Our future truly hung in balance

The dramatic events of 1940, when Britain was facing the threat of imminent invasion, will be remembered this year by those who lived through and fought during our country's "Finest Hour". It was a time when the future of the free world truly hung in the balance. The miracle evacuation from Dunkirk in late May and early June saved thousands of men, giving them the chance to fight another day, but left the British Army ill-prepared to confront a rampant Wehrmacht riding high on a tide of victories. But Operation Sealion, the German codename for their planned seaborn invasion would not be possible without air supremacy over the Channel and southern England.

In that fateful summer of 1940 only the RAF could thwart the Luftwaffe's ambitions. Fortunately for everyone who lived through these times and for all of us today, in "The Few" the RAF had the right men at the right time. Even more tellingly they had the right aircraft and the men to maintain them. However without the network of Royal Observer Corps posts, Anti-Aircraft Command, RAF Balloon Command, the radar stations and the highly secret Ultra intelligence intercepts, their task would have been much more difficult, if not impossible.

At the outset, Fighter Command, commanded by Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, could only muster 347 Hurricanes and 199 Spitfires, in contrast, the Luftwaffe held 2,600 aircraft in readiness for the battle. The first phase of The Battle of Britain opened on July 10 when the Luftwaffe began attacking south coast ports and Channel shipping. The see-saw aerial fighting raged throughout the summer and the high altitude vapour trails criss-crossed the skies of southern England. Adler Tag - Eagle Day - was August 13 when no less than 1,485 German sorties were mounted in a bid to finally subdue Fighter Command. Dogfights ensued right along the coast as far as the south west. 46 German aircraft were shot down that day compared to the loss of 13 RAF fighters. The fight continued until early September, with Fighter Command near to breaking point due to sheer attrition and exhaustion. Then the Luftwaffe Chief Goering made the fateful decision to switch the main attack from airfields to British cities giving the RAF a respite and the chance to regroup and recover. On September 17, a frustrated Hitler postponed the invasion until further notice and turned his attention to the east and Russia. It effectively signalled the end of The Battle of Britain.

RAF losses in The Battle of Britain amounted to 915 aircraft, against 1,733 of all types by the Luftwaffe, with Fighter Command casualties amounting to 507 killed and some 500 wounded. All were honoured forever by Winston Churchill, when he spoke in the House of Commons on August 20, 1940, and said: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."