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Discover the riveting story of the Battle of Britain, a pivotal chapter in World War II, when the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against the relentless onslaught of the German...
- 54 sec
- 5.1K
- 20th Century Sagas
This online lesson looks at how and why the Battle of Britain was fought in 1940, why the Royal Air Force succeeded in stopping the Luftwaffe's preparations for a German invasion and attempts...
- 45 min
- 457
- MrClokeHistory
Nov 18, 2022 · Outnumbered and outgunned RAF Fighter Command were the last line of defence in pushing back the Luftwaffe and Hitler’s invasion of Britain in 1940.
- 139 min
- 2.9M
- War Stories
- Preparation
- Battle
- Analysis
- Operational history
- Results
- Prelude
- Aftermath
- Significance
- Quotes
On July 16, 1940, Hitler issued a directive ordering the preparation and, if necessary, the execution of a plan for the invasion of Great Britain. But an amphibious invasion of Britain would only be possible, given Britains large navy, if Germany could establish control of the air in the battle zone. To this end, the Luftwaffe chief, Göring, on Aug...
The forces engaged in the battle were relatively small. The British disposed some 600 frontline fighters to defend the country. The Germans made available about 1,300 bombers and dive bombers, and about 900 single-engined and 300 twin-engined fighters. These were based in an arc around England from Norway to the Cherbourg Peninsula in northern coas...
The British, on the other hand, had prepared themselves for the kind of battle that in fact took place. Their radar early warning, the most advanced and the most operationally adapted system in the world, gave Fighter Command adequate notice of where and when to direct their fighter forces to repel German bombing raids. The Spitfire, moreover, thou...
Britains radar, moreover, largely prevented them from exploiting the element of surprise. The German dive bombers were even more vulnerable to being shot down by British fighters, and long-range fighter cover was only partially available from German fighter aircraft, since the latter were operating at the limit of their flying range.
In four actions, on August 8, 11, 12, and 13, the Germans lost 145 aircraft as against the British loss of 88. By late August the Germans had lost more than 600 aircraft, the RAF only 260, but the RAF was losing badly needed fighters and experienced pilots at too great a rate, and its effectiveness was further hampered by bombing damage done to the...
At the beginning of September the British retaliated by unexpectedly launching a bombing raid on Berlin, which so infuriated Hitler that he ordered the Luftwaffe to shift its attacks from Fighter Command installations to London and other cities.
To avoid the deadly RAF fighters, the Luftwaffe shifted almost entirely to night raids on Britains industrial centers. The Blitz, as the night raids came to be called, was to cause many deaths and great hardship for the civilian population, but it contributed little to the main purpose of the air offensiveto dominate the skies in advance of an inva...
The Battle of Britain marked the first major defeat of Hitlers military forces, with air superiority seen as the key to victory. Pre-war theories had led to exaggerated fears of strategic bombing, and UK public opinion was buoyed by coming through the ordeal. For the RAF, Fighter Command had achieved a great victory in successfully carrying out Sir...
Churchill concluded his famous 18 June Battle of Britain speech in the House of Commons by referring to pilots and aircrew who fought the Battle: if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour.
Video summary. This short film explains what the Battle of Britain was, who was involved and how radar was used throughout the battle.
Jul 10, 2020 · The story of the Battle of Britain. In the summer of 1940, Britain came under attack from German forces threatening to invade. Nearly 3,000 pilots fought to keep the German Air Force -...
GREATEST EVENTS OF WW2 IN COLOUR: BATTLE OF BRITAIN. Narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi, a new Netflix colourised archive series featuring the biggest battles of WW2, here the Battle of Britain. Interviews with historians…
- 50 min
- 4.5K
- Josh Whitehead
