Gladiators Of World War II

RAF Fighter Command (1x6)

Air date: Jan 19, 2002

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. In the skies over Southern England in the summer of 1940 the Gladiators of RAF Fighter Command duelled with the German Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. Winston Churchill called it Britains finest hour. Heavily outnumbered, Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires confronted Junkers Ju87 Stuka divebombers, Messerschmitt Me109 fighters over the English coast in one of the most crucial battles of World War II. To lose the battle would have meant Nazi invasion of the British Isles, and the end of the war. Led by Air Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, "The Few" successfully defended Britain against the Luftwaffe, who were superior in both numbers and pilot experience.This is the story of RAF Fighter Command. From its birth during World War Iαexpansion into World War II its crucial role at Dunkirk and the fight against Hitler's V-weapons. Former pilots remember some extraordinary stories from their battles with Goering's men, while archive footage brings the excitement and the terror of the dogfights back to life.