# The Battle Of Britain Was Won By A Single American Airman!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818 "2004-04-13T17:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/1 "2004-04-13T17:25:00Z")
Well, according to Hollywood it’s kinda, sorta true… [sub]kinda…umm…sorta[/sub] [THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN WAS WON BY A SINGLE AMERICAN AIRMAN!!](http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=127638&command=displayContent&sourceNode=127637&contentPK=9562995) Oh… and the English never did thank us for recovering that Enigma code machine from a sinking German submarine! And they say the English are supposed to be polite!! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/2 "2004-04-13T17:51:58Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Oh… and the English never did thank us for recovering that Enigma code machine from a sinking German submarine! And they say the English are supposed to be polite!! It seems that the mooted [Colditz film](http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter1/in051300.html) is no longer with us. It was supposed to have Matt Damon and Ben Affleck escaping from those pesky Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/3 "2004-04-13T18:02:51Z")
Well the linked article is a similar crock - the top fighter pilot of the Battle of Britain was a Czeck and the squadron with the most confirmed kills was Polish so the "vast majority were British"ine is a little dishonest. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/4 "2004-04-13T18:04:51Z")
If that news still stands, **Tapicoa Dextrin** , then it is good news indeed. Colditz is a personal interest of mine, and I was seething quietly, waiting for a really bad film to get things wrong–last I heard, Tom Cruise was attached to the project, which had confirmed my worst fears… ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/5 "2004-04-13T18:10:45Z")
> [@](#): > > His story is to be retold in the film The Few directed by Michael Mann, who made the fighter pilot hero movie Top Gun, also starring Cruise, and filming is due to start soon. Well the article can’t get it’s facts straight. Top Gun was directed by Tony Scott. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/6 "2004-04-13T18:12:25Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > the top fighter pilot of the Battle of Britain was a Czeck. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of [this site](http://math.fce.vutbr.cz/safarik/ACES/aces1/bofb.html), but it was written by a Czech and claims that the top ace in the Battle of Britain was British. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/7 "2004-04-13T18:14:21Z")
Well, considering that the only evidence in the article to support the headline is this quote > [@](#): > > “I’ve heard it is almost like he won the war all on his own,” said war veteran Ben Clinch, who loaded the guns fired by the real Billy Fiske. Neither the article’s author nor do we have enough evidence to pre-judge the film. One quote does not an accurate review make. It isn’t even a preview. It’s useless. Filming hasn’t even started, so how does Clinch know how much of the film is about the Battle of Britain and how much is about Fiske’s earlier life? How much exposure to the RAF do we have? How many Polish and South African characters are there in the movie? We don’t know, and neither does Clinch. On a personal note, I think that anyone that pre-judges a film before its released _or even shot_ (as is the case here) based on what some-one “heard” is in serious need of a brain transplant. IMHO only, of course. ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/8 "2004-04-13T18:18:34Z")
Hollywood is in the _entertainment_ business, in case no-one has noted. If you want to see a documentary (something that hasn’t been done well in the U.S. for many years, I’m afraid) you have to look to the BBC. My favorite BBC (or perhaps it was ITN) documentary was about the Barbie doll. It was titled “Boobs in Toyland”. I later saw it re-aired on the Learning Channel, where it had been re-entitled “_Babes_ in Toyland” (those cowards!) While I enjoyed “Pearl Harbor” for its special effects and exciting flying scenes (as an aviation buff, I think there are too few movies with exciting flying scenes) I realize that it was not a documentary. TPTB must have felt that the \*real \*story was boring and needed to be punched up a bit. “Tora Tora Tora”, on the other hand, was more accurate. They actually left a lot of stuff out or it would’ve been a much longer movie. Whenever Hollywood makes a movie about any historical event, just keep in mind that the first thing you should reach for is not a notepad but a box of popcorn (or whatever your favorite movie snack is). They really aren’t trying to educate us through the medium of moving pictures, you know. Well, \*sometimes \*they are, but you can always tell when this is because the movie is boring and preachy (or occasionally just preachy, but they usually go together that way). Of course, you realize that since John Wayne won WW II single-handedly, that other guy they mention is just a pretender. –SSgtBaloo ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/9 "2004-04-13T18:36:57Z")
> [@SSgtBaloo](#): > > Hollywood is in the _entertainment_ business, in case no-one has noted. When do they start? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/10 "2004-04-13T20:54:11Z")
Maybe one of the planes can be flown by the British pilot who went on to become the first man to break the sound barrier in The Sound Barrier. Presented at [http://www.bensons-world.co.uk/vhs/products/1/7000000011965.asp](http://www.bensons-world.co.uk/vhs/products/1/7000000011965.asp) as a true story. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/11 "2004-04-14T04:43:41Z")
> [@SSgtBaloo](#): > > Hollywood is in the _entertainment_ business, in case no-one has noted. If you want to see a documentary (something that hasn’t been done well in the U.S. for many years, I’m afraid) you have to look to the BBC. As much as I find movies coming out of Hollywood entertaining I would prefer to see an historically correct version of any event or story which is, more often than not, far more interesting anyway. As to the OP, this sort of thing perpetuates the myth among Americans that they not only won WWII single-handedly but all wars they have ever been involved in. Unfortunately, their allies rarely get a mention. This is especially evident with all the movies/series made about D Day, Vietnam and Korea. > [@SSgtBaloo](#): > > Whenever Hollywood makes a movie about any historical event, just keep in mind that the first thing you should reach for is not a notepad but a box of popcorn (or whatever your favorite movie snack is). They really aren’t trying to educate us through the medium of moving pictures, you know. Well, \*sometimes \*they are, but you can always tell when this is because the movie is boring and preachy (or occasionally just preachy, but they usually go together that way). --SSgtBaloo Maybe they are not trying to educate us, but the majority of Americans I’ve spoken to believe these things to be fact. Surely Americans will still pay to see a movie where they are not always portrayed as the heroes who save the day. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/12 "2004-04-14T05:57:09Z")
> [@jastu](#): > > Surely Americans will still pay to see a movie where they are not always portrayed as the heroes who save the day. Naw. We wanna see real AMERICAN heroes. Like Sherlock Holmes. Or Jackie Chan. Or Hercule Poirot. Or Bruce Lee. Or James Bond. You know. Real red-blooded AMERICAN guys. Y’know? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/13 "2004-04-14T06:03:58Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > Naw. > > We wanna see real AMERICAN heroes. > > Like Sherlock Holmes. > Or Jackie Chan. > Or Hercule Poirot. > Or Bruce Lee. > Or James Bond. > > You know. Real red-blooded AMERICAN guys. > > Y’know? Uh… Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/14 "2004-04-14T06:19:44Z")
I find it sad that some in Hollywood believe the US cinema audience can only be entertained by appropriating the history and the courage of others, you would think that Hollywood would have more pride in the very real achievements of its own real heros and heroines. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/15 "2004-04-14T06:32:59Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > Uh… Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco. To a Chinese father and a German-Chinese mother. The family was in the US temporarily and moved to Hong Kong before Bruce’s first birthday. He grew up there, coming back to the US when he was 19. I have a really hard time seeing Joe Sixpack calling him “one of us”. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/16 "2004-04-14T06:58:58Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > To a Chinese father and a German-Chinese mother. The family was in the US temporarily and moved to Hong Kong before Bruce’s first birthday. He grew up there, coming back to the US when he was 19. I have a really hard time seeing Joe Sixpack calling him “one of us”. Quite so. He grew up in Hong Kong, and it’s hard not to think of him as Chinese. I sure wouldn’t wanna claim that his status as a natural-born American was responsible for his success, anyway. And the best he was ever able to do as far as acting work in the States was playing the second banana on _The Green Hornet_. His greatest successes came after he said “the hell with this” to Hollywood and went back to Hong Kong. Shows what Hollywood knows. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/17 "2004-04-14T07:21:40Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > I can’t vouch for the accuracy of [this site](http://math.fce.vutbr.cz/safarik/ACES/aces1/bofb.html), but it was written by a Czech and claims that the top ace in the Battle of Britain was British. This link says that the top ace was with a Polish squadron although I have got a feeling that he was Czech but was flying with the Poles . :- [http://www.btinternet.com/~aquila/lincs/polishaf/paf.htm](http://www.btinternet.com/~aquila/lincs/polishaf/paf.htm) This article also gives full credit to the part played by the Polish squadrons during the Battle of Britain. This contribution was ignored by the British public and press even during the battle . They wanted to believe that all the fighting and glory was down to the British public school-boy types and not to a bunch of foreigners. I must declare an interest in this because my late father-in law was a( non flying )member of one of the Polish squadrons. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/18 "2004-04-14T07:38:33Z")
When I was a kid, we went to see “Battle of Britian”- which indeed gives quite abit of credit to the Poles. My Mom was cracking up as she spoke a dialect that was fairly close to Polish, and the Polish actors were saying some VERY rude things in Polish to the germans. There simply isn’t enough evidence for that article the OP quoted to come to that conclusion. Thus, they are full of bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/19 "2004-04-14T15:15:40Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Well the linked article is a similar crock - the top fighter pilot of the Battle of Britain was a Czeck and the squadron with the most confirmed kills was Polish so the "vast majority were British"ine is a little dishonest. [Not so. The vast majority were British](http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/5443/fcac.htm) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-battle-of-britain-was-won-by-a-single-american-airman/239818/20 "2004-04-14T17:16:09Z")
> [@](#): > > This article also gives full credit to the part played by the Polish squadrons during the Battle of Britain. This contribution was ignored by the British public and press even during the battle . Really? I cannot think of any report or article on the Battle of Britain (whether contemporary or retrospective) that failed to mention the “crazy” Poles and their fearless assaults on the Luftwaffe. I’m curious as to where the Brits ever “failed to give full credit” (unless we’re going to look at every story of every individual Brit and give it a failing grade if it does not include the line “and Flying Officer Chelmsford-Southington could not have done it without the brave contributions of our Polish allies”).