Phillip Reed

Etherel15@hotmail.com
November 30, 2009
Hitler amazed the world in 1940 with his rapid takeover of the
European continent, and how quickly he was able to quarter off
British and French troops, conquer France, and isolate Great
Britain from her allies. With complete Axis control of continental
Europe,
With nothing
Hitlerbut
turned
a 10-his attention to the British Isles.
mile strip of English
Channel between
German forces and
Britain, Britain
appeared on the brink
of disaster. Hitler had
only to gain air
superiority over the
channel to secure a
successful invasion of
the island. German
victory looked
imminent. What could
At the start of the Battle of Britain, German air power, or the Luftwaffe,
had a serious advantage over the British Royal Air Force (RAF) in
numbers. They also believed that in attacking they had the advantage
of surprise. All sides favored Germany and the Luftwaffe.

Royal Air Force: Luftwaffe:

Fighters Fighters
Hawker Hurricanes Messerschmitt 109
(405) (800)
Supermarine Spitfire Messerschmitt 110
(270) (250)
Bombers
Junkers JU88 (875)
Junkers JU87
Jukas(316)
 It was the British,
however, that had the
advantage of surprise.
Unknown to Hitler, Britain
had developed a new
technology, radar, which
allowed them to see the
approach of aircraft long
before conventional
methods. German aircraft,
expecting the element of
surprise, were caught off
guard by the quick,
immediate, and surgical
Radar stations such as this wereresponse
deployed of the the
along RAF.
entire coast of Britain facing Europe. They consisted of
a high and low range series of towers used to detect
both high and low flying aircraft as they flew over the
English Channel. Not knowing their purpose, Hitler and
The Fighter Command Network was key to British response to
German bombings. Series of Radars, Balloons, and the Observer
Corps would relay information back to Sector Control hubs, which
would filter data and send it on to the Fighter Command
Headquarters. Here it was coordinated, and the information used to
direct small squads of defending fighters to intercept invading
German air forces. This allowed a much smaller defensive force the
Likely Hitler’s first mistake in WWII
was his admiration for Britain, which
caused him to hold back hoping to
come to scare the nation into
capitulation, giving the British time
to organize Air and Naval defenses.
But in July, Hitler officially started his
plans to invade Britain with
Operation Sealion, which first
required air supremacy. August 1st
was Eagle Day, when large tactical
strikes were carried out against RAF
installations and airfields iin the
hopes of crippling British Air
Defense.
 Phase One: July 10th to August 7th
German Aircraft attack merchant
fleets off the coast of Britain hoping to
cut off supplies, and draw out British
Fighters into losing dogfights. When
this failed to bring about the desired
results, the Luftwaffe moved towards
land and began hitting coastal
operations, accidentally hitting a few
radar installations (but never following
up on the hits). The Luftwaffe moves
Phase Two: August 8th to September 6th
farther inland before serious damage
The Luftwaffe begin attacking air fields and factories in
on the radar towers can occur.
Britain. They meet heavy unexpected resistance at
every turn due to the unknown British radar.
Undeterred, Germany realizes that sector control bases
are core elements to the RAF defenses. Heavy bombing
begins on these facilities even though Germany
continues to lose more than twice as many aircraft as
Britain. The bombing begins to take its toll on British
defenses, with 6 out of 7 central sector bases hit the
On August 24th 10 German bombers, lost in the
night, mistakenly bomb London. In reprisal, the
following night the RAF launches an assault of 80
bombers on Berlin, the first attack ever on the
German capital. Britain continues to bomb Berlin
for a couple days, enraging Hitler. In response, he
calls off all tactical attacks on factories and the
beleaguered sector control stations and focuses
on attacking British population centers. This
tactic, proposed during WWI by Italian Guilo
Doukert, called “Strategic Bombing” intended to
Starting by
demoralize a nation into surrendering September
attacking7th , large squads of
their citizens and cities. bombers and fighter escorts were sent to
major British cities. Eventually these
became night raids primarily focused on
London, and came to be known as the
London Blitz. Heavy bombing of these
centers continued through the rest of the
month. But, a staunch and determined
British Empire, with inspiration from its
 By October of 1940, what is generally considered Phase Four of
the Battle of Britain begins. Air attacks continue on London and
other cities, but German casualties and expenditures are quickly
rising as Britain learns how best to defend against the
Luftwaffe’s night bombings. Radar systems begin to be installed
in newer models of interceptors, significantly increasing the
lethality of the RAF against German bombers. Hitler puts an
indefinite hold on his Operation Sealion, and eventually fully
abandons it. Thinking Britain is more trouble then she’s worth
to conquer now, Hitler focuses on the Soviet Union, an enemy
who is actually reachable by land and who he sees as a possible
staging ground for British Troops to assault Europe from. Britain
is spared conquest.
After the defeat of France and Europe in 1940, Germany’s conquest
of Britain seemed all but assured. While none can dispute the
advantage that radar gave the Royal Air Force, nor the spirit and
determination of the British people, these advantages alone could
not have saved Britain at the times she was on the verge of being
overrun. Countless times the German Luftwaffe had the possibility
of collapsing British defenses, only to move on to other targets.
This happened as German bombers began incidentally hitting British
radar towers off the coast, but before that could become a problem
they move further inland. Of most extreme importance was the
reprieve British defenses and the Fighter Command received when,
on the very brink of completely falling apart due to massive attacks
on their information network’s infrastructure, German bombers
changed their targets to populated cities. While this horrible
atrocity towards civilians is nothing to be grateful for, if it had not
occurred it was inevitable that the British Defenses would have
fallen, Operation Sealion would have gone underway, Great Britain
conquered, and possibly the Axis may have defeated the Allies in
WWII. Thankfully Britain, through luck, chance, or fate, was granted
Alexander, Bevin. How Hitler Could Have Won World War II. New York, New
York: Crown Publishers, 2000. Print.

Collier, Richard. Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain. 2nd. New York, New York:
E.P. Dutton, 1980. Print.

Hough, Richard, and Denis Richards. The Battle of Britain: The Greatest Air
Battle of World War II. 1st. New York, New York: W. W. Norton &
Company Inc., 1989. Print.

"The Battle of Britain." Imperial War Museum. Imperial War Museum , Web.
2 Dec 2009.
<http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/27/battleofbritain/intro.htm>.

"Battle of Britain." RJ Mitchell. A life in aviation.. 2009. Solent Sky Museum,

Web. 2 Dec 2009. <http://www.rjmitchell-
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