A Summer Bright and Terrible
Winston Churchill, Lord Dowding, Radar, and the Impossible Triumph of the Battle of Britain
David E. Fisher
- Lord
- Hugh
- Dowding,
- Air
- Chief
- Marshall
- of
- the
- Royal
- Air
- Force,
- Head
- of
- Fighter
- Command,
- First
- Baron
- of
- Bentley
- Priory,
- lived
- in
- the
- grip
- of
- unseen
- spirits.
- In
- thrall
- of
- the
- supernatural,
- he
- talked
- to
- the
- ghosts
- of
- his
- dead
- pilots,
- proclaimed
- that
- Hitler
- was
- defeated
- only
- by
- the
- personal
- intervention
- of
- God,
- and
- believed
- in
- the
- existence
- of
- faeries.
- How
- could
- it
- be
- that
- such
- a
- man
- should
- be
- put
- in
- charge
- of
- evaluating
- technical
- developments
- for
- the
- British
- air
- ministry?
- Yet
- it
- was
- he
- who
- brought
- the
- modern
- multi–gunned
- fighter
- into
- existence.
- And
- he
- insisted
- that
- his
- scientists
- investigate
- the
- mysterious
- invisible
- rays
- that
- would
- prove
- to
- be
- the
- salvation
- of
- Britain:
- radar.Dowding,
- who
- provided
- the
- organization
- and
- training
- that
- led
- to
- victory,
- has
- been
- all
- but
- ignored
- by
- U.
- S.
- biographers
- of
- Churchill
- and
- historians
- of
- the
- Battle
- of
- Britain.
- Yet
- his
- story
- is
- vital
- to
- tell,
- for
- its
- importance
- to
- the
- defense
- of
- Britain
- and
- the
- free
- world,
- and
- for
- the
- intriguing
- character
- study
- that
- emerges
- from
- his
- ongoing
- conflict
- with
- Churchill
- and
- the
- British
- government
- during
- the
- crisis
- years
- of
- the
- empire.
- Part
- military
- history,
- part
- science
- narrative,
- part
- biography;
- this
- an
- incredible story.
