Operation Sea Lion Essay

In this essay I will assess the significance of strategic bombing of Germany. I will do this by evaluating four key areas of the German war effort. This will include German and British moral, German economy, its effect on the outcome of the Eastern Front and the results of the preparation for D-Day. Overall allied bombing did not have a significant impact on the outcome of the war as for the majority of the war bombing techniques and technology were primitive and so had little effect. It only became a threatening tool latter on in the war, when the allies had effectively won.

The 8th Air Force arrived in England with one main mission, to destroy Germany’s ability to wage war over Europe. They were to do this by flying day bomb runs on a massive scale to compliment the night time raids that the RAF were conducting. These massive formations

In World War, two great superpowers in Europe, Germany and Britain clashed through aerial warfare. Hitler planned to lead the invasion of Britain with the Luftwaffe through intensive attacks against the Royal Air Force in England. Britain was the only nation left standing against the Germans after France was forced to sign an armistice on June 22, 1940; Hitler knew that air power was the only way to reach the isolated island nation. The Battle of Britain lasted from mid-June, when Hitler launched Operation Sea Lion, codenamed as such for the invasion of England, to mid-September of 1940, when Operation Sea Lion was postponed indefinitely. The Second World War went from September 1st, 1939 to September 2nd, 1945. The German Luftwaffe had a substantial impact on the military, economic and social systems of Britain throughout the Second World War.

By the time the Germans launched their air offensive against Fighter Britain 1940 Command had planes ready for immediate action. During the Battle of Britain these figures remained roughly constant as increased aircraft production made good high losses. These 700 or so planes were really all that stood between Hitler and complete victory insofar as all of continental Europe by this time was either Nazi- occupied, neutral or allied with Hitler's Germany. If the RAF failed to deny the Luftwaffe control of the skies, then 'Operation Sealion', the proposed Nazi invasion of Britain, could proceed and there's no doubt that had Hitler's armies crossed the Channel, then Britain would have been knocked out of the war. The fact that the Battle of Britain

This battle is important to World War II because it was the first war to be fought almost completely out of aircraft. “Recent research indicates that Hitler’s heart was not in an attack on Britain but that he wanted to so concentrate his country’s strength on an attack on communist Russia” (“History Learning Site-Battle of Britain”). The Battle of Britain still effects us to this day.

The technological developments that assisted bombing, the impact of bombing on the German economy, the impact of bombing on the German civilian morale and also the effects on the German war effort all help explain why the Allied strategic bombing of Germany during the Second World War was significant to quite a far extent. Each of the following paragraphs will analyse the impacts of the Allied strategic bombing on different aspects of Germany and also what factors assisted the Allied bombing campaign in creating a significant impact on Germany during the Second World War.

"World War 2 was a war fought in two distinct phases. The first was the last war of a new generation. The second was emphatically the first of a new era" . <br><br>"The British strategic bomber campaign was of doubtful cost effectiveness" . Bomber Command was by far the largest claimant on labour and factory space within the armed forces. Relative to their size they suffered more casualties than any other sector. <br><br>The Anglo-American bomber force was divided in terms of strategy. Bomber Command believed it was too risky to bomb by day, while the Americans believed it was too difficult to bomb by night. Initially both forces lacked accurate navigational equipment, which deterred them from precision bombing. <br><br>Germany developed a

However, by the end of July, the RAF had lost 150 aircraft while the Luftwaffe had lost 268. These figures illustrate that there was a much greater loss of aircraft experienced by Germany than the British. These large losses of planes from the outset of a battle would have been a significant blow to any army however, this would have damaged German morale as a greater loss of planes was not something they would have contemplated and as they were coming into this battle with such high expectations, this would have been a significant blow to the Luftwaffe and a stern wake up call to their commanders. However, Britain too was suffering, it was the loss of trained pilots that was crippling the RAF, and the real battle had yet to begin. In August, the Luftwaffe changed their tactics and started to attack Fighter Command's airfields, operation rooms and radar stations - the idea being that the RAF

Following the devastation of trench warfare during World War I, early airpower theorist believed strategic bombing could be the new way to win wars and reduced the number of lives lost. Theorist like, Guilio Douhet, Hugh Trenchard, and William “Billy” Mitchel became pioneers and advocates of strategic bombing. They believed striking the enemy’s troops, war-marking industry, and vital centers would produce a decisive victory. The airpower theory would be a key element to the Allies strategy in Second World War (WW2). Leaders in Britain and the United States believed Germany was a greater threat than Japan. Thus, the airpower strategy of the European theater of operation became the primary focus. Allied airpower was decisive in the European

Germany did not have a numerically superior force on the western front, but bold strategy, careful planning and blitzkrieg tactics set the foundation for the French defeat. In June 1940 Hitler invaded Paris, eight days later the French surrendered. After the French surrender, Hitler attempted to end the war with Britain. Speaking to the Reichstag in June, he said, “I can see no reason why the war need go on.” But Hitler was already had his sights set on invading Russia. He now aimed to end the war in the west so he could concentrate on attacking communist Russia in the east. Hitler knew that invading Britain would be difficult, but still he informed his military to leaders to prepare for the operation, Operation Sea Lion, and proceeded in planning a landing operation against Britain.

Strategic bombing would be a major factor in the destruction of London. More than 500,000 people would die because of strategic bombing campaigns. Blitzkrieg is also known as “The Blitz” would be a major tactic used by the Nazi’s. They would use this tactic to invade neighboring countries. By the time the blitz came upon Britain the Nazi’s conquered most of Europe. The Nazi’s planned to attack Britain and invade. They would try to cripple the British defenses. While trying to bombard their defenses they accidentally attacked a civilian area which caused uproar with the British people. Many people thought raids like this would not stop so they had a mass migration of children and artwork. The Nazi’s began bombing London in September of 1940 and this would last until May of 1941. The Battle of Britain was going on around the same time. This battle would not only be important because it would prove to the Nazi’s that they could not invade Britain, but this would mark Hitler’s first defeat in World War 2. This would be a landmark battle because not only was this battle not fought on land, but for this first time in human history the whole battle was fought in the skies. One of the greatest military inventions would come out of this battle was radar. Radar was only in the infancy before the battle, but would become vital in the allies victory in the war. London by the end of the war was in need of major reconstruction. Many would see this as an opportunity to rebuild and grow the city like never before. They would introduce satellite towns and high rise buildings. They would build the Barbican which would hold office blocks, an arts centre, a museum, housing and a school. This would be one of the biggest reconstruction projects in European

In addition even if Hitler had achieved his aim of destroying the RAF, Germany might still have failed to establish a foothold after any invasion, because the British Royal Navy was enormously strong, and very capable of repulsing German troop ships. Suppression of the British air force would have been the first difficult step to a German victory, but it was not the only factor, and the British would have found they had plenty more tricks up their sleeve. There was nothing to stop them from withdrawing their aircraft northwards, out of range of the German fighters, if they started to lose the air battle, keeping the aircraft in reserve to counter an attempted German invasion. The combatants

Winston Churchill wanted to stop Adolf Hitler and wanted to make an air battle between Britain and Hitler forces (Germany). So the war began and Germany attacked first, Germany had more planes than Britain but Britain forces were way smarter first they had radar and second they had the Germans secret code which let them access and can hear what is their plan easily.

During the Battle of Britain, Germany wanted to achieve air superiority but ultimately failed to defeat the Royal Air Force (RAF). Hitler ordered the Lufwaffe to destroy the RAF in preparation for Operation Sealion which was Germany’s invasion plan for Britain. Although numerous factors contributed to Hitler’s decision to attack Britain, in keeping with his “one front at a time” war methodology, Hitler wanted to secure the Western Front prior to invading the Soviet Union. Initially, directed by Hermann Goering (commander-in-chief of the Lufwaffe) Germany targeted Britain’s coastal areas and convoys, airports, and vital British air warning and radar

The Germans were losing aircraft and pilots fast; Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion. Germany had lost. The fighter pilots of the battle of Britain had saved Britain from invasion, but many of its major cities were severely bombed. German U boats and surface vessels also began a new campaign.