Filming Battle of Britain at Tablada, Seville, in March 1968

A working AeroReg research page. Last reviewed .

Executive summary

The evidence currently available supports the central claim for which this page has long been cited: filming for Battle of Britain took place at Tablada Aerodrome in Seville during March 1968, and the film's early Luftwaffe inspection material was being filmed there by 27 March. Spain's Air and Space Force records that part of the production was made at Tablada between January and May 1968, whilst surviving Daily Express photographs taken on 27 March 1968 show producer Harry Saltzman on the Tablada set and actors playing Field Marshals Erhard Milch and Albert Kesselring during filming. Spanish Air and Space Force: history of Tablada; Daily Express/Hulton Archive photograph, 27 March 1968; Daily Express/Hulton Archive photograph of the Milch and Kesselring scene, 27 March 1968.

Specialist aviation histories give 13 March 1968 as the start of aircraft filming at Tablada. We have not yet located a surviving production call sheet, dated production report or other primary document that fixes the first day's filming to 13 March, so AeroReg is treating that exact date as provisional, rather than presenting it as settled fact. An Aeroplane retrospective gives 13 March and describes the CASA 2.111 and Hispano HA-1112 Buchón fleet operating from Tablada. Aeroplane, issue 571, accessible text mirror.

One small point is worth getting right. Tablada was the historic military aerodrome in Seville, not another name for the modern Sevilla/San Pablo Airport. Aena's own history separates the old Tablada aerodrome from the later Seville airport development, where construction of the transoceanic airport began in 1945. Aena: history of Sevilla Airport.

Filming the opening sequence at Tablada

Battle of Britain is a 1969 British feature film directed by Guy Hamilton and produced by Harry Saltzman and Benjamin Fisz, but much of its location and aerial work was carried out during 1968. The British Film Institute records the film as a 1969 production and identifies Hamilton, Saltzman and Fisz in those roles. British Film Institute: Battle of Britain.

For the German aircraft scenes, the production had an unusual advantage in Spain. The Spanish aviation industry had built post-war derivatives of wartime German aircraft: the CASA 2.111, derived from the Heinkel He 111, and the Hispano Aviación HA-1112, derived from the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Both types used Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in the versions associated with the film. The Deutsches Museum describes its surviving CASA 2.111B as a Spanish licence-built Heinkel derivative powered by Merlins and states that the aircraft was used in Battle of Britain. The RAF Museum also notes that Merlin-engined Spanish Bf 109 derivatives survived long enough to appear in the film in 1968. Deutsches Museum: CASA 2.111B; RAF Museum: Messerschmitt Bf 109 and its Spanish derivatives.

The Spanish Air and Space Force gives a broad filming period of January to May 1968 at Tablada. Its history of the Seville Air Depot, the Maestranza Aérea de Sevilla, adds a useful technical detail: in 1968 its personnel returned withdrawn Heinkel 111 and Messerschmitt 109-derived aircraft to flying condition for the British production, and many flying scenes were then made at Tablada. Spanish Air and Space Force: Tablada history; Spanish Air and Space Force: Maestranza Aérea de Sevilla.

The strongest evidence presently found for the opening Luftwaffe material is dated more precisely. On 27 March 1968, Daily Express photographer Larry Ellis photographed Saltzman at Tablada. A second photograph from the same date and place shows Dietrich Frauboes as Field Marshal Erhard Milch and Peter Hager as Field Marshal Albert Kesselring during filming. Those contemporary photographs place the actors, characters and production at Tablada in March, rather than relying on a later recollection of where the scene was made. Harry Saltzman at Tablada, 27 March 1968; Milch and Kesselring scene at Tablada, 27 March 1968.

Working conclusion: the claim that the opening sequence was filmed at Tablada in March 1968 is well supported. The narrower statement that filming began there on 13 March appears repeatedly in specialist histories and is probably right, but it still needs a primary production document before we would call the exact date confirmed.

What the aircraft were

The aircraft on screen were not surviving wartime Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111s and Messerschmitt Bf 109Es in the normal sense. The bomber formations were largely made possible by Spanish-built CASA 2.111s, whilst Hispano Aviación HA-1112 Buchóns represented the Bf 109. That visual compromise became one of the film's signatures: German-derived airframes powered by the same family of British Merlin engines associated with the Spitfire and Hurricane. The surviving CASA at the Deutsches Museum is officially described as a Spanish-built Heinkel derivative used in the film, and the RAF Museum independently records the film use of Merlin-engined Spanish Bf 109 derivatives. Deutsches Museum; RAF Museum.

Tablada mattered for more than scenery. It had long been a military aviation site and was closely tied to Spanish aircraft production and maintenance. The official Spanish history records the base's aviation use from the early twentieth century, whilst the Deutsches Museum identifies Tablada as the manufacturing location of its CASA 2.111. In other words, the film crew was working in a place with the people, workshops and aircraft needed to make a large formation of otherwise obsolete machines fly again. Spanish Air and Space Force: Tablada; Deutsches Museum: CASA 2.111B.

Aircraft documented so far

This is deliberately a small working table. It has been rebuilt from independent museum records, official accident records, dated aircraft photographs and specialist aircraft histories. It is not a reproduction of the aircraft inventory that appeared on the former AeroReg site. Where an identity, film role or present status cannot yet be tied to a sufficiently strong source, it is marked as unconfirmed.

Selected aircraft independently traced during the current research
Registration Aircraft Film role 1968 status Film identity Later or current status
G-AWHA CASA 2.111B Flying bomber aircraft Used as a flying film aircraft. The registration-to-airframe history is supported by specialist photographic records; the original UK registration file has not yet been recovered for this draft. Heinkel He 111 stand-in A CASA 2.111B used in Battle of Britain is preserved at the Deutsches Museum's Flugwerft Schleißheim and last flew in September 1970. Specialist aircraft records identify that airframe with G-AWHA, but that registration link remains provisional here pending a primary register entry. Deutsches Museum; AirHistory photographic record.
G-AWHB CASA 2.111, c/n 167 Flying bomber aircraft A dated photograph records G-AWHB with Spitfire Productions at RAF Debden on 17 June 1968 during production. Its exact configuration during the March Tablada opening sequence is unconfirmed. Heinkel He 111 stand-in; exact on-screen markings unconfirmed Later movements have been reported in specialist sources, but its present location and condition have not yet been checked against a primary register. Current status unconfirmed. ABPic: G-AWHB at RAF Debden, 17 June 1968; AirHistory: later photographic record.
G-AWHH Hispano HA-1112-M1L Buchón, serial 145 German fighter aircraft Air Leasing records that the aircraft was recovered from Spanish Air Force storage with other Buchóns for the 1968 film. Its participation is supported; its exact flying activity in the Tablada opening sequence is unconfirmed. Messerschmitt Bf 109 stand-in Restored to flight in Britain. Dated photographs record G-AWHH flying at Sywell in June 2024. Its precise 2026 ownership and register status have not yet been checked, so the present status is not claimed beyond that documented 2024 activity. Air Leasing: G-AWHH history; ABPic photographic records.
G-AVDJ
MH415		 Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX Allied fighter and aerial filming aircraft Flying. Current operator histories record MH415 as one of the Spitfires acquired for the production and describe film flying in Spain as well as Britain. RAF Spitfire; exact temporary film markings varied and are not catalogued here yet Flying Legends records the aircraft's restoration, return to Britain and sale in March 2024 to Flying Legends GmbH in Germany. Its current official register entry is still to be checked. Flying Legends: Spitfire MH415.
N6578D North American B-25J Mitchell, c/n 108-37583 Main aerial camera platform Modified as a camera aircraft and documented in Britain during the production. Specialist histories place it with the Spanish aerial unit as well. Off-camera camera ship, rather than a combat-aircraft stand-in Reported in a specialist airframe history as undergoing restoration in Australia. That report was updated in December 2025, but an Australian civil-register check has not yet been completed. Current status unconfirmed. ABPic: N6578D at Southend, 7 October 1968; Pacific Wrecks: airframe history.
G-AWAP Sud Aviation SA.318C Alouette II Astazou Aerial camera helicopter Specialist production histories identify G-AWAP as one of the film's camera platforms. A primary production record for its individual 1968 sorties is still being sought. Off-camera camera platform The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch records a fatal accident involving G-AWAP at Gat Sand, six nautical miles east of Boston, Lincolnshire, on 26 June 1983. The aircraft was destroyed. Air Accidents Investigation Branch: G-AWAP accident record; ABPic: G-AWAP photographic record.

Registration note: historic British civil registrations will be checked against the Civil Aviation Authority's G-INFO records, including de-registered aircraft, as the longer version of this research develops. UK Civil Aviation Authority: search G-INFO.

About this page

This URL belonged to an earlier incarnation of AeroReg and previously contained another author's article about the making of Battle of Britain. The aeroreg.co.uk domain later lapsed and changed ownership, whilst remaining a repository of aircraft registration records.

The earlier article has not been republished or rewritten here. Its copyright remains with its author. This page is a new, independently researched replacement, assembled from public records, museum collections, contemporary photographs and other sources cited alongside the relevant claims.

The aim is to preserve the usefulness of a long-standing aviation-history URL without pretending that this is the document which a reader may have encountered here years ago. Research is continuing, and uncertain details are labelled as such rather than being filled in from assumption.

Sources and continuing research

For this temporary page, official records and contemporary evidence have been given priority. Later specialist histories are useful for dates and aircraft identities, but they are treated as leads when a primary source has not yet been found.

  1. Spanish Air and Space Force, Tablada history. Official history recording that part of Battle of Britain was filmed at Tablada between January and May 1968. View source.
  2. Spanish Air and Space Force, Maestranza Aérea de Sevilla. Official account of depot personnel returning withdrawn German-derived aircraft to flying condition for the film and of flying scenes being made at Tablada. View source.
  3. Daily Express photographs, Larry Ellis, 27 March 1968. Contemporary photographic evidence placing Harry Saltzman, the production and the Milch/Kesselring sequence at Tablada on that date. Saltzman photograph; Milch and Kesselring photograph.
  4. Aena, history of Sevilla Airport. Official airport history useful for distinguishing the old Tablada aerodrome from the later Seville airport development. View source.
  5. British Film Institute. Film catalogue record for the 1969 feature, including director and producer credits. View source.
  6. Deutsches Museum, CASA 2.111B. Official museum record for a surviving CASA 2.111 used in Battle of Britain, including its Spanish manufacture, Merlin engines and later preservation. View source.
  7. UK Civil Aviation Authority, G-INFO. Primary register source for checking British civil registrations and historic de-registered aircraft. Search G-INFO.
  8. UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch. Official accident record for camera helicopter G-AWAP. View source.
  9. RAF Museum. Museum record noting the survival of Merlin-powered Spanish Bf 109 derivatives long enough to be used in the 1968 filming. View source.
  10. Aeroplane, issue 571. Later specialist history giving 13 March 1968 as the beginning of aerial filming at Tablada. This date remains provisional here until it can be matched to a contemporary production record. Accessible text mirror.