The British War film Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969), produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz, is a historical reenactment of the air war in the early days of World War Two. In 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle for control of the skies over Britain as the new Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force determine whether or not an invasion can take place. The film drew many respected British actors to accept roles as key figures of the battle, including Sir Laurence Olivier as Hugh Dowding and Trevor Howard as Keith Park. It also starred Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer and Robert Shaw as Squadron Leaders. Spitfire productions produced a series of 32 postcards of the film.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus, no. L6/8699, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption Sir Laurence Olivier in his role as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding in the film Battle of Britain. Dowding, now Lord Dowding, was Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command from 1936-1940 and one of the chief architects of Britain's victory.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8700, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Trevor Howard as Vice-Marshal Keith Park in the film Battle of Britain. Park was Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group, based at Uxbridge, which controlled Britain's southern sector against attacks from the Luftwaffe.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8701, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Kenneth More, one of Britain's truly international stars, portrays Station Commander Baker in the film Battle of Britain.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8702, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Patrick Wymark as Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory in the film Battle of Britain. Leigh-Mallory was Air Officer Commanding No. 12 Group, based in the Midlands, and was one of the originators of the Big Wing air tactics in the fight against the Luftwaffe. He was killed in active service in 1944.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8703, 1969. Photo: David James. Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: No factual names are given to the pilots in the film of Battle of Britain. Playing Squadron Leader Skipper, a veteran of the R.A.F.'s withdrawal from France and later one of the aces in the Battle, is famous actor and author Robert Shaw.
The script of Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969) 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 an 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, on a far grander scale than had been seen on film before. These made the film's production very expensive.
Filming in England was at Duxford, Debden, North Weald and Hawkinge, all operational stations in 1940 – one surviving First World War 'Belfast' hangar at Duxford was blown up and demolished for the Eagle Day sequence.
Some filming also took place at Bovingdon, a former wartime bomber airfield. The title-sequence scene, showing a review of German bombers on the ground by Fieldmarshal Milch, was filmed at Tablada Airfield in Spain (now San Pablo Airport).
Stunt coordinator Wilson Connie Edwards retained a Mark IX Spitfire, six Buchons, and a P-51 Mustang in lieu of payment, which were stored in Texas until sold to collectors in 2014.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8705, 1969. Photo: David James / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Appearing in uniform for the first time in the film Battle of Britain is lovely Susannah York. She portrays Section Officer Maggie Harvey, one of the W.A.A.F. heroines of the sixteen weeks summer battle of 1940.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8717, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: The Luftwaffe raiders score a direct hit on one of Britain's airfields in this scene from Battle of Britain. Despite the tremendous onslaught the Germans only managed to put one airfield permanently out of action - Manston in Kent.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8719, 1969. Photo: Lee Battaglia / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Sheets of flame soar towards the sky when an R.A.F. hangar is bombed during an attack on a British airfield. A scene from the film Battle of Britain, an epic re-construction of that awe-inspiring summer of 1940.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8727, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: St. Katharine Docks near East Smithfield, London was the scene for the dockland inferno featured in Battle of Britain. In September 1940, St. Katharine's suffered heavily in the German bombing.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8730, 1969. Photo: David James / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Firefighters battle against a blazing street during a Blitz sequence from Battle of Britain.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus, no. L6/8699, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption Sir Laurence Olivier in his role as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding in the film Battle of Britain. Dowding, now Lord Dowding, was Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command from 1936-1940 and one of the chief architects of Britain's victory.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8700, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Trevor Howard as Vice-Marshal Keith Park in the film Battle of Britain. Park was Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group, based at Uxbridge, which controlled Britain's southern sector against attacks from the Luftwaffe.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8701, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Kenneth More, one of Britain's truly international stars, portrays Station Commander Baker in the film Battle of Britain.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8702, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Patrick Wymark as Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory in the film Battle of Britain. Leigh-Mallory was Air Officer Commanding No. 12 Group, based in the Midlands, and was one of the originators of the Big Wing air tactics in the fight against the Luftwaffe. He was killed in active service in 1944.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8703, 1969. Photo: David James. Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: No factual names are given to the pilots in the film of Battle of Britain. Playing Squadron Leader Skipper, a veteran of the R.A.F.'s withdrawal from France and later one of the aces in the Battle, is famous actor and author Robert Shaw.
The cancellation of Hitler's Operation Sea Lion
The script of Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969) 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 an 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, on a far grander scale than had been seen on film before. These made the film's production very expensive.
Filming in England was at Duxford, Debden, North Weald and Hawkinge, all operational stations in 1940 – one surviving First World War 'Belfast' hangar at Duxford was blown up and demolished for the Eagle Day sequence.
Some filming also took place at Bovingdon, a former wartime bomber airfield. The title-sequence scene, showing a review of German bombers on the ground by Fieldmarshal Milch, was filmed at Tablada Airfield in Spain (now San Pablo Airport).
Stunt coordinator Wilson Connie Edwards retained a Mark IX Spitfire, six Buchons, and a P-51 Mustang in lieu of payment, which were stored in Texas until sold to collectors in 2014.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8705, 1969. Photo: David James / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Appearing in uniform for the first time in the film Battle of Britain is lovely Susannah York. She portrays Section Officer Maggie Harvey, one of the W.A.A.F. heroines of the sixteen weeks summer battle of 1940.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8717, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: The Luftwaffe raiders score a direct hit on one of Britain's airfields in this scene from Battle of Britain. Despite the tremendous onslaught the Germans only managed to put one airfield permanently out of action - Manston in Kent.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8719, 1969. Photo: Lee Battaglia / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Sheets of flame soar towards the sky when an R.A.F. hangar is bombed during an attack on a British airfield. A scene from the film Battle of Britain, an epic re-construction of that awe-inspiring summer of 1940.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8727, 1969. Photo: Robert Penn / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: St. Katharine Docks near East Smithfield, London was the scene for the dockland inferno featured in Battle of Britain. In September 1940, St. Katharine's suffered heavily in the German bombing.
British postcard by Dixon-Lotus Production, no. L6/8730, 1969. Photo: David James / Spitfire Productions Ltd. Publicity still for Battle of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969). Caption: Firefighters battle against a blazing street during a Blitz sequence from Battle of Britain.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
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