Britain was eventually successful in stopping the German attack and in winning the Battle of Britain; there were many reasons for this. Probably the biggest reason other than the change of German tactics was the technological advances made by the British, especially Sir Hugh Dowding before and throughout the Battle. Although the Germans had good planes such as the Messerschmitt Me 109 and the Messerschmitt Me110, the British introduced two of the best fighter planes ever seen in the Hurricane and the Spitfire. These planes showed the German planes weaknesses of being unsuitable for dog fights and low fuel capacities for travelling and fighting, better planes made for heavy German losses. Another big technological advance was the introduction of bullet-proof glass for fighter plane windscreens, this meant that British planes could take shots without the pilot being killed or seriously injured. In my opinion though the most effective technological advance made by the British was created in the mid-1930s, Britain developed a highly sophisticated defence system against enemy bombing. The system was based around radar, having this radar prevented the RAF suffering the same fate as the Polish air force when it was attacked by the Luftwaffe before it was airborne. Radar stations made it possible to track approaching enemy planes from 100 miles away, and so the British could concentrate their defence just were it was needed. British fighter planes were often in the skies and above the Luftwaffe as they arrived over Britain. This gave Britain quite a large tactical advantage, also Sector stations acted as nerve centre collecting al the information from radar and sending the Spitfires and Hurricanes to intercept the German planes. Reasons other than technological advances also helped in the British victory, one of these being the possession of ‘Ultra’, the key to Germanys radio codes, this meant that Britain had advance warnings of their plans and so they could take suitable action. The venue of the battle was also an advantage and there for a reason for the British win, because the battle was fought over British territory it meant that if British pilots were shot down they could be sent back into combat quickly and effectively. The British workers also had an impact on the battle, workers in the factories produced an additional 1836 fighter planes when they were most desperately needed. The last three real advantages the British had over there German counterparts was there organisation, there estimation of the Luftwaffe strength and the leadership of the RAF and Britain as a whole. The RAF were able to organise their fighters into regions so that they could meet attacks quickly, even if they came from different directions, plus the British high command greatly overestimated the strength of the Luftwaffe making there plans as if they were going to Battle with someone stronger than them. When talking about the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill has to be mentioned because of his great leadership alongside Sir Hugh Dowding and his moral boosting speeches and obvious appreciation of the job the RAF were doing. His appreciation was best shown in tours of RAF headquarters and his famous ‘V for victory’ salute and his speech when he said ‘Never before, in the field of human conflict, has so much been owed, by so many, to so few,’
Another reason for the British victory and a German failure was a series of weaknesses throughout the Luftwaffe. Firstly, and one of the largest reasons for German failure was their personnel. The Germans were led by Hermann Goering, he had little tactical ability and although formally a pilot he did not have enough knowledge on how modern aircraft worked, therefore he continuously changed objectives and focuses causing confusion throughout the Luftwaffe. Goerings lack of tactical knowledge came to a point when he and Hitler changed there attacks on the 7th of September to bombing cities just when the RAF was on its knees. Goering also underestimated the strength of the RAF especially Britain’s two great fighter planes, the Spitfire and the Hurricane. The German intelligence also had a hand in the German weaknesses simply because they underestimated the importance of radar. Most of the British advantages were weaknesses for the Luftwaffe, for example Britain’s territorial advantage became a disadvantage for the Luftwaffe because if they were shot down or they baled out then they became prisoners of war or were killed. Also because planes were still generally unsophisticated the Luftwaffe after travelling from Germany only had about 30 minutes of flight over Britain. The Luftwaffe also had a lot of aircraft but didn’t have enough of suitable fighting aircraft; the Germans relied on planes like the Stuka dive bomber, which were great for Blitzkriegs but not for gaining air supremacy which the Germans desired. Another reason why German planes weren’t suitable for the German tactics was the Luftwaffes lack of heavy bombers. The medium bombers Germany had such as the JU88s, The Heinkel 111s and Dornier 17s were no match for the British fighters (Spitfires and Hurricanes).
In my opinion there were many reasons why Britain was able to win the Battle of Britain, but there were five really large reasons, these were in my opinion the introduction of radar, the German change in tactics, the introduction of new aircraft by the British, the well trained RAF and Britain’s territorial advantage. Firstly, radar enabled Britain to detect German aircraft miles away and prevented the RAF suffering the same fate as the Polish air force when it was attacked by the Luftwaffe before it was airborne. Radar stations made it possible to track approaching enemy planes from 100 miles away, and so the British could concentrate their defence just were it was needed, this was of great importance. Secondly, although the Germans had good planes such as the Messerschmitt Me 109 and the Messerschmitt Me110, the British introduced two of the best fighter planes ever seen in the Hurricane and the Spitfire. These planes showed the German planes weaknesses of being unsuitable for dog fights and low fuel capacities for travelling and fighting, better planes made for heavy German losses. Thirdly, the RAF was well trained and had better leadership than their German counterparts which made for an advantage during conflict. Fourthly, the venue of the battle was also an advantage and there for a reason for the British win, because the battle was fought over British territory it meant that if British pilots were shot down they could be sent back into combat quickly and effectively. Lastly and in my opinion the largest reason for Britain being able to win the Battle of Britain was the change in German tactics from bombing Britain’s naval and air bases to bombing British cities on September 7th in a response to the British bombing of Berlin, this was as I said absolutely crucial for the British because once the Germans started bombing cities and not airbases the RAF who were in a desperate state were able to repair airbases and concentrate on defence, this eventually in my opinion allowed Britain to win the Battle of Britain.
