The Battle of Britain

I. DEFINE THE SUBJECT The Battle of Britain began shortly after the fall of France was emanate and would eventually sign an armistice with Germany. This would allow Germany to focus squarely on Great Britain. In late May, 1941 Prime Minister Winston Churchill disregarded calls for peace talks with Hitler and said that Britain “would fight on” (“Churchill decides toll,” 2012). The Battle of Britain was during the time period of June, 1940 to May, 1941 with the heaviest fighting occurring from June to October, 1940. The Battle of Britain was a fierce air battle between the Germans and the British over Great Britain’s airspace which was important as Germany wished to invade by land. As a precursor to the invasion of England, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) would attack the British coastal defenses, radar stations and shipping ports. This caused almost all of Britain’s Expeditionary Force to become penned in a tiny pocket around the French Channel port of Dunkirk along with a large number of the French Army as well. This caused the British to attempt to rescue over 330,000 men from the Dunkirk coastal line in attempt to fight another day. Of that 330,000+ number approximately 224,000 of them were Britain’s Expeditionary Force which represented about 85 percent Britain’s Army (Macdonal, 1997). After the fall of France, Germany was very confident and planned very little for this battle. They believed they would first take over airspace and launch a ground attack by sending in their troops across the English Channel which was to be called “Operation Sealion”. First they attacked the normal targets to include military bases and airfields. Shortly afterwards they switched to more strategic targets in an attempted effort to crush the moral of the British, but their morale stayed high and the switch in strategy by the Germans was just the reprieve to the airfields gave the British Air Force (RAF) the break they needed to regain their fight. After the heaviest fighting that took place from July, 1940 to October, 1940 it had become clear that the British had won even though Germany continued to send bombers in until May, 1941. It was at this time Hitler postponed the “Operations Sealion” indefinitely since there was no way they could gain air superiority over the RAF and without it they would not be able to match the Royal Navy.
II. SETTING THE STAGE: Shortly after becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, William Churchill inherited a nation that was under impending attack from Germany a nation that was invading and conquering anyone that stood in its path. He wasted no time and created a War Cabinet that consisted of Churchill, former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, the Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, Labour Leader Clement Attlee and Labour deputy leader Arthur Greenwood.
Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, Britain retreated from France after fierce fighting alongside their alley. On 4 June 1940, Churchill delivered a rousing speech in which he said “We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugate and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old” (“Fight on the,” 2012). This speech was after Churchill had learned that approximately 85 percent of its force had been rescued from Dunkirk coastal line.
On 16 July 1940, Hitler issued Directive 16 as he envisioned a landing along the southern coast of England as he prepared to invade Britain. July, 1940 the first day light raids began in Britain as they bombed towns and cities that included Central London. After this happened Churchill realized he would have to retaliate instead of just defend his home land. From 11 July to 18 August 1940, Luftwaffe began to have daily dog fights with the RAF and bomb British ships and ports on the south coast known as “Kanalkampf” or Battle of the Channel. From 24 August to 4 September 1940 the Luftwaffe launched Eagle Attack (Adlerangriff) and began to target RAF Infrastructure in order to control the airspace over South-East England and almost overwhelmed the RAF. From 25 to 28 August the RAF retaliated and dropped bombs on Berlin which set off the next chain of events that would unfold to more destruction. Hitler became very frustrated by the RAF’s air superiority and the bombing of German cities which prompted him to order attacks on the British Capital (London) and destroy it and its people’s spirits. On 15 September was known as “Battle of Britain Day” as the Luftwaffe launched two massive bombing raids on London where the Luftwaffe suffered their worse loses to date.
On 17 September 1940, Hitler postpones the impending invasion of Britain until further notice. Hitler’s attention had now turned onto the Soviet Union and Operation Sealion was officially abandoned in February 1942.
III. DESCRIBE THE ACTION From the onset of the Battle of Britain, Hitler made several mistakes that cost him the advantage he has gained by not planning for a long lasting battle. From 26 May to 4 June when Britain retreated should been a defeat, but later turned into a victory due to rescue mission “Operation Dynamo” and against all odds over 330,000 men were dramatically evacuated in the “Miracle of Dunkirk”. During that rescue about 850 “little ships” answered the call of Great Britain’s pleas to help anyway they could and sail across to Dunkirk and transport men to naval vessels or back to England. Churchill acknowledges that this was actually a small victory for Britain with his “We shall never surrender” (“Britain retreats from,” 2012) quote but also noted “Wars are not won by evacuations” (“Britain retreats from,” 2012). Churchill had opposition within his own War Cabinet as they were split on accepting an armistice or fighting on. Churchill won support of his outer cabinet partly with an impassioned speech in which he said “If this long island story of ours is to end at last, let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground” (“Churchill decides toll,” 2012) on 28 May 1940.
Hitler was ill prepared to go to battle with Britain and was surprised that they simply did not just surrender. On 16 July 1940, he ordered “Directive 16” (“Hitler plans the,” 2012) which was to invade England by land and was later modified after the German leadership agreed they would have to have air superiority to get past the Royal Navy. From July to August, 1940 the Luftwaffe bombed British towns and cities and focused on Channel ports and their defences in preparation of Operation Sealion. On 24 August 1940, Central London was accidentally bombed instead of the docks, which was the target. During this time Churchill realized he would have to retaliate and ordered the bombing of Berlin on 25 August 1940, not more than 24 hours later. From 11 July to 18 August 1940, the Luftwaffe bombed ships that brought supplies to Britain and tempted RAF fighters out over the Channel to test their defences and engage in daily dogfights. The Luftwaffe also bombed airfields and some radar stations, but did not understand the importance of destroying the radar systems completely.
On 1 August 1940, Hitler ordered “Directive 17” (“Germany bombs british,” 2012)which was to obliterate all RAF flying units, ground units and supply organizations, as well as the destruction of the British aircraft industry. On 15 August the Luftwaffe flew over 2,000 sorties and at this time there were significant German losses with 76 aircraft shot down to the RAF’s 35, which became known as “Black Thursday” (“Germany attacks raf,” 2012) for the Luftwaffe. One of the most successful tactics used by the Germans was a high and low level simultaneous bombing attack, which allowed the Dorier Do 17s to creep in below the sometimes functioning radar and mount a surprise attack. During this time the RAF were taking unsustainable losses on all fronts. Heavy causalities on RAF pilots, planes, ground crews, and maintenance facilities, however Luftwaffe did not seem to realize that they had the RAF on the brink of being overpowered. They changed their tactics yet again and focused their attention to London after Britain had responded by bombing Berlin. They hoped this time by bombing London again intentionally they would finally crush the morale of the British people.
On 7 September 1940, during the afternoon, the Luftwaffe launched over 300 bombers escorted by 600 fighters. The British was placed on the highest alert as they expected the invasion was soon to come and sent warning with the codeword “Cromwell” (“Germany bombs London,” 2012). A huge dogfight developed over London and the Thames Estuary. This caused the bombers to miss their intended targets but, East and South-East London still sustained devastating losses of 430 civilians and 1600 seriously injured. Firestorms ravaged the city and acted as a beacon for the second wave of attack. After these raids Churchill defiantly announced “He [Hitler] has lighted a fire which will burn with a steady and consuming flame until the last vestiges of Nazi tyranny have been burnt out of Europe.” (“Germany bombs London.” 2012).
On 15 September 1940 which was known as “Battle of Britain Day” (“Battle of britain,” 2012), two huge bombing raids on London by the Luftwaffe occurred. During this battle the RAF managed to scatter many of the Germany bombers and the surviving bombers that dropped their bombs were off target and less harmful. This was the final battle that proved the German tactics to win air superiority had failed ahead of an invasion. The Germans abandoned the daylight bombing of London on 30 September 1940, although the bombing continued during night-time through May 1941.
IV. LESSONS LEARNED: There are many more lessons that can be learned from this battle as well as the battles before and after this one. In this one Hitler’s arrogance and over confidence approach to this battle was one of clear lack of respect for Great Britain’s military capabilities and on paper it should have been win for Germany. When Great Britain did not surrender right after the fall of France, he just reacted and ordered an action that the German military had not trained nor prepared for. In conflicts of today we tend to be over confident like in the Iraq and Afghanistan and not be prepared for a long drawn out conflict. There must always be plans laid out for the “what if” happens so move the contingency plan. Another lesson that can be taken away from this is that a not well laid out plan can work if you adapt and overcome obstacles early and commit to your adjustments no matter where you may find yourself. There were 2 different times where Germany changed tactics when they had Britain on the ropes and that gave the British just the breather they needed to regroup and fight on. Like it the conflicts of today we take Iraq and Afghanistan as an example again. We didn’t have the best plan or equipment for the IED’s that were encountered, but we adapted our plans and modified our equipment and it altered the course of where we were headed The final lesson that can be learned here today just as in modern day time, you must have your people come together and compromise. Neville Chamberlain who was the replaced as Prime Minister by Winston Churchill was second in command and was part of the War Cabinet that Churchill assembled. Although he wanted to negotiate a treaty between Britain and Germany he followed the wishes of his Prime Minister and his countries people. At some time in any mission we may have to swallow our pride and do what is best for the betterment of the team. That doesn’t in any shape or form suggest that we are less of a leader it is just being part of the bigger picture.
V. HOW THESE LESSONS RELATE TO RRNCOIC DUTIES: There are a few lessons that I can take away from this battle that could relate to that of a RRNCOIC. One of the ways that I can use this battle to become a better leader of RRNCO’s would be not to rush in to the action. If we do not properly train and mentor our RRNCO’s they too will be ineffective even if on paper it shows their area should be a win. By rushing it could lead to permanently disqualifying someone or not allowing them to get the benefits they are entitled to. Our RRNCO’s are the image of the Army Guard and should be well prepared that is my responsibility, so they have all the knowledge possible to effectively do their job. Rushing and lack of preparation can be very detrimental to your objective and hard to hide. If you’re prepared then it should come off as confident which most people want to see if a leader and your RRNCO’s will respect that.

references
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