"When France surrendered in June 1940, Britain was the only European country holding out against Germany. Explain why Britain was able to continue to hold out between June 1940 and the end of 1943."

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George Eskander                03/02/2002

“When France surrendered in June 1940, Britain was the only European country holding out against Germany. Explain why Britain was able to continue to hold out between June 1940 and the end of 1943.”

The Battle of Britain

        By June 1940, France had surrendered to Germany and Britain had rescued approximately 330,000 men from the beaches of Dunkirk. Britain now stood alone with its empire against Germany. Hitler believed that Britain had to be defeated before he could turn his attention to the USSR and so in the invasion of Britain codenamed Operation Sealion, two German armies (totalling 100,000 men) would be transported across the English Channel. However this crossing could be blocked by the Royal Navy, which was protected by the RAF. The Luftwaffe had to eliminate the RAF in order to bomb the Royal Navy blockade. The two sides fought each other in a series of “dog fights” which became known as the Battle of Britain. From July 10th1940 fleets of German bombers were sent, escorted by German fighter planes to protect them from attack whose targets were the airfields in Southern England. Britain was faced with overwhelming odds as German planes (2500 aircraft) far outnumbered those of the British (700 aircraft) and Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe was confident of success.

        However Hitler made a major tactical error. Upto 7th September, Germany, with its huge number of pilots in comparison to Britain, was defeating Britain. Any German plane shot down was relatively easy to replace and equip with another pilot. In the first week of September, Britain had lost 185 aircraft and 300 men. Only 200 replacement pilots were available and it took longer to train new pilots than to build new planes, which were constantly bombed by the Luftwaffe whilst in their airbases. Hugh Dowding, Chief of RAF fighter command, had feared that the battle would be lost. However on 7th September Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to bomb London instead of the airbases in reprisal for a British bombing raid on Berlin. This allowed the several airbases that had been put out of action to repair themselves and replace aircraft that had been destroyed by bombing. These aircraft were able to resume the defence of Britain and to attack the Luftwaffe on their way to London.

        Germany had also made a series of miscalculations and underestimations of Britain’s defence. The British-operated Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft proved to be more superior to German equivalents and more strongly built, which gave the British advantages in combat. The RAF also had the secret weapon of RADAR, which the Luftwaffe was unaware of. This allowed the RAF to assemble their fighters to intercept the Luftwaffe. German fighters were also relatively light and could only carry comparatively little fuel and so as a result they were unable to escort their bombers over London whereas the RAF were operating in their own territory and so could remain in the air for much longer. By September 17th, Hitler called off Operation Sealion, although the Luftwaffe continued to bomb London and other major cities.

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        The bombing raids by Britain on Berlin were the key factor that had caused the German switch in bombing tactics. Although Britain had not planned to cause this switch in tactic, it was this tactical error that allowed Britain to build more aircraft and so to ultimately hold out in the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain also boosted Britain’s morale greatly as it convinced the British public that Germany could be defeated.

The Blitz

        The bombing of British cities, or the Blitz began on 7th September 1940. Although the Blitz was used as an act of retaliation ...

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