Prelude

 

• On June 17, 1940: the defeated French signed an armistice

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• Britain stood alone against the Germany’s military forces

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• Germany needed to destroy Royal Air Force before invading Great Britain.

 

July 10, 1940: First German bombers attack over the English Channel

• The Germans attacked towns and British defenses on the southern coast.

• Although the German bombings continued, the British did not stop fighting back.

• Hitler began to get frustrated and soon switched tactics and started bombing large cities..

 

July 19: Hitler unsuccessfully tried to force Britain to make peace

 

August 13: Eagle Day.

• German air strikes did substantial damage to radar sites

• Despite that, the Luftwaffe turned to attacks on RAF air bases.

  • This was an error of critical importance.

  • The attacks had devastating effects on London’s residents, but they gave Britain’s defenses time to recover.

• Around 1,400 German planes attack southern England

• The British disposed 600 fighters to defend the country.

• The Germans brought down only 13 British fighters and lost around 40 of their own aircraft.

 

The night of August 24-25:

• A Luftwaffe aircraft mistakenly dropped bombs on the London.

• In revenge, British bombers raided Berlin.

• Hitler was furious and ordered massive attacks on the civilians and British defenses by night and day

• It was just what the British needed! London was like a sponge - it absorbed damage from German attacks as a sponge does water

 

September 7: Beginning of “London Blitz”

• September 7 – new massive attack on London - quite successful

• September 15 -the second attack, the high point of the battle

  • The Germans launched an attack on London by 123 bombers escorted by more than 650 fighters.

  • German attack failed and with a collapse of morale among German bomber crews: British fighters appeared in large numbers and shot down many of the Germans.

  • It is now celebrated as Battle of Britain Day.

 

September 17: Hitler indefinitely postpones plans for a ground invasion of England

 

Epilogue

• Britain’s victory saved the country from a ground invasion

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• Hitler stopped bombing London partly because he needed his bombers for the invasion of Russia.

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• The Luftwaffe lost somewhere in the region of 1,900 aircrafts

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• RAF Fighter Command aircraft losses totaled 1087

 

 

Interesting facts

 

• "The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin." - Winston Churchill:

 

• At one point London was bombed for 57 nights in a row.

 

• Around 3,000 men of the RAF took part in the battle –Winston Churchill called them ‘The Few’.

 

• Fighter Command was an international force. Volunteers came from all over the Europe – from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, France, Poland, South Africa, Czechoslovakia, United States, Ireland…

 

• It was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces

 

• The Battle of Britain marked the first defeat of Hitler’s military forces.

 

• Winston Churchill -“never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

 

The key figure of the battle? The British Chain Home radar system

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It was the most advanced system in the world.

It could detect aircraft flying at 152m at ranges up to 177km.

The presence of radar did remove the need for continuous air patrols

It allowed the British to know when and where enemy planes were coming.