An event that the British highly contributed to, but not to the same level as the Battle of Britain was the Battle of the Atlantic. This is the biggest naval input the British used in the war attempt. The British ships travelled in convoys that were guarded by destroyers and corvettes. The German wolf packs of U-Boats were the opposition and they were remarkably good at their job at the beginning of the war. In between 1939 and 1942, 2176 ships were sunk by the U-Boats. They used torpedoes to sink down the British ships. However by March 1944, Admiral Donitz called off the U-Boat campaign because of the heavy losses of U-Boats, while many of the Allies ships were not sunk. The inventions of new types of aircraft that provided cover helped the British identify the German U-Boats. The submarines had to be near the surface to fire their torpedoes so the planes could easily spot them. Britain would have no supplies from America, if the U-Boats sunk most of the convoys that came from the US. If the supplies did not come from America, the war effort would have been much harder, as America was the biggest economical power in the world at that time and much of the supplies were needed from the USA. The British needed food and military equipment from America, to stay in the war. Therefore control of the Atlantic would be very important, as this would mean that if Britain could not receive their goods, the Germans would have a huge advantage.
The North African campaign was not contributed to as much as the Battles of Britain and the Atlantic, but it was still a major part in the war. A lot of Britain’s supplies came through this route so it was vital that Britain safeguarded it. In 1940 the British Forces travelled to Egypt. Firstly, they had to face the Germans that were heading east towards the Suez Canal. Although, the British had a ratio of ten German soldiers to one British soldier, they still defeated the Germans and captured many as well. After this victory in Egypt, Churchill sent many soldiers to Greece from Africa, allowing the Germans, led by Rommel, to launch a counter-attack, which pushed the British back. Fortunately, the British managed to hold themselves together. In 1942, a new leader was appointed, named Montgomery. At El Alamein, Rommel was defeated, and eventually, by 1943, the Germans had been pushed back to Italy, via Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and this was called Operation Torch. This was quite significant because some Germans had been lost here; either killed or captured, and this also diverted some German troops from the Eastern Front to Italy. However, there are more important events that take place in this war, where many more men are lost, and more land is gained. Also, this campaign was important as the presence of the Suez Canal, allowed easier trade for the British, so Britain needed to defend it. Also, the British oil supplied came from Persia so the needed to be defended as well.
Bombing was an important part of Britain’s contribution to the war, but also not as important as the battles of Britain, the Atlantic, and D-Day. It was similar in significance as the North African campaign. This was the only way Britain could attack Germany before D-Day. Their targets were the factories, especially the Ruhr Valley, a major industrial city. The bombing of the cities also decreased the amount of airplanes the Germans sent to the Eastern Front, helping the Soviets. The Americans helped make it harder for the Germans, by bombing during the day meaning around the clock, Germany was being bombed. The British did their bombing at night, which reduced casualties, but also made it harder to see their targets, meaning accuracy was poor. In fact, 3 out of every 100 bombs fell on the intended target. The Americans, who bombed during the day, also helped the British and together, they caused panic throughout Germany. The British attacks on Germany tied down the number of planes available for D-Day, as many planes had to be used to attack the bombers. Bombing certainly was important also as the Russians would have less airplanes to fight.
The contribution of other major powers is very important and highly influences the contribution of Britain. The significance of Russia and USA are the main contributions that influence Britain’s significance. The Soviets used many men to push the Germans back to Berlin, and the USA’s economic power was very significant towards the defeat of Germany. The Russian leader, Stalin said that “Britain gave time, Americans gave money, and Russia gave blood. You can see that what he said was fairly accurate. The Americans provided lots of supplies for the British throughout the war, and they also help a bit on D-Day, their troops occupying two beaches. Americans spent much more many than any other country used on this war effort. They also contributed to the war in the Pacific, defeating the Japanese releasing the threat. 85% of Germany’s forces were present on the Eastern Front. The Germans had a vast 1600km front to attack, and the Russians certainly diverted many troops to the east. The Russians used up the German supplies and over 70% of supplies were sent to the eastern front. This gave the British more breathing space, and the British had a much easier job. The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the war, around half World War 2 casualties, showing us just how much Russia contributed towards the war. It was the Russians that captured Berlin at the end of the war. The influence of both these countries proves to us that Britain was not the only country that was heavily involved in the war, and that the contributions of the countries were of different types.
We come to the other second highest contributed effort in the war- D-Day. The efforts of 2.1 million British men were concentrated on the beaches of Normandy, to drive back the Germans, from France. The British even made portable harbours called the Mulberry Harbours, which were towed across the sea, and helped a lot towards attacking the French coast. They are still there to this day showing us how resilient they were. The British’s contribution to D-Day was more than that of USA. By 1945 the Germans had been pushed back and left Paris. This left Germany in a situation they were determined not to be in at the start of the war: A war on two fronts. If Britain did not contribute towards the war, where would D-Day have been launched? D-Day is certainly a major event because it causes the collapse of the Germans space in France, and highly decreases the number of German soldiers.
Technological breakthroughs were fundamental to some of the events making this part of Britain’s contribution very significant. Many technological breakthroughs were made in this time period, which facilitated the battle of Atlantic, Britain, bombing of Germany and D-Day, mostly in the form of tanks, bombs, medicine and radar. Technological breakthroughs were very significant as they contributed to many different battles. In the Battle of Britain, the radar allowed the RAF to intercept the Luftwafte, because they knew where and when they would appear. Penicillin was used to reduce the number of soldiers lost and taken by disease in ground battles such as D-Day. However, Britain’s tanks were terrible compared to the Germans and the men used in D-Day were much more important than the technology.
After D-Day, the contribution of Britain is minimal. The Russians are the ones who capture Berlin and take over it. The British supplies drop as well. Britain’s contribution to the war had ended. However, the Americans armament contributions were at their peak at this time and the Americans were the most significant power at this time.
I think that the Britain’s contribution to the war effort changes significantly over time. The contribution of Britain at the start of the war is quite high as we look at the significance of the Battle of Britain and Atlantic. The significance of the British forces rises towards D-Day, and post D-Day, there is a little contribution from the British. We can also see that the major powers in the war i.e. Russia and America, have contributed more than Britain towards the end of the war.
