In the dramatic conclusion to Walking the Ground: Battle of Britain, James Holland and Al Murray retrace how the RAF finally broke the Luftwaffe’s assault and secured one of Britain’s most decisive victories of the Second World War. As the campaign reached its final phase in late 1940, German morale collapsed under unrelenting pressure, while Britain’s Fighter Command, guided by Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding’s revolutionary air-defence system, proved that technology, teamwork, and leadership could defeat superior numbers.

Returning to Dowding’s own office at Bentley Priory, they uncover how the Dowding System – the world’s first fully integrated radar-based air-defence network – transformed warfare forever. Combining radar detection, observer reports, and centralised command, it created a real-time control system that linked Britain’s skies, ground controllers, and fighter squadrons into one seamless machine.

This final episode explores how discipline, innovation, and morale held the RAF together through exhaustion and loss, why Hitler’s plans for Operation Sea Lion were abandoned, and how Dowding and Park’s victory ultimately cost them their positions. It’s a powerful end to the series, revealing not just how Britain was saved, but how the modern age of air defence began.

Filmed with the kind support of:
Imperial War Museum Duxford
Bentley Priory Museum
Battle of Britain Memorial, Capel-le-Ferne