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Name::Ahmed Arshi
From::Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
A new filmmaker rising from the edge of the horizon.
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Sunday, July 31, 2005
Battle of BritainA major campaign of World War II, the Battle of Britain is the name for the attempt by Germany's Luftwaffe to gain air superiority of British airspace and destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF). Only after the RAF was knocked out could the Germans carry out a successful amphibious assault on the islands. Secondary objectives were to destroy aircraft production and intimidate the nation into neutrality or surrender. The campaign was launched as preparation for a planned invasion of Great Britain called Operation Sea Lion.
British historians state the battle ran from 10 July to 31 October 1940, which was the most intense period of daylight air raiding. However, German sources begin the battle in mid-August 1940 and end it in May 1941, on the withdrawal of the bomber units in preparation for the attack on Russia.
The RAF recognises 2440 British and 510 overseas pilots who flew at least one authorised operational sortie with an eligible unit of the Royal Air Force or Fleet Air Arm during the period 10 July to 31 October 1940. This group includes 139 Poles, 98 New Zealanders, 86 Canadians, 84 Czechoslovakians, 29 Belgians, 21 Australians, 20 South Africans, 13 French, 10 Irish, 7 Americans, a Jamaican, a Palestinian and a South Rhodesian. 498 RAF pilots were killed during the Battle.
The Battle of Britain was the first major battle to be fought entirely in the air. It was the largest and most sustained bombing campaign yet attempted and the first real test of the strategic bombing theories that had emerged since the previous World War.
