Many of the film's stars were also present, as well as some of the original combatants who had acted as technical advisors on the production. To add to the supreme sense of occasion, the Central Band of the RAF, augmented by the Fanfare Trumpeters, played before and after the film.

Simultaneous UK premieres were also held that night in Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Nottingham and Sheffield.

On October 20 a Royal Gala Performance of the film was mounted at the Dominion, and honoured guests for that charity evening, proceeds of which were donated to the RAF Benevolent Fund and the RAF Association, included Her Majesty the Queen, HRH the Prince of Wales, Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, HRH Princess Alexandra and the Hon Angus Ogilvy, HRH the Duchess of Gloucester and Chief of the Defence Staff, Marshal of the RAF Sir Charles Elworthy.

All over the world, the film took centre stage, with star-studded premieres in Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Spain, Switzerland, New Zealand, Norway, and Portugal. France debuted Battle of Britain at the Palais de Chailot, which seated 26,000 people. It was a high profile charity occasion, sponsored by President Georges Pompidou, which benefited the Free French, the Comite de Liberation and the RAF Association.

Searchlights picked out aircraft which flew over in a special night-time flypast, and after the showing there was a spectacular firework display at the nearby Eiffel Tower.

On September 5, Douglas Bader, and Ginger Lacey, along with some of the film's cast, were present at the 'switching on' ceremony of the Blackpool Illuminations. In Maya special exhibition on the film, including large scale Heinkel and Spitfire replicas, plus a recreation of a Fighter Command 1940 operations room, was opened at Madame Tussauds, London's famous waxworks museum.

While all the pre-publicity was flooding the UK and the rest of the globe, the producers could not do anything to combat the critics and the sometimes less than enthusiastic reviews which followed the film's release. 'Not So Hot, This Epic' proclaimed one national newspaper, which went on to say: Certainly it has good, even magnificent moments, no one could sit through the great aerial ballets without being awed and stirred. Compared with machines, human beings have a raw deal. There is no one the audience can identify with, feel for. The one attempt to introduce a substantial human story - a husband and wife torn by separate war obligations - is trite and unconvincing. The film-makers claim that they wanted documentary authenticity. They may not have adjusted history, but they have thrown no revealing light on it either. Sorry to go on, but when a film is fanfared so loudly as this one, can we be blamed for expecting wonders. Others were not quite so scathing with their critiques: 'In 133 minutes, the terror and courage which is called their finest hour'. Director Guy Hamilton and his team of expert technicians and fliers have strikingly caught the atmosphere of those weeks of destiny. All this, without mock heroics, is brought out in this compelling picture. It is studded with stars and feature players but the real stars are the planes - many of them old crates that fought in the campaign. Considering the wide scope of the subject the producers have done a fine job which will both entertain and, I think, inspire.

In subsequent years, film-listing books have not been so kind. One well known tome describes it as a plodding attempt to cover an historical event from too many angles and with too many guest stars, all indistinguishable from each other when masked in the cockpit during the repetitive and interminable dogfight sequences. Another regarded it as a well-meaning but unexciting all star extravaganza made to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1940 aerial attack on England. A few good cameos, some gripping dogfights and stirring music, but the best thing is the photography. A bit out of its time; the public didn't really want to know, and it lost money, while a third says: This stirring if slightly overlong saga of England's WWlI defence of its homeland features a staggering star-studded cast, with excellent portrayals down the line, despite the restrictions of their roles. Olivier is in fine form as Sir Hugh Dowding, whose crafty tactics with his limited fighter command induced the Luftwaffe to make fatal errors. Except for Jurgens, however, the German actors are mere caricatures of the Nazi high command, with Rolf Stiefel especially ludicrous as a berserk Hitler. The dogfights between the British and German fighters are spectacular and fascinating.

The publicity campaign for Battle of Britain was one of the biggest that had been mounted for any motion picture for a long time, and at the time of the film's release a wealth of promotional merchandising was available in many forms. Dinky, the well-known toy and model manufacturer, released a pair of metal Spitfire II and Junkers Ju 87B models. The Spitfire featured a motorised propeller and the Stuka came complete with a cap-firing bomb. Frog models issued a trio of' paired 'aircraft kits, Spitfire & Ju 88, Blenheim & Messerschmitt Bf I09F and Hurricane & Ju 87G Stuka.

J Arthur Dixon, the Isle-of-Wight-based postcard manufacturer, was granted a licence to market a series of 32 colour postcards featuring scenes from the film. These could also be mounted in a special album, which contained information about the film and the action depicted on the postcards. The complete set came supplied in a commemorative display box.

Shown on British television (BBC 1) for the first time on September 15,1974 (five years to the day of its premiere). All the major television channels serving the UK (satellite included) have since broadcast Battle of Britain, but at the time of writing it has only been shown in widescreen-style format once.

While it did not win any 'Oscars' and in this day and age is often looked upon as just an ordinary film, it holds a special place in the hearts of aircraft enthusiasts the world over. It was an incredible achievement to gather so many 'real' vintage aircraft together just for a film. As 'aircraft films' go it was indeed a milestone, which took a great deal of courage, skill and determination to make. Had it not been for the likes of Ben S Fisz, Harry Saltzman Guy Hamilton and Hamish Mahaddie, you would probably not be reading this book today.