Their Finest Hour with Ted Barris
This fall, Juno Beach and Beyond is sharing a three-part series with Canadian authors and their new releases. This month, we’re joined by Ted Barris to talk about Canadian contributions to the Battle of Britain.
2024 marks 84 years since the Battle of Britain. Although this battle spans 113 days, attention to this critical military campaign, specifically to contributions of Canadians, has been lacking.
In this episode, Ted Barris shares stories from his new book that take us through the highs and lows of the eager and talented young men who fought to protect Britain from the skies, and the impressive air training scheme and industry back home that made much of it possible.
TIME STAMPS
00:03:04 Origins of the book
00:04:54 BCATP
00:08:05 Flying Officer Johnny Kent
00:13:34 Squadron Leader Ernest (Ernie) McNab
00:18:14 Supporting actors: Elsie MacGill
00:23:00 Living under the Battle of Britain
00:27:22 What’s next for Ted Barris?
00:29:08 National identity and military reputation after the battle
00:32:27 Battle of Britain commemoration
GUEST BIOGRAPHY
Ted Barris is a Canadian writer, journalist, professor and broadcaster. He has published twenty books of non-fiction, half of them wartime histories. The Great Escape: A Canadian Story won the Libris Award for Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year. Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid Against Nazi Germany received the RCAF Association NORAD Trophy. His most recent book Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in their Finest Hour is out now. Ted Barris is a Member of the Order of Canada.
CREDITS
This episode of Juno Beach and Beyond was hosted and produced by Sal Falk, Marketing and Outreach Coordinator for the Juno Beach Centre Association.
Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in their Finest Hour by Ted Barris
Mackenzie King’s speech to British Parliament from the British Pathé YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SlEvclY5LE&t=48s
Artillery firing sounds from the CBC News: The National YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsCSQ4uWR1Y
Female veteran’s voice (Eileen Green, née Short) Courtesy of The Memory Project, Historica Canada: http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/383:eileen-green-nee-short/
Winston Churchill’s “Finest Hour” speech from Jonathan Thomas’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB5wZtV1MWM
Spitfire sound effect from Jason Kirby’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgZI4tAoMN0
Dramatic Interlude by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Dispatches from Juno shares all the news, events, and stories from the Juno Beach Centre in France and Canada. Interested in contributing a story to the blog? Email the editor at jbca@junobeach.org.
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