“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” are Churchill’s words that set the 113 days of the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 apart from all others, as the greatest aerial battle in history. As the German Luftwaffe sought to destroy the Royal Air Force, gain air superiority, and invade the British Isles, Commonwealth fighter pilots scrambled from U.K. airfields day after day and flew Hurricane and Spitfire fighter aircraft to thwart Hitler’s plan. They won, but paid dearly.

On Oct. 17, 2024, historian Ted Barris meets with the Friends of Markdale Museum for a talk based on his latest book Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in Their Finest Hour.

In his 22nd book of nonfiction Ted Barris has assembled unknown stories of Canadian airmen, ground crew, as well as engineers, aeronautical designers, medical officers and civilians, who answered the call and turned back the very real threat of Nazi invasion. You know the outcome of the Battle of Britain, but now you’ll meet the Canadians who helped secure victory in the first last-stand of WWII.

Ted Barris has published 22 non-fiction books, half of them wartime histories. His book The Great Escape: A Canadian Story won the 2014 Libris Award as Best Non-Fiction Book in Canada. His book Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid Against Nazi Germany received the 2018 NORAD Trophy from the RCAF Association. And his book Rush to Danger: Medics in the Line of Fire was long-listed for the 2020 Charles Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction in Canada. And his book Battle of the Atlantic: Gauntlet to Victory was published in 2022, the same year that Barris was appointed Member of the Order of Canada.