John Willis presents CHURCHILL’S FEW & SECRET LETTERS

John Willis presents CHURCHILL’S FEW: The Battle of Britain – the Turning Point of World War II & SECRET LETTERS: A Battle of Britain Love Story

Wednesday 25th November 2020

6pm online via Zoom webinar

Eighty years after the Battle of Britain Churchill’s Few tells the story, in their own words, of six young men who fought in the skies above England to prevent Hitler's invasion of Britain. This thin blue line in their Hurricanes and Spitfires were the 'few' to whom Churchill said the nation owed so much. This unique and moving record throws light on the long-term consequences of the Battle of Britain on the lives of the young pilots in the frontline. A few months of aerial combat changed both their lives and history forever.

Secret Letters contains the full unpublished letters of Geoffrey Myers, one of the six pilots featured in Churchill’s Few, written while Myers was caught up in the turning points of the early years of the war, and his French wife and two half-Jewish children were trapped in Nazi-occupied France, desperate to escape and to be reunited with him in England. Intended to be read only in the event of his death, these secret letters were never posted and were not read by Geoffrey's family until later in the war.

Extracts from the letters will be read by Christine Kavanagh, a long-time member of the BBC Radio Drama Company who recently starred in An Inspector Calls.

Both books are available for purchase from Waterstones Blackheath.

John Willis is one of Britain's best known television executives. He is a former Director of Programmes at Channel 4 and Director of Factual and Learning at the BBC. In 2012 he was elected as Chair of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

He started his career as a documentary maker and won many awards for his films including Johnny Go Home, Alice – A Fight for Life, Rampton – The Secret Hospital, and Churchill's Few on which this book is based.

He is currently Chair of Mentorn Media, producers of Question Time for BBC.

FREE with donations to Blackheath Halls General Fund very much appreciated. Thank you.