The Battle of Britain

[Batgirl]

Background to the Battle of Britain

The Second World War began on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, and Britain and France delcared war as a result. A new type of combined operations tactics which the Germans called Blitzkrieg were used where tanks, troops and aeroplanes attacked together and smashed through any traditional defences. Using this method, Poland was captured in just 28 days, despite heroic, often sucicidal defence of their homeland by the Polish armed forces. After this, the British and French Governments, among others, tried a number of political solutions to prevent the spread of war, all the while reinforcing positions in Northern France with land and air forces from Britain. Known as the Allied Expeditionary Force and Advanced Air Striking Force respectively, these forces moved into position, and waited. This period was know as the 'Sitzkrieg' or 'Phoney War' as the armies stared at one another across the German / French border, and the air forces flew standing patrols and reconnaissance missions, probing for weaknesses. On 9 April 1940, the peace was shattered as the same 'Blitzkrieg' tactics were used against Denmark and Norway. A British Force was sent to help the Norwegians, but the Allied Forces were outnumbered and quickly overwhelmed. Worse was to come.



On 10 May 1940, Germany attacked Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and France. Twelve fighter squadrons of Royal Air Force were based in France, the only truly modern fighter forces available to the Allies. These Hurricane Squadrons were to support the army, and the Fairey Battle and Bristol Blenheim bomber units which were based in France and operating from Britain. The bomber Squadrons, particularly the Battles, were slaughtered by the German anti-aircraft and fighter units in their attempts to slow the German advance by attacking transport focii, such as bridges. The Hurricanes did their best to protect the bombers and fly their quota of patrols and reconnaissances. However, it was not enough, and when it became clear that the Allies could not stop the Germans, all but three of the Squadrons were called back across the Channel.



The German advance pushed the Allied armies to the sea to a French port called Dunkirk. During what some people called a miracle, 800 small boats managed to lift most of the men off the beaches and back to England. The RAF were successful in keeping the majority of German bombers and fighters away, shooting down 150 aircraft. However, they lost 100 precious fighters and 80 irreplaceable pilots.



By 18 June, all British forces had withdrawn from France. Both the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and the RAF had lost many aircraft and trained crews during this campaign. Several weeks passed while the Luftwaffe replaced their losses and took over airfields in the countries they had captured. In Britain the time was spent putting as many new fighters and trained pilots into service as possible, to guard against the attack everyone knew was coming. The lull as the German forces consolidated their position was vital to the British armed forces, as it allowed them to prepare. By the beginning of July 1940, the RAF had built up its strength to 640 fighters, but the Luftwaffe had 2600 bombers and fighters. The stage was set. In the skies above South East England, the future of Britain was about to be decided. As the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill put it; "What General Weygrand called the Battle of France is over, the Battle of Britain is about to begin".



Click below for more indepth information on each phase of the Battle:

Phase 1 of the Battle

Phase 2 of the Battle

Phase 3 of the Battle

Phase 4 of the Battle


RAF

[mac324]

gotta hand it to the brits on that one, those pilots did a hell of a job.

[Grimmy]

Yep and damn good thing they did too. Those British are already hard to understand. could you just imagine tryin to figure out what one was sayin if you layered a German accent into that?

[Batgirl]

Those British are already hard to understand. could you just imagine tryin to figure out what one was sayin if you layered a German accent into that?

you haven't heard my accent Grimmy

[mac324]

i can understand the british alot better than i can understand americans when your in the deep south...

[Batgirl]

Mac, you mustn't have had the pleasure of hearing a scouser accent.

[Batgirl]

Memorial to The Few lands in London
By Frances Booth
(Filed: 19/08/2005)

A memorial to Battle of Britain pilots and crew arrived in London yesterday for assembly before next month's unveiling by the Prince of Wales.


The memorial will be unveiled by the Prince of Wales next month

The two bronze friezes set in an 82ft-long granite structure were created over three years by the sculptor Paul Day at his studio in Beaune, France. They were unloaded by crane on to Victoria Embankment.

A plaque lists the names of 2,936 servicemen and women from 14 countries who took part in the struggle against the Luftwaffe in 1940.

One frieze depicts the achievements of Fighter Command. The other focuses on the people of London, showing St Paul's Cathedral and an Anderson shelter.

Day said: "I hope that future generations, when World War Two is as distant for them as Waterloo is for us, will look and understand how it felt to be a young pilot facing the loss of friends and the threat of death."

Telegraph

[mac324]

well, i took a trip to britain 2 years ago, went all around Scotland, in some with those places it got pretty tough to understand some people, but i would just smile and nod all the same.

[Grimmy]

All kidding aside, that was one hella job done by those Brits and the small handfuls of allied volunteers.

[Batgirl]

^ I agree. Churchill summed it up nicely in the HoC when he said "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

[cplmpes30]

Originally Posted by mac324

well, i took a trip to britain 2 years ago, went all around Scotland, in some with those places it got pretty tough to understand some people, but i would just smile and nod all the same.

I think you misunderstood the term Scouse.

Tash really is telling us she is from Merseyside, to the rest of the world known as the area round Liverpool.

Ever heard Paul McCartney giving an interview?

Scousers don't have an accent, they have adenoids.

That's from my uncle Mike who was a headmaster in Liverpool in the '70s.

Had a teacher at North East Liverpool Technical College at the time who was a pilot in the Battle of Britain, he was the head of sports.

Blimey, that's nearly thirty ago.

Taraa for now

[Batgirl]

Bruno, I'm not from Merseyside, although I do have a few good friends who are scousers (Wirral) and I have a hard time understanding them!

[cplmpes30]

You can't understand a Scouse?

Stop skitting me, that's music.

The Battle of Britain was the first ever where the forces never really came within sight of each other if not for their airforces, just the same as the Battle of Midway was the first naval battle where the fleets never really saw each other.

My Grandad was a fireman in Liverpool at the time and had some close calls down at the docks.

My mother was sent to the country like all the rest of the children but she still remembers the rumble of the bombers heading for the cities and seeing the flashes of light where the bombs fell.

Someone told me that for him that was the noise of WW2, not everyone had heard the noise of a gun or a cannon but the rumble of bombers overhead was a common experience for anyone in Europe at those times.

Taraa