[[File:|thumb|Heinkel He 111 bombers during the Battle of Britain]]
The Battle of Britain [23] is the name given to the air campaign waged by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against Britain during the summer and autumn of 1940.[24]
The first objective of the campaign was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF), especially Fighter Command.
The name comes from a famous speech delivered by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the House of Commons: "The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin..." [25][26]
The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date.
Part 1: Strategic targets
From July 1940 coastal shipping convoys and shipping centres, such as Portsmouth, were the main targets. A month later the Luftwaffe shifted its attacks to RAF airfields and infrastructure (other useful war targets). As the battle progressed the Luftwaffe also targeted aircraft factories and ground infrastructure.
Coastal radar stations were bombed, so that at one point only one radar mast was standing. The British used a back-up system of human observers to get information to the operational centres of Fighter Command. Most historians agree this part of the campaign went in Germany's favour.[27]
Part II: Civilian targets
Eventually the Luftwaffe switched to attacking population centres, such as towns and cities, as well as factories. After the RAF bombed Berlin, and German air force bases in France. Adolf Hitler withdrew his directive not to bomb population centres and ordered attacks on British cities.[27]p305 The attacks on civillians was terror bombing tactics designed to cause panic and damage morale.
On 7 September 1940, a massive series of raids with nearly four hundred bombers and more than six hundred fighters targeted docks on the Thames in London, day and night.
The RAF 11 Group rose to meet them, in greater numbers than the Luftwaffe expected. 12 Group's Big Wing took twenty minutes to gain formation, missing its intended target, but encountering another formation of bombers while still climbing. They returned, apologetic about their limited success, and blamed the delay on being requested too late.[28][29]
The Luftwaffe began to abandon their morning raids, with attacks on London starting late in the afternoon for 57 consecutive nights of attacks.[30]
Fighter Command had been at its lowest ebb, short of men and machines, and the break from airfield attacks allowed them to recover. This meant that, week by week, the defenders were getting stronger, and the losses suffered by the Lufwaffe were growing.
On 15 September two massive waves of German attacks were decisively repulsed by the RAF, with every aircraft of 11 Group being used on that day. The total casualties on this critical day were 60 German and 26 RAF aircraft shot down. The German defeat caused Hitler to order, two days later, the "postponement" of preparations for the invasion of Britain. Henceforth, in the face of mounting losses in men, aircraft and the lack of adequate replacements, the Luftwaffe switched from daylight to night-time bombing.
On 27 September, a Junkers Ju 88 returning from a raid on London was shot down in Kent, the last action between British and foreign military forces on British mainland soil.[31]
The Dowding system
The keystone of the British defence was the detection, command, and control which ran the battle. This was the 'Dowding System', after its chief architect, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, the leader of RAF Fighter Command.
The core of Dowding's system was the use of Radio Direction Finding (RDF, later called radar, for radio detection and ranging).[32] Its use, plus by information by the Royal Observer Corps, was crucial. It allowed the RAF to intercept incoming German aircraft.[33] Radar operators were linked via telephone (whose wires were laid deep underground with concrete anti-bomb protection)[33]p47 to an operational centre. This centre was Fighter Command control at Bentley Priory.[33] During the Battle several Coastal Command and Fleet Air Arm units came under Fighter Command control.
Fighters
The Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt Bf 109E and 110C squared up against the RAF's workhorse Hurricane Mk I and the less numerous Spitfire Mk I. The Bf 109E had a better climb rate and was 10 to 30 mph faster than the Hurricane, depending on altitude.[27]p266 In September 1940 the more powerful Mk IIa series 1 Hurricanes started entering service although only in small numbers.[34] This version was capable of a maximum speed of 342 mph, some 25 to 30 mph faster than the Mk I.[35]
The performance of the Spitfire over Dunkirk came as a surprise, although the German pilots retained a strong belief that the 109 was the superior fighter.[36] However, the Bf 109E had a much larger turning circle than either the Hurricane or the Spitfire.[27] The two British fighters were equipped with eight Browning 303 machine guns, while most Bf 109Es had two machine guns and two wing cannons. The Bf 109E and the Spitfire were superior to each other in key areas; for instance, at some altitudes, the Bf 109 could out-climb the British fighter.
Consequences
The failure of Nazi Germany to achieve its objectives of destroying Britain's air defences, or forcing Britain to negotiate an armistice or an outright surrender, is considered its first major defeat and one of the crucial turning points in the war.[27]p388
If Germany had gained air superiority, Adolf Hitler might have launched Operation Sea Lion, a planned amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain.
References
- ↑ Terraine 1985, p. 219.
- ↑ Shulman 2004, p. 63.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
Bungay_p._368
- ↑ Hough and Richards 2007, p. xv.
- ↑ Overy 2001, p. 267 in Addison and Crang's The Burning Blue quotes A.J.P Taylor "a true air war, even if on a small scale and had decisive strategic results".
- ↑ Deighton 1980, p. 213.
- ↑ Keegan 1997, p. 81.
- ↑ Buell 2002, p. 83.
- ↑ Terraine 1985, p. 181.
- ↑ Shirer 1991, p. 769.
- ↑ AJP Taylor 1974, p. 67.
- ↑ Bungay 2000, p. 386.
- ↑ Peszke 1980, p. 134.
- ↑ "World War II: The RCAF Overseas." airforce.forces.gc.ca, 3 April 2009. Retrieved: 6 February 2010.
- ↑ "No 1 (R.C.A.F.) Hurricane Squadron." the-battle-of-britain.co.uk. Retrieved: 6 February 2010.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Bungay 2000, p. 107.
- ↑ Wood and Dempster 2003, p. 318.
- ↑ Ramsay 1989, pp. 251–297.
- ↑ "Battle of Britain RAF and FAA role of honour." raf.mod.uk. Retrieved: 14 July 2008
- ↑ Wood and Dempster 2003, p. 309.
- ↑ Bungay 2000, p. 373.
- ↑ Overy 2001, p. 113.
- ↑ German: Luftschlacht um England or Luftschlacht um Großbritannien
- ↑ In practice, Northern Ireland and Scotland were out of reach by virue of their greater distance from airfields in Europe.
- ↑ "Battle of Britain 1940." battleofbritain.net. Retrieved: 28 June 2010.
- ↑ "Audio Clip of Churchill's speech." bbc.co.uk. Retrieved: 28 June 2010.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 Bungay, Stephen. 2000. The most dangerous enemy: a history of the Battle of Britain. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1-85410-721-6 (hardcover) ISBN 1-85410-801-8 (paperback)
- ↑ Putland, Alan L. "7 September 1940." Battle of Britain Historical Society. Retrieved:12 August 2009.
- ↑ Putland, Alan L. "7 September 1940 - The Aftermath." Battle of Britain Historical Society. Retrieved: 12 August 2009.
- ↑ Putland, Alan L. "8 September - 9 September 1940." Battle of Britain Historical Society. Retrieved: 12 August 2009.
- ↑ Green, Ron and Mark Harrison. "Forgotten frontline exhibition tells how Luftwaffe fought with soldiers on Kent marshes." KentOnline, 30 September 2009. Retrieved: 21 August 2010.
- ↑ "RADAR means: Radio Detection and Ranging." NASA, 14 October 20017. Retrieved: 12 September 2010.
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Korda, Michael. 2010. With wings like eagles: the untold story of the Battle of Britain. New York: Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-112536-2
- ↑ Ramsay, Winston, ed. 1989. The Battle of Britain then and now: Mk V. London: Battle of Britain Prints International Ltd. ISBN 0-900913-46-0.
- ↑ Mason, Francis K. 1991. Hawker aircraft since 1920. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-839-9
- ↑ Holmes, Tony. 2007. Spitfire vs Bf 109: Battle of Britain. Osprey, London. ISBN 978-1-84603-190-8.
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