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- By preventing the Luftwaffe’s air superiority over the UK, the British forced Adolf Hitler to postpone and eventually cancel Operation Sea Lion, a proposed amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain. However, Nazi Germany continued bombing operations on Britain, known as the Blitz.
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Oct 6, 2021 · In the final phase, the Luftwaffe switched to bombing British cities, but it failed to undermine British morale or identify and hit crucial targets. In October, Hitler called off the planned invasion of the UK and redirected Nazi Germany's efforts to invade the USSR (Russia) Operation Barbarossa.
Using science, ingenuity, and support from across the UK and overseas, the RAF defended the UK from Nazi Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe. It was the first major battle fought entirely in the air, and Nazi Germany’s first major military defeat.
- Herman Göring and The Luftwaffe
- Operation Sea Lion
- Churchill's "Finest Hour" Speech
- Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Messerschmitt Bf-109
- Blitz Begins
- Who Won The Battle of Britain?
- Why Did The British Win The Battle of Britain?
- Significance of The Battle of Britain
- The Battle of Britain Movie
- Sources
After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to have an air force. With the help of the Soviet Union, however, Germany secretly defied the treaty and trained air force pilots and support staff on combat planes. When Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich came to power, Nazi Germany began rebuilding their air force. He officially created th...
By the start of World War II in 1939, the Luftwaffe was the strongest and best-trained air force in the world. They played a crucial role in Germany’s swift, methodical and highly effective blitzkrieginvasion of much of Western Europe, including Poland, Holland, Belgium and France. After France fell to Germanyon June 22, 1940, Hitler set his sights...
Days before France’s surrender, Churchill gave his famous “Finest Hour” speech to the House of Commons, making it clear he had no intention of capitulating to Hitler, although some members of Parliamenthoped to negotiate peace. In his speech, Churchill said, "the Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin." He spoke ...
Hitler and many of his generals were unprepared to invade Britain. Göring, however, was confident his Luftwaffe would quickly destroy the RAF with his German bombers and prevent, or at least postpone, the need for a full-scale invasion; Hitler gave him the go-ahead to prove it. On July 10, 1940, the Luftwaffe attacked Britain, performing reconnaiss...
Despite being outnumbered, the RAF retaliated by bombing Berlin. Enraged, Hitler and Göring changed tactics and ordered a bombing campaign known as “the Blitz” against London, Liverpool, Coventry and other major cities, hoping to decimate the morale of the British people. To ensure massive casualties and to avoid aerial dogfights between the RAF an...
By the end of October 1940, Hitler called off his planned invasion of Britain and the Battle of Britain ended. Both sides suffered enormous loss of life and aircraft. Still, Britain weakened the Luftwaffe and prevented Germany from achieving air superiority. It was the first major defeat of the war for Hitler. Although Britain stood alone against G...
The British won the Battle of Britain due to a confluence of factors. They were defending their home territory, so were more motivated to succeed, and also knew the local geography better than the invaders. Another major factor was the Dowding System, named after Sir Hugh Dowding, Commander in Chief of the RAF Fighting Command. The Dowding System’s...
The Battle of Britain was a turning point in World War II; if the RAF had not held off the Luftwaffe, Hitler would have likely moved forward with his Operation Sea Lion land invasion of the British Isles. This would have been devastating to the British people and all efforts to stem Hitler’s rise to power. Germany needed to control the English Chan...
The Battle of Britain’s significance was not lost on Hollywood. In 1969, MGM released the movie The Battle of Britain, starring Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Robert Shaw and Laurence Olivieras commander Hugh Dowding. Other notable productions include: Battle of Britain, a documentary produced by brothers Colin and Ewan McGregor to mark the ev...
Battle of Britain. International Churchill Society. Battle of Britain. WW 2 Facts. How the Luftwaffe Fought the Battle of Britain. Imperial War Museum. The Battle of Britain: A Brief Guide. Military History Matters.
The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England, "air battle for England") was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany 's air force, the Luftwaffe.
British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War entailed a large-scale division of military and civilian mobilisation in response to the threat of invasion (Operation Sea Lion) by German armed forces in 1940 and 1941.
During the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was locked in an existential fight with Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe. In the heat of the campaign, Prime Minister Winston Churchill quipped in a speech before Parliament: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
With the fall of France in June 1940, Britain was the only major power in Europe still able to oppose Nazi Germany. Hitler could try to force the British to negotiate a peace or prepare his troops to invade. But before an invasion could succeed, he needed to control the skies; so he tasked his air force – the
