Rating : - 66 years ago the lion had wings
This period piece of wartime propaganda is typical of the PR of the time. The phoney Canadian accent of the Spitfire pilot (which was probably unsuccessfully based on that of genuine Canadian Flying Officer Ken Thom) grates on the ear. Ken was one of the six pilots of B Flight of 74 Squadron RAF who flew the fighter sequences for the film on September 6th 1939. He was later imprisoned in the infamous Colditz castle as a POW.The others were Fg Off Sammy Hoare, Flight Sgt Ernie Mayne, Fg Off Manwaring, Flt Lt Treacy, and Sgt Bushell. There is an account of the making of the sequences in my book "I Fear No Man" (ISBN1 900511 03 7). The acting is wooden and forced to 21st century eyes, but then we did not notice the exaggerated formality and British upper-class accents, as many spoke more or less like that in those days. However if one accepts that it is a period piece, it still gives a pretty fair picture of those early days of the phoney war in 1940 before the Battle of Britain started in July 1940.

Review by Douglas Tidy
Squadron Leader RAF (Ret) who served with 74 Squadron in WW2