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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. 1939 –
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”