Battle of Britain (film)

"[Watching a massive Luftwaffe bomber force heading for England] My God, if we lose the war now... they'll tear our arses asunder!"

"I have promised the Fuehrer that we will clear the skies and completely destroy the RAF. I expect my orders to be obeyed!"

"[To his officers, upon learning of the Battle of Britain's failure and Operation Sea-Lion's cancellation] You have let me down! You have betrayed me!"

"[briefing RAF senior officers assigned to oversee ground control stations] Or, in other words, beware of the Hun in the sun- who, for reasons best known to himself, has confined his recent attacks to our Channel convoys. However, this won't last forever. But it has given us time to pull ourselves together and train people like you. Now, as fighter controllers, you'll be joining an organization which, thank the good Lord, was not rushed up hastily yesterday. It'll be a pain in the neck to the enemy when he comes. It's the joker up our sleeves. [points to chalkboard] Now, the RDF chain shows us where they are. The information is passed to Group. Group scrambles the necessary squadrons, and you, at Sector level, guide our chaps to the interception. It's been tried and tested. It works, so don't blame the system if you're no good. [details map] Now, clearly, 11 Group here will bear the brunt of the battle, as those of you who are posted there will find out, to your discomfort. Twelve Group is our second line of defense, and covers the industrial Midlands and the North. Thirteen Group, Scotland and the Northeast, and 10 Group, the west of England. More than half the Fighter Command squadrons are stationed here at 11 Group, near the coast, where we expect the invasion, and also able to protect London, which is as far as the bombers can get with fighter escort. But I think we can leave strategy to those with egg on their hats."

"[Narrating a letter he has written] To the permanent Secretary of State for Air... Sir, I have the honour to refer to the very serious calls which have recently been made upon Fighter Command in an attempt to stem the German invasion of the Continent. I hope and believe that our armies may yet be victorious in France and Belgium, but we have to face the possibility that they may be defeated. In this case, I presume that there is no one who would deny that England should fight on, even though the remainder of the continent of Europe is dominated by the Germans. I must therefore request that not one more fighter be sent across the Channel. If the home defence is drained away in desperate attempts to remedy the situation in France, defeat in France will involve the final, complete, and irremediable defeat of this country. I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant, H.C.T. Dowding."

"Laurence Olivier - Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding"

"Trevor Howard - Air Vice-Marshal Sir Keith Park"

"Patrick Wymark - Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory,"

"Christopher Plummer - Canadian fighter pilot"

"Susannah York - Maggie Harvey"

"Michael Caine - Squadron Leader Canfield"

"Ralph Richardson - Sir David Kelly"

"Robert Shaw - Squadron Leader Skipper"

"Ian McShane - Andy"

"Kenneth More - Barker"

"Edward Fox - Pilot Officer Archie."

"Michael Redgrave as Air Vice-Marshal Douglas Evill"

"Harry Andrews - Churchill's Military Envoy"

"Bill Foxley as Squadron Leader Evans"

"Jean Wladon as Jean-Jacques"

"Curt Jürgens - Baron von Richter"

"Hein Riess - Hermann Göring"

"Manfred Reddemann - Major Falke,"

"Wilfried von Aacken - Gen. Osterkamp"

"Karl-Otto Alberty - Gen. Jeschonnek"

"Helmut Kircher - Boehm"

"Alexander Allerson - Major Brandt"

"Paul Neuhaus - Major Föehn"

"Dietrich Frauboes - Field Marshal Milch"

"Malte Petzel - Beppo Schmid"

"Alf Jungermann - Brandt's navigator"

"Peter Hager - Albert Kesselring"

"Wolf Harnisch - General Fink"

"Rolf Stiefel - Adolf Hitler"