The plan to defeat the RAF continued, German bombers would bomb British air bases and try and cripple the RAF. The biggest question was ‘could the Luftwaffe succeed?’ The Germans seemed to have many more high quality aircrafts then the British, and also had very well trained and skilled pilots. Nevertheless, the RAF had much strength, and even thought the Luftwaffe seemed to be stronger, they also had some weaknesses. RAF had good protection, and many technical developments were introduced, such as bullet proof windscreens for fighter planes. He also introduced command and communication systems that allowed the pilots to interact and avoid confusions and mistakes. Hermann Georing led the Luftwaffe; he however did not really understand the importance of modern technology, and shifted pilots around causing confusion amongst them.
The RAF also had the advantage of Radar, this meant that planes could not be caught on the ground and destroyed by the Luftwaffe. German intelligence was poor about modern technology, and they did not seem to understand the importance of Radar. German fighters also only had enough fuel to guarantee themselves about 30 minutes of flight time over England, and those pilots whom baled out over England became prisoners of war. On the other hand, the RAF fighter planes were much stronger than those of the Luftwaffe. Pilots organised their regions so that they could meet attacks quickly and pilots whom baled out over Britain could return easily, for re-fuelling or other duties. This was an immense turning point, as this meant that the German’s main target for attack would not be as successful as they hoped. The lack of knowledge and sufficient materials meant that Britain had a better chance in winning the battle. However if the Germans had understood the tactics of radar and so on, they probably would have had much more of a better chance. But their lack of understanding showed that German’s armed forces could not keep up with the RAF and with any long drawn out confrontations.
When the Battle started, citizens felt the need to contribute to the war front. Now that there was no chance of alliance between Germany and Britain, and the citizens were being bombed and under danger, it was a reason for them to give something towards the effort. People felt that even if they did not fight Germany would take over anyway, and as the reality of the war hit the people of Britain, they felt the need to put in some effort. Encouraging the war and the confidence of winning as a country played a big part in the battle, and they definitely did not want a German dominated Britain. The people would not stand foe humiliation ad the confidence that they had already defeated Germany in World War One, was with them, they felt that if they had done it once before then they could do it again. However for most of the soldiers and pilots, the occurrences of World War One was still in their mind, this would have meant that they would have hated the German’s any way and just simply wanted revenge. The attitudes of the people of Britain was also an important turning point, people would have done anything to help there country and to defeat the German’s, who were the race that they had hated since the First World War. However, saying this, the attitudes of the German’s would have been exactly the same, though through the dictatorship of Hitler, and the fact that they had lost the war before, may have meant that they had a much more powerful will to destroy Britain.
Some arguments show that the Battle of Britain was not necessarily a turning point for WWII. Although the RAF was the main focus of the attacks, the Navy was stronger than the air forces. Therefore if the RAF had been defeated then the Navy could have held off the attacks. The British had managed to break enigma code; this meant that the attack of U-boats on British supplies was less. The Navy was given top priority by Churchill and therefore all the forces had substantial amounts of backup.
It seemed to some people that Britain only avoided defeat; this meant that they had not won the battle as such but merely avoided them, as it was not a trial victory. To some the Battle of Britain was just a phase in the war rather than a turning point. The British Empire and the Commonwealth would have remained to launch a counter attack, Britain had postings all over the world and even if they had been defeated then they would not suffer from German domination as they would be ably to attack from other places. It was therefore not a turning point; they would have remained to launch a counter attack.
The Battle of Britain was a turning point in WWII, as there are more valid arguments and points proving how some certain actions did turn around the victory of WWII and the battle. The fact that German’s air force tactics were not so good and modern as was the RAF’s gave them a lot of advantage throughout the battle, if the German’s had chosen a different method of counter attack then maybe the outcome would have been different, another mistake that they also made was to understand the concept of radar. If they had thought through their tactics and technology/weapons the outcome may have been different. Another reason for the turning point was the enthusiasm of the British people, the way that they were keen to do their part in the war. The main reason for a turning point was the fact that the loss of the Battle of Britain was the first real defeat for Hitler, it boosted moral of the British, yet made Hitler seem weak. The loss of war for Germany, and the continuous fighting would have made them tired and not so keen and enthusiastic as they were before and therefore the Battle of Britain did a lot for the outcome and was a very important turning point in World War Two.
