Forgotten Voices of the Blitz and the Battle for Britain

Forgotten Voices of the Blitz and the Battle for Britain Synopsis

Drawing material from the Imperial War Museum's extensive aural archive, Joshua Levine brings together voices from both sides of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain to give us a unique, complete and compelling picture of this turbulent time.

We hear from the soldiers, airmen, fire-fighters, air-raid wardens and civilians, people in the air and on the ground, on both sides of the battle, giving us a thrilling account of Britain under siege. This is the definitive oral history of a period when Britain came closer to being overwhelmed by the enemy than at any other time in modern history.

Dunkirk and the Threat of Invasion

On the day that Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister, Germany invaded Holland and Belgium. Despite all the efforts of the Allied armies, Hitler's powerful Panzer divisions smashed their way through to the French coast. For the retreating British Expeditionary Force, Dunkirk was the only practical point of departure, and on May 26th the order for total evacuation - Operation Dynamo - was given. Over succeeding days the 'miracle' of Dunkirk took place, and almost half a million troops were rescued from the beaches. Meanwhile in Britain belated preparations were going on for the expected invasion - the Battle for Britain had begun.