Several years back, I think, I was asked in an interview what my dream project might be.

Who would I collaborate with? What topic would I cover?

I didn't have a ready answer then, so I just mused aloud that it would be very fulfilling

to work with someone like Tom Hanks, who's not only a revered actor, but has also demonstrated

a deep love of history, especially World War II history.

And while this got me thinking, so I emailed Tom Hanks's agent, and the result is someone

else working with him on a new World War II documentary series

that came out this week. I never even got a reply from that agent. And that's how things go

sometimes. But I still can't present to you some great World War II history. So on today's

Saturday matinee, we're sharing an episode from the podcast, History of the Second World War,

focusing on the Battle of Britain, the War in the Skies that kept Nazi Germany from invading the

UK by sea. I hope you enjoy it. While you're listening, be sure to search for and follow History of

the Second World War. We put a link in the show notes to make it easy for you.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to History of the Second World War, episode 226, the Battle of Britain Part 1, Adler Tag.

This week, a big thank you goes out to John and E. Himinger, I guess, for supporting the podcast by becoming members.

Members get access to ad-free versions of all of the podcast episodes, plus special member-only episodes released roughly once a month.

Head on over to History of the Second World War.com slash members to find out more.

Over the course of the last 17 episodes, this podcast has tracked the evolution of German plans for an invasion of Britain, and the efforts made in Britain to prevent that invasion from being successful. For the Luftwaffe, everything

was going to come down to one moment, the one day when they would begin their operations

specifically designed to destroy the RAF, to prevent them from being an effective tool against

the invasion. Well, on the 2nd of August, Goring would publish his preparations and directives for the operation,

and they would include the goals of the neutralization of the RAF fighter command through aerial attrition

...