In the summer of 1940, Hitler dominated Europe from the North Cape to the Pyrenees. From the rapid fall of France, Hitler believed that the English would have to come to some sort of agreement with Germany and if that wasn’t enough, an assurance that he would respect the British Empire should have allowed him, Hitler thought, a free hand in Europe. But his one remaining active enemy ~ Britain, under a new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill ~ vowed to continue fighting. He told the British people that "they would never surrender and that they would fight on the beaches, in the fields, in the streets and in the hills." Whether it could was questionable.

The British army had left most of its weapons on the beaches of Dunkirk. Stalin was in no mood to challenge Hitler. The U.S., shocked by the fall of France, began the first peacetime conscription in its history and greatly increased its military budget, but the public opinion, although sympathetic to Britain, was against getting into the war.

With France conquered, Hitler could now turn his forces to Britain, which was protected from the German army by the waters of the English Channel. It was not until the 10 July before Hitler gave up hope of coming to an agreement with Churchill and the events that led up to the Battle of Britain began. On July 16, 1940, Hitler issued a directive ordering the preparation and, if necessary, the execution of a plan for the invasion of Great Britain. But an invasion of Great Britain would only be possible, given Britains large navy, "if Germany could establish control of the air in the battle zone." On the 2 August 1940, the Luftwaffe chief, Goring, issued the Eagle Day directive, laying down a plan of attack in which a few massive blows from the air were to destroy British air power and so open the way for the amphibious invasion, termed "Operation Sea Lion".

August the 5th was to be the real start of the Battle for supremacy of the air. Victory in the air battle for the Luftwaffe would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. The victory by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighter Command blocked this possibility and, in fact, created the conditions for Great Britain’s survival, for the extension on the war, and for the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany.

The forces engaged in the battle were relatively small. The British disposed some 600 frontline fighters to defend the country. Goring had assembled over 2,800 aircraft for the task, which was total superiority over all England's planes, but since bombers could hardly defend Britain, the RAF really had to face this vast Luftwaffe force with its 700 or more fighters. The Germans made available about 1,300 bombers and dive-bombers and about 900 single-engined and 300 twin-engined fighters. These were based in an arc around England from Norway to the Cherbourg Peninsula in northern coastal France.

The start of the Battle of Britain occupied between June and July 1940, the climax August and September, and the aftermath—also known as The Blitz took place in the winter of 1940-1941. In the campaign, the Luftwaffe had no long-term plan of action in this battle with the British. Sometimes it tried to establish a blockade by the destruction of British shipping and ports. Also, they sometimes tried to destroy Britains Fighter Command by combat and by the bombing of ground installations, and sometimes they would’ve tried to seek direct strategic results by attacks on London and other densely populated centres of industrial or political significance. On the other hand, the British had prepared themselves for this kind of battle that in fact took place. Their radar of early warning was one of the most advanced and most operationally adapted systems in the world. The British invention and one in which they were way ahead of anyone else, to the extent that it was doubtful whether the German leaders what sort of advantage the British had. Radar gave Britain warning of attacks, their approach direction and the approximate size of the attacking force. This meant that the British could have their defense planned in advance. This gave the Fighter Command adequate notice of where and when to direct their fighter forces to repel German bombing raids.

Unusual for them, the British fought with an advantage of superior equipment and undivided aim but also against the enemy that was divided in object and condemned by circumstances and by lack of forethought to fight at a tactical disadvantage. The German bombers lacked the bomb-load capacity to strike permanently devastating blows and also proved, in daylight to be easily vulnerable to the Spitfires and Hurricanes. "The Germans were usually bettered suited to attacking ground targets than tangling in air dog fights." Britain's radar, however, largely prevented them from exploiting the element of surprise. The German dive bombers were even more vulnerable to being shot down by British fighters, and long-range fighter cover was only partially available from German fighter aircraft, since the latter were operating at the limit of their flying range.

The German air attacks began on ports and airfields along the English Channel, where convoys were bombed and the air battle was joined. In June and July 1940, as the Germans gradually redeployed the forces. The air battle moved inland over Britain. On August 8 the intensive phase began, when the Germans launched bombing raids involving up to nearly 1,500 aircraft a day and directed them against the British fighter airfields and radar stations. In four actions, on August 8, 11, 12, and 13 the Germans lost 145 aircraft as against the British loss of 88. By late August the Germans had lost more than 600 aircraft, the RAF only 260, but the RAF was losing badly needed fighters and experienced pilots at too great rate, and its effectiveness was further hampered by bombing damage done to the radar stations. At the beginning of September the British retaliated by unexpectedly launching a bombing raid on Berlin, which so infuriated Hitler that he ordered the Luftwaffe to shift its attacks from fighter Command installations to London and other cities. These assaults on London, Coventry, Liverpool, and other cities went on unabated for several months. But already, by September 15, on which day the British believed albeit incorrectly, that they had scored their greatest success by destroying 185 German aircraft, Fighter Command had demonstrated to the Luftwaffe that it could not gain air ascendancy over Britain. This was because British fighters were simply shooting down German bombers faster that the German industry could produce them.

England won the Battle of Britain and the invasion was postponed indefinitely by Hitler. The British, French and Polish pilots offered a lot of resistance in the defeat by the Luftwaffe.

This was recognized that in Churchill's famous speech made after the defeat, he said, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so few".

1. From taking part in this special study I have learnt to find suitable books in the school library and the local library which helped with the research for the study.

2. By using the Internet I have learnt to look for information using search engines.

3. By reading many sources before writing my essay I have learnt how to analysis them and get the right information for my study.

4. While working on the study I started to use Microsoft Word which has new skills for me to learn e.g. how to justify text and how to use footnotes.

5. From working on this study I have learnt the conventions of historical writing e.g. how to write a bibliography and how and when to use footnotes.

It was a useful source and it contained a lot of declassified material and this means that it was an invaluable source of primary material. Additionally, it contained an excellent bibliography which was helpful in tracking down other books on the topic and finally it written in a clear to understand style.

While reading for this essay the issue of bias and subjectivity arose. These sources however, seemed to give a balanced view of the topic. The authors show the mistakes made on both sides. This impression was given by checking dates, facts and comments against the other sources that I read.

I used a number of resources to gain information for my essay; here are some of them.

Books:

1. Ray, John. The Battle of Britain, Dowding and The First Victory, Cassell and Co., London, 2000.

2. Reid, Alan. A Concise History of the Second World War, Ospery Publishing Ltd., Berkshire, 1974.

3. Tierney, Mark. Europe since 1870, CJ Fallon, Dublin, 1991.

4. Fynes, Edward. European History 1870-1966, Folens Publishers, Dublin, 1999.

5.James, T. C. G. Squire, Sir, Peter. Cox, Sebastian.

The Battle of Britain Vol. II: Air Defense of Great Britain
Frank Cass Publishers, London, 2000.

1. Encarta CD-ROM.

2. Compton Interactive Encyclopedia, CD-ROM.

3. I have also used many Internet sources like my school Internet page for references on the Battle.

James, T. C. G. Squire, Sir, Peter. Cox, Sebastian.

The Battle of Britain Vol. II: Air Defense of Great Britain
Frank Cass Publishers, London, 2000.