Theatres of War

Assessment

        Even though Britain were officially at war with Germany, neither land forces saw any action for several months. This was known as the Phoney War. Neither Hitler nor the allies made an attempt to attack each other.

        The German forces concentrated their efforts on the East and completed its invasion of Poland.

The German army then began to concentrate their efforts towards France. Despite the fact that they were considered the greatest army in the world at the time they were very poor tactitionists and they basically planned to defend the country through the Maginot line and to wait for the enemy to advance. Ironically it was Napoleon that said that the best form of defence was attack. Although it was technologically brilliant, the Maginot line stopped about 250 miles short of the coast at the border of Belgium. The German army could march right through Belgium and into France.

        The Panzer divisions were greatly underestimated and so attacked through a thickly wooded area known as the Ardennes. Since the French could not begin to believe that any effective attack could be lead through such an area, it was poorly defended with it’s oldest and least trained men stationed there, who were grossly outnumbered and outclassed.

   Once the Germans forces were in through the French had basically lost. The German army had vastly superior tactics and equipment, as it was widely believed that the French were not fighting in the 20th Century. The generals were considered to be toddering old fools and the French head – quarters did not even have radio communication, but instead sent out a runner or a motorbike every hour. They finally surrendered on the 22nd June 1940.

        Once France had capitulated, Hitler expected the British to do so also, yet they disappointed him by continuing the war. Hitler ordered plans for the invasion of Britain to be drawn up on 16th July. Operation Sea Lion was born.

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        An invasion of the island depended on the Royal Air Force being destroyed, in turn rendering the Navy, the main defending force of the channel. The invasion began at the beginning of August 1940.

On the 8th August the Lufftwaffe began arial attacks on RAF airfields. Over 1500 aircraft were used in huge waves of assaults. Despite these huge offensives the Royal Air Force had several advantages.

  • The British had access to early forms of Radar thus enabling them to send the right number of fighter planes to the right height at the right time to try ...

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