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Battle of Britain anniversary interactive special: Remembering the heroics of The Few

Amid four months of aerial battles there was one day above all that showed Nazi Germany that Britain would not surrender.

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Seventy-five years ago today the Luftwaffe launched two huge attacks as bombs rained down on London with Hitler sniffing victory.

But the plucky airman of the RAF achieved the seemingly impossible and defeated the German advance that outnumbered the British two to one.

Now known as Battle of Britain Day, September 15 will be remembered as the day Britain refused to succumb to evil.

Believing that the RAF was close to breaking point, the German attacks were a repeat of their monumental and devastating attack eight days before.

Smaller formations of German planes were also planned to attack Portland and Southampton.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited RAF Uxbridge, the headquarters of No. 11 Group, Fighter Command.

This group was led by Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park and was responsible for the defence of London and the south-east of England.

The first wave of about 250 bombers came over the Channel at 11am and whilst many Luftwaffe planes were intercepted by the RAF, around half managed to make it to London and drop their loads.

A second wave of about the same number returned at 2pm believed to be aiming for south London and the railways out to Kent. The raids continued into the night.

RAF pilots run to their planes during the Battle of Britain

Churchill later described what he saw at 11 Group: "Presently the red bulbs showed that the majority of our squadrons were engaged.

"In a little while, all our squadrons were fighting and some had already begun to return for fuel. All were in the air. The lower line of bulbs was out. There was not one squadron left in reserve".

Spitfires of 222 and 610 Squadrons, RAF Hornchurch, September 1940

During both of the raids that day, the RAF managed to scatter many of the German bomber formations.

This meant that when the surviving bombers did drop their loads, they fell over a wide area and were less harmful.

Thousands of Londoners stood in the streets below watching the battle rage over their heads.

The RAF's 630 fighter aircraft had to battle with 620 German fighters and 500 bombers.

Figures are disputed but the Nazi's lost around 56 aircraft to Britain's 26.

The Allied airman are became known as The Few and their contribution to defeating the Nazis and their role in changing the course of history cannot be underestimated.

Pilots sprint to their planes

The bombings began on July 10, 1940, and by August the outlook seemed desperate for Britain.

With airfields bombed and fighter aircraft either wrecked on the ground or shot down, the RAF was running short not only of planes but of pilots.

Although fighting continued in the air for several more weeks, and British cities were bombed sporadically for the rest of the war, German tactics to achieve air superiority ahead of an invasion failed.

Many of Britain's cities were devastated by the bombing.

Birmingham Liverpool, Glasgow, and Plymouth were some of the most heavily bombed during The Blitz, with Coventry decimated.

But the Black Country did not escape - with significant bombing raids in Dudley, Tipton and West Bromwich.

On the night of November 19, 1940, 28 people were killed in Oak Road with the junction of Richard Street South at 7.10pm.

Devastation on Oak Road, the day after the 19 November 1940 raid which claimed 28 lives
West Bromwich gas showroom, severely damaged by a raid on 19 November 1940

There was reported to be 24 other deaths that night and two more killed two days later in West Bromwich which occurred as a result of a raid four days later.

The number of men killed was 15, the number of women 22, and the remaining 17 fatalities were children.

Haig Street was reduced to little more than a huge crater and the junction of Law Street and Shaftesbury Street had become a pool while a house on Clive Street was reduced to a tileless roof.

Bomb damage in Haig Street, Tantany, the morning after a bombing raid on November 9, 1940

Another huge crater and extensive damage was caused to houses at Friar Park after bomb was dropped by the Luftwaffe who were presumably aiming for the railway lines and marshalling yards at Bescot.

West Bromwich historian Terry Price, aged 76, grew up in Great Bridge Street and lived through the bombings.

Terry Price

He said: "I have vague memories of going down the air raid shelter. There were communal ones but we had our own one at home. I was only a baby so have little recollection.

"I know there was an incendiary bomb that made a hole outside the house.

"It is thought the bombs in West Bromwich centre were targeting the Swan Village Gas Works, which were the biggest at the time in the country.

"There were no strategic targets in the places they bombed. They were dropped on private houses.

"The only one that possibly would have been targeted in 1941 was next to the Bescot railway marshalling yard. That would have caused a lot of trouble if it was hit."

In Smethwick, one German bomber, a Heinkel 111, crashed into houses after being shot down by the RAF. The town was also heavily hit.

Extensive damage to ancient farmhouse at Wombourne as a result of a bombing raid in 1941

On the WW2 People's War website Roy Weston remembers his wartime childhood in Smethwick. He said : "A lot of the bombing raids affected us because we had a lot of war factories in Smethwick, castings and foundries, which made the engine blocks, and aircraft and military vehicles.

"And obviously the Luftwaffe was after those sorts of places. I remember during the latter part of 1940 and the early part of '41 every night going down the air raid shelters."

There was also bombing in Bridgnorth.

The site of a cottage destroyed by a German bomb during a raid on Bridgnorth in the early hours of August 29, 1940

Of 77 air raids on Birmingham eight were classified as major — meaning that at least 100 tons of bombs had been dropped .

According to official figures, 5,129 high explosive bombs and 48 parachute mines landed on the city, alongside thousands of incendiary bombs.

The Birmingham Blitz claimed 2,241 lives and left 3,010 seriously injured, a further 3,682 with minor injuries and the tally of properties destroyed included 12,391 houses, 302 factories and 239 other buildings, although many more were damaged.

Although there was much damage and loss of life to come, Sunday September 15, 1940, marked a clear and decisive defeat for the Luftwaffe.

They abandoned the daylight bombing of London on September 30, although night-time bombing continued into May 1941.

But it was the heroics of The Few this day 75 years ago that showed Hitler and the Nazis that the war was far from over.

As Mr Churchill said: "This was their finest hour."

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