Opening with its evacuation of more than 300,000 troops from the besieged French harbor town of Dunkirk, Britain truly is "Alone" in facing Nazi Germany by mid-1940 as the only power still unvanquished by dictator Adolf Hitler's seemingly-invincible war machine that had handily conquered most of Northern Europe. What followed was a searing trial by fire for the island nation whose imperial eminence, already in decline since the First World War, seemed about to be subsumed by the Third Reich but would eventually deal Hitler his first strategic setback of World War Two.
Guided efficiently by producer-director David Elstein and written crisply by Laurence Thompson, this fourth installment of the 26-part "The World at War" sustains its gripping narrative from start to finish thanks not just to the evocative film footage ably assembled by editor Jeff Harvey but also to the impressive array of interviewees, exclusively British save for one, whose recollections and insights make "Alone" the most moving and compelling episode of this landmark documentary series to date.
The miracle of Dunkirk, "Operation Dynamo," averted the capture or slaughter of hundreds of thousands British and French troops trapped by German forces in the final stages of the Battle of France (excellently depicted in the previous episode "France Falls"), but despite good weather during the ten-day seaborne evacuation, the Royal Air Force (RAF) struggled to assert air superiority over the beaches and the English Channel as the German Luftwaffe's (air force) bombing of the motley armada took its deadly toll.
And while the operation's relative success buoyed British morale as Britons girded themselves for an expected invasion by Nazi Germany, Prime Minister Winston Churchill had warned (not mentioned in "Alone") that "wars are not won by evacuations"; however, Churchill is heard naming that upcoming battle as the Battle of Britain in the climactic segment of his immortal "Finest Hour" speech, which, in describing the "new Dark Age" to befall Europe and indeed the world should Britain fail to stop Hitler, emphasizes the dire consequences of that confrontation.
It was to be the first battle fought entirely in the air as Luftwaffe commander-in-chief Hermann Göring was tasked with softening up the British Isles prior to Operation Sea Lion, the proposed German invasion of southern England that was fraught with difficulties and misgivings: The German Heer (army) was dissatisfied with preparations made by the Kriegsmarine (navy), with both branches of the Wehrmacht (military) dubious about the Luftwaffe's ability to neutralize the RAF. In fact, even those in the Luftwaffe itself were skeptical, as Adolf Galland, one of Germany's premier wartime flying aces and the sole non-British interviewee, candidly admits.
The Luftwaffe's initial focus was on British coastal cities and shipping convoys, with archival footage showing, unlike at Dunkirk, German bombers' inability to hit any ships as BBC radio reporter Charles Gardner narrates the action as if he were announcing a football match. Göring then shifted his focus to RAF airfields and radar installations.
This proved to be far more effective--and crippling, as the Luftwaffe came close to destroying the RAF's ability to mount an aerial defense. As Robert Wright, assistant to Fighter Command's Air Marshal Hugh Dowding, explains, a chain of radar installations in southern England enabled the British to track incoming German airplanes and estimate their intended targets, a crucial point reinforced by Sir Max Aitkin, a fighter squadron leader (and son of Lord Beaverbrook, in charge of aircraft production) who states categorically, "radar won the Battle of Britain."
That battle in the skies over Britain is depicted with dramatic aerial footage of British Hurricane fighters engaging German Dornier, Heinkel, and Junkers bombers while British Spitfires tangle with Messerschmitt 109 fighters (which Galland flew), recalling the 1969 movie "The Battle of Britain" (in which series narrator Laurence Olivier portrayed Dowding). And while fighter pilot interviewee Ray Wright takes a chivalrous stance toward the Germans, Aitkin is unequivocal--he hated the Germans: "they were trying to enslave us."
Then, although not made entirely clear as to why, the Nazis shifted their focus to terror bombing of cities as "the Blitz," which lasted until May 1941, inflicted an awful cost on civilians, as related by several unnamed Blitz survivors recounting their stark, sometimes humorous, but often poignant experiences in what is arguably the highlight of "Alone." As the capital city, London bore the brunt of the Germans' nighttime raids, sometimes with incendiary bombs that actually drained the water reserves of firefighters battling the blazes, although other cities as far away as Swansea (Wales) and Belfast (Northern Ireland) received pastings by the Germans.
Interviewee Lord Avon, Anthony Eden, Churchill's war minister and foreign secretary, notes that although Britain had thwarted Germany's assault, it did not have the ability to mount a counter-offensive in Europe but could engage the Axis Powers in North Africa as General Archibald Wavell's forces routed the Italians in Libya. However, Germany rescued its Italian ally, reversing British gains, while Britain's attempts to create a bulwark against Nazi expansion in Greece, including its largest island, Crete, resulted in the loss of both as this epilog to "Alone" attempts too hastily to summarize these critical yet often-overlooked events. Nevertheless, this does not detract too seriously from what is truly the "finest hour" for "The World at War" thus far.
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