BATTLE OF BRITAIN July 10, 1940 – Oct. 31, 1940

BACKGROUND World War II officially began on Sept. 1, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. On Sept. 7, 1939 Canada officially declared war on Germany. After the invasion of Poland, all sides began to negotiate. It was apparent that no one was really ready for war. This period of relative inactivity from Oct – April, 1940 became known as the “Phoney War”.

BACKGROUND In April, 1940 the war became very real as Germany seized Denmark and attacked Norway. Upon capturing these countries and Sweden, Germany was now free to use the Scandinavian bases as a launch point to send submarines against the allied navy. In May, 1940 both The Netherlands and Belgium fell to the Germans.

FALL OF DUNKIRK All allied forces still on the continent fell back to the French sea coast, fortifying the town of Dunkirk. In the face of the German Blitzkrieg, the 350,000 troops were forced to evacuate the town across the English Channel. The loss of Dunkirk meant the loss of the allies last toe-hold on the European continent. France surrendered on June 22, 1940.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN Britain now stood as the only European power intact to fight against the Nazi army. Canada at this point was one of her greatest allies. Not only were we an intact force, but we already had troops training in England. Hitler now set his sites on capturing Britain.

THE PLAN Hitler’s plan to invade England was called “Operation Sea Lion” and was set for mid September. British forces were not at all ready to meet such a formidable enemy. Hitler became convinced that no amphibious landing on the beaches would be possible until all of England’s air support was destroyed.

THE DEFENSE? Prime Minister Winston Churchill made several rousing speeches which helped to unify the country and stiffen their resolve to resist the invasion. Quietly, groups of “homeland security” forces were making preparations. While many jokes are made about “Dad’s Army”, the older men served as guards, observers and as a source of intelligence when looking for spies.

THE DEFENSE? Meanwhile in a more clandestine operation, civilian operatives were preparing for the expected invasion. These groups established communications networks, propaganda campaigns, and trained for the most serious resistance force – how to kill the enemy. The plan was to make the Germans as “uncomfortable” as possible by assassinating officers, killing collaborators, blowing up German strongholds on the island, and so on.

THE DEFENSE? Months earlier Churchill had become aware of Hitler’s interest in an air war and had been pressuring parliament to put more money into developing and building more airplanes. One story goes that parliament was so reluctant to provide the money that Churchill and some of his wealthiest supporters put up their own money to develop and test the Spitfire. Once its usefulness was proven, parliament agreed to produce more.

THE DEFENSE On August 12 the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) flew across the English Channel and began attacking British radar installations and airfields. The English radar projects were much farther along than the German’s, so Hitler wanted these destroyed. The Luftwaffe was also ordered to engage the RAF in dogfights in an attempt to gain air superiority.

ATTACK ON LONDON Miraculously, before the British radar installations or the air force itself could be utterly destroyed, the Germans switched tactics. They began bombing London in vicious raids. For weeks the people of London were subjected to daily – and nightly attacks. The sound of air raid sirens became commonplace. Children learned to get to the bomb shelters from memory as blackout rules were in effect. London was nearly destroyed.

SPITFIRES TO THE RESCUE The “saviour” of the people of London were the pilots of the little Spitfire fighter planes. Day after day these weary soldiers climbed into the cockpits and did battle with the Luftwaffe, inflicting massive casualties on them. Unable to gain air superiority, Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion indefinitely.

THE BLITZ The Luftwaffe now switched to nightly bombing of English cities. These raids had no military justification – Hitler meant only to terrorize the British people into submission. Instead, the effect on the British people was to make them angry, and more determined than ever to resist the Germans.

COVERING THE WAR American journalists covering the war sent back stories and did live radio shows that showed the American people the suffering that was being inflicted. These reports went a long way toward convincing the American people that they needed to enter the war and help.

THE END As more planes came into the battle, including Canada’s No. 1 Fighter Squadron, the German air force was eventually beaten back. England had survived “The Blitz”. In a speech, Churchill gave credit to the fighter pilots of the RAF with these words… –“Never in the history of human kind has so much been owed by so many to so few”