the Battle of England ( Battle off Britain ) is a British Film of war of Guy Hamilton left in 1969, recalling the most important air battle of the history, the Bataille of England.

Synopsis

In 1940, after the collapse of France, the the United Kingdom is the following target of the German S and RAF constitutes a thin stopping with hardly 600 hunters to be opposed to the thousands of apparatuses of Luftwaffe. After a short scene on the rout in France, the film begins on the preparations from defense on the airfields from RAF in the south from the England while, on the other side of the English Channel, in France, the Germans prepare the invasion.

The Germans organize an unloading of invasion and take for targets the ships in the Manche. In prelude to this invasion, the decision is made to attack the radar tracking stations and the aerodromes of the south of England in order to obtain the air superiority. The RAF counts then in its rows of many young people inexperienced recruits and abroad. The losses in material and especially as pilots are terrible for the United Kingdom and its aviation weakens day in day. But of the Polish pilots (and other nationalities, like the Czechs and discrete French) are launched in the battle. But a flotilla of German bombers is lost and taken for target London and hoping to touch some targets of occasion before withdrawing itself quickly towards its bases.

This error leads to the bombardment avenger of Berlin by the RAF. Hitler, furious, wants to then reduce to nothing the British capital and orders with its bombers to take the British cities for target. This decision slackens the pressure on the British aerodromes and thus makes it possible the RAF to reorganize and to attack the escadrilles bombers with more success. The Spitfire and Hurricane gain great victories and the German unloading is given to later. Hitler has other projects at the head. The attacks grow blurred and the United Kingdom is saved.

Comment

Entirely devoted to the escadrilles of hunting British, this film is in oneself exceptional because it exclusively has as high-speed motorboats the fighter pilots. This conflict is the first to put in scene only the air power. The film wants to be realistic for the time, and the planes want to be faithful, the Spitfire and Hurricane being apparatuses of time in-flight status, the reconstitution of the engagements in conformity with the historical events and the strategies of times while the use of models faithful to these apparatuses make illusion in the scenes of crash landing.

Impassioned of aeronautics will detect an anachronism all the same. Surely due to the fact that the true Messerschmitt Bf 109 E (hunter in service in Luftwaffe during this battle) in-flight status was then rare things during turning, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 of film are actually of Hispano 1112 " Buchon" , derived Spanish of Messerschmitt Bf 109G to engine Rolls-Royce Merlin (the engine of Spitfire and Hurricane!) who were in service until the years 1960. In spite of the attempt to make up these apparatuses in Bf109E, the cap very different from the " Buchon" and the features characteristic of the cells of Bf 109G compared to Bf 109E remain quite apparent. The same applies to the British hunters. For obvious reasons, the original models corresponding to the genuine apparatuses used during the Battle of England in 1940 (Spitfire Mk I and II and Hurricane Mk I) were very rare in 1969, thus the informed observer will note that the apparatuses used for film are as a majority of the Spitfire Mk IX or XIV. In the same way, the badge of unit of the German hunters is completely fictitious.

Criticism also reproached this film its doubling in sometimes doubtful French and his undifferentiated succession of aerial combats, the scenes sometimes several taken again times, scenes remaining nevertheless worships and having been partially taken again and having been remasterisées for Czech film Dark Blue World carried out by Jan Sverak in 2001.

Particular event

The British aeronautical medium reproaches this film the scene of destruction of a hangar on an aerodrome of the RAF. For the needs for this scene, one of the invaluable hangars dating from the First World War of the aerodrome of Duxford was really and voluntarily destroyed there.

Data sheet

August 1st

Distribution

External bond

  • '' the battle of England '' on Internet Movie Database

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