Why did Britain beat the Nazis in the Battle of Britain

The British however were more technologically advanced than the Germans. Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding had convinced Churchill to invest in the Radar system, which allowed them to tell when an attack was coming so they had time to prepare, this took away the Germans element of surprise and gave it to the British. The Radar system worked by sending out Microwaves which when they hit a target they would reflect and send back the transmitter rough images, they images could tell the RAF Headquarters how far away the attack was and also the size and the shape of the approaching aircraft. This piece of Technology allowed the RAF pilots enough time to get into their planes and get to the right height ready to fight. The RAF had also installed bullet proof glass onto their planes, this led to an increase in the amount of pilots that were able to return to action after their planes had been shot down, it also increased the average fly time of the RAF aircraft, this led to an increasing ratio on German to British planes being shot down.

Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding had knowledge of the modern aircrafts abilities, having flown in them himself, and also the tactics that were needed to win modern air battles. Herman Goerring on the other hand had little to no knowledge of the modern aircraft abilities, or indeed even the tactics that needed to be utilised in the planes. He was confident the sheer size of the Luftwaffe would be enough to over come Britain. He was also confident the Blitzkrieg tactics would work because, he had seen them work over and over again in the past, and especially in the Spanish Civil war.

The Battle of Britain wasn't one big air battle it was a series of small battles that lasted through the summer of 1940. The plan was to destroy RAF bases and airfields once they had achieved this they would start on the navy. Waves of Nazis bombers would cross the channel, supported high above by the fighters who flew high above waiting for upcoming RAF attacks. Throughout the summer the RAF constantly out shot the Nazis, although Britain loses in fighters were higher they were able to produce more fighter planes as they shifted all production to the fighters like the spitfires and the hurricanes.

Possibly the main reason why the Britons won the Battle of Britain is the type of aircraft that the two sides used. Germany Concentrated on bombing the British towns so they had heavy bombers and stukas, which they had used at Dunkirk , the only air offensive planes that the Germans had were the Messerschmitt Bf 109E-1. These Messerschmitts were only capable of going 354mph, which gave them significant disadvantages of the faster spitfires, which were able to go 361mph. The British also used the Hawker Hurricanes, these were slower than the Spitfires and Messrschmitts but they had superior ammo capacity, which made them the preferred planes of the British. During the Battle of Britain the Hurricanes shot down more enemy aircraft than the rest of Britons air and ground defences. Britain as well as their aircraft as defence also had anti-aircraft guns which gave them big advantages to starting a defence as they could shoot down many aircraft before the Dogfights started, this meant that the initial German advantages of superior numbers was shortened.

In conclusion the Britons won the Battle of Britain because they had the home ground, they had superior aircraft for the dogfight battle that occurred, and the Leadership qualities of Sir Hug Dowding outstripped those of Herman Goerring.