Transcript The Battle of Britain - ISN IB History I SL/HL

The Battle of Britain
Background
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After Dunkirk, 1940
 Germany turned her attention to Britain who was the only
country in Europe left resisting Germany
Both countries had suffered large losses, particularly Britain
Britain given a chance to prepare
 ‘Phoney War’
 Worked to improve air force (had seen aerial bombings of
Guernica)
Britain’s loss seemed inevitable
 GB: 640 fighters
 Germany: 2600 bombers and fighters
Aims and Objectives
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Needed to eradicate the opposition so that
she could concentrate on Russia
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Germany didn’t want to fight on two fronts
Wanted to gain air superiority
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Operation Sea Lion
Beginning of the War
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July 1940 (to last autumn and summer)
Targeting convoy, shipping, military and industrial
centres
Southampton, Newcastle, Manchester, Cardiff,
Swansea, Aberdeen, Belfast, etc.
Most of the Southern Coast was bombed
Picture of Southampton after bombing
The Situation Changed
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24th August 1940
‘Accidental’ bombing of London
 Bombers were only supposed to bomb the docks
1000 civilians killed
 Seemed like a personal attack
Change in attitude. Were now seeking vengeance.
“We will launch an absolutely devastating exterminating
attack by very heavy bombers upon the Nazi homeland” –
Winston Churchill
Bombing of Berlin
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Sent fighter pilots to Berlin one day after London attack
Principle targets were armament centres and Tempelhof Airport
Ferocious German anti-aircraft fire meant that the RAF had to fly
to high which ensured that bombs missed their targets
Only slight damage to the city, no deaths
“The concentration of anti-aircraft fire was the greatest I’ve ever
witnessed. It provided a magnificent, a terrible sight. And it was
strangely ineffective. Not a plane was brought down.”- William
Shirer (American journalist)
Further raids on Berlin caused light damage
Hitler’s Reaction
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Hitler was incensed
“When the British air force drops two or three or four
thousand kilograms of bombs, then we will in one night
drop 150, 230, 300 or 400 thousand kilograms- we will raze
their cities to the ground.”- Adolf Hitler
Bombing of Coastal Convoys
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Germans expected a surrender
‘Kanalkampf’ of the Battle of the Channel
Started to target ships bringing supplies to Britain
Britain just re-routed the ships
Little damage was done
‘Eagle Attack’
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Change in tactics
Began to target radar stations
15th August, 1940
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Luftwaffe wanted to completely destroy RAF
‘Black Thursday’ (where the attempted to achieve this
aim)
Significant German losses
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Lost 76 aircraft to the RAF’s 35
Goering changes tactics
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RAF suffering unsustainable losses
 112 RAF pilots and 256 planes lost
 Night raids made it impossible to recover from
losses
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THEN
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Goering changes tactics
 Bombings on London
 Hitler's orders after Berlin bombings
 Wanted to save face after ‘Black Thursday’
The Luftwaffe bomb London
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Hitler had vowed to destroy London and the spirit of the
British people
Britain was on High Alert
September 7th, 900 German aircraft crossed the channel
unexpectedly
Dog Fights over Thames Estuary
Bombing continued for 77 days
“The Blitz”
15th September
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Luftwaffe launched two large raids on London
Fighter Command had time to prepare
Launched double attack
Battle began
German planes were not as good as RAF planes and could only
stay over England for 10-20 minutes before having to return
home
Attempted to intercept Luftwaffe over the Channel (some were
destroyed, others scattered)
Luftwaffe defeated
Hitler had turned his attention to the Soviet Union
Operation Sea Lion was postponed and then abandoned
Battle of Britain was over
Results
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The Battle of Britain was the longest and largest
unrelenting bombing campaign attempted by any
government.
It was a failure for both the Germans and the British,
but it raised the confidence of the Allied forces
The Luftwaffe’s numbers were not powerful enough
to beat the British.
British forces were being replaced faster than the
Germans. The RAF kept its strength as the
Luftwaffe declined.
Significance
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It was the first time the Nazis were stopped.
The Luftwaffe never recovered from the loss of
experienced pilots and aircraft.
Even though the British won, the civilian losses were
high.
23,002 died and 32,138 were wounded.
1,547 allied aircraft were lost during the battle.
Winston Churchill states “Never in the field of human
conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
September 15 is celebrated in England as the
“Battle of Britain Day.”