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That's patreon.com slash we have ways. During the first week of September, I was a very wide man.

I was a very wide man because I was short of pilots. That was the thing that worried me. Frankly, I was never worried about the supply of aircraft. Pilot shortage was my main problem, the reason that I spent every afternoon from after I thought the main attacks were over at four or five o'clock. I went out to the Northolt Aerodrome every day in the week and climbed into my old hurricane and flew around some of the aerodromes

every day, seven days a week in order to talk to the pilots, flight commanders, squadron commanders,

to see how they were standing the strain because I was caning them. I was working them to the

limit of their physical and mental capacity. That of course was Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park reflecting on the dark days of September

during the Battle of Britain. Welcome to We Have Ways to Make You Talk with me, Al Murray and James

Holland. And our Battle of Britain series continues. Episode 5, Black Saturday, clues in the name.

I mean, the thing is, James, let's be honest now, we've, I think in recent episodes,

kind of said that the Battle of Britain, one way or another, is a foregone conclusion,

that the doubting system is in place. Fighter commanders prepared pretty much for this battle.

The Lufufa is a tactical air force trying to achieve a strategic aim for which it has never planned.

So what's the fuss, right?

But it's all very well saying that from our comfy seats, 85 years hence. But it certainly didn't seem like that at the time. And also the great thing about history is that you can see, you can tell the story from both sides. But obviously in 1940, Park and his immediate boss, commander-in-chief of Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal,

Sir Hugh Dowding, can't. So they can only see what's in front of them. And, you know,

of course there's going to be crises because German planes are flying over Southern England.

They're attacking regularly. You know, airfields are starting to look a bit of a shambles.

Pilots are being shot down. And they've got a pretty good idea of what the Germans have

got, but it's not a complete picture by any stretch of imagination.

And this is a life and death situation.

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