At first hesitant to invade Britain, Adolf Hitler eventually committed to an amphibious attack plan to conquer the last remaining free European Country:"As England, in spite of her hopeless military position, has so far shown herself to be unwilling to come to any compromise, I have decided to begin preparations --- to carry out the invasion of England. This operation is dictated by the necessity to eliminate Great Britain as a base from which the war against Germany can be fought....The following preparations must be undertaken to make a landing of England possible: The English air force must be eliminated to such an extent that it will be incapable of putting up any substantial opposition to the invading troops..." Hitler remarked.

Britain recognized the threat long befor Hitler uttered these words. The country had been producing fighter planes at record pace in the months leading up to The Battle of Britain. However, due to the losses incurred during the Battle of France, Britain found herself short of trained pilots to fly them.

In dire need, England called upon the Commonwealth to come to her aid. Canada and her Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) were among those who offered trained aviators. The RCAF sent 95 pilots to defend Britain. This supplementary force included many fully trained officers and, even before the Battle began, they were able to man a combat ready Hurricane Squadron.

Before the start of the Battle, The RAF had managed to accumulate some 900 aircraft and pilots to combat the Luftwaffe's 2,800 aircraft. Outnumbered three to one, the RAF took to the skies on July 10, 1940.

What followed for the next 82 days was one of the most epic battles of our time. On September 15th, Squadron Leaded E.A. McNab, 242 Squadron wrote:" It was a terrific spectacle. There were so many aircraft in the sky that there was as much danger of colliding with another fellow as there was of being shot down. There were more than a thousand aircraft in the sky just south of London. I counted nine aircraft falling at one time, and there were parachutes everywhere."

September 15th was Canada's finest day in the Battle of Britain, a battle that garnered over 130 air victories and several awards and honours by war's end. On this day the Luftwaffe was so weakened they could not mount another air offensive. The Germans were successfully repelled from the English shores, and Hitler postponed invasion plans indefinitely.

Today we celebrate courage in the darkest of moments, resilience through overwhelming odds, and a victory when it seemed all too impossible--we celebrate The Battle of Britain.

by Second Lieut. Cameron Hillier
12 Wing Shearwater