Really, such a brilliant series, James and Al do such a good job of bringing the whole battle to life with humour and gritty reality......

A couple of times, Al nearly finished a sentence without Holland interrupting him.

One of these days Al is going to be allowed to finish a sentence

It's like they aren't listening to each other.

"That's where the tomato ketchup stuff happens" - nice reference to the Battle of Britain film where one of the HE111 pilots has 'ketchup' thrown across his goggles after a Spitfire shoots them. Pretty brutal scene actually!!

I see James has his ‘interruptor gear’ installed and fully functional!
I bet Al is wrung out following this  fight for air superiority!

That Heinkel - the cockpit is giving me Star Wars vibes

When AL was gushing about the Lancaster- it wasn't introduced until 2 years AFTER the "Battle of Britain"- It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed.

In the early 1980s an ex Heinkel He 111 pilot took me up over Cooma NSW as part of my glider training. Five of us were sitting in a van, outside was all fog with no more than 50m visibility. The back door of the van opened he looked at us and said; Who wants to fly? I looked around nobody said a word or made a move, I put my hand up. We could barely see the tug, everything was cloud. On release he said; You have control. I could kind of see one bit of the cloud was lighter and the other darker so guessed the horizon. Again his abrupt voice; We do turns, I first, you follow, I have control and he turned right about 30 deg bank, You have control and I followed. This went on left right steep right left etc. Then I started thinking, how high are we, where are we! Then a house went by, impossibly close! OH God! We're going to crash! then; I have control. I look down grass! then forward, the runway! Bump bump bump bump we landed, perfectly on the runway, I had know idea how he did this, still don't, but he did have experience flying the Battle of Britain and more that I never had and still have nothing like. An amazing flight, I was 18 and didn't get his name, to be honest I was afraid to speak to him, but I wish I did.

I am glad you mentioned the Stuka was vulnerable when pulling out of a dive. Veteran pilots like Helmut Mahlke, revealed why many experienced crews made the calculated and risky decision to quietly disable or bypass the automatic pull-out safety system. They preferred to rely on their own skill and tolerance for G-forces so as they could zig zig to avoid the RAF fighters swooping down on them in that vulnerable moment.

James is so enthusiastic about the subject he explodes with information. He must pause to breathe and have a conversation.

Iv now started saying yea yea yea yea yea in conversations now hahaha.

I remember visiting the Hendon RAF Museum back in 2014 and - not previously knowing of its existence - was stunned by their unbelievable collection. Even more stunning was the fact that my partner and me appeared to be the only visitors in the entire place. The day out was a gift from my partner, who was most amused by me constantly exclaiming to her that I couldn't believe they has an XYZ then giving her a breathless explanation of just how significant the piece was to have in a museum.

Exiting through an well stocked but deserted gift shop, we heard two members of staff justifiably griping about the fact that the museum wasn't being adequately promoted given the absolute magnificence of their exhibits.   Hopefully this has now changed, and its great to you lads usung their museum and promoting it.

'Dive bombers struggle to hit ships'  

Dauntless: "Allow me to introduce myself"

I've listened to your podcasts for a few years but the "walking the ground" series is another level well done " carry on chaps"

I’m kinda of a “Battle of Britain” buff -these guy’s knowledge is another level!

I have been inside that very He 111 at Hendon (and also got to sit in a Battle of Britain Spitfire) while on visit there about 10 years ago. Something I'll never forget.

6:05 a humiliating defeat for Hermann Meyer's airforce I'd say

Verifying the accuracy of the bomb just dropped on a Stuka was a task for the rear gunner, as in the Dauntless, Japanese Val and others alike.
The Heinkell 111 had a nasty problem that had not been foreseen and was never solved: very often, the transparent nose reflected the cockpit almost like a mirror, making the visibility outwards very difficult. In the darkness things did not improve much, and sticking your head outside all the way to London and back or over the USSR was not an option. 🥶

James just casually wearing a "Kanaljacke" (Channel Flight Jacket) to have his outfit matching the videos topic. For the He 111, the bombs were stored vertically right and left in the bomb bay and fell ou tail first. The cockpit tells me this aircraft is a mid/late war version. The earlier versions had the instrument panel mounted to the ceiling of the cockpit.