Dunkirk and The Battle of Britain - Why was Britain able to win the Battle of Britain?

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Dunkirk and The Battle of Britain

Why was Britain able to win the Battle of Britain?

The importance of factors such as determination, fighting spirit, and even organisation cannot be underestimated as important factors in Britain's victory. If there is one thing that the British have been distinguished for, it has to be organisation. On the eve of the Battle of Britain as well as throughout it, they faced two major problems though: a lack of qualified pilots and a lack of planes. A lot of the RAF's strength had been used up in France. So in stepped Lord Beaverbrook, the newly appointed minister for air production. He began to turn things around by reorganising airplane production and repair units. Productivity soared and this allowed the RAF to equip all its operational fighter squadrons and at least keep in touch with meeting the mounting losses it would face. The organisation was in place to keep the RAF in the air and fighting, and that was vital if Britain was going to win. Planes were useless without pilots; however, they still had few of those. Training new pilots at that time took almost a year. Things did begin to change following what happened in France, but with the Battle of Britain looming, there simply was not time to train pilots properly. Training was shortened even further as the battle intensified, until new pilots began to arrive for operations having had only hours of training. Such inexperience would show in the air and would also reflect in the numbers of RAF losses. This makes the British achievement in the battle even more amazing and raises the question as to whether the battle was won because of the pilots or in spite of them. But what they did took amazing bravery and emphasizes the fighting spirit and determination of those involved, to still take to the air knowing they faced almost certain death, but knowing the alternative would be even worse. Despite the problems the pilots faced, it is amazing just what can be achieved when there really is nothing left to lose. It has to be remembered, though, that the British did not fight alone, survivors from European air forces such as the French, Dutch, Polish, and Czech all arrived in Britain to fight for the RAF. Likewise, other pilots came from Commonwealth countries including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand as well as a few from the United States. All played important roles, and despite the obvious language problems, provided vital experience that helped give the British the fighting chance they needed.  

Britain did have one advantage though, and that was radar. Although unreliable, it allowed the British to track the German raids and send the fighters to where they were needed. The British fighters could stay on the ground until the last minute, so constant patrols were not needed and the Germans lost the element of surprise, which in many ways made up for the lack of numbers on the British side. The Germans were never able to successfully take out Britain's radar chain, and this plays a big part in why they were never able to get the better of fighter command. Another major factor on Britain's side was that they were fighting over friendly territory. Shot down pilots who survived could return to the battle, but German pilots shot down were lost, so although numerically stronger, they were bound to lose more men than the British.

From 10th July, the Germans launched daily strikes on the British, but by August, the British were ahead, with the Germans losing 248 fighters to the RAF's 148. It was the loss of trained pilots that was crippling the RAF, and the real battle had yet to begin. The German's had set "Eagle Day" for 10th August, as soon as the radar network had been taken out. By now, the weather intervened and the attack on the radar stations could not take place until August 12th. The Germans did manage to severely damage the radar network - but not break it - and it cost them dearly in terms of aircraft. The British were able to repair the radar, meet the Eagle onslaught, and shoot down 46 planes for a loss of only 13. Further attacks on the 14th and 15th August cost the Germans 75 aircrafts for the loss of 35 British planes. Yet despite this, the Germans were gaining the advantage simply because they could afford to lose planes and pilots and the British could not. The RAF was pushed to almost breaking point, but the Germans could not break them no matter how hard they tried.

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The Women’s Auxiliary Air force launched barrage balloons. Barrage balloons were huge helium filled balloons suspended in the air by wires. These were especially effective at night as the German planes couldn’t see the wires and flew into them. The Germans also flew in groups, which not only made them an easy target for the British but also meant that they flew into barrage balloons together. This destroyed many more German aircrafts than first intended and proved as on of the essential factors in favour of Britain. Britain was also in possession of ‘Ultra’. This was a device that ...

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