Transcript BATTLE FOR BRITAIN

BATTLE FOR BRITAIN
Mallory and Caroline
GERMAN DOMINATION
 “ The whole fury and might
of the enemy may very
soon be turned on us now”
–Winston Churchhill 1940
 By 1939, the Nazis had
occupied most of Europe,
including France… Britain
was next
Britain now stood alone, but was
prepared to fight and save the
world from a new dark age
Germany Attacks Britain
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July 10th 1940
Hitler wants to control all of Europe
Germany was fresh from victory in France
Battle by air
Luftwaffe vs. Royal Air Force
Germans had 2,000 planes
England had only 675 planes
Operation Sea Lion
 After Germany’s Luftwaffe quickly overcame
the Royal Air Force they would then move
their military to Britain to defeat them by
land.
 If Luftwaffe did not defeat RAF Sealion
would be postponed
Germany Attacks Britain
 Germany moves their air force to Britain
 5 stages of operation
– Channel Battle
– Operation Eagle
– Airfield Bombing
– Battle of London
– Night Bombing
Fighting Continues
 A stray German fighter
plane accidentally hit
London
 Britain retaliated and
attacked Berlin
 Hitler, with his ego bruised
ordered the London blitz
Luftwaffe Planes
Messerschmitt 109
– Continued attacks on British
cities
– September 7,1940
Hurricane Mk 1
Retreat!
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September 15, 1940
2 waves of German attacks were overcome
Fighting continues through October
Hitler orders postponement of the invasion
of Britain
– Volume of Germanys losses
– Britain managed their campaign better
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so
many to so few” –Winston Churchill
Britain’s Advantages
 Superior planes and
factories for planes
 Underestimated
– Thought it would be over by
Sept.
 Easy victory because of
size
– Peace treaty
 More Allies
– Support of Polish Air Force
 Preparation
 Over Britain
– No POW
– Best radar system
RAF Spitfire I
German Advantages
 Confidence
– Momentum
– Morale
 Bigger Air Force
 More skilled pilots
Britain’s Disadvantages
 Smaller Air Force
 Less experienced, less equipped
 If Germans made it to Britain by land, they
were doomed
 Civilians in their country were most affected
Germany’s Disadvantages
 Couldn’t replace downed airplanes
 Luftwaffe was meant as a support system,
not an attack system
 No ground radar
 No knowledge of RAF defenses
 Britain had better production of aircraft
– Messerschmitt lacked fuel endurance
RADAR…the weapon that
won the war
RADAR
 Chain Home
 Airborne radar
– Detected enemy planes
 Ground Radar
detected
– Ballistic missiles
– Mortar bombs
– Planes
 Detect enemy war craft
– Any weather conditions
Code Breaking
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Betchley Park
Cryptology
Polish knowledge
Enigma – German encoding system
Mathematicians at Betchley Park crack the
Enigma code
 Leads to British knowing of German raids,
and that Operation Sea Lion was cancelled
German Tactics
 Raids
 Sent small fleets in as bait, followed by large
bomber planes
 Strategic bombing
 Operation Sea lion
– 5 stages
RAF Tactics
 Send out individual squadrons to pick apart
Luftwaffe formations
 “V” formation
– Front plane watches for enemies
– Side planes watch for each other
– 2 Planes above and below
Effects of War
 Nazis are stopped for the first time
 Morale boost for Allies
 Showed that both air warfare and strategic
bombing were important
 RAF maintained strength
 Luftwaffe declined
Effects of War
 Britains losses: 23,002 dead
 Germany’s losses: 2,698 aircrafts lost
Bibliography
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http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~larson/tactics.htm
http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsABomb.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/ultra-operation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain
http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/britain/airbatte.html
http://media.ucsc.edu/classes/thompson/history30c/15_brit
ain.html
 http://www.century-offlight.freeola.com/Aviation%20history/WW2/radar%20in%2
0world%20war%20two.htm
 http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Air_Power/Battle_of
_Britain/AP22.htm