The Battle of Britain was an aviation struggle in World War II, lasting from July 10 to October 30, 1940. The term “Battle of Britain” was first used by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, calling it the attempt by the Third Reich to gain supremacy in the air over the south of England and undermine the morale of the British people.
During the fierce air battles, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF) repelled attempts by the Air Force of the Third Reich (Luftwaffe) to achieve air superiority, destroy the British Air Force, destroy the industry and infrastructure of the country, demoralize the population and thereby compel Britain to capitulate or seek peace.
The Battle of Britain was the first military campaign, in which only the Air Force and air defenses participated. From July 1940, the main targets of German bombing were coastal convoys and naval bases, such as Portsmouth; but a month later the Luftwaffe switched their efforts to English airfields. During the battle, aviation factories and ground infrastructure facilities were also bombed. Eventually, the German Air Force resorted to bombing and attacking objects of political significance.
Germany’s inability to fulfill these tasks is considered the first defeat of the Third Reich in World War II, and one of its turning points. In the event that Germany managed to achieve superiority in the air, Adolf Hitler planned Operation Sea Lion – an invasion of Great Britain from the sea and air.
Battle of Britain Day is celebrated in Great Britain on September 15. In the opinion of the British, the losses incurred by the German air force on that day in 1940 forced the German command to recognize the impossibility of breaking the defenses of the British Isles, and the morale of the British.
At first, Hitler did not plan to wage war on two fronts, and before the plan Barbarossa was developed in July-December 1940, to attack the USSR, he had planned to defeat Britain, and also capture the military and industrial resources of its dominions in India and Canada.
After the blitzkrieg in small European countries, the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk and the capitulation of France, declared on June 22, 1940, the only German enemy remaining in the west was the United Kingdom.
Beginning
On July 11, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine, reported to Hitler that the invasion of the island should be regarded as a last resort, and only with complete superiority in the air. Despite the fact that Hitler agreed with Raeder’s opinion, on July 16 an order was issued to prepare for the invasion of Great Britain.
The plan, called Operation Sea Lion, was submitted to the High Command of the Wehrmacht. Its’ execution was planned for mid-September of 1940. The plan provided for the landing of German troops on the southern coast of Britain under the cover of air attack. Neither Hitler nor the commanders believed that it would be possible to successfully carry out an operation to successfully land a sea assault in the UK without neutralizing the Royal Air Force. The German Messerschmitt fighters Bf.109E and Bf.110C were opposed by the British HBC’s Hurricane Mk I, and the less numerous Spitfire Mk I.
The predominant bombers of the Luftwaffe were the Heinkel He 111, the Dornier Do 17, the Junkers Ju 88 and the Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber. The most numerous of them were the Heinkel He 111, which had a characteristic wing shape. In each of the first three airplanes, modifications were incorporated during the Battle of Britain.
Luftwaffe Strategy
The Luftwaffe was organized in such a way as to provide tactical support to the army on the battlefield. During the blitzkrieg, the offensive operations of the Wehrmacht against Poland, Denmark and Norway, France and Holland, the Air Force maintained full assault mode. However, in the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe was forced to act in a strategic role, for which they were not intended. There, the main task was to secure air supremacy over the southeast of England in order to pave the way for the invasion of the fleet.
The Luftwaffe regrouped after the battle for France into three air fleets, on the southern and northern flanks of Britain. Air Fleet 2, commanded by General Albert Kesselring, was responsible for the bombings in the southeast of England and of London. Air Fleet 3, of General Hugo Shperrle, was aimed at the western part of the country, the Midlands and the northwest of England. Air Fleet 5, headed by Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpf, headquartered in Norway, was responsible for bombings in the north of England and Scotland. During the battle, the load shifted from the 3rd Air Fleet, which assumed more responsibility for night raids, and the main responsibility for daytime operations fell on the shoulders of the Air Fleet.
The RAF Strategy
The British Air Force divided its pilots – approximately 900 of them – into squadrons of Class A, B, and C. Class A squadron included the best pilots able to train beginner pilots and able to bring their military units home safe and sound. These pilots were trained to adapt to the rapidly changing tactics of the enemy which allowed them to attack the most distant targets. Squadrons in Class B were less well prepared, but the British Air Force command constantly encouraged and trained them. Despite the lack of class A pilots, they were always included in the B class squadrons as leaders and role models. A squadron of class C as much as possible were kept on the ground. Although the pilots needed more, the command understood that the participation of untrained pilots in air battles could lead to the same losses among British pilots as among the German pilots.
End
Despite the inability of the Luftwaffe to gain air superiority over the British Air Force, the leadership of the Third Reich hoped to continue bombing London with ballistic missiles; June 13, 1944, began the first combat application of German V-1 missiles. This was the first defeat of Nazi Germany, and it marked the beginning of their defeat in the war.