The summer months of 1940 saw World War II come to the English skies as the RAF bravely stand up to the onslaught of Hitler's Luftwaffe. Immediately following a period of time referred to as the 'Phoney War', Hitler had ordered his forces to invade other European countries and there was hardly any opposition in Belgium, Netherlands or France.
Operation Dynamo had seen around 300,000 men of the BEF brought to safety by a flotilla of ships making the journey over from England to Dunkirk over a period of days. Soon Hitler had his sights on England. The white cliffs of Dover were clearly in view as the German High Command gazed past the English Channel from Calais.
Nonetheless, unless the skies of England were under German command, Hitler couldn't authorise Operation Sealion - the invasion of United Kingdom. With America being reluctant to participate in the war at this stage and her Allies overcome, Britain would need to face the Germans all alone.
Could Britain hold on until the autumn after which the weather would ward off the Germans from crossing the Channel? The country's hopes was in the hands of the fearless airmen of the RAF, "The Few" as Churchill later referred to them. It was not exclusively British pilots in the Royal Air Force, the Commonwealth was represented with airmen from an assortment of colonial outposts such as South Africa and Rhodesia as well as Poles and even a couple of Americans.
Hitler directed his bombers over to pound UK into submission however most importantly, their fighter escorts merely had the fuel for only a few minutes battle before they would have to go back home leaving the bombers unprotected. For the very first time, the Luftwaffe came up against solid resistance and there was to be no repeat of their quick victories on the Continent. The British airfields in the south east were taking a beating till one night in August 1940, a German bomber got lost and dropped its bombs over London before heading for home. In retaliation, the RAF conducted an air raid over Berlin.
Hitler was furious and instructed his aircraft to attack London and not the RAF airfields. This was a decisive turning point as it gave the RAF some much needed relief. The Luftwaffe failed to achieve the upper hand at any point and in mid September, Hitler indefinitely postponed Operation Sealion. The risk of attack was gone and Churchill spoke of the contribution of Fighter Command in a widely known speech "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few".
The number one fighter ace was Sgt Frantisek from the Czech Republic with a score of 17 kills. He flew in a Hawker Hurricane which was the true workhorse of Fighter Command but everybody remembers the iconic Spitfire. Sgt Frantisek was killed in October 1940.
The Battle of Britain was the first occasion the Germans had sustained a military defeat during World War II.
Operation Dynamo had seen around 300,000 men of the BEF brought to safety by a flotilla of ships making the journey over from England to Dunkirk over a period of days. Soon Hitler had his sights on England. The white cliffs of Dover were clearly in view as the German High Command gazed past the English Channel from Calais.
Nonetheless, unless the skies of England were under German command, Hitler couldn't authorise Operation Sealion - the invasion of United Kingdom. With America being reluctant to participate in the war at this stage and her Allies overcome, Britain would need to face the Germans all alone.
Could Britain hold on until the autumn after which the weather would ward off the Germans from crossing the Channel? The country's hopes was in the hands of the fearless airmen of the RAF, "The Few" as Churchill later referred to them. It was not exclusively British pilots in the Royal Air Force, the Commonwealth was represented with airmen from an assortment of colonial outposts such as South Africa and Rhodesia as well as Poles and even a couple of Americans.
Hitler directed his bombers over to pound UK into submission however most importantly, their fighter escorts merely had the fuel for only a few minutes battle before they would have to go back home leaving the bombers unprotected. For the very first time, the Luftwaffe came up against solid resistance and there was to be no repeat of their quick victories on the Continent. The British airfields in the south east were taking a beating till one night in August 1940, a German bomber got lost and dropped its bombs over London before heading for home. In retaliation, the RAF conducted an air raid over Berlin.
Hitler was furious and instructed his aircraft to attack London and not the RAF airfields. This was a decisive turning point as it gave the RAF some much needed relief. The Luftwaffe failed to achieve the upper hand at any point and in mid September, Hitler indefinitely postponed Operation Sealion. The risk of attack was gone and Churchill spoke of the contribution of Fighter Command in a widely known speech "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few".
The number one fighter ace was Sgt Frantisek from the Czech Republic with a score of 17 kills. He flew in a Hawker Hurricane which was the true workhorse of Fighter Command but everybody remembers the iconic Spitfire. Sgt Frantisek was killed in October 1940.
The Battle of Britain was the first occasion the Germans had sustained a military defeat during World War II.
About the Author:
Defeating Nazi Germany in the Battle of Britain allowed Britain and her Allies could carry on fighting World War II with Nazi Germany.
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