The Battle of Britain & The Air force

The Battle of Britain & The Air force

Operation Sea Lion

• Nazi Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom during World War II, beginning in 1940. To have had any chance of success, the operation would have required air supremacy over the English Channel. Why?

• With the German defeat in the Battle of Britain, Sea Lion was postponed indefinitely on 17 September 1940 and never carried out.

• Hitler's directive set four pre-conditions for the invasion to occur:

• 1. Defeating the RAF

• 2. Clearing the English Channel of British mines, and using German mines to seal the Straits of Dover.

• 3. Dominating the coastal zone of (now occupied) France with heavy artillery.

• 4.Preventing the Royal Navy from intervening in the invasion, by engaging the British fleet in the North Sea and Mediterranean, and by attacking the home squadrons.

Luftwaffe• The Luftwaffe was one of the most modern, powerful, and experienced air forces in the world, dominating the skies over Europe with aircraft much more advanced than their foreign counterparts. The Luftwaffe was central to the German Blitzkrieg (lightning war)

• The Luftwaffe tackled the task by bombing British radar installations, striking air fields and attacking planes in the air. The Germans were making progress, gaining superiority, possibly about to win… then they changed tactics.

Royal Air Force

• In the Battle of Britain, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the German Luftwaffe, helping prevent Hitler's plans for an invasion of the United Kingdom,

• The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world.

Battle of Britain

• After Germany’s takeover of France, Britain was standing alone.

• The Germans began air attacks in early summer 1940 designed to seize mastery of the skies over England in preparation for invasion. All that stood between the British and defeat was a small force of RAF pilots outnumbered in the air by four to one.

• Day after day the Germans sent fleets of bombers and fighters over England hoping to lure the RAF into battle and destroy the defenders.

July - October 1940

Advantages and Disadvantages

-On the 12th August, 1940, the German airforce began its mass bomber attacks on British radar stations, aircraft factories and fighter airfields. During these raids radar stations and airfields were badly damaged and twenty-two RAF planes were destroyed.

Advantages

- By the start of the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe had 2,800 aircraft stationed in France, Belgium, Holland and Norway. - This force outnumbered the RAF four to one.

--The German pilots had more combat experience than the British and probably had the best fighter plane in the Messerschmitt Bf109.

- the British had the advantage of being closer to their airfields. German fighters could only stay over England for about half an hour before flying back to their home bases.

- The RAF also had the benefits of an effective early warning radar system .

Disadvantages

The Blitz

 -On the 7th September, 1940 the German airforce changed its strategy and began to concentrate on bombing London. On the first day of the Blitz killed 430 citizens and 1,600

were severely injured.

-The German bombers returned the next day and a further 412 died. Between September 1940 and May 1941, the Luftwa

ffe made 127 large-scale night raids. Of these, 71 were targeted on London. -During the Blitz some two million houses (60 per cent of these in London) were destroyed and 60,000 civilians were killed and 87,000 were seriously injured. Of those killed, the majority lived in London. Until half-way through the Second World War,

more women and children in Britain had been killed than soldiers.

German defeat by “the few”

• The Few is a term used to describe the Allied airmen of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) who fought the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Nearly 1/4 of “the few” were Canadians” It comes from Winston Churchill's phrase "never was so much owed by so many to so few".

The memorial to The Few at Capel-le-Ferne, on top of the white cliffs of Dover, UK

Canada’sInvolvement• The 1st Canadian Division had been in “intense preparation

for a role of counter attack against the expected German assault.” It was to be a fight in the skies – the first and last air-only battle.

• To limit confusion, the RCAF squadrons were operated as separate units from the RAF, generally keeping the Canadians together. (Some Canadian pilots were spread throughout the RAF also.)

• Canadian fighter pilots assisted in the allies victory. Nearly one quarter of the “famous few” were Canadians flying for the RCAF or RAF.

• Canadian ships also helped to ensure that supplies crossed the Atlantic. They also tracked and sunk German submarines.

Canada’s Air force

• Development: At the beginning of the war Canada’s air force was small. However at the end of the war it was the fourth largest allied force.

• Dangers: Pilots had to contend with fast enemy fighters, anti-aircraft fire, radar, poor weather, darkness, unreliable equipment , fatigue, being found in enemy searchlights.

• Destroy: The initial aim of bombing was to destroy German industries, railways, highways, bridges, and oil refineries.

• May 17th 1943, Canadian bombers took part in a raid on the hydroelectric installations in Germany to cripple their industry.

The 3 main roles of the RCAF During WWII

• British Commonwealth Air Training Plan: massive contribution to training military aviators would see the RCAF expand to a ubiquitous presence across the country

• Home War Establishment: fielding 37 squadrons for coastal defence, protection of shipping, air defence and other duties in Canada

• Overseas War Establishment: headquartered in London, fielding 48 squadrons serving with the Royal Air Force in Western Europe, the Mediterranean and the Far East

Invention of Radar

• British Invention: Radar provided an early warning system of approaching hostile aircraft and ships. After 1943 it was mounted on allied planes. The pilot could see the target even in darkness or heavy clouds.

Film on Fighter Planes