The summer of 1940 saw World War II come to the skies of England as the RAF bravely fought off the onslaught of Hitler's Luftwaffe. After a period known as the 'Phoney War', Hitler had ordered his forces to invade other European countries and there was little resistance in Belgium, Holland and France.
Operation Dynamo had seen around 300,000 men of the British Expeditionary Forces plucked to safety by a flotilla of ships making the journey from England to Dunkirk over a period of several days. Now Hitler had his sights on England. The white cliffs of Dover were clearly visible as the German High Command looked across the English Channel from Calais.
However, until the skies of England were under German control, Hitler could not authorise Operation Sealion - the invasion of Britain. With America being unwilling to join the war at this stage and her Allies conquered, Britain would have to face the Germans alone.
Could Britain hold out until the autumn when the weather would prevent the Germans from crossing the Channel? Britain's hopes lay in the hands of the brave pilots of the Royal Air Force, "The Few" as Churchill later referred to them. It was just British pilots in the RAF, the Commonwealth was represented with pilots from various colonial outposts including South Africa and Rhodesia as well as Poles and even a few Americans.
Hitler sent his bombers over to pound Britain into submission but crucially, their fighter escorts only had the fuel for a few minutes combat before they would have to return leaving the bombers unprotected. For the first time, the Luftwaffe came up against stiff opposition and there was to be no repeat of their rapid victories on the Continent. The British airfields in the south east were taking a hammering until one night in August 1940, a German plane got lost of jettisoned its bombs over London before heading home. In retaliation, the RAF launched a raid over Berlin.
Hitler was furious and ordered his bombers to attack London instead of the RAF airfields. This was a crucial turning point as it gave the RAF some much needed relief. The Luftwaffe failed to gain the upper hand at any point and in mid September, Hitler indefinitely postponed Operation Sealion. The immediate threat of invasion was over and Churchill spoke of the contribution of Fighter Command in a speech "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few".
The leading fighter ace was Sgt Frantisek from the Czech Republic with a total 17 kills. He flew in a Hawker Hurricane which was the real workhorse of fighter command although everyone remembers the iconic Spitfire. Sgt Frantisek was killed in action in October 1940.
The Battle of Britain was the first time the Germans had suffered a military defeat during World War II.
Rob Atherton
http://www.robatherton.com
http://www.robatherton.com
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