For months after that raids at night would have been carried out by the RAF and also the Luftwaffe, but then on the 17th September operation sea lion had been called off, and this is were Hitler had suffered his first real defeat.
Source A2 gives us information on what happened in Dunkirk and also how France had been invaded. This source is also debating whether Dunkirk was a successful military and naval victory and triumph or not. This source also has a quote from Winston Churchill warning that the battle of Britain would be next and would begin very soon. This is a trustworthy source because it is a fairly modern and was also written by a professional historian and a former head of history.
Source A3 is a cover of a French magazine, which was called ‘Signal’. The image printed on the front of the cover shows 2 German planes flying over Paris. This is what was called a propaganda poster, which either increased morale or warned civilians of coming danger. I think they idea of this cover was to provide a warning for the British. This magazine was published on the 25th of July 1940 and a man called Allan Todd from the oxford university press in 2001 provided it and Todd writes GCSE history texts.
The RAF fighter pilots played avital role In the defeat of Hitler and the nazi’s, in source B1 it talks about a spitfire pilot talking about his experience of a dog fight and what his emotions were at the time he was in the skies. In my opinion this is a very good piece of information for anybody because it is an accurate and actual account of what a pilot went through and also how he felt. It also shows us how hard, stressful and tiring this job could be. This information was written and provided by a ma called Colin Shepard and this has written a lot of school history textbooks.
A speech was made was made by Winston Churchill on the BBC radio on the 19th august 1940, his aim was to increase morale to the general public and also he gave a tribute to the RAF. On source B5 there is also a propaganda poster from 1940 giving a tribute to the pilots, ‘Never was so much owed by so many to so few’. These were the words of Winston Churchill, spoke to increase morale and also to refer to the pilots of their bravery and devotion. Two historians named C & K shepherd provided these two sources, you can trust they information that they have provided you with because these historians write a lot of school history textbooks, particularly for KS3 so you would think these sources are accurate and should be reliable.
Not many people really thought of the role of woman in the battle of Britain but they did play a key role in the success of defeating Hitler and the nazi’s in source C1 it gives you information about the different roles of women during the battle of Britain. Source C1 gives you a variety of different images of woman working ad doing their bit towards the battle of Britain. Many women flew newly built aircrafts from the factors to the air bases. “When you see a girl in uniform with a bit of ribbon on her tunic, remember she didn’t get it for knitting more socks than anyone else.” this quote shows that woman played a vital role in the battle of Britain and were no different to men and that they had proved themselves to be brave, loyal and devoted to the RAF and the battle of Britain. I believe that this is a trustworthy source because it is a quote from the woman from that time. A man called B. Walsh and John Murray writes this source. And they both write a great deal of GCSE history texts on modern world topics, so this should be a reliable source.
Without radar Britain would not have been able to succeed in the war as much as they eventually did, many women were in charge of dispatching the pilots to the German bombers by which the radar was telling them and whether or not they should leave a reserve. M. Davidson and J.Talyor had provided this source and both of these historians have written popular history texts, used by many people such as students, undergraduates and also people who have an interest in the RAF and also the battle of Britain, so presumably these sources should be accurate and reliable.
Radar was the best way of spotting enemy planes long before long before they have even crossed the English coast. This technology had been developed secretly in Britain before the war had started. So already Britain had a higher advantage over Germany and a greater chance of success. The way radar worked was by waves been sent out of a transmitter and then bouncing back from an object in the sky such as a plane or bomber and then could be plotted accurately. Source C2 informs you about how radar worked and how radar stations whether to intercept them or not. Hitler then decided he had to he had to take out the RAF if he wanted to succeed so he carried out a blitzkrieg attack which was where Hitler mainly focused on bombing London, overall he had bombed London for 76 nights and all this was to get at the RAF. In my opinion these sources are very helpful and informal and they can be an accurate and trusted source because they were written by men who are historians and write textbooks for students.
While the pilots flew over the English Channel some came down with such a thing called ‘channel sickness’. In 1975 Douglas Badar remembered ‘either the water or the spitfires, one was enough, but both together was a bit too much’. Douglas Badar was a fighter commander and a fighter pilot who was equally famous for his skills and bravery as for his tin legs, which had been fitted after both of his leg’s had been amputated. This is a very good and informal source because it is from an eyewitness who was also a very well known and popular fighter pilot. In my opinion I think this source this source can be trusted and is also accurate.
On they other hand Germany had a lot more planes and a lot more experienced fighter pilots, Germany had been training 800 new pilots a month where as Britain had just 200 been trained a month, so Germany at that point had a greater advantage. In source C5 it is informing you of the performance of each countries planes and also the pros and cons of the two different types of aircraft, the German (ME109) and also the British (hurricane). I think this source was very good and also interesting because it talks about the advantages and disadvantages of British air defence and also Germanys defence.
In my opinion I think the battle of britian was considered the RAF finest hour, because the RAF was able to defeat Hitler and the nazi’s with a lot less number of planes and also a minimum number of pilots been trained a month, where as Germany has almost twice as many trained pilots each month. Theoretically Hitler should have been able to invade Britain because he had a lot more planes and resources, and a much more larger army, but they RAF pulled through.
