“I
have promised the Führer
that we will clear the skies and completely destroy the RAF. I expect
my orders to be obeyed!”
— Hermann
Göring, Battle
of Britain
(1969)
Few
episodes in history, let alone World War II, embody the determination
and victory of the underdog quite like the Battle of Britain. Fought
in the aftermath of France’s fall to Nazi armies in June 1940 and
the
escape
of British forces at the
“Miracle at
Dunkirk,”
the Royal Air Force’s stand against the Luftwaffe
turned
into a rallying point
a war many thought already lost. Iconic
images from the battle still resonate among history aficionados:
Spitfires and Hurricanes, Stukas, the tall metal towers of the Chain
Home radar stations, lines of contrails and smoke in the skies above
southern England, the faces of weary pilots, the London Blitz.
Immersing ourselves in the Battle of Britain can help us relate to
that struggle, a small island nation standing up to a continent
dominated by Nazi might, a handful of pilots and a steady stream of
aircraft production against clouds of Lufwaffe bombers and fighters,
the last free people of Europe holding out against cruel
dictatorship. Our cultural history has mythologized much of that
campaign,
but on a closer look,
watching films, reading books, and playing games, we can learn more about the real-life struggles people faced
and better appreciate the historical events those people survived.
