Battle of Britain
June, 1940
Hitler’s Attack on Britain
 Hitler expected Britain to surrender after the fall of France.
 When Britain refused, Hitler planned to subdue Britain. He cannot allow
an anti-Nazi Britain…(why not?)
Operation Sea Lion
Defeat of the Royal
Navy in the invasion
area required control of
the air
Hitler’s conditions for Sealion:
The RAF is to be "beaten down in its
morale and in fact, that it can no longer
display any appreciable aggressive force
in opposition to the German crossing".
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
 Doubtful it would have
worked
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, Radar and Enigma (bigger story here)
 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… )
Battle of Britain Air Order of
Battle
RAF
Lufwaffe
 Single-seat fighters
754
1,107
 Twin-seat fighter
159
357
 Bombers
560
1,300/428*
 Maritime patrol
500
233
 *Dive Bombers
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)
 It is estimated that its pilots were credited with
four-fifths of all enemy aircraft destroyed in
the period July-October 1940.
Hurricane…
Hurricane…
Spitfire
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
Spitfire
Luftwaffe
 Messerchmitt 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.
ME-109
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
Stuka
German Bombers
Heinkle He 111
Junkers Ju 88
Comparison
“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.”
Battle of Britain: Phase I
• Attacks on Channel
Ports and Shipping
• 12 July – 10 Aug.
Battle of Britain: Phase II
Attack on Fighter
bases and Radar
• 12 Aug to 6 Sept.
Churchill
Luck?
 Air battles (Phase I and Phase II) 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….then,



Luftwaffe mistakenly bombs London
RAF retaliates
Hitler infuriated, changes focus to civilian bombing
 Significance: Gives RAF breather
Battle of Britain: Phase III
Daylight Attacks on Cities
& Industrial Areas
7 Sept – 5 Oct.
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!
 Many children moved to countryside (Narnia)
Battle of Britain
Turning Point
Sept 15, 1940
Massive daylight raid on London
• Largest to date
56 German aircraft lost versus 28 RAF fighters
RAF used every fighter in 11 Group (no reserves)
Germans switch to night raids on cities
Considered the turning point of the battle
Battle of Britain
 The Battle of Britain had two Main phases

The attack on the RAF (was working/putting
extreme pressure on British RAF)


And
The attack on London, known as the London
Blitz (actually turned the tide in favor of RAF)
The Bombing of London were a ‘Relief’ to
Churchill
 “London can take it.”
 RAF 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 using U-boats
 Hitler will now turn his attention East! Will violate the
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.
Battle of Britain
1940
Losses
RAF
Single-seat
fighters
}
Luftwaffe
1,023
1,107
Bombers
376
357
Maritime patrol
148
1,014
Pilots Lost
520
2,600+
Twin-seat fighter
Battle of Britain
Factors
British use of radar (command & control)
German underestimation of RAF strength
British “home field” advantage
German loss of focus
(Change of Objective)
First Law of Modern War
First of all, you must win the battle of the air.
That must come before you start a single
land or sea engagement.
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1943
Battle of Britain
 “Never in the field
of human conflict
was so much owed
by so many to so
few.”