Battle of Britain (1969) - Quotes

German: Alexander Allerson - Major Brandt

German: Helmut Kircher - Boehm

German: [[w:Theo Osterkamp|Gen. Osterkamp] Wilfried von Aacken - ]

German: Manfred Reddemann - Major Falke,

German: [[Hermann Göring] Hein Riess - ]

German: [[w:Curt Jürgens|Curt Jürgens] ] - Baron von Richter

Commonwealth: Jean Wladon as Jean-Jacques

Commonwealth: [[w:Bill Foxley|Bill Foxley] ] as Squadron Leader Evans

Commonwealth: [[w:Harry Andrews|Harry Andrews] ] - Churchill's Military Envoy

Commonwealth: [[w:Edward Fox (actor)|Edward Fox] ] - Pilot Officer Archie.

Commonwealth: [[w:Kenneth More|Kenneth More] ] - Barker

Commonwealth: [[w:Robert Shaw (British actor)|Robert Shaw] ] - Squadron Leader Skipper

Commonwealth: [[Michael Caine] ] - Squadron Leader Canfield

Commonwealth: [[w:Susannah York|Susannah York] ] - Maggie Harvey

Commonwealth: [[w:Christopher Plummer|Christopher Plummer] ] - Canadian fighter pilot

Commonwealth: [[w:Patrick Wymark|Patrick Wymark; [w:Trafford Leigh-Mallory|Trafford Leigh-Mallory] ] - Air Vice-Marshal ],

Commonwealth: [[w:Trevor Howard|Trevor Howard; [w:Keith Park|Keith Park] ] - Air Vice-Marshal Sir ]

Commonwealth: [[Laurence Olivier; [w:Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding|Hugh Dowding] ] - Air Chief Marshal Sir ]

Polish RAF Pilot: Goot- af-ter-noon.

Farmer: [Gesturing with his pitchfork] Good afternoon" my arse, you Boche bastard. Come on, put your hands up.

Polish RAF Pilot: [confused] Why?

Farmer: [gesturing again] Come on, put em up!

Polish RAF Pilot: I'm a Polish pilot, I'm fighting on your side!

Farmer: Cor blimey- get em up! Let's go!

Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering: From now on, the fighters shall stay with the bombers.

Luftwaffe officer: And lose the advantage of speed and surprise?

Goering: [starts to leave, then turns around; Major Föehn stands at attention] You will obey orders! The invasion cannot begin until we have cleared the skies. Come, my friends - I have chastised you enough. I am here to help. Anything you need? Föehn? Falke?

Major Falke: [snaps at attention] Yes, Herr Reichsmarschall. Give me a squadron of Spitfires.

Boy 1: Messerschmitts!

Boy 2: Einkels!

Boy 1: Messerschmitts!

Boy 2: No they ain't, they're Einkels!

Squadron Leader Skipper: Where are you taking those vultures?

RAF NCO: Officers to the mess, NCOs to the guard room, sir.

Squadron Leader Skipper: [turning and gesturing to the ruined field] Like hell you are. They're responsible for all that , get em to clear it up!

RAF NCO: But, what about the officers, sir?

Squadron Leader Skipper: Give em a bloody shovel!

Senior civil servant: Damn it, man, we've got 650 planes!

Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding: And they have... 2,500 aircraft, haven't they?

Senior civil servant: But, they've got to cross the Channel first! And we have radar! Churchill puts great faith in radar.

Dowding: It's vital, but it won't shoot down aircraft.

Senior civil servant: [mildly annoyed] Well, I must say, you don't exactly exude a spirit of optimism.

Dowding: God willing we will hold out, Minister.

Senior civil servant: I see. So I'm to tell the Cabinet, that you're trusting in radar and praying to God, is that right?

Dowding: [chuckles] More accurately the other way round. Trusting in God and praying for radar. But the essential arithmetic is that our young men will have to shoot down their young men at the rate of four to one, if we're to keep pace at all.

RAF Sergeant: Undercarriage lever a bit sticky, was it, sir?

Simon: [relieved] Well, yes, as a matter of fact, it was!

RAF Sergeant: Well, I wouldn't tell the CO that, sir. Not if I were you.

Andy: You can teach...

Andy and Archie: Monkeys to fly better than that!

Baron von Richter: Sir David, I'm again instructed to inform you that the Fuehrer wishes to avoid further bloodshed. England is not our natural enemy, and he offers guarantees for the British Empire if you give Germany a free hand in Europe. Goering and his Luftwaffe would like to flatten London, as a prelude to invasion.

Sir David Kelly: [Adding sugar to tea] It's two lumps you take, isn't it?

Von Richter: What's left of your army abandoned its weapons at Dunkirk. You're defenseless and just playing for time! We know the moves you're making in Washington. And we know the Americans won't be drawn in. Their embassy in London gives you two weeks.

Kelly: So what's stopping you?

Von Richter: Look, David; the Fuehrer is being very reasonable. He offers guarantees-

Kelly: Experience shows the Fuehrer's "guarantees" guarantee nothing.

Von Richter: What about Churchill? After our last appeal, what do we hear? "We will fight them on the beaches." With what?

Kelly: Winston gets carried away sometimes.

Von Richter: [smugly] With liquid courage. That's what they tell me.

Kelly: [coldly] Clearly, you don't know him.

Von Richter: David, we are not asking for anything. Europe is ours! We can walk into Britain whenever we like!

Kelly: [[Napoleon|The ''last'' little Corporal; Rising from his chair, Sir David faces Baron von Richter, visibly angry] If you think we're going to gamble on Herr Hitler's "guarantees", you're making a grave mistake. All those years in England seems to have left you none the wiser. We're not easily frightened. Also we know how hard it is for an army to cross the Channel. ] who tried came a cropper. So don't threaten or dictate to us until you're marching up Whitehall! And even then we won't listen!

Von Richter: Heil Hitler.

Kelly: [stirs his tea absentmindedly] It's unforgivable. I lost my temper. And the maddening thing is that he's right. We're on our own. We've been playing for time. And it's running out!

British Soldier: Who the ell's he tryin to kid?

Squadron Leader Harvey: What the hell was that? One wrong twitch and you'd have been spread all over a field like strawberry jam. Never again, clear?

Jamie: I thought it might buck up the civilians!

Harvey: Oh, for God's sake, Jamie! Give your brain a chance!

Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh C.T. Dowding: [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.

Group Captain Barker: [briefing RAF senior officers assigned to oversee ground control stations; points to chalkboard; details map; [w:RAF Fighter Command|Fighter Command] 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. 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. 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 ] 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.

Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering: [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!

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

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