But for a short time the engine kept going as I straightened out and dived into cloud, setting compass course shortly before the cockpit filled with white smoke which blotted out everything. That adventure ended my flying until 19 February 1941.’. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and government officials had at first predicted that it would only be possible to rescue around 45,000 men before German forces blocked further evacuations. He embraced director Werner Herzog's idea of "ecstatic truth" in fiction. RAF Fighter Command began to operate patrols from Boulogne to Dunkirk and the operations were to continue for the next nine days during the evacuation. I found myself alone, but with a pair of 109s circling above me left-handed whilst I was going right-handed. His first two years were spent with McCann relatives in the Isle of Manwhile his father, accompanied by Bader's mother and older brother Frederick (… German fighters ruled the air, enabling the Stuka dive-bombers and panzers to roam at will. In his combat report, Pilot Officer Michael Lyne described having seen ‘… one Spitfire hit by a cannon shell near the cockpit, on the port side…’ . The crew would reassure them that they had not. The Air (One Hour) Three Spitfire pilots fly over the sea to provide air support to the troops. Image source: Dilip Sarkar Archive. Yes. Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, Fighter Command alone lost 106 aircraft and somewhere between 75-80 pilots … -Daily Mail Online. Also Read: 'Dunkirk' Fact Check: How Many People Were Actually Rescued? Like the British soldier does in the movie, some of the men really did strip off their gear and try to make a lengthy swim toward the boats, while others went as far as trying to swim the English Channel, which was ultimately committing suicide. -Daily Mail Online. Back at Hornchurch, there was great excitement, as the Spitfires returned and ground crews clamoured around their pilots demanding news of the fight. This led the stranded soldiers, who were being strafed and bombed while awaiting rescue, to believe that the RAF wasn't doing enough to help. Director Nolan used Levine's Forgotten Voices in his research for the movie. British citizens helped to shatter that estimate by offering their own boats to help assist in the Dunkirk rescue. It is known simply as The Battle of Britain.Watch Now. The following day, the Dunkirk evacuation – Operation DYNAMO – began in earnest. He was captain of the battlecruiser Repulse, which was sunk by the Japanese after a commendable campaign. This is reflected in one of the film’s final lines spoken by an evacuated soldier who sees another evacuee with pilot’s wings. Flight Lieutenant Brian Lane – whose leadership of 19 Squadron during the Dunkirk fighting, after Stephenson was lost, was recognised with an early DFC. Then Stephenson told us to take a target each and fire. I was in a spin and was streaming glycol. The combined efforts of the Royal Navy, RAF and civilian ‘Little Ships’ had famously snatched a victory from the jaws of a catastrophic defeat – creating a legend, the ‘Miracle of Dunkirk’.if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyhit_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0')}; The BEF had, however, left behind 68,000 men, 40,000 of whom were prisoners of war, and 200 ships had been sunk. So it's not hard to imagine the outcome of the war shifting in Germany's favor. In the Dunkirk movie, the Royal Air Force pilot Farrier (Tom Hardy) engages in aerial battles to help prevent the Luftwaffe from assaulting the men stranded on the beach and sinking the boats in the water. For Fighter Command’s squadrons, the pressure was relentless. Approximately 11,000 British soldiers lost their lives during the evacuation from Dunkirk, also known as Operation Dynamo. Pilot Officer Lyne also saw ‘… another Spitfire going gently down with glycol vapour pouring from the starboard side of the engine’. The evacuation in the film was shot at the same historical Dunkirk location where the real evacuation took place. Its story is told primarily from the perspectives of two characters, a newspaper reporter named Charles Foreman (Bernard Lee) and a soldier named Corporal "Tubby" Binns (John Mills). Both German and British fighter pilots reported seeing Dunkirk from many miles away from the smoke from the oil tanks burning continuously in the harbour. What the book never foresaw was that we would attack Ju 87s at just 130 mph. In truth, pilots’ receptions were often far less kind. The next morning, the Squadron’s ground crews completed Daily Inspections of aircraft in the dark, and for pilots selected to fly that day, this was their big moment: the real chance of action at last, over the French coast.if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyhit_com-large-leaderboard-2-0')}; Amongst them was Pilot Officer Michael Lyne:if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyhit_com-leader-1-0')}; ‘On 26 May we were called upon to patrol over the beaches as a single squadron. An additional 40,000 soldiers were captured or imprisoned. No. 66 and No. The movie certainly makes this case, which adds to the intensity of the drama. It was largely because most of the dogfights unfolded far from the beaches. RAF Fighter … These soldiers were warned off at gunpoint. At 2330 hrs on 2 June 1940, the Senior Naval Officer Dunkirk, Captain Tennant, reported that the BEF had been successfully evacuated. During DYNAMO, it was almost impossible for patrols involving more than two squadrons to maintain contact and fight together. The inherent dangers were obvious and hardly conducive to preserving Air Chief Marshal Dowding’s precious Spitfire force. In analyzing the fact vs. fiction in the Dunkirk movie, we discovered that Britain really did hold back some of their ships and planes from assisting at Dunkirk. Spitfire! The CO led his Section, Pilot Officer Watson No 2 and me No. Still, the British managed to rescue approximately 338,000 soldiers from the beaches around Dunkirk, and Allied planes shot down 240 German aircraft. It proved to be one of the greatest military blunders of WW2, as most of the trapped men escaped across the English Channel to Britain. Image source: Dilip Sarkar Archive. Our tight formations were all very well for the Hendon Air Pageant but useless in combat. Featured Image Credit: 19 Squadron in action on 26 May 1940, painted by and courtesy of Barry Weekly. As before we were flying in the inflexible and outdated formation of “Vics of three”. Meanwhile Stephenson realised that we were closing far too fast. Image source: Dilip Sarkar Archive. Given that the German 20mm round hit ‘Watty’s’ Spitfire close to the cockpit, there is every possibility, of course, that the 21-year old pilot was wounded and unable to survive immersion in the cold sea. Much in the same vein as Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, director Christopher Nolan chose to create fictional characters for his film. Prepare to attack!” then to us “Red Section, throttling back, throttling back.”, We were virtually formating on the last section of Ju 87s – at an incredibly dangerous speed in the presence of enemy fighters – and behind us the rest of 19 Squadron staggered along at a similar speed. Indeed, more than half of Dowding’s fighters had been lost fighting over France. The first signs were mysterious little corkscrews of smoke passing my starboard wing. The Germans destroyed 177 Allied aircraft and sunk more than 200 ships, including six British and three French destroyers. ‘Alas my friend Watson was never seen again. I will always remember heading off to the east and seeing the columns of black smoke from the Dunkirk oil storage tanks. Located at the northern tip of France near the border with Belgium, Dunkirk sits on the English Channel at one of the waterway's narrowest points. Yes, just one, the 1958 British war movie Dunkirk starring Richard Attenborough, John Mills and Bernard Lee. I remember his call “Number 19 Squadron! Pilot Officer Michael Lyne. Today, his grave can be found at Calais Canadian Cemetery. The German fighters had disappeared so I flew to take the circle at the head-on position and gave it a long squirt. The Spitfire is one of the most iconic images of British success in the skies during the Second World War. According the book RAF Fighter Pilots in WWII, by Martin Bowman, veterans have described gliding with a dead-engined Spitfire for more than 15 miles (Dunkirk… The RAF Service Dress Jacket was worn when the fighter pilot wearing it was shot down and wounded on 29 May 1940. Also, each shot down no less that three enemy aircraft that day. The squadron leader, plus pilots Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden), spot ME 109 German fighter planes in the sky and go after them. Dunkirk (2017) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Essential to the evacuation’s success was the contribution made by Air Vice-Marshal Park and his fighter squadrons – but the RAF effort was much criticised at the time. Former Navy fighter pilot Matthew "Whiz" Buckley breaks down more flying scenes from movies, including 'Dunkirk,' 'Independence Day' and 'Iron Eagle. Yes. In it is a color plate (profile) of a Spitifre that landed on the beach during the evacuation at Dunkirk due to battle damage. In a few seconds the engine seized and I became an efficient glider. However, in the same speech, Churchill also cautioned, "We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Technically, Tuck and Deere were “only” the first Spitfire aces. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wing Commander Robert Roland Stanford Tuck, DSO, DFC & Two Bars, AFC (1 July 1916 – 5 May 1987) was a British fighter pilot, flying ace and test pilot. Image source: Dilip Sarkar Archive. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) went to France to help the country defend against the Germans, who invaded the Netherlands and Belgium on May 10, 1940. Sadly, Pilot Officer Watson became 19 Squadron’s first combat casualty of the Second World War when shot down over Dunkirk on 26 May 1940. The book relays eyewitness accounts that were shared by both veterans and civilians. Three evacuation routes were used, with the shortest being 39 nautical miles and taking roughly 2 hours to reach the stranded soldiers on the beaches. What Was the Impact of the Suez Canal and Why Is It so Important? The 19-year-old fighter pilot then set fire to his 'kite' with a flare gun and watched it burn to stop the Germans getting their hands on a Spitfire. Squadron leader Kenny Hart crash-landed his Spitfire on the beaches of Dunkirk following a dogfight with the Luftwaffe in May 1940. I broke away sharpish – and lost him. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson aligned us for an attack in sections of three on the formations of Ju 87s. Image source: Dilip Sarkar Archive. The Stuka dive bombers were not able to perform as impressively as depicted in the film. Adapted from Spitfire! It was evidence that air power alone could not single-handedly eradicate ground forces. At the time of the Dunkirk evacuation, the United States had not yet entered the war, and without the military might of Britain still in place, success on the European front would have been far less likely. The boats, which included everything from small boats to large pleasure yachts, were often manned by the members of the Royal Navy. After the water supply was knocked out, fires burned uncontrollably. Kenny Hart is thought to have been the WWII pilot behind Tom Hardy's role in Dunkirk But unlike Hardy's character who was taken prisoner, Sq Ldr Hart was able to get on a … In this episode, Victor talks about what it was like to be in Dresden during the bombings, and the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) he suffered as a result of his wartime experiences. During our research into the true story behind the Dunkirk movie, we learned that German bombardment had left much of the town of Dunkirk in ruins as Nazi forces closed in. Indeed, given that these fighters were actually intended to be short-range interceptors, with limited range, the RAF fighters would only have fuel for a maximum of 40 minutes patrolling.if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyhit_com-box-4-0')}; The man entrusted with coordinating and controlling Fighter Command’s contribution was 11 Group’s commander: Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park – and what he was about to do was unprecedented. Though this has been a subject of debate among historians, many believe that the reason Hitler halted his ground forces was because of Nazi commander Hermann Göring, who was the head of the Luftwaffe, Germany's air force. There was also a concern that the marshy ground around Dunkirk might be difficult for tanks. On the wing sits their commanding officer, Squadron Leader, R F Boyd, with the squadron mascot “Crash”. Flight Lieutenant Lane: one Ju 87 and one Me 109 (probable). Then I heard a slow “thump, thump”, and realised that I was being attacked by a 109 firing machine-guns with tracer and its cannon banging away. Copyright © 2021 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media, Yes, but it wasn't because the British airmen weren't helping. He must have thought I was gone for good. At the same time, three German Panzer corps pushed rapidly into France through the rugged terrain of the Ardennes Forest. In all, around 90,000 Allied soldiers were either wounded, killed or taken prisoner. And it is the Supermarine Spitfire that is at the heart of Dunkirk’s tour de force aerial sequences. Tuck joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1935 and first engaged in … The best way to maintain that structure was to create fictional characters who could be utilized freely for the greatest benefit of the story. Alas for him we were coming, by sheer chance, from Dunkirk rather than Ramsgate. No. Two Spitfires were missing: Squadron Leader Stephenson’s N3200 and Pilot Officer Watson’s N3237. 3. Had the approximate 338,000 rescued Allied soldiers been instead killed or taken prisoner by Germany, there would be that many less soldiers to return to Britain and continue fighting in Europe. Men who were there recalled not being proud of such moments, but it was hard to resist when everyone was so desperate to survive. This allowed British rescue vessels, including private boats and yachts, to reach France in less time. Two days later, Lord Gort received permission from London to execute the unthinkable: evacuate his BEF from the port and beaches around Dunkirk. 19th May 2020 at 1:52pm An item of clothing worn by a fighter pilot shot down over Dunkirk in World War Two has been added to the Imperial War Museum’s collection. However, while exploring the Dunkirk true story, we learned that in many cases, due to a shortage of naval personnel, the owners of the boats took them to Dunkirk themselves. The Stukas were from 3/StG76, which, according to German records, lost four Ju 87s destroyed. They wanted to be prepared for a German invasion of Britain and their primary means of defense was the Royal Navy. As far as I know we got the last three, we could hardly have done otherwise, then we broke away and saw nothing of the work by the rest of the Squadron – but it must have been dodgy as the 109s started to come around. Suddenly we saw ahead, going towards Calais where the Rifle Brigade was holding out, about 40 German aircraft. Geoffrey Stephenson was a prime example: without modern combat experience he flew exactly by the book – and was in effect shot down by it’. RAF pilots like the fictional character Farrier (Tom Hardy) flew Spitfire and Hurricane fighters and attacked approaching German fighter planes in an effort to protect the Allied soldiers on the beaches until they could be rescued. The leader dropped his nose as I pulled up mine and fired. In the film, Hardy engages in a dogfight and finds his fuel gauge has been cracked. Flight Lieutenant Clouston: two Ju 87 certain. The System of Fighter Control only provided a radar network for the defence of Britain, its stations incapable of gathering data from as far away as Dunkirk and beyond.if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyhit_com-medrectangle-4-0')}; Dowding knew how exhausting the battle ahead would be for his pilots: as they could not predict or have early warning of an enemy attack it would be necessary to fly as many standing patrols as possible. He radios to his fellow pilot … On 10 May 1940, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. "By using fiction, I was able to explain various aspects of what happened in Dunkirk more efficiently and with more emotional clarity than by just following strict facts.". Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Yes. Pilots were forced to battle the Germans over the sea, leaving the aircraft with little or no fuel left to continue onto France. In addition, German ground forces needed time to rest and regroup after suffering heavy losses during the invasion of France. if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyhit_com-leader-3-0')}; History Hit brings you the stories that shaped the world through our award winning podcast network and an online history channel. That film was based on two novels about Operation Dynamo, Elleston Trevor's The Big Pick-Up and Lt. Col. Ewan Hunter and Maj. J. S. Bradford's book Dunkirk. They thought we were their fighter escort, but the leader had been very clever and had pulled his formation away towards England, so that when they turned in towards Calais he would protect their rear. Another hugely significant factor in the fighting over Dunkirk would be that the British fighters were unassisted by radar. (In the background) Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 No. For many, it wasn't until they got back to Britain that they realized the country saw their survival as something worth celebrating. It is likely that the movie's Commander Bolton (Kenneth Branagh) was inspired by the real-life Captain William Tennant, who arrived on the beaches of Dunkirk via the destroyer HMS Wolfhound. 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