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Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain is a 1969 World War II film that depicts the events surrounding the air defense of the British Isles by Royal Air Force, Commonwealth and allied pilots against the German Luftwaffe in 1940. The film was directed by Guy Hamilton and featured an all-star cast including Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Ian McShane, Edward Fox and Robert Shaw (Fox and Shaw would reunite with Guy Hamilton for Force 10 from Navarone.) The film also took the extra step of hiring actual Germans to play Germans, speaking German, rather than the usual practice of hiring British or American actors speaking English with German accents.
Much of the film's budget was spent on the aircraft used. Eventually, about a hundred aircraft were involved, with about half of them airworthy, including 12 Supermarine Spitfires and 3 Hawker Hurricanes. The remainder were made up of "German" planes, which were all Spanish-built variants of the Messerschmitt Bf-109 and Heinkel He-111 built under license. The Spanish planes ended up portraying German aircraft for the next four decades, appearing in films like Patton, The Hindenberg, Memphis Belle, The Tuskegee Airmen and Dunkirk before being mostly replaced by computer generated graphics in the 21st century.
The following weapons were used in the film Battle of Britain:
Machine Guns
MG15 Machine Gun
During the Battle of Britain, Heinkel He-111 bombers can be seen armed with MG15 machine guns as defensive armament. The He-111s in this film were actually Spanish Air Force CASA 2.111s, which were still being used in auxiliary roles at the time.
MG17 Machine Gun (mockups)
The original German Me 109 carries two MG17 machine guns. Since the movie production used Spanish HA-1112-M1L aircraft which did not carry MG17's, or indeed any other weapon besides a pair of 20mm cannons, these nose guns are mockups.
Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20mm cannon
Like almost all post-war movies featuring the Messerschmitt ME-109, the ME-109s in this film are "played" by Hispano Aviación HA-1112s, which are ME-109s which were license-built in Spain during and following the war. HA-1112s were armed only with a pair of Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20mm cannons in the wings, which can trace a common ancestry to the Oerlikon FF 20mm cannon with the German MG FF 20mm cannon that it was meant to portray.
Browning AN/M2 Machine Gun
The RAF Spitfire and Hurricane fighters can be seen armed with Browning .303 Mk II machine guns, the British version of the American Browning AN/M2 machine gun as the main armament, chambered for the .303 (7.7×56mmR) British round instead of the American .30-06 (7.62×63mm) cartridge. Both the Spitfire and Hurricane carried eight of Browning machine guns.
MG34
An MG34 is briefly seen in a bunker on the German airfield. Two can also be seen being carried by German soldiers marching into Dunkirk.
Browning M2 Quad Mount
What appears to be Browning M2's in a Quad Mount is seen on a German transport train. It is most likely meant to represent the (in the post-war years) rare German Flakvierling 38, which were often mounted on German trains.
Rifles
M43 Spanish Mauser
German soldiers and Luftwaffe personnel are seen armed with M43 Spanish Mauser rifles. Parts of the movie was filmed in Spain featuring Spanish extras, airplanes, weapons and equipment.
MAS-36 Rifle
French troops are seen on the Allied airfield armed with MAS-36 Rifles.
Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk III
Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk IIIs are seen in the hands of several members of an LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) unit.
Unknown Mauser-type rifles
Other Weapons
Double-barrelled Shotgun
A number of members of the LDV unit are armed with double-barrelled side-by-side shotguns of various models and configurations.
Webley & Scott No. 1 Mk. III* Signal Pistol
Webley & Scott No. 1 Mk. III* Signal Pistols are used at various points in the film.
8.8cm FlaK 36
An 8.8cm FlaK 36 is briefly seen.
Trivia
Although the producers were able to obtain real German aircraft (or at least their variants) courtesy of the Spanish Air Force, real German armor was a bit more difficult to come across. (Some of the footage of the Germans rolling into Dunkerque was reused in Trail of the Pink Panther.)
