Aces High is a piece of orchestral music by

Ron Goodwin Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included ''Where Eagles Dare'', ''Battle ...

in a military march style for the 1969 soundtrack of the film ''

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

''.

History

The ''Aces High March'' was originally entitled ''Luftwaffe March'' from the ''Battle of Britain''. In the USA, the title of the composition was ''Aces High''. The music is published by

Faber Music Faber Music is a British sheet music publisher best known for contemporary classical music. It also publishes music tutor books, and in 2005 acquired popular music publisher International Music Publications. Faber Music has close relations to th ...

Setting in the film

In the film, the music is played during the opening sequence with fifty

Heinkel Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, with ...

aircraft, which were actually aircraft built by Spain's CASA. These aircraft had been flying in Spain's air force until 1968. These Spanish bomber aircraft also had

Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later ...

engines; the aircraft during the war had

Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...

engines. The aircraft had been obtained by Group Captain

T.G. 'Hamish' Mahaddie Group Captain Thomas Gilbert "Hamish" Mahaddie, (19 March 1911 – 16 January 1997) was a Scotsman who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF). As a youth he was selected for an apprentice program and was trained as an RAF ground crew "metal rigger". ...

. The famous opening sequence of the film was shot in March 1968 at Tablada Aerodrome (

Seville Airport Seville Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Sevilla) is the sixth busiest inland airport in Spain. It is the main international airport serving Western Andalusia in southern Spain, and neighbouring provinces. The airport has flight connections to 42 de ...

) in

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, southern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The film was produced by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

. There is a scene showing the deserted British Army vehicles at Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo), and a BBC Radio news broadcast (on 18 June 1940) announces ''In the House of Commons this afternoon the Prime Minister Mr Churchill said - What General Weygand called the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

is over. The

is about to begin'', after which the ''Aces High'' or ''Luftwaffe March'' begins. The main titles were made by

Maurice Binder Maurice Binder (December 4, 1918 – April 9, 1991) was an American film title designer best known for his work on 16 James Bond films including the first, '' Dr. No'' (1962) and for Stanley Donen's films from 1958. Early work He was born in Ne ...

. The German commanding officers inspect the fictional II./KG 545 bomber unit or ''kampfgeschwader'' (part of 2. Flieger-Division).

Performances

The composition is mainly played by

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

s and brass bands, and less-frequently by orchestras too, at gala concerts. When the Queen opened the new £35m UK Berlin embassy on 18 July 2000,''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', Wednesday 19 July 2000 the band of the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

played the music, which was viewed as a ''

faux-pas English words {{Short pages monitor