Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain Part of the Second World War An Observer Corps spotter scans the skies of London. Date 10 July – 31 October 1940 Location United Kingdom airspace Result Decisive British victory Fighting parties United Kingdom Canada Germany Italy Commanders Hugh Dowding Keith Park Trafford Leigh-Mallory C. J. Quintin Brand Richard Saul Hermann Göring Albert Kesselring Hugo Sperrle Hans-Jürgen Stumpff Francesco Pricolo Strength 1,963 serviceable aircraft 2,550 serviceable aircraft. Casualties and losses 544 aircrew killed 422 aircrew wounded 1,547 aircraft destroyed 2,698 aircrew killed 967 captured 638 missing bodies identified by British Authorities 1,887 aircraft destroyed

Heinkel He 111 bombers during the Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was an attack by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) on Great Britain during the summer and autumn of 1940.

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..."

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 I: 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.

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.^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.

The Luftwaffe began to abandon their morning raids, with attacks on London starting late in the afternoon for 57 consecutive nights of attacks.

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.

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). Its use, plus by information by the Royal Observer Corps, was crucial. It allowed the RAF to intercept incoming German aircraft. Radar operators were linked via telephone (whose wires were laid deep underground with concrete anti-bomb protection)^p47 to an operational centre. This centre was Fighter Command control at Bentley Priory. 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.^p266 In September 1940 the more powerful Mk IIa series 1 Hurricanes started entering service although only in small numbers. This version was capable of a maximum speed of 342 mph, some 25 to 30 mph faster than the Mk I.

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. However, the Bf 109E had a much larger turning circle than either the Hurricane or the Spitfire. 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.^p388

If Germany had gained air superiority, Adolf Hitler might have launched Operation Sea Lion, a planned amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain.