The Battle of Britain

On June 22nd, 1940, France signs a ceasefire with Germany. France is defeated. Since September 1939, Germany has invaded Poland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg - and now France. Nothing seems to be able to stop the Germans and now they have control of the French coast on the English Channel. Hitler, who has begun planning for an invasion of the Soviet Union, wants to avoid war with Britain.

He hopes that the British will sign a peace agreement. But, Britain has a new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. In one of his first speeches, Churchill says: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat," Churchill also says: “What is our policy?... It is to wage war, by sea, land, and air … what is our aim? ... victory, victory at all costs” The British do not intend to negotiate peace with the Germans.

Hitler decides to attack Britain. He's going to make them give up! Germany shall attack boats carrying goods to Britain. And Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe, is going to strike and destroy the British air force. The British will be hit hard financially and forced to give up.

If Germany succeeds in destroying the British air force, it will be easier to launch their operation Unternehmen Seelöwe - Sea Lion - a total invasion from air and sea. In early July, 1940, the Luftwaffe begins to attack British ships in the English Channel and important ports in Britain. The British Royal Air Force, the RAF, works day and night to defend them. The battle for Britain has begun. In mid-August, the Luftwaffe begins attacking British airfields and aircraft factories.

In air, the Luftwaffe's fighter planes, Messerschmitt, search for the RAF's planes, Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes, to shoot them down. The RAF has far fewer planes than the Luftwaffe and less experienced pilots, but it still manages well. On the night of August 25th, 95 British planes bomb the German capital, Berlin. It is retaliation for a German bomb that accidentally hit London. Some of the British bombs go wrong and kill German civilians… Until now, Hitler has not wanted to bomb London, but the bombing of Berlin makes Germany take a new tactic: On the night of September 7th, more than 300 planes bomb London.

For the next 56 days, there is intense bombing, day and night, of London and many other cities - civilian targets. The British call the bombings "the Blitz", the German word for lightning. Warnings - air raid sirens - are heard around the clock. The British have to seek refuge in shelters and in the subway. Every night, street lights in cities remain off and windows are covered.

The ‘black out’ makes it harder for the Germans to see where to bomb. In the air, the RAF hunts German planes. The battle of Britain takes place almost entirely in the air. Although the Luftwaffe should be superior, the RAF proves a fairly equal match. By the end of October, Hitler understands that the Luftwaffe will not succeed in destroying the British Air Force.

He pauses his plans to invade Britain. The Luftwaffe’s night bombings continue, but less frequently. The last bombing of London takes place on the night between the 11th and 12th of May, 1941, and at the end of May they cease completely. Thanks to the RAF, along with 2937 fighter pilots from 13 different countries, including Canada, Poland and Czechoslovakia, the battle for Britain has been won. In a famous speech, Prime Minister Churchill said of the British Air Force: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much, owed by so many, to so few."