Battle of Britain
On June 18th 1940, Winston Churchill, Britain’s then-Prime Minister, stated in a radio broadcast that “…the Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” Shortly after, France surrendered to Germany and Hitler began focusing his attention to Britain.
At first Hitler had hoped that Britain would agree to his offer of a peaceful settlement. However, after Churchill rejected his offer, the commander of the German army presented Hitler with formal plans for operation Sealion, the code name for the invasion of Britain.
Starting out, the plan was for 41 tank and infantry divisions, and 2 airborne divisions to cross the English Channel on August 25, 1940. But, the German navy didn’t have enough transport ships to move that many troops, and they didn’t want to risk the invasion without having absolute control of the air. Afterwards, a new plan was created for a smaller invasion, but the plan was postponed to September 21, 1940 after Grand Admiral Raeder of the German army decided that they needed more time to gather support. Meanwhile, the Germans all agreed that the Luftwaffe had to destroy the Royal Air Force as soon as possible, before an invasion could begin.
The Battle of Britain officially began on July 10th, 1940. On that day, 120 German bombers and fighters hit a British shipping convey in the English Channel while more bombers attacked South Wales. Although it might have appeared that Britain was greatly outnumbered with only 620 fighters compared to the 1200 fighters and 1300 bombers that the Luftwaffe had, the British did have several advantages. It had a very effective radar system that let them detect German aircraft and respond earlier, making it impossible for the Germans to perform a sneak attack. Britain also produced better quality aircraft than Germany, allowing for more agility and shooting power. Additionally, the fact that Germans were flying far from their home meant that they had to constantly fly back to their bases to refuel, which allowed the British to have an edge.
At the beginning, the RAF did well. However, as time went on, and as the Luftwaffe made sure to target all of RAF’s aircraft, radar network, and airfields, the Royal Air Force started getting worn out, and were slowly losing the battle. As the battle of Britain went on, the Royal Canadian Air Force number one squadron went into action. The fighter pilots were unprepared for battle, and many of them had only fired once at a moving target. Allied aircrews were losing pilots faster than they could be replaced.
September 7th, 1940 caused a major turn of events for the Britain. Because of the Blitz, when German aircrafts bombed London in revenge for a British raid on Berlin, the Luftwaffe didn’t have enough planes to attack London and the RAF at the same time, so it gave the RAF time to make up for its losses and repair its damaged airfields. The Allies began recovering strong, shooting down more and more German planes, and the German attacks gradually became smaller and less frequent.
The major outcome of the Battle of Britain was that Germany was not able to take over Britain, and it had used up a lot of its resources trying to maintain all the bombing raids over Britain, weakening its economy. The Battle was also significant because it was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and it was the lengthiest aerial bombing campaign that had happened up to that date. Because of that, Britain also gained air superiority from their victory over the Germans.
Close to 2400 people fought on the Allies’ side during the battle, and approximately 450 of them were killed during battle. Although the exact numbers are unclear, many sources state that there were approximately 100 Canadians that served in the Battle of Britain, with 23 of their lives lost.
At first Hitler had hoped that Britain would agree to his offer of a peaceful settlement. However, after Churchill rejected his offer, the commander of the German army presented Hitler with formal plans for operation Sealion, the code name for the invasion of Britain.
Starting out, the plan was for 41 tank and infantry divisions, and 2 airborne divisions to cross the English Channel on August 25, 1940. But, the German navy didn’t have enough transport ships to move that many troops, and they didn’t want to risk the invasion without having absolute control of the air. Afterwards, a new plan was created for a smaller invasion, but the plan was postponed to September 21, 1940 after Grand Admiral Raeder of the German army decided that they needed more time to gather support. Meanwhile, the Germans all agreed that the Luftwaffe had to destroy the Royal Air Force as soon as possible, before an invasion could begin.
The Battle of Britain officially began on July 10th, 1940. On that day, 120 German bombers and fighters hit a British shipping convey in the English Channel while more bombers attacked South Wales. Although it might have appeared that Britain was greatly outnumbered with only 620 fighters compared to the 1200 fighters and 1300 bombers that the Luftwaffe had, the British did have several advantages. It had a very effective radar system that let them detect German aircraft and respond earlier, making it impossible for the Germans to perform a sneak attack. Britain also produced better quality aircraft than Germany, allowing for more agility and shooting power. Additionally, the fact that Germans were flying far from their home meant that they had to constantly fly back to their bases to refuel, which allowed the British to have an edge.
At the beginning, the RAF did well. However, as time went on, and as the Luftwaffe made sure to target all of RAF’s aircraft, radar network, and airfields, the Royal Air Force started getting worn out, and were slowly losing the battle. As the battle of Britain went on, the Royal Canadian Air Force number one squadron went into action. The fighter pilots were unprepared for battle, and many of them had only fired once at a moving target. Allied aircrews were losing pilots faster than they could be replaced.
September 7th, 1940 caused a major turn of events for the Britain. Because of the Blitz, when German aircrafts bombed London in revenge for a British raid on Berlin, the Luftwaffe didn’t have enough planes to attack London and the RAF at the same time, so it gave the RAF time to make up for its losses and repair its damaged airfields. The Allies began recovering strong, shooting down more and more German planes, and the German attacks gradually became smaller and less frequent.
The major outcome of the Battle of Britain was that Germany was not able to take over Britain, and it had used up a lot of its resources trying to maintain all the bombing raids over Britain, weakening its economy. The Battle was also significant because it was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and it was the lengthiest aerial bombing campaign that had happened up to that date. Because of that, Britain also gained air superiority from their victory over the Germans.
Close to 2400 people fought on the Allies’ side during the battle, and approximately 450 of them were killed during battle. Although the exact numbers are unclear, many sources state that there were approximately 100 Canadians that served in the Battle of Britain, with 23 of their lives lost.