Churchill's Few: The Battle of Britain Remembered

The Germans had a great advantage at the start, with more-experienced pilots flying more, first-rate planes against ""an amateur, class-ridden gentlemen's air force.'' But the tactics employed by air marshals Dowding and Park, the use of radar and the bravery of a relative handful of RAF pilots resulted in one of the great victories of World War II. Willis, a British television producer, relates this thrilling story principally through the eyes of six men who flew the Spitfires, Hurricanes and Messerschmitts in the summer of 1940. Four are British, one is a Pole who joined the RAF, and one is a Luftwaffe pilot. All are presented as distinct individuals with different attitudes toward air combat. Geoffrey Page, for instance, becomes revenge-obsessed after being shot down; Cyril Bamberger sees the experience as ``continual chaos.'' The narrative includes a highly suspenseful account of the German pilot's escape attempts after he was downed in the final days of the battle. Photos. (November 10)