Download CHC2D – Canadian History since Wolrd One

CHC2D – Canadian History
Since World One
Unit 2 – Lesson #14
1940/41 – The Battle of Britain and the
Expansion of War
France Falls!
 After the fall of France in June of 1940, the only thing
that stood between Hitler and the invasion of England
was the English Channel.
 The Defence of Britain depended on the Royal Navy and
the Royal Air Force (RAF).
 Hitler needed to clear the English Channel before even
considering an invasion of England.
Operation Sea Lion
 The Key to Hitler’s plan to invade England, named
Operation Sea Lion, was the Luftwaffe’s ability to gain air
superiority over the Channel and Southern England.
 The Luftwaffe started at a technological disadvantage
because their planes were not designed for long range
missions.
 Britain also had an early Radar system that allowed them
to detect and track aircraft.
The Battle Of Britain
 The Battle had three main phases.
 Phase 1 began in July and lasted until mid August with
Germany attacking shipping and port facilities in the
English Channel.
 During this phase, both sides began to lose planes and
pilots.
 Replacing both would be difficult for Britain and
Germany, but Britain had help.
Canadian Assistance
 Britain turned to a Canadian businessman, Lord
Beaverbrook, to organize aircraft production.
 Beaverbrook was able to keep the RAF supplied with
planes to replace the heavy losses suffered during the
Battle of Britain.
 The biggest problem was not planes, but pilots, the RAF
only had 3000 pilots and as losses mounted, they became
less skilled and less experienced.
Canada and Pilots
 Nearly 15% of the RAF pilots during the Battle of
Britain were Canadians.
 Additionally, the British Commonwealth Air Training
Program (BCATP) began to train pilots and air crew in
Canada to replace lost pilots fighting in Britain.
 Canadian assistance in these areas proved to be
invaluable to Britain.
Phase 2
 Phase 2 of the Battle of Britain began in August with
German attacks on Radar stations and airfields in an
attempt to knock out the RAF.
 By early September the Germans seemed to be
winning but Hitler’s impatience caused him to change
his strategy.
Phase 3
 Thinking that the RAF was virtually wiped out,
Germany began to attack cities.
 On September 7, 1940; 1000 German bombers attacked
London.
 Although they caused many deaths and a lot of
damage, this change in strategy allowed the RAF to
concentrate on defending fewer targets.
Messerschmitt Bf 109
Supermarine Spitfire
Hawker Hurricane
JU 88
JU 87
HEINKEL HE 1 11
de Haviland Mosquito
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
Britain’s Response
 Hitler felt that bombing cities would make the people of Britain
less willing to continue fighting.
 The British responded by evacuating thousands of people from
London into the countryside, including 6000 children sent to
Canada.
 Britain, under the leadership of Churchill, also made an
important tactical decision.
Britain’s Defence?
 Churchill decided that the RAF would no longer
“defend” cities from German bombers.
 This used up too much fuel and was also not that
effective, bombers always got through.
 Britain decided to wait until after the bombers actually
attacked a city, and then attack the bombers on their way
home.
Advantages
 This strategy had several advantages.
 RAF fighters knew exactly where the enemy was and
where they were going.
 German fighters, now low on fuel, could not properly
defend the bombers.
 The change led the RAF to lose fewer planes while
shooting down more German bombers and fighters.
The Battle of Britain Ends
 By September 12th the threat of an invasion passed
because the weather and sea conditions were not
favourable to a large scale invasion.
 Although the bombing continued, Germany was left
with a weakened Luftwaffe which lost nearly 1400 aircraft
while the RAF lost only 790!
 For the first time, Hitler did not win.
1941 – The War in Europe Expands
 In December 1940, Hitler began planning “Operation
Barbarossa,” the invasion of Russia.
 By January 1941 the plans were set for the start of this
invasion on May 15 with a goal to knock out Russia in 8
to 12 weeks (late August to Mid September).
Hitler’s Problems
 Germany’s main problem was that they
underestimated the size and strength of Russia’s army.
 Germany’s attack was also delayed 5 weeks, which
would later prove disastrous for the invasion, and did
not begin the operation until June 22, 1941
Comparing Forces
 Germany invaded Russia
with:
 3,500,000 infantry
 3,350 tanks
 7,200 artillery guns
 2,500 aircraft
 Russia was defended by:
 2,300,000 infantry (in
Europe, more in Asia to
defend against Japan)
 10,000 tanks
 Artillery is unknown
 6,000 aircraft, but most were
obsolete
Stalin and the Start of War
 Joseph Stalin, the leader of Russia, refused to believe that
Hitler would attack and when the invasion came the
Russian army was caught by surprise.
 Early success made Hitler overconfident and he began to
ignore the advice of his Generals and made major
mistakes.
Victory So Close, but So Cold!
 By December, the Germans were within 25 miles of
completely surrounding Moscow when winter hit early.
 Temperatures of -40°C froze the oil in the engines of
German tanks and also froze German soldiers dressed in
summer uniforms.
 Germany never planned to be fighting in the Russian
winter and the offensive ended.
Conclusions
 1940 and 1941 saw the end of Hitler’s string of
impressive victories.
 His failure to defeat Britain only weakened the
German Luftwaffe, making it harder to defeat Russia.
 Despite a very successful invasion of Russia, a delay of
5 weeks put Hitler’s armies in position to capture
Moscow in December, not September.
 The failure to achieve a quick and decisive defeat of
Russia, like Germany had accomplished with both Poland
and France, gave Russian forces time to counterattack the
poorly equipped German armies.
 December 1941 also saw another new factor enter the war
as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour drew the United
States into the war.
 By December 1941, Britain and Canada were no longer
alone in their fight against Hitler’s Germany.