Battle of Britain

1. Battle of Britain

2. The Advantage of Being An Island with Superior Naval Power • Churchill talks about the incredible advantage of superior sea power- very hard to invade. • Enemy might be able to sneak across, but even then, how can it defend its supply lines? • Necessities of perfect weather for a good invasion… high tide, half moon, clear weather… the problem is that the enemy can calculate these dates as well… can be prepared… • For this reason, he argues that Britain has always been safe… even more so in WWI when steam power took away the ability of the aggressor to wait for favorable winds to help them but drive the defender away. • However, there was a new intangible in WWII • … air power.

3. Basic German Invasion Plan… Operation Sea Lion • Construct a Naval corridor • cordon off the shortest straight line between France and Britain • line it with minefields and subs, and ferry the German army across… • Churchill claims that Britain could have torn this minefield up, destroyed the subs, and crushed this invasion • he also says that this was the most heavily fortified section of the British coast…

4. The Odds • Churchill estimated that at the beginning of the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe forces outnumbered the RAF 3-1, but there was considerable home field advantage for the British • Partly this is because of fuel… Luftwaffe only had about 10 minutes of fighting time over England before having to head back to refuel. • Also, Enigma (bigger story here) and radar • Churchill describes the need to defend a long coastline in Britain meant to set up forces on the perimeter that would stall the enemy and then the largest possible reserve for quick counterattack… (what he accused the French of not doing in the Battle of France… )

5. RAF Planes • Hurricane… first RAF plane with a top speed of over 300 mph… • 8 machine guns in the wings… (gets rid of synchronizing gear) • 1,715 Hurricanes flew with Fighter Command during the period of the Battle • It is estimated that its pilots were credited with four-fifths of all enemy aircraft destroyed in the period July-October 1940.

6. Hurricane

7. The Hurricane

8. Spitfire • “The Spitfire has always attracted more attention than the Hurricane, and is undoubtedly one of the most famous aircraft ever built. Its graceful lines combined with outstanding handling qualities to produce a "dream plane" extremely fast, and in comparison to contemporary types was second to none.” • 8 machine guns in wings

9. Spitfire

10. The Spitfire

11. Luftwaffe • Messerschmitt 109 • 2 machine guns in the nose and two in the wings • The various strengths and shortcomings of the Messerschmitt, the Hurricane, and the Spitfire largely cancelled out in combat.

12. Messerschmitt 109

13. Messerschmitt 109

14. Stuka Dive Bomber • Won great success in battles of Poland and France, but in the Battle of Britain proved to be almost helpless without fighter cover

15. The Stuka

17. “The Hurricane's comparative weakness in acceleration was offset by its extreme strength and ruggedness. There was little to choose between the Spitfire and the Me109 between 12,000 and 17,000 feet, but above 20,000 feet the Messerschmitt was undoubtedly the better machine. It dived faster than its opponents, but required much more physical effort to fly. The weak, narrow undercarriage caused many accidents, but despite this and the cramped cockpit, the aircraft was popular with its pilots.”

18. Churchill’s Gamble • Air battles between the Luftwaffe and the RAF occurred through the late summer and fall (1940) • Operation Sea Lion would have to be launched by late September or it would have to wait through the winter…would the RAF hold out • RAF started to crack because of damage to its fighter command…. • I’ve read one historian who claims England came within one week of permanently losing the air war • Churchill, in desperation, bated the Germans by bombing Berlin • Hitler had promised never to bomb London if German cities were not bombed • Goering (head of Luftwaffe) had promised that German cities would never be bombed

19. The London Blitz • The bombing of Berlin caused a change in tactics • The Germans altered their focus from an attack on British air power to an attack on England’s civilian population • tried to bomb the Brits into submission through terror bombing of London .. • London was bombed after this for 57 consecutive nights… • Problem of underground shelters during incendiary bombings? • Solution? – To the roof!

20. Thus, the Battle of Britain had two phases • The attack on the RAF And • The attack on London, known as the London Blitz

21. The Bombing of London was a ‘Relief’ to Churchill • “London can take it.” • Royal Air Force is being reconstituted • By October, Hitler gave up on the bombing of Britain • Too late to launch Sea Lion • Instead, Hitler decided to deal with England via the War in the Atlantic (Wolf Packs) • Starve the British out

22. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”