The simple answer is that it was believed that both the Defiant and Hurricane attacked the He111 at some point. When I painted the picture many, many years ago it seemed as if the Defiant had delivered the final blow, later research showed that it was almost certainly Stevens.

MP

Here’s an illustration from our book Dambuster Lancaster which shows how the mechanism worked. Basically the arms were pulled together with a cable which was then attached to a bomb release shackle. When the bomb release was pressed, the cable was released and the arms forced outwards by two compressed springs. The arms didn’t travel far, just enough for a clean drop.

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Looks like a Heinkel 219 to me, which would explain your difficulty in pinning it down to a particular Ju288!

Mark P

My first reaction based on the style of the G is 501 Squadron so SD-G.

Mark P

I think just about everyone I know spotted the broomstick! I just can’t believe that nobody in the production team spotted it as it is one of the most symbolic images of the film and right at the end. As Bazza said, you can overlook most of the technical inaccuracies in the film as it’s not a documentary, but the broomstick will jar your eyes every time you see it. Maybe the director’s cut will quickly paint in an engine…

I’ve just returned from seeing the film here in Poland and I must say it leaves you very proud to be British, which is rare for a ‘Hollywood’ film these days! I think the answer to all the critics mentioned above is that this is a very narrow look at just a few characters caught up in a huge operation. If the French want more French involvement then I’d politely suggest they make their own film as this does feel like a very British film, telling what happened to the British people involved.

I think my only criticism would be that the film doesn’t convey the size and scale of the evacuation at all. The beaches look empty, we have just three Spitfires tangling with three Luftwaffe aircraft, and even the ships don’t look crowded at all. It’s possibly a result of not using CGI but it looks very low-budget. Oh and the weather continuity is all over the place making some scenes very confusing!

Overall though, I can see why it’s getting the critical acclaim, which can only be good future projects such as the proposed Battle of Britain film.

Mark P