homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Battle of Britain + Battle of Britain II Here's what happened (Continued)

Folks,

Bader and OSRAM:

Thanks for reading my story and for your comments. It was indeed an ugly business. What courage these men, boys really, must have had to risk such horrors? This was true on both sides. I suppose they found the courage to go up again and again for the same reason the foot soldier was able to rush into the teeth of a machine gun. They did it because of and for each other.

Most first world war pilots had even more cause to fear flames in the cockpit. They had no parachutes. The ace Lufberry loved to shoot down his adversaries in flames. What was it he was quoted as saying? Snap, sizzle, pop or something like that? Anyway he swore he would never die by flame. When his time came he jumped rather that suffer the fate of so many of his own victims.

I have both those books you mention and enjoy reading them over and over as the years go by. I have commented on the book about the film several times already. My copy of "The Battle of Britain the making of the film" by Loenard Mosely is in almost mint condition. It was printed by Ballantine and purchased by me in 1969. Soft cover but lots of nice photos. I even find I have kept the register receipt for some reason. I paid just 95 cents. Way back then before DOS was even a twinkle in Bill's eye I just dreamed of such things as the BoB BDG version we have today. The nearest thing available to me was a boxed board game from Avalon Hill titled "Luftwaffe".

Galland wrote in a letter: "Already when reading the script for information,one gets the impression that here again the chance is spoiled to make a 'true fliers', or better still, fighter pilot's film. What is planned is one of the usual solemn hero-worshiping films on the war with which the public is so fed up. The only attraction of the film might be found in the planned fights in the air, if they can be realized."

Later he writes .... "The characters in the film do not know what fear is..."

At on critical point Galland stormed off the set and flew back to Germany vowing to go to the press and trash the film because of a scene in which several Luftwaffe General officers are seen giving Goring a NAZI salute.

After the dust had settled and the producers had flatly refused to remove the scene Galland finally returned and finished out the filming as a credited military adviser. His name in the credits gave the film quite a boost particularly in Germany.

Speaking of such awful things, I saw a magazine photo once of a NC Highway Patrolman who was at the scene of a terrible automobile accident. A man was trapped inside his crushed and mangled car. The car was ablaze. The patrolman was unable to help the man so he was desperately attempting to pass his service revolver to the doomed and screaming individual before the flames reached him. Terrible.