Winston Churchill's Battle of Britain 'Few' remembered

We are saw the Winston Churchill's Battle of Britain 'Few' remembered

The 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain is being commemorated by a reading of one of Churchill's most famous speeches and a fly-past.

Winston Churchill's "so much owed by so many to so few" speech will be read at 1552 BST, precisely 70 years after he gave the address in Parliament.

The reading outside the Churchill War Rooms will be followed by a Spitfire and Hurricane fly-past over Whitehall.

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The RAF defeat of the Luftwaffe is seen as a turning point in World War II.

German advantage
Adolf Hitler had Britain in his sights after the evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk in June 1940.

But Britain retained naval superiority and Hitler knew that an amphibious invasion would be made easier if Germany could establish control of the air in the battle zone.

The Luftwaffe had the clear advantage - 750 long-range and 250 dive bombers, 600 single-engined and 150 twin-engined fighters - significantly more than RAF Fighter Command's 600 planes.

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The speech is today considered a defining moment of the conflict and one of Churchill's most emotive and stirring pronouncements”

Phil Reed
Churchill War Rooms director
The Battle of Britain began on 10 July 1940 and ended on 31 October and despite the German advantage, the Luftwaffe were pushed back by the determination and preparedness of the RAF.

More than 2,900 British, Commonwealth and Allied aircrew took part.

One in three of these young men - the average age of a pilot was 22 - was either killed or wounded.

The pilots were assisted significantly by the availability of radar and by the efforts of the ground crew, observers, plotters and commanders in Operations Headquarters.

'Spirit of a nation'
The bravery of the RAF pilots was captured in then Prime Minister Winston Churchill's speech on 20 August 1940 when he said: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

Phil Reed, director of Churchill War Rooms, said: "In this speech, Churchill epitomised his ability to capture in the most stirring way the spirit of a nation fighting for its existence, as Britain stood firm against the Nazi war machine.

"Now part of the general folklore of the battle, the speech is today considered a defining moment of the conflict and one of Churchill's most emotive and stirring pronouncements."

The commemorative speech reading and fly-past at Whitehall will be attended by battle veterans.

In addition to the fly-past over Whitehall on Friday, during the day the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster planes will also tour key Battle of Britain fighter bases across south-east England.
Coppied by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11026119