The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign of World War Two to be fought entirely by air forces. It had lasted 3 months and 3 weeks, from 10th July to 31st October 1940.  It had an unusual distinction - it gained its name prior to being fought. The name was derived from a famous speech by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the House of Commons on 18th June 1940:

"What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: 'This was their finest hour.'"

Source: The CHURCHILL CENTRE

There was written countless numbers of books about the Battle of Britain and in 1969 there was recorded also movie Battle of Britain directed by Guy Hamilton. This movie  became the cult classic. An interesting article about the Battle of Britain movie can be found in the Flig ht 1969.

Therefore this section is dedicated to commemorate only to the Czechoslovak fighter pilots who took the part in the Battle of Britain.