Cassell Military Classics: Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain [Paperback]

Richard Collier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000 | Series: Cassell Military Paperbacks

Collier's chronicle of the Battle of Britain, drawing heavily on eyewitness accounts from RAF and Luftwaffe combatants, gives a compelling account of history in the making. Over the English Channel, across southern Britain, and into the heart of the savagely fought confrontation, go where the commanders made their decisions, along with those who fought and experienced this tumultuous time. Trace the course of actions as they unfolded between August and mid-September 1940--a brief period that helped determine the world's fate.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Highly praised and fast-moving narrative of history in the making* Launch title in the new military history paperback collection* Published to commemorate

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Cassell (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304352365
• ISBN-13: 978-0304352364
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,732,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb un-put-down-able-er of that special English Autumn, February 3, 2004

By 

patrick (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cassell Military Classics: Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain (Paperback)

Superb account of the battle from initial stages through the height and climax of the battle, I loved the countless anecdotes, some funny, some sad, some grim, some victory, some defeat, some life, some death, one German fighter pilot in deep trouble in his twin-engined Messerschmitt belly-lands at an English farm, but ploughs into the farmhouse killing most of the family, including children, the pilot is in tears and inconsolable, and comforted by surrounding residents who race to the scene.

At an RAF fighter-field, a Dornier bomber bellies in shot-up by British fighters, grinds to a metallic halt. An RAF ground officer cautious but intrigued approaches the eerily still wreck, looks up to find himself staring from metres away at the wrong end of one of the bombers machine-guns in the cockpit, and a German rear-gunners face squinting through the cross-hairs gunsight at him. The RAF man freezes, believing this is his final moment, but nothing happens- the gunner has been hit and killed instantly during the fight above, and is still manning his gun defending his aircraft, frozen in his final living pose.
A Polish RAF pilot shoots down another Dornier bomber filled with the hated Nazi occupiers and torturers of his homeland, follows it closely as it makes a skilful crash landing, and sees survivors inside the bomber scrambling to exit and safety. The Polish pilot sees no reason there should be any escape from his victim, and puts a long carefully-aimed burst into the wrecked bombers cockpit- there will be no live Luftwaffe prisoners for the Home Guard and British Army to round up this time.
Another German bomber ploughs in stricken elsewhere and its men receives different treatment from the defenders- RAF pilots and ground-crew leap from cover on the still under-attack airfield and prize their way into the aircraft to rescue the trapped German airmen inside struggling to escape the burning wreck- at this moment, with these men they have minutes ago fought and tried to kill, there are no Germans, no British, no enemies, just fellow pilots and the universal horror of airmen trapped burning in aeroplanes.
An Me109 with with Luftwaffe 'Experten' aboard comes upon a frantically-climbing Hurricane squadron from the 5## Auxiliary Air Force units, unaware of the Germans presence, the Hurricanes climb serenely in line astern, the German begins with the rearmost man, picks off 4 of the Hurricanes and sends them flaming, while the rest of the squadron continue climbing oblivious to the rape of the squadron behind them.....

New Zealand RAF legend and daredevil Al Deere's Spitfire is bombed by a Stuka while taking off,the Spitfire flips upside down, fuselage snapped in two, Deere dangles inverted from his straps, unable to free himself, almost unharmed but soaked in spurting gasoline from the Spitfires ruptured full tanks, as fires begin to crackle in the shocked amputated Spitfires wreck.
If you only buy one book of the many on the legendary Battle of Britain, you could do much worse than choose this one, or the more technical and analytical but splendid 'Fighter' by Len Deighton.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Well done Spitfire !", July 15, 2003

By 

E. E Pofahl (HUNTINGTON, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cassell Military Classics: Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain (Paperback)

The author, Richard Collier, has chosen the six weeks period from August 6 to September 15, 1940 for an account of the Battle of Britain "daylight air battles that were fought over the English Channel and across southern Britain; a short period that may have determined the western world fate." This is the story of the pilots, aircrews, support personnel, and commanders of the RAF and Luftwaffe who fought for air supremacy while Germany was preparing to invade Britain.

First hand and eyewitness accounts supported by official documents provide the details for the text, which is fast-moving and very readable. The narrative moves chronologically from mid-August 1940 through the September 15. The Luftwaffe initially launched devastating attacks against British radar sites and RAF stations such as Biggin Hill and Manston with the intent to either destroy the RAF on the ground or in the air as RAF fighters defended the stations. This tactic created a serious problem for RAF Fighter Command as limited aircraft and pilots had to be dispersed to defend multiple locations. RAF pilots were under great stress as "The mounting losses now decreed that a pilot's expectation of life was no more than eighty-seven flying hours." "One moment the pilots were sprawled on the dusty grass at dispersal, swapping stories, the next they were staring unbelieving at scores of German planes flying in perfect stepped-up formation." By September pilot wastage was approaching 120 men a week and aircraft losses exceeded production.

Lacking is the usual Hollywood approach to air combat that opens with "There I was at 20,000 feet when I spotted the enemy." Instead Colliers presents first hand and eyewitness accounts of the air battles, which are well presented and informative. For example, the author writes, "Then, in his last moment, feral instinct once more saved Red Tobin's life. In the second of closing in, something prompted him to make one last check, swinging the Spitfire violently to port, and as he swung back on the last weave of all he saw, almost dead astern, three yellow-nosed Messerschmitt 109s." Humor is also included in the text: at Homefield, Kent the butler "did the rounds of the velvety lawn after each dog-fight, sweeping up spent machine-gun bullets as deftly as ever he brushed crumbs from a damask table cloth." In another case when a RAF pilot made a wheels-up crash landing near an Elizabethan garden, "a country gentlemen of the old school stepped courteously forward to greet him" with a glass of brandy for his unexpected guest.

The text outlines critical command problems. The British commander Air Vice-Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding lacked trained pilots despite a two-week crash course for replacement pilots as losses outstripped the training unit's yield. From 1438 men available, by September 3 pilot strength had slumped to 840, "a casualty rate which assured the Germans victory in just three weeks." When Germany shifted to massive bomber raids to force the RAF into a fight to extinction, Fighter Command could concentrate fighter defense in larger groups; however, Dowding still faced a shortage of pilots and aircraft.

In Germany Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring lacked Dowding's empathy for his aircrews. To the German pilots it seemed that the pressure was stepping up almost hourly and Major Adolf Galland (later Germany's leading fighter ace) stated, "Things can't go on much longer like this. You can count on your fingers when your turn will come." Goring insisted on using the ME 110, which was ineffective as a bomber escort; but rejected arguments to increase production of the badly needed Messerschmitt 109 fighter. He further foolishly stated at the battle's midpoint that the RAF was down to just fifty Spitfires.

The book closes with an excellent outline of the critical air battle that took place on September 15, which the author calls the "greatest air battle of all time" On September 15, high above the German bombers, the leader of the Luftwaffe fighter escort sardonically broke radio silence with: "Here come those last fifty Spitfires." The RAF entered the battle with no reserves. While Dowding was still 170 pilots under strength, the author notes that at "this eleventh hour a fierce elation had seized every man airborne. "Few pilots notched top scores; it was teamwork from first to last" and so numerous were the crippled bombers pilots couldn't miss.

A downed German fighter pilot paid tribute to the RAF stating to his escorting guard "Well done, Spitfire." After the critical air battles of the past six weeks, by September 17, Hitler decided to postpone invading Britain indefinitely and give full priority to invading Russian. Ahead for the RAF lay long nights of bombing while the day battle was all but over. The brave efforts of "the Few" may well have determined the outcome of WWII in the west.

The book ends with a brief section of Facts About the Battle of Britain.

Overall it is well written account of a critical event in World War II.

4.0 out of 5 stars Riveting, Personal Account of the Battle, June 30, 2011

By 

K.A.Goldberg (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain (Hardcover)

Author Richard Collier penned these pages in the mid-1960's when many of the surviving British and German airmen were in or entering their middle years. The result is less a history as a series of first-person accounts from former RAF pilots and Luftwaffe pilots, plus other airmen, support personnel, even a few civilians. Readers feel as if they are flying 18,000 feet above southern England aiming their Spitfire at the Nazi Dornier bombers or manuevering their Hurricane in a desperate dog fight against the ME-109's. We learn not only of the tactics of aerial combat, but the stress-filled lives of the fliers on both sides of the English Channel. We also learn of the effectiveness (and limitations) of British radar, the speed and manueverability of the aircraft, attack tactics, rescuing of downed pilots in the English channel, and the element of pure luck in aerial combat. Then there's the impressive valour of the free Polish flyers, the many tales of bailing out of burning aircraft, and the horrifying casualties. I was surprised to learn that the ME-109 was probably the superior overall fighter, and that the RAF was rather flawed at getting its defenses into position against the incoming Luftwaffe. The author only examines the six-week period between August 6th, 1940 and September 15, 1940, when the fighting was heaviest, done in daylight, and Sea Lion (the planned Nazi invasion of Britain) was a distinct possibility. The result is an engrossing and illuminating read.

I gave the book just four stars because Collier's prose alternates between riveting and stiff, and loses focus on occasion. Still, this is a compelling account of a desperate battle.