World War II Europe: Blitzkrieg

Preparing the Defense of Britain

With the fall of France, only Britain remained to oppose the German advance. After London refused to begin peace talks, Hitler ordered planning to commence for a full invasion of the British Isles, codenamed Operation Sealion. With France out of the war, Churchill moved to consolidate Britain's position and ensure that captured French equipment, namely the French Navy's ships, could not be used against the Allies. This led to the Royal Navy attacking the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria on July 3, 1940, after the French commander refused to sail to England or turn over his ships.

The Luftwaffe's Plans

As planning for Operation Sealion moved forward, German military leaders decided that air superiority over Britain had to be attained before any landings could occur. The responsibility for achieving this fell to the Luftwaffe, who initially believed that the Royal Air Force (RAF) could be destroyed in approximately four weeks. During this time, the Luftwaffe's bombers were to focus on destroying the RAF's bases and infrastructure, while its fighters were to engage and destroy their British counterparts. Adherence to this schedule would allow Operation Sealion to commence in September 1940.

The Battle of Britain

Beginning with a series of aerial battles over the English Channel in late July and early August, the Battle of Britain commenced in full on August 13, when the Luftwaffe launched their first major assault on the RAF. Attacking radar stations and coastal airfields, the Luftwaffe steadily worked further inland as the days passed. These attacks proved relatively ineffective as the radar stations were quickly repaired. On August 23, the Luftwaffe shifted the focus of their strategy to destroying the RAF's Fighter Command.

Hammering the principal Fighter Command airfields, the Luftwaffe's strikes began to take a toll. Desperately defending their bases, the pilots of Fighter Command, flying Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires, were able to utilize radar reports to exact a heavy toll on the attackers. On September 4, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to begin bombing British cities and towns in reprisal for RAF attacks on Berlin. Unaware that their bombing of Fighter Command's bases had nearly forced the RAF to consider withdrawing from southeastern England, the Luftwaffe complied and began strikes against London on September 7. This raid signaled the beginning of the "Blitz," which would see the Germans bombing British cities regularly until May 1941, with the goal of destroying civilian morale.

RAF Victorious

With the pressure on their airfields relieved, the RAF began to inflict heavy casualties on the attacking Germans. The Luftwaffe's switch to bombing cities reduced the amount of time escorting fighters could stay with the bombers. This meant that the RAF frequently encountered bombers with either no escorts or those that could only fight briefly before having to return to France. Following the decisive defeat of two large waves bombers on September 15, Hitler ordered the postponement of Operation Sealion. With losses mounting, the Luftwaffe changed to bombing at night. In October, Hitler again postponed the invasion, before ultimately discarding it upon deciding to attack the Soviet Union. Against long odds the RAF had successfully defended Britain. On August 20, while the battle was raging in the skies, Churchill summed up the nation's debt to Fighter Command by stating, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

• 1
• 2