duncan kennedy reporting. today marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the battle of britain, when the raf defended the country against wave after wave of bombing raids from nazi germany. the young british pilots flew new fighter planes called spitfires and hurricanes, turning the aircraft into iconic symbols of resilience. but what's never been revealed is the role played by a schoolgirl from london in their success, as sophie raworth explains. newsreel: way up in the sky, there are messerschmitts, junkers, heinkels and dorniers, that are going to get the thrashing of their lives... july, 1940, and nazi germany is beginning the first of many bombing raids in what became known as the battle of britain. but the raf‘s pilots managed to fight off the luftwaffe and defend these shores in their spitfires and hurricanes.