Squadron Leader Ron
Chadwick acquired
them on ground-con-
trol radar, but could
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intercept them. “We are
expecting our foreign
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WML¹3MMXaW]ZMaMWXMVNWZ\PMUº
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Q\WZ[º<PM;XQ\XQTW\KITTMLPQ[_QVOUIVÆaQVOI
Hawker Hurricane: “Remember, they don’t know
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Outnumbered almost 10-to-1, the two Brits
swept down on the black-crossed intruders...
and pulled up in front of them, wagging wings in
OZMM\QVOPM¹4]N\_IٺMºTMILMZ¼[ZM[XWV[MWV
landing at Duxford has gone unrecorded, but it
_I[QV;XIVQ[PVW\/MZUIV<PQ[_I[V¼\!#Q\
_I[5Ia! IVL\PM;XQ\[IVL¼;KPUQ\\[_MZM
\W[XMVL\PM[]UUMZÅTUQVO\PMOZMI\M[\?WZTL
?IZ11IQZKWUJI\MXQKWNITT"Battle of Britain.
8ZWL]KMZ*MV.Q[bPILÆW_V0]ZZQKIVM[NWZ\PM
RAF and Polish air force in the war. He pitched
his concept as a British The Longest Day—the
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IQZ¹<PQ[_QTTJM\PMJQOOM[\XQK\]ZMM^MZUILM
in Great Britain, and possibly the biggest in the
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But the idea of a big-budget air war epic with
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American studio bosses thought the initial script
¹I_N]TTa-VOTQ[Pº]V\QT2IUM[*WVLXZWL]KMZ
Harry Saltzman brought director Guy Hamilton
(/WTLÅVOMZ) aboard. “What we want to do is show
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_I[\WJMQV^WT^MLQVIMZQITKWUJI\<PMSQVLWN
\QUQVOIVL[PMMZIVQUITIJQTQ\aQ\\WWSº
United Artists and virtually every big-name
British actor of the day—among others, Sir Lau-
ZMVKM7TQ^QMZ5QKPIMT+IQVM<ZM^WZ0W_IZL
Chris topher Plummer and Robert Shaw—got on
board (though not Sean Connery, then distancing
himself from Saltzman and the Bond franchise).
AH 47
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LAM
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September 2019
BEHIND THE CAMERA
Clockwise from top:
Director Guy Hamilton
(left) shoots a scene;
Michael Caine and
Bianca de Marcis (Mick
Jagger’s future wife)
relax between takes;
Robert Shaw, dressed
for his part, stands
near a Spitfire.