Although I have read endless accounts of the Battle of Britain, I can never fully accept that four years before I was born a battle for the survival of civilization was fought where the “side of the angels” was the distinct underdog. On June 18, 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain told the House of Commons, “The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” In the summer of 1940, the ascendant star of German Nazism was flush from a string of astonishing victories and seemed invincible. Britain stood alone without allies, save the far-flung dominions. 

 

Hitler having failed to obtain a negotiated settlement with Britain wanted then to invade it. Hitler believed that he could destroy the Royal Air Force and British aircraft industry, and, thereby, be able to get his troops across the Channel with his relatively meager amphibious landing craft.  In retrospect, the German invasion plans failed to recognize the overwhelming superiority of the British navy. A successful invasion, therefore, required the destruction of both the British Airforce and their Navy.  Starting in early July, Reichsmarshall Hermann Goring ordered the Luftwaffe to begin a bombing campaign. For nearly five months, the Luftwaffe bombed ports, shipping, airfields, factories, and cities. The critical day was September 15,1941 when the British aircraft destroyed enough German fighters and bombers to convince Hitler to postpone a land invasion (called “Sea Lion”) until the following spring. These respites allowed America to provide significant military supplies to Britain, and ultimately led to Hitler focus his military energies on invading the Soviet Union.

 

During this five-month period, sometimes called the Blitz, the Royal Airforce (RAF) overcame a two to one German advantage in fighters. The British participating aircraft were the rugged Hurricanes and the Spitfire. After a disastrous performance by the poor handling Stukas, the Germans used the Heinkel, a slow lumbering aircraft, and the very fast Messershmitt 109. The employment of radar, the placing of British airplanes outside easy range for German fighters, the relatively short time that German aircraft could stay over Britain because of their refueling needs, and the incredible bravery of the British people, both military and civilians, all contributed to the victory. Because the British were fighting over their own territory, their downed pilots could parachute onto their home turf and rejoin their units. A downed German pilot was lost to Germany, and a damaged aircraft was unlikely to make it back to France. The Luftwaffe lost approximately 1733 aircraft during the campaign, the RAF 915. Also, under the direction of Lord Beaverbrook, Britain manufactured enough aircraft during those five months to replace their lost aircraft. Literally, almost the entire production effort of England during those five months was focused on aircraft production. 

 

Certainly, radar provided the British a tremendous advantage during the Battle of Britain. Invented by a Scotsman James Watson Watt, it was still rudimentary but it allowed Fighter Command to have a good idea of where German attacks were heading and how strong they were. It enabled the RAF to keep its planes in the ground until they were needed and then the fighter controllers would direct them onto the attackers. The Battle of Britain became a battle of attrition. That is, Churchill was frightfully aware that his pilots and aircrew were near collapse during the early phases of the Battle of Britain. Fortunately, Hitler made a major strategic error. Specifically, he ordered the Luftwaffe to switch its attacks to London rather than continue to attack the British airfields. This gave the embattled 11 Group airfields a desperately needed respite. The RAF regrouped and eventually repulsed the airborne assailants.

 

 Excerpts of Churchill’s Speech of July 14,1940 to the House of Commons

 

“The Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends out own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. Hitler knows he has to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into the broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, this was their finest hour.”