The Battle of Britain with War Historian Ted Barris

“Never in the field of human conflict…” are Winston Churchill’s words that set the 113 days of the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 apart from all others, as the greatest aerial battle in history. As the German Luftwaffe sought to destroy the Royal Air Force, gain air superiority, and invade the British Isles, Commonwealth fighter pilots scrambled from U.K. airfields day after day and flew Hurricane and Spitfire fighter aircraft to thwart Hitler’s plan. They won, but paid dearly.

Among the 2,937 aircrew in this first test of Allied skill, resilience, and courage, over 100 pilots flew with the “Canada” patch on their shoulder, and another 200 erks (ground crew) kept their fighters in the air. And Churchill orated that never was “… so much owed by so many to so few.”

In his 21st book of nonfiction, Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen Defending Britain in Her Darkest Hour, Ted Barris has assembled unknown stories of Canadian airmen, ground crew, as well as engineers, aeronautical designers and medical officers, who answered the call and turned back the very real threat of Nazi invasion. You know the outcome of the Battle of Britain, but now you’ll meet the Canadians who helped secure victory in this WWII life-and-death struggle.

Host or Publisher Algonquin College Waterfront Campus