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There have been so many comments along these lines, hope people don't mind if I answer all of them here. The myths are as follows
1 https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1282223910759661568
1 https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1282223910759661568
By saying that the nation owes the pilots so much, Churchill is ascribing to them the main role in the victory of the battle of Britain. This is the nub and I would argue the main myth from which all else comes
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The pilots were part of a large system that combined, and equally, were responsible for the victory. This system includes the Royal Navy, Radar, merchant marine, Anti-Air forces, maintenance, etc.
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The Royal Navy, for instance was equally as responsible as the RAF for the victory, though I suppose in their case their dominance was so great, they didnt have anything particularly dramatic to create a myth around
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The British people "owed" as much to the Royal Navy for the victory as they did the pilots, but this is rarely acknowledged
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Also, the "few" could be used for any military specialty and I would argue is the wrong way of understanding human conflict. It glamorizes combat at the expense of logistics and preparation--which matter just as much if not more
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Finally, Churchill is establishing rhetorically two things that are not true. 1) That Britain could have lost the battle if the pilots were not so brave, which is nonsense, and 2) that Britain as a whole was in great peril of being beaten in 1940. Both are nonsense.
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So lots of myths directly from the speech. The remarkable thing to me is why so many people are desperate to hold onto the myths today.
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The final thing is the idea that some how my ideas are anti-English or anti-British. I am arguing that Britain was the superior technological, air-sea power that won the Battle of Britain easily. It was a triumph of the British state, military and people that it did so.
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