Battle of Britain 80th Anniversary - Rare Camera Gun Footage

This video shows very brief records of aerial combat captured on 16mm film by cameras mounted in the wings of British fighter aircraft during July, August, and September 1940. Captions identify pilot name, squadron, date and time of attack, aircraft type and target.
Note: 'V' is used as an abbreviation for 'Versus' and does not refer to the Supermarine Spitfire Mark V, which entered service in early 1941.
0:10 - Camera-gun film taken from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark I of No. 65 Squadron RAF, showing Flight Sergeant W H Franklin attacking Hawker Hurricanes probably of No. 79 Squadron. Sadly, this "friendly fire" incident resulted in the death of Squadron Leader John D. C. Joslin.
1:31 - Camera gun film taken from a Hawker Hurricane Mark I of No. 601 Squadron RAF, showing Flight Lieutenant William H Rhodes-Moorhouse shooting down a Junkers Ju 88 of 6./KG 54 off St. Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight on 16 July 1940. In the final pass, the Luftwaffe crew can be seen floating in their rubber dinghy, waiting to be picked up by a tug being directed by Rhodes-Moorhouse.
3:18 - Camera gun footage taken from a Hawker Hurricane Mark I of No. 501 Squadron RAF, showing Sergeant Paul Farnes intercepting one of two Junkers Ju 87 Stukas he shot down on 15 August 1940.
3:49 - Camera-gun film taken from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark I of No. 609 Squadron RAF, flown by Flying Officer Tadeusz "Novi" Nowierski (formerly Polish Air Force) as he closes in on a formation of Dornier Do 17Zs of KG 3 south-west of London at approximately 5.45 pm on 7 September 1940, the first day of the Blitz. Tracer bullets from the intercepting Spitfires can be seen traveling towards the enemy aircraft which were heading back to their base after bombing East London and the docks.
4:23 - Camera gun footage taken by Pilot Officer Keith 'Skeets' Ogilvie of No. 609 Squadron showing a Dornier Do 17Z (F1+FH) of 1./KG 76 piloted by Oberleutnant Robert Zehbe under attack, 15 September 1940. The aircraft was later abandoned and flew on until being rammed over central London by Sergeant Ray Holmes of No. 504 Squadron. It crashed on Victoria station with two of the crew baling out. Zehbe was attacked by civilians and died of his injuries the following day.
4:47 - Camera gun footage taken from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark I of No. 609 Squadron RAF flown by Pilot Officer R F G Miller, showing a Heinkel He 111 of KG 53 or KG 55 taking hits in the port engine from Miller's machine guns. The aircraft was one of a force which bombed the Bristol Aeroplane Company's factory at Filton, Bristol, just before midday on 25 September 1940. Miller was killed two days later when he collided head on with a Messerschmitt Bf 110 of III/ZG 26 over Cheselbourne, Dorset.
6:01 - Camera gun film shows tracer ammunition from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark I of No. 609 Squadron RAF, flown by Flight Lieutenant J H G McArthur, hitting a Heinkel He 111 on its starboard quarter. These aircraft were part of a large formation from KG 53 and KG 55, which attacked the Bristol Aeroplane Company's works at Filton, Bristol, just before midday on 25 September 1940.
6:14 - Camera-gun film taken from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark I of No. 609 Squadron RAF, flown by by Pilot Officer J D Bisdee, as he dives on a formation of Heinkel He 111s of KG 55 which have just bombed the Supermarine aircraft works at Woolston, Southampton on 26 September 1940. The rearmost aircraft of the leading 'staffel' receives a burst of machine gun fire from Bisdee, as shown by the streaks of light from the tracer bullets. Its port engine is also on fire.
6:45 - Camera-gun film taken from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark I flown by the Commanding Officer of No. 609 Squadron RAF, Squadron Leader H S Darley, as he opens fire amongst a formation of Heinkel He 111s of KG 55, which have just bombed the Supermarine aircraft works at Woolston, Southampton on 26 September 1940.
7:03 - Camera gun footage taken by a Supermarine Spitfire Mark I of No. 609 Squadron RAF, flown by Pilot Officer M E Staples, showing a Messerschmitt Bf 110C-4 (3U+1M) banking steeply to port as it tries to avoid Staples' gun fire. This aircraft belongs to 4./ZG 26, which was providing fighter cover for Heinkel He 111s of KG 55 attempting to attack the Bristol Aeroplane Company's factory at Filton.
Music Credits:
The Planets, Op. 32 - I. Mars, the Bringer of War
Composed by Gustav Holst
Performed by the USAF Heritage of America Band
Public domain music from musopen.com
www.battleofbr...

[@jezfrench9435]

Fun facts: Flight lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhouse's father received a posthumous VC for aerial combat in WW1. Also, when the wreckage of Rhodes-Moorhouse's hurricane was excavated sometime in the '70's (the combat in which he was killed) the RR Merlin engine was in nearly pristine condition and is now in a museum somewhere, I think in Britain.

[@Sokol10]

"Blue on blue" 0:18 - This "Me 109" is an Hurricane. 6:42 - Another Hurricane receiving hits.

[@stevetheduck1425]

- and an Me110 that is a Do17...

[@coldbews5458]

is that german gun cam or a friendly fire incident ?

[@rvdmikej]

@@coldbews5458 Germans used tracer as far as I know. RAF used it only for night fighting I believe.

[@georgemorley1029]

Two aircraft after the same target.

[@skepticalbadger]

​@@georgemorley1029 The first incident is a documented case of friendly fire, resulting in the death of Sqn Ldr J D C Joslin of 79 Squadron, flying Hurricane P2756. I can't post the links but you can Google it. The second, there appears to be no associated incident.

[@georgemorley1029]

Some comments on here are saying that some of these clips depict friendly fire. That may be the case, but there is also the possibility that the fighters were queuing up to take shots at wounded enemy aircraft and so as one fires at the target, another one is captured in the view of the gun cameras as it lines up behind the stricken German aircraft. I don’t doubt that friendly fire would occur in the heat of the battle but I don’t think it would be a very common occurrence and almost certainly it wouldn’t be one that official RAF gun camera footage would be permitted to show.

[@growlanser5600]

Epic formations of Do's and 111's are seen in this footage.

[@michaellavery4899]

God bless all the brave souls who risked everything to save us from that evil tyranny.

[@fredburgessea4925]

Good video, excellent choice of music for the soundtrack.

[@fliegeroh]

Wow - fantastic footage, even if by today's standards, the video is not very good. The dates on some of the air battles are from "Adler Tag" and the September climax battle that convinced Hitler to postpone the invasion of Britain indefinitely. Watching it gives me the chills. Thanks and please make more BoB videos if you can.

[@cathybrench2460]

Great footage ... Was that friendly fire at 6.40 mins ? That was a Hurricane going down !

[@georgemorley1029]

Two aircraft after the same target.

[@stonehengeminstrel]

The Greatest Generation, lest we forget...

[@robertstorey7476]

Gives me a strange feeling. Real moments where life or death is decided. The victory in 1940 was made up of hundreds of such moments.

[@johndavey72]

Very rare footage indeed. Particularly sad to see our own aircraft being shot down by our own aircraft. I believe this was hushed up for some time . Unfortunately you have comments that doubt or disbelieve the footage. I presume the reason being the poor quality or one bullet doesn't blow the aircraft into oblivion. I have passed comments to those disbelievers. Thank you very much.

[@georgemorley1029]

More than one aircraft could engage the same target and therefore could be seen in the gun cameras if they were getting in each other’s way.

[@philipmason3218]

I assume a lot of the Hurricane footage was the cannon armed version. The Germans got quite a shock keeping just out of the way of 303s only to be shredded by four Hispanos, maybe too early ?

[@adriankowalski1955]

3:50 - Tadeusz Nowierski

[@geh3254]

The Spitfires must of had smaller caliber guns, didn't seem to do a lot of damage especially the bombers being shot at.

[@yankeeBrit79]

Both the Spitfire and Hurricane were armed with eight .303 in Browning machine guns mounted in the wings but it was quickly discovered that the small calibre bullets were not sufficient to destroy larger aircraft with armour plating. This convinced the RAF to adopt the 20 mm Hispano-Suiza cannon but it didn't enter full service until after the Battle of Britain.

[@rolandjung9337]

@@yankeeBrit79 If you like to get an imagination of how difficult it was for British Pilots to shoot down an enemy aircraft with small bullets, I recommend to play the computer game 'IL 2 Battle of Britain' or even better 'Tobruk' (its a privat advise!). The game is not realy good and has its flaws, but the mechanics, the weapons and the flight physics of the engaged Warbirds are very realistic and historicaly correct. One can realize, that it needs a large amount of 303 bullets for a longer time hitting the same spot of a hard moving enemy airplane in front of the pilot to bring the enemy down. Happily there was the channel between and many German fighters landed in the water due to the lack of fuel or also minor damages. For historicans its interresting to see how hard the Battle of Britain realy was and wich tactics they had to conduct for a successfull attac.

[@TheColdbrews]

Germans had the wrong planes for this battle.

[@robertmellett1136]

and so one mans speach saved the future for many, but already seemed lost.

[@caesarsspirit]

Mars detail

[@helenward4342]

0:12 that isn’t a 110 it’s a do17

[@kris8742]

The Battle of Britain was a great victory, the Luftwaffe was dealt an almost lethal blow from which it never fully recovered, our German speaking sympathizer seems to like making plenty of excuses for the Luftwaffe thats war mate you were beaten

[@tombartram6842]

Right then. Me 110s not Me 110's 1970s not 1970's. You're welcome.

[@jameswilliamson9093]

It was interesting to see some of the pilots parachuting. Hitler stopped the bombing and attacked Russia.

[@b3j8]

Nowierski? Sounds like one of the Polish fighter pilots that fought w/the British.

[@yankeeBrit79]

Yes, this is F/O Tadeusz Nowierski of No. 609 Squadron: bbm.org.uk/airmen/Nowierski.htm

[@b3j8]

@@yankeeBrit79 Damn sad, he escapes his native Poland, distinguishes himself during the War for Britain only to then again be terrorized afterward, during the Communist era! May he Rest in Peace!

[@yankeeBrit79]

​@@b3j8 Sadly, many Polish pilots suffered the same fate when they returned to their home country after the war. And to add insult to injury, the Poles were not invited to march in the Victory Parade in London in 1946 because the British government did not want to upset Stalin!

[@jbl9709]

Better without the bombastic music.

[@KG-li7kg]

Ist ein gut geschnittenes Filmmaterial. Da wo man auf abgesprungene deutsche Piloten schiesst, übrigens ein Hobby von Britischen und amerikanischen Piloten, zeigt man hier nicht.

[@direktorpresident]

Verdammt noch mal, Fritz

[@billyrock8305]

Nice work British and Canadian snipers. Blasting away Nazis. ❤️

[@McD4VE]

IL-2 ?

[@albundy9597]

dramatic music but otherwise not impressed, those 303's don't appear to be doing much damage.The German combat material against Boeing etc much more impressive, they stayed on the target and their cannons really did some massive damage.

[@yankeeBrit79]

Yes, the experience of the Battle of Britain showed that batteries of eight rifle-calibre machine guns were inadequate against armour-plated bombers and prompted the adoption of auto cannon armament for the primary portion of RAF fighters. In June 1940, No. 19 Squadron received several Spitfire Mk Is fitted with two 20 mm Hispano-Suiza cannon for operational trials. The initial installation had the guns mounted on their sides to fit the large drum magazines inside the wings. As a result, the Hispanos became unreliable, frequently jamming after only one shot. Work continued on a reliable cannon installation and by late 1940, a number of Mk IBs armed with two cannon and four .303 in machine guns entered service.

[@johndavey72]

I'm baffled you can make such a remark. This is extremely rare footage of young men in their teens doing their utmost to stop, at any cost , the enemy . Literally if it wasn't for the Battle of Britain l would probably be speaking German .

[@albundy9597]

@@johndavey72 You wouldn't be speaking German, it's not an easy language to learn, took me several years to speak it fluently. None of the people in the occupied countries had to speak German. I made the remark because I simply didn't find the footage at all dramatic, the German footage of attacks on American bombers with cannon fire was extremely dramatic, they stayed on target and tore them to shreds.

[@angelonunez8555]

@@johndavey72 It appears that Mr. Bundy's comment was a criticism of the armament of the British fighters rather than the courage of the young men (probably more of them in their 20s than their teens) flying them. And that criticism was justified as it proved difficult to down twin-engined bombers armed with nothing more powerful than .303 machine guns.

[@itsmeagain1018]

@@johndavey72 no you would be speaking russian..

[@davebarrowcliffe1289]

Get closer, get higher calibre weapons.

[@yankeeBrit79]

80 years of hindsight is wonderful!

[@davebarrowcliffe1289]

This footage was early in the war. As the war went on, tactics changed. At this time, machine guns were calibrated at about 100 yards if memory serves. The better pilots unofficially had them zeroed for 50 yards and closer. A few were disciplined for the practice until it was later found to be far more effective and adopted officially. Larger calibre "cannons" were adopted later too.

[@josephking6515]

@@davebarrowcliffe1289 I think they were initially synced to 250 yards and the Polish pilots of 303 Squadron wanted it to be a *lot* closer. After they proved it to be successful the RAF _Headshed_ finally acquiesced and the synchronisation distance was officially reduced. I haven't stated any firm distances due to memory issues on my part but I believe it was reduced to 100 yards although some had the distances even closer as @Dave Barrowcliffe mentioned to 50 yards. Keep in mind that even following an enemy aircraft the closing speeds could be 100mph and waiting until 50 yards gave mere fractions of a second to refine their aim and unload before they passed them. Head on closures were even faster with 500 to 600mph closing speeds. This would be even faster if they were attacking from a higher altitude and then deflection had to be taken into account while all this was happening and looking for the Hun that may have been trying to get behind you.

[@marcochinellato5719]

Lol :)) ehehehe...too bad the Spit Mark V entered service in March 1941....:)))

[@yankeeBrit79]

V is used as an abbreviation for versus.

[@josephking6515]

Yeh, that caught me out too until I realised what the Channel owner has posted to the comment. Maybe is was an early release *beta* version of a Mark V. 😁

[@Catholic_convert81]

@@josephking6515 spitfire v 109 means spitfire verses 109 not spitfire mkV. Verses means to fight against.

[@skepticalbadger]

Cretin.