The Battle of Britain Essays

Britain’s air force was a vital part of their military and defence when Hitler attempted to gain air superiority over England through the German Luftwaffe which was led by Hermann Göering. The radar system used to detect aerial attack in Britain was flawed in the beginning of the war and there was a shortage of anti-air craft guns. Radar could not predict the size and height of incoming enemy bombers and lacked detail that was necessary and vital for effective defence preparations. At the start of the Blitz, there were only 92 anti-air craft guns to defend London and the guns were outdated with a terrible fire control system.

Battle of Britain is the name given to the effort by the German air force, run by Luftwaffe to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Battle of Britain was the first major battle to be fought entirely by air forces. It was the largest and most sustained bombing campaign to be attempted, as well as the first real test of vital bombing theories developed since World War I. The failure of Nazi Germany to destroy Britain's air force or to break the spirit of the British government or people is considered the Third Reich's first major defeat. Neither Hitler nor the German Army believed it was possible to carry out an assault on the British Isles until the RAF had been overcome. Secondary ideas were to destroy aircraft production and ground infrastructure, they looked to attack areas of political importance, and to terrorize the British people into wanting to surrender. British historians usually date the battle from 10 July to 31 October 1940, which showed the most intense period of bombing. German historians usually place the beginning of the battle in mid-August 1940 and end it in May 1941. With the royal air force having superior aircraft, and more intelligent technology, the RAF was able to overcome and defeat the German air force.

The real miracle at Dunkirk and the other Channel ports in May 1940 was that Hitler halted his Panzer divisions against the advice of almost all his generals, and allowed nearly 600,000 British and French troops to escape to England. Had he not done so, the military disaster that the British Expeditionary Force experienced in France would have been total, and none of its troops would have been able to fight on another day. Even so, they lost most of their planes, tanks, artillery and heavy equipment, while the loss of aircraft by the RAF imperiled it ability to defend the country against the Luftwaffe. Although Winston Churchill and his Minister of Information Alfred Duff Cooper tried to put the best face on the evacuation possible, especially by emphasizing the role the small boats had played in the rescue effort, they were under no illusions about the magnitude of the disaster. Hitler gave various explanations for why he refused to continue ground operations against Dunkirk none of them particularly convincing and it has puzzled historians for seventy years since. Most of the top German commanders were literally "speechless" when they heard the order to halt and leave Dunkirk to the Luftwaffe, although Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt was concerned about possible British and French counterattacks on the exposed northern flank of the German army. Britain's counterattack at Arras had "also come as a severe shock" to the Germans and De Gaulle would later make similar attacks

Many can argue that the Battle of Britain could have been won by both sides of the war. Although ultimately the British had the advantage. A few reasons for their victory was their use of radar, and their strategies. There were over a hundred Canadian pilots that fought, and although the RAF only recognizes 83 it is believed that the 23 that died were killed later on in the war. The Battle of Britain was fought in the skies of Britain and over the English channel. The Germans had many disadvantages such as having to fly overseas to attack the British flight. The battle began in July 1940 when Hitler announced that they were attacking Britain on an operation called “Operation Sealion”. This was supposed to be a battle of the seas. Although to make this easier

Who started all of this? Contrails left by the British and German aircraft after one of the dogfight

After the battle between the two countries began in early July of 1940, both Germany and Great Britain suffered heavy loses to men and resources, but Germany temporarily prevailed as the German Luftwaffe launched a massive air attack in London on September 7th, 1940. This advantage that the Germans held was temporary as the British RAF danced through the fields of Kent and disposed of hundreds of German Messerschmitt aircraft in attacks that followed in late September of the same year. As the battle continued,

The Royal Air Force had superior aircrafts, pilots, and training tactics, compared to the Luftwaffe. The war in Europe started in early September 1939. Germany, Adolf Hitler, took over Poland. Britain and France countered by declaring war on Germany but did not take action for many months. In 1940, Germany attacked its next target, Denmark, and Norway. Soon after they invaded and successfully took over Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. All of these nations were conquered because of the Blitzkrieg or lightning war, technique. In the summer of 1940, Germany took Britain head on, this time from the air. The Battle of Britain turned out to be Hitler’s first military failure, as the Luftwaffe never could destroy the powerful Royal Air Force. Britain was slightly surprise by the attack, but was ready to fight in time. Germany tried to blockade Britain but the powerful Royal Navy sunk German battleships and submarines. If Hitler could have pulled off a blockade “Britain would have been at a huge disadvantage, because they import a huge majority of their supplies. Germany took to the air to

On June 18, 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was speaking to the British House of Commons when he said “The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” Just the day before, the French signed a peace treaty and were no longer involved with World War II. The Battle of Britain was the air battle between Germany and Britain for control over Great Britain’s air space. This happened during July 1940 to May 1941, with the heaviest fighting from July to October 1940. Winston Churchill was trying to negotiate with Adolf Hitler. The Germans were trying to control the English Channel to invade Britain as part of “Operation Sea Lion”. Once they had control of this Channel, the British Navy could not attack The German barges. The British Navy was headed for Kent and Sussex beaches. Churchill knew he would succeed only if Britain was superior when fighting in the air. It was the British Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighters vs. the German Luftwaffe and for the first time ever, the battle was in the air.

The Battle of Normandy was a pivotal moment of World War II in Europe. It outlined Germany's last chance to end the war on any favorable terms. However, a type of invasion of this magnitude took two years in the making strategically planning every significant moment and movement appeared to be an overwhelming task for the allied forces. Execution of the war had commenced, in late August 1944, three months after D-Day started our troops were in control of the battlefield and defeat was imminent a year later. Here begins the Battle of Normandy also known as Operation Overlord. (McManus, 2013)

Germany bombing London was a significant turning point. Prior to that the Germans bombed aircraft and aircraft facilities this change in tactics affected the outcome of WW2, because although many people were killed it gave the English time to regroup and reform. The Blitz started in earnest with full on attacks on 13th August 1940 and on 7th September 1940, a 9 month long attack against London commenced. At the start of the Blitz, at around 4:00pm, 348 German bombers were escorted by 617 fighters. Their goal was to blast London by bombing them and this lasted until 6:00pm.

“With its new aircraft, tactics, and superior numbers, New Operation Argument was launched”(Schill 80). Strategically, the mission was to achieve air superiority and immobilize Germany’s economy. The Eighth Air Force was in charge of targeting German electric power, transportation, petroleum, synthetic oil, and neutralize German air force”(Doolittle and Glines 295). Thus they launched seven consecutive days of visual bombing on February 19-25. Before conducting the official attack, Doolittle had his men practice fighting missions and maneuvers before conducting the operations. The attack was such a secret that airmen could not fly over German territory prior to the attack so that it would not compromise the future mission. Tactically, the Eighth Air Force had 3,300 heavy bomber sorties fly beside the Fifteenth Air Force consisting of 500 missions from Italy. In the meantime, “the Royal Air Force of Britain flew 2,750 night attacks aimed at German aircraft manufacturing plants (Olsen 82). After the “Big Week,” the United States gained air superiority over all of Europe. Operationally, Germany had undergone many months of decreased aircraft production during aircraft production during crucial time for them to counterattack. This resulted to Germany to having a small amount of German aircraft in the air and the rate of attrition of the Luftwaffe’s pilots to exceed Germany’s rate of

The battle of the Somme would be a learning example for the remainder of World War I. It would show the futility of trench warfare and the negative and lasting effects this would have on the people involved. The British had never attempted the tactics that were used by the Artillery in a conflict on the scale in which it was used during this battle. For example, an artillery barrage on this scale was never used before. The implementation of the allied Artillery was a new concept for both the High command and for the soldiers involved in firing the rounds. The size and length of the battle were a scale on which the allied force had never experienced before. The number of artillery pieces involved was staggering, only trumped by the sheer number of rounds fired and the rate of fire from the allied artillerymen. Along with these new tactics came problems which would prove to be the undoing of the allied force plan and one of the many reasons the battle of the Somme lasted for so long. In this essay we plan to discuss the history and relative impact artillery had at the battle of the

The first raid had 250 planes, and the RAF managed to shut down 125 of them while the other half was able to bomb London (“Battle of Britain Day”). On the ground in London during the battle, civilians were forced to live in the metro system to protect themselves from the bombs. Many of the Luftwaffe formations were scattered, meaning when they dropped their bombs they landed over nothing. This did not leave London unharmed. The goal of this terror bombing was to break British morale which did not seem to happen.

“However, the German raids were decisively defeated with 61 German aircraft destroyed for the loss of 31 RAF fighters. To the dismay of German airmen, it was clear that Fighter Command was not on the brink of defeat and the Luftwaffe could not win air superiority. Two days later, Hitler postponed invasion preparations indefinitely. Although daylight air battles would continue into October, the Luftwaffe switched its main effort to night attacks in order to reduce further losses.” (Webb,

Even when a major German offensive attack was launched against Britain’s naval and air bases, war industries, and communication centers, Britain’s radar system allowed them to be prepared. However, Britain may have surrendered later on if Hitler did not end up ordering massive bombings of British cities. Although it affected the British morale, the time allowed Britain to restore its air strength, which accomplished damaging effects upon the Luftwaffe bombers. In addition, Hitler knew that he could not defeat Britain if the Luftwaffe did not gain control of the air. Unfortunately, Hitler did not accomplish what he hoped for because his sudden strategic change allowed the British to have the opportunity to regain its control in the