Battle Of Britain.

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Battle Of Britain

Germany's defeat in the battle of Britain was was not just because of the luftwaffe's inadequacies and its commanders mistakes but also beacuse the british had key tactical advantages during the battle.One of the main reasons for Germany's defeat in the battle of Britain was due to the luftwaffe's inadequacies and its commanders mistakes. Goering was the commander of the luftwaffe. Although he had fought in WWI and he was an fighter ace, he wasnt so good at commanding an air force. He underestimated the strength of the RAF fighter planes throughout the battle. Also when Hitler decided to change the bombing tactics that was a fatal error. The critical weeks of the battle of Britain were the last week of August and the 1st week in september. During this period the RAF had 103 pilots killed in action and 128 seriously injured ie. they couldn't fly, they lost 500 planes in these 2 weeks as well. Also more importantly 6 key airfields were out of action because they had received such heavy bombing from Goerings Luftwaffe. However on the 7th of september Hitler ordered Goering switch targets from the British airfields to London and civilian targets. This was a fatal error because it did damage London but Fighter command was allowed to get back on its feet. Source F explains this point well."Hitler ordered Goering to switch the luftwaffe's attacks from airfields to civilian targets" Source F also mentions what this meant to the RAF. "This took pressure off fighter command...fighter command repaired their planes and runways" This was definantly one of the main reasons why the luftwaffe lost the battle of Britain.

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        The main advantage that Britain had during the battle of Britain was radar. This meant that the British air force had adequate warning as to when the Germans were going to attack. Radar stations made it possible to track German planes from when they left their bases. What this meant for the RAF was that they could tell how many planes were coming so they could send just the right amount to deal with the threat. Also it meant that the pilots didnt have to be up in the sky all the time wasting fuel. Also if the pilots had ...

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