Invasion was the only way to defeat Britain. This involved crossing the English Channel. Hitler would not risk crossing the Channel unless the British air force was defeated first. As a result, the Battle of Britain was fought in the air, not on land as all previous wars had been fought. In August 1940 the Germans launched daylight raids against ports and airfields, and in September against inland cities like London, Coventry, Bristol, Plymouth and Liverpool. The objective was to draw out the British fighters and destroy them. It was hoped by Hitler that these raids on civilian targets would lower the morale of the British people.
Of immense significance was the fact that Hitler was not personally interested in the Battle of Britain or invading England. He relied on his commander Goering, who although he had the most powerful air force in the world at his command, failed to apply the correct tactics to destroy the much smaller British air force or to target militarily decisive targets. Hitler was far more interested in preparing for the invasion of Russia which commenced in June 1941.
The German air force, the Luftwaffe could not achieve air superiority due to the new device, the radar, which greatly increased British fighters’ effectiveness. In addition, the German fighter aircraft never possessed more than 30 minutes of combat endurance over Britain and their bombers had a limited range and, for example, had only 10 minutes in which to drop their bombs over London.
Initially during the Battle of Britain the Germans undertook day time raids and bombings. Goering believed that it was simply a matter of shooting the British aircraft out of the sky. However, high German losses forced the Germans to abort day time raids and bombing by the end of September 1940. On 17 September 1940, Hitler postponed the invasion indefinitely, thereby conceding defeat in the Battle of Britain.
Had they not been forced to bomb at night the Luftwaffe could have inflicted far greater damage that might have forced the British to surrender. Between September 1940 and May 1941 the Germans made 71 major raids on London and 56 on other cities, but the damage they brought was indiscriminate. The Germans should have focused on militarily decisive targets such as factories and dockyards.
Nevertheless, one may argue that Britain did not win the Battle of Britain because we did not come near to destroying the Luftwaffe. The British did succeed in inflicting unacceptable losses on the German air force that were not balanced with any successes. Therefore, it may be more accurate to say that the Germans disengaged their superior forces from the battle.
