and Dowding realize the switch to night bombing allows them to repair their airfields and bring fighter squadrons back to strength. And while enemy bombers can reach London, their fighter escort can only provide ten minutes of cover. They conclude that "turning on London could be the Germans' biggest blunder."

The next German daytime raid is overwhelmed by large groups of RAF fighters attacking en masse. Luftwaffe losses are so severe an incensed Göring orders German fighters remain with the bombers. Deprived of both of altitude and speed, they are easy prey for British fighters attacking from above. For the first time German losses outweigh British. The battle reaches its climax during the air battle of 15 September 1940 when British ground control orders every available squadron into the air, leaving no reserve. Intense combat over London leaves both sides with heavy losses.

The next day the RAF anxiously await a raid that never comes. Both German air and naval forces withdraw from the coast, leaving airfields abandoned and harbors empty. Göring leaves the front, accusing his commanders of betrayal. Dowding looks out over the gardens and up to the sky where the words of Winston Churchill appear onscreen: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Cast The Battle of Britain has a large all-star international cast. The film was notable for its attempt to accurately portray the role of the Germans, with participants in the battle including Group Captain Tom Gleave, Wing Commander Robert Stanford Tuck, Squadron Leader Bolesław Drobiński and Luftwaffe Generalleutnant Adolf Galland involved as consultants.Simpson, Geoff. The History of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association : Commemorating the Few, p. 115. During the war, Drobiński had heavily damaged Galland's plane and forced him into a crash-landing. Subtitled German-speaking actors were cast, a departure from other English language British films in the postwar period, where Germans were often played by Anglophone actors.Mosley 1969, p. 33.

British Commonwealth and Allies Harry Andrews as Harold Balfour, Under-Secretary of State for Air Michael Caine as Squadron Leader Canfield Trevor Howard as Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group RAF Ian McShane as Flight Sergeant Andy Moore Kenneth More as Group Captain Barker, Station Commander at RAF Duxford Laurence Olivier as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF, Fighter Command Nigel Patrick as Group Captain Hope Christopher Plummer as Squadron Leader Colin Harvey, a Canadian pilot in the Royal Air Force Michael Redgrave as Air Vice-Marshal Douglas Evill, Senior Air Staff Officer Fighter Command Ralph Richardson as Sir David Kelly, British Ambassador to Switzerland Robert Shaw as Squadron Leader "Skipper" Patrick Wymark as Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Air Officer Commanding No. 12 Group RAF Susannah York as Section Officer Maggie Harvey, Colin's wife John Baskcomb as Farmer Michael Bates as Warrant Officer Warwick Isla Blair as Andy's wife Tom Chatto as Willoughby's Assistant Controller James Cosmo as Jamie Robert Flemyng as Wing Commander Willoughby Barry Foster as Squadron Leader Edwards Edward Fox as Pilot Officer Archie Bill Foxley as Squadron Leader Evans David Griffin as Sergeant Pilot Chris Jack Gwillim as Senior Air Staff Officer Myles Hoyle as Peter Duncan Lamont as Flight Sergeant Arthur Sarah Lawson as Skipper's wife Mark Malicz as Pasco André Maranne as French NCO Anthony Nicholls as Minister Nicholas Pennell as Simon Andrzej Scibor as Ox Jean Wladon as Jean Jacques

Germans and Axis Curd Jürgens as Maximilian Baron von Richter, German Ambassador to Switzerland Hein Riess as Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe Dietrich Frauboes as Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch, Inspector General of the Luftwaffe Peter Hager as Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, Commander of Luftflotte 2 Wilfried von Aacken as Generalmajor Theo Osterkamp, Jagdfliegerführer 2 Karl-Otto Alberty as Generaloberst Hans Jeschonnek, Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe Wolf Harnisch as Generalmajor Johannes Fink, Commander of Kampfgeschwader 2 Malte Petzel as Oberst Beppo Schmid, Head of Luftwaffe's Military Intelligence Branch Manfred Reddemann as Major Falke Paul Neuhaus as Major Föhn Alexander Allerson as Major Brandt Alf Jungermann as Lieutenant Froedl, Brandt's navigator Helmut Kirchner as Boehm Reinhard Horras as Bruno Rolf Stiefel as Adolf Hitler

Production Film proposal In mid-September 1965, S. Benjamin Fisz, a former Hurricane pilot, saw aircraft practising for the Battle of Britain day, over Hyde Park, London. He saw how teenagers did not recognise the aircraft. In that same second, Fisz had a proposal for what became the film. Fisz raced to his office, and telephoned the film executive Freddy Thomas. Fisz asked Thomas if he had liked the film The Longest Day. Thomas said that The Longest Day had made much money. Fisz asked Thomas that if a similar film could be made about the Battle of Britain, that showed each side. Thomas said 'It would depend upon what the script was like'.

In March 1966, The Rank Organisation announced it would make nine films with a total cost of £7.5 million, of which it would provide £4 million. Two films were financed by Rank completely, a Norman Wisdom movie and a "doctor" comedy (Doctor on Toast which became Doctor in Trouble). The others were The Quiller Memorandum, Deadlier than the Male, Maroc 7, Red Hot Ferrari (never made), The Fifth Coin (never made), The Battle of Britain and The Long Duel.

In May 1966, Harry Saltzman telephoned Fisz, and asked about meeting over dinner that night. Fisz told Saltzman that he could find £1.5m for the film, and that the film would cost around £3.5m. Saltzmann said that he could find the required money. Saltzman approached Paramount, but that proposal never happened. By 1967, Fisz was receiving thousands of letters from around the world about the proposed film, with many containing money. The film's writers proposed to set up a fund.Sunday Mirror Sunday 17 August 1969 page 10

Script By the end of August 1967, a copy of the script was sent to Galland, to be 'checked'. Galland claimed that the description of the bombing by the Germans of civilians in London was a 'malicious distortion of the truth'.Sunday Mirror Sunday 31 August 1969 page 9 Oberst Hans Brustellin and Major Franz Frodel also advised. Former WAAF Squadron Officer Claire Legge, from East Sussex, gave the female military viewpoint. Claire had been at RAF Tangmere during the battle; her husband was Spitfire test pilot Jeffrey Quill.

Aircraft

The film required a large number of period aircraft. In September 1965, producers Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz contacted former RAF Bomber Command Group Captain T.G. 'Hamish' Mahaddie to find the aircraft and arrange their use.Hankin 1968, p. 48. Eventually 100 aircraft were employed, called the "35th largest air force in the world".Hankin 1968, p. 49. With Mahaddie's help, the producers located 109 Spitfires in the UK, of which 27 were available although only 12 could be made flyable. Mahaddie negotiated use of six Hawker Hurricanes, of which three were flying.Schnepf 1970, p. 25. The film helped preserve these aircraft, including a rare Spitfire Mk II which had been a gate guardian at RAF Colerne in Wiltshire.

During the actual aerial conflict, all RAF Spitfires were Rolls-Royce Merlin powered Spitfire Mk I and Mark II variants. However, only one Mk Ia and one Mk IIa (the latter with a Battle of Britain combat record) could be made airworthy, so the producers had to use seven other different marks, all of them built later in the war. To achieve commonality, the production made some modifications to "standardise" the Spitfires, including adding elliptical wingtips, period canopies and other changes.