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This peice by Wittenberg is entitled "Revulsion". Aptly named for the fiery conflict fought in the heavens over England and South Wales in September 1940. It rises and falls, as a regaling tempest, a storm which breaks and then resumes. Such was the Battle of Britain.

"Air Armadas" - The Battle of Britain

"Air combat is full of long hours of unbroken extreme boredom, followed by a few seconds of sheer terror."

-Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, Black Sheep Squadron

"Never before in the field of human conflict was so much, owed by so many, to so few."

-Winston Churchill

The spectacular defeat of the combined French and Spanish armadas by the British Royal Navy at Trafalgar in 1508 left England the undisputed world naval superpower, opening the world to the field and range of England's guns for two centuries. The closing of the Great War in 1918 and the opening hostilities in September 1939, found Britain in possession of the most powerful Navy in the history of the world. It led to a habitual reliance in the British military upon the Navy, it's most powerful military branch. Following World War I, the infant Royal Air Force had emerged matured as an integral part of a new British military. The military might of Britain still remained within it's Navy. But, for the first time in four centuries, Britain stood affronted with a declining empire and an enemy the Navy could not defeat.

Aircraft.

The first aircraft carrier in the world had been launched by Britain in 1918, the fundamentals of it's basic operation remaining invariably intact today. The failure of the 1918 post-war agreements to downsize naval power amongst belligerents lay primarily in its language. The agreements fingered battleships and other major capital surface ships, but never dwelt upon pocket battleships (cruisers) or aircraft carriers.

By 1939, the British had accumulated the largest aircraft carrier fleet in the world, allowing for a number of versatile and far reaching global military options. Complimented by a varied and highly dedicated number of warships, the Royal Navy was undisputedly the most powerful force on the high seas.

Why do I address the power of the Royal Navy in an article about an air battle? To exhibit the British reliance on their Navy and to demonstrate their incapacity to conduct an air war at the opening of the Battle of Britain.

Germany, paralyzed by the British Navy, needed to find a corridor to enter England's south shores. Hitler knew that as long as the Royal Navy could freely win through the English Channel, protected by the winged and watchful eyes of Fighter Command, no envisioned invasion of England was thinkable.

Hitler had long planned the conquest of England, thinly veiled by "peace proposals", which were quickly rebuffed by Britain. Britain was in no mood to be abused.
To properly demonstrate the scope and scale of the situation in England in 1939, one has only to understand their earlier commitment in France. Churchill had been determined to continue vigorous support for France for as long as was humanly possible.
To their eternal credit, the British peoples had indeed put forward an enormous effort in their stand with France. Beyond the obvious contribution to morale, the full military power of the British Commonwealth had been levied against Germany with nothing to spare in her own defense to save France. In the end, it proved futile.
However, one also has to understand the immense force such a Commonwealth was capable of mustering. In 1939, Britain was supported by several states, all part of her commonwealth charter. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, the South Pacific colonies, African colonies and her Middle East colonies, including allies in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. To say that Britain stood alone against Germany would indeed be an imagined half-truth. Many states contributed their vitality, including the impoverished Basutos and Askari tribes of Africa. Their shed blood is hardly ever mentioned in postwar texts, their sacrifice no less real and gallant than any other.
Immediately though, England found herself in dire straits. By 15 June, it had become apparent that France's gallant struggle for sovereignty had failed. She would become the sixth nation in nine months to succumb to Hitler's Reich.

We begin our story in June, starting in France. France was intimately linked with the British and the contribution of materiel that the British lent the French greatly impacted the coming Battle of Britain.
France desperately needed help. On 15 June, Prime Minister Reynaud told the British ambassador that, "...if America did not agree to come into the war at a very early date, France would be unable to continue to fight, even from French West Africa." Immediately upon receiving Reynaud's telegraph, Churchill telegraphed Roosevelt to reinforce Reynaud's exasperated plea for an American declaration.
He explained, "I am, of course, not thinking in terms of an expeditionary force, which I know is out of the question. What I have in mind is the tremendous moral effect that such an American decision could produce, not merely on France, but also in all the democratic countries in the world, and, in the opposite sense, on the German and Italian peoples." In essence, all Churchill had asked for was a declaration, not a contribution in men or materiel.
The telegram, which arrived at 10:45 that evening, was no more impacting than its many war fraught predecessors. Roosevelt had no intention of entering the war.
The French people were again spurned by a nation for whom they held an intense admiration and friendship. It was America's own fledgling struggle for independence in 1774 that largely drove their own ubiquitous bid in the French Revolution of 1786. To our struggle, they had contributed unreservedly, undeniably with underlying interests. It was in that unrestricted spending that laid the very reason for the French Revolution, their economy and government bankrupted by the supreme effort, their corrupt nobility drawing upon it's last reserves to live comfortably.
Now, that admiration would be sorely tested. America would not help France in her fight to be free.
As a massive build up in Commonwealth and exiled forces began in England, the situation in France was now inescapable. Earlier in June, the British had taken inventory of their ability to defend against an invasion force, should France fall and the full German strength be finally turned across the English Channel against British shores.
There were only 500 heavy guns on English soil, many of them antiquated and relegated to museum pieces.
Between 19 May and 1 June, 453 aircraft of all types had been produced; within that same period, 436 had been destroyed. 39 precious Spitfires had been manufactured and 75 lost. The number of serviceable aircraft in England as of 2 June, numbered only 504. If the Germans were to mount an air attack against Britain, Sir Hugh Dowding of Fighter Command told the War Cabinet on 5 June, "he could not guarantee air superiority for more than 48 hours."

Equally as grave, was the realization of earlier that May, when Reynaud had begged Churchill for more aircraft and troops for France's defense.
Churchill, truly broken, replied, "There are now no forces left that could be sent at once." Of the 39 squadrons initially seen as the minimum necessary for the realistic air defense of Great Britain, 10 had been sent to France. There was now very little of those ten remaining. There were only 3 infantry divisions in England, these equipped poorly. The 14 divisions undergoing training in England, "could not be equipped to train with rifles...", and thus, "are completely incapable of combat." Two divisions were fighting in France, with a further 14,000 Australians on the way to Britain, these ill equipped for any form of combat.
Just a month earlier, the British, backed against the Channel in a renewed drive by German panzers, were forced to withdraw from the beaches at Dunkirk. The narrowly averted disaster at Dunkirk had left a vast armament behind on the beaches.
The British had been forced to leave 475 tanks, 38,000 vehicles, 12,000 motorcycles, 8,000 field telephones, 1,855 wireless field sets, 400 anti-tank weapons, 1,000 heavy guns and hundreds of thousands of small arms and rifles, including millions of rounds of ammunition. 224,318 English troops had been evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk, but 136,000 still remained fighting in France, complimented by 200,000 Polish Army remnants, Belgians, Dutch and Norwegians.
Despite "powerful aid" from America, which was weeks away at best, France was finished and Britain had to prepare for a headlong fall into the well of years at war. Desperation did not stir the American government to action on their behalf.
Meanwhile, Britain's resolve would not falter. Despite the surrender of France on 22 June at Compeigne, immediate plans were made to "heighten" the war effort. The French surrender itself was an unparalleled oddity in history. Though France had surrendered, they retained control of 2/5th's of the French countryside and administrative authority over their colonial possessions. Additionally, the French Navy would not be allowed to pass out of their control. Brigadier General DeGaulle had fled to establish a French government-in-exile in London. He now joined 6 such exiled governments ruling, if only in name, from London. Marshal Petain, hero of the Ardenne in the Great War, led the new Vichy French government. Reynaud vanished from the scene altogether.
Rage and determination intermingling with patriotic courage soaked the voice of exiled Brigadier General DeGaulle as he spoke from London on the French surrender. "... alleging the defeat of our armies... has the last word been said? Must we abandon hope? Is our defeat final? NO!"
He further assured his conquered brethren across the Channel, "... the cause of France is not lost. France is not alone! She is not alone! Behind her is a vast Empire and she can make common cause with the British Empire, which commands the very seas and is continuing our struggle." Like Britain, DeGaulle emphasized that France "could unreservedly draw upon the immense industrial might of the United States." He went on to say, "...mistakes have been made... but there still exists in the world everything needed to crush our enemies. This is a world war." Certainly the battle for France had not decided the war, but across the sea, it's impact was felt.
On 19 July, Roosevelt would sign the Two-Ocean Navy Expansion Act. With 358 warships in service, the act provided for a further 7 battleships, 18 aircraft carriers, 27 cruisers, 42 submarines and 115 destroyers. The fall of France evoked no revulsion in America, but it did propel its leaders to prepare.
In exasperation, DeGaulle closed out the evening imploring, "... if there are any French officers who are at present on English soil, or may be in the future, with or without arms... get in touch with me. Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not and shall not die."
The 49-year-old DeGualle, exiled and without an army, had just challenged the authority of a Marshal of France and the "lawful French establishment."

By 25 June, the awful price of the German bid for France became known. 92,000 French had perished, including 7,500 Belgian and 2,900 Dutch. The British had lost 3,500 in action. 1,538,000 French were now prisoners. The Germans, now the unrelenting masters of Europe from the North Cape to the Pyrenees, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the River Bug, had lost 45,000 men in this, their third victorious campaign in less than ten months.
The fall of France quickened the awful lust for England, her undefeated sister. Hatred embodied, Hitler called for an "immediate preparation for a landing operation against England."
Britain, still reeling from the pace of the "lightning war" anticipated the action, but had little to throw against it. This did little to derail the British will. Confident that the Royal Navy could deter any German hostility against England's shores, the war continued unabated.
In fact, King George VI, writing to Queen Mary explained, "Personally, I feel happier now that we have no allies to pamper and be polite to." His sentiment was echoed by many.
As one empire sought to stem tyranny, another propagated it. France would now endure the horrible punishments of Poland.
Immediately, all Jews living in France were to be "repatriated" to Germany and Poland. All their possessions, a priority placed upon art, was to be taken into "custody".
Hitler explained, "it's not expropriation, but safekeeping... as a security for negotiations." As the SS took stock of France's art, another form of stock took note in a discussion between Hitler and Himmler in Berlin.

Himmler proposed settling the German annexed areas of Poland with "strong German stock". One eighth of Polish peoples were to be transferred to Germany as "racially acceptable stock", the remaining 7/8 to be expelled into the General Government to provide the labor force. "The Fuher noted that every point I made was in the right.", Himmler rejoiced.
That same day in Berlin, the Ministry of the Interior declared, "under the direction of the Interior, all therapeutic possibilities will be immediately administered according to latest knowledge." Behind the bland formality, the killing of children determined to be "mentally defective" was immediately instituted without delay. Death "usually" occurred within 24 hours of the child's arrival at Gorden in Berlin. Some died by lethal injection, as many as 4 to 6 "patients" at a time.
Increasingly, gas was used, 18 to 20 children dying at a time in "shower rooms". Though some form of certification was required to be judged "defective", Jews did not have to meet any of these criteria. While mothers wept quietly in the roar of a war against children, Britain laid intrepid plans for the inevitable invasion of Southern England.

On 2 July, Hitler ordered his Army, Navy and Air Force to prepare detailed plans for the invasion. His specific instructions were that "a landing be made possible, provided that air superiority can be attained." Such a thing could not be taken lightly. Weekly, a growing number of arms, munitions and supplies were arriving from the United States. The British Chiefs of Staff conceded it was entirely possible that a major invasion of England, "would be proceeded by a major air battle."
That first week of July, the British launched Operation Catapult, the plan to seize, neutralize or destroy all French warships wherever they might be, to prevent their use by Germany. The task was handed to the Royal Navy. The single largest concentration of French warships was at Mers-el-Kebir, having fled continental France to avoid capture. Encircled quickly by the British Navy, the warships were given four options: to sail to a British port and fight with them, to sail to a British port and hand them to British crews, to demilitarize them, or to scuttle them. The French refused.
Exasperated, the British gave them another option. Sail them to a neutral port where they could remain until the end of the war. Again, they refused. The British opened fire.
The bombardment, lasting five minutes, killed 1,250 French sailors, their allies of two weeks earlier. Only the aircraft carrier Commandant Teste and the pocket battleship Strasbourg, in the company of five destroyers, managed to flee south. That same day, all French ships in British ports were boarded and captured. The action caused considerable resentment in France, who broke off diplomatic relations with England on 5 July.
Sadly, as the footfalls of war echoed across Europe, England and her sister France would frequently find themselves staring across the barbed wire.
As to the action of the Royal Navy, Churchill told the House of Commons, "I leave it to the Parliament, I leave it to the nation and I leave it to the United States. I leave it to the world and to history." It was Britain's action at Oran, Churchill was later told, that convinced Roosevelt that England had the will to continue the fight, even if she were alone.

Another victory was won in Britain that week, in the realm of the unseen. Air Intelligence had estimated that Germany could bring to bear 2,500 bombers against England, delivering a capacity of 4,800 tons of bombs daily. The scrutiny of Germany's Enigma messages by the cryptographers at Bletchly Park revealed that the true figure was in fact 1,250 bombers, with a daily capacity of only 1,800 tons.
The realization of this figure caused Churchill to rethink the very nature of the war. "If Hitler were repulsed here and not try invasion, he will recoil eastward... and we will have nothing to stop him. But there is one thing that will bring him back... and that is an absolutely devastating, exterminating attack by very heavy bombers from this country." The very notion of "bringing them back" was strikingly bold, but repulsing them was another entirely.
Hitler had little to fear, in the Rhineland, he returned to the rejoicing of millions. All the States his armies marched upon since 7 September had surrendered. Britain alone remained in Europe, but appeared defenseless. Even as his cavalcade drove triumphal through Berlin, German bombers dropped their bombs at Aldershot in England.
War in the Mediterranean seemed to expand with a gathering regale, though capably handled through superb skill and careful use of Naval Intelligence. British carrier based aircraft attacked Italian naval targets at Tobruk while British and Italian naval forces clashed in the south of Italy. The Eagle, an aircraft carrier and the British battleship Warspite, severely damaged the Italian warship Giulio Cesare, which withdrew to the safety of Messina. It seemed that if nowhere else, the British effort was going very well at sea.

But at sea was not where the judgment of history would fall. It would soar over the skies of southern England. As the sails of war filled, the proposition... the notion that England could defeat such an overwhelming invasion was very much in doubt. Eyes trained upon the little isle, the world trembled for what might be... if she failed. Another pair of eyes trained brightly on the skies of Wales and South England.
Radar. Though hardly modern, British radar was far more advanced than German devices, allowing them an advantage, if but slight. The opening of the Battle of Britain actually began on 10 July, with a formation of 120 bombers striking a shipping convoy in the Channel. A further 70 aircraft bombed the dockyards in South Wales. The 600 serviceable aircraft in Britain was felt inadequate, a more realistic figure well into the thousands.

Though the future of Britain itself lay in the balance, one must place the situation in a more appropriate light. In Britain, Germany sought to confront a state that held 2/3 of the world under it's colorful, if not decadent sway. By July of '40, not even 1/3 of that power had been brought to bear against Germany. Almost the whole of Africa, the Pacific and many parts of Asia lay under the flag of the British Commonwealth. The States of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the colonial establishment in India had not begun to muster serious strength, believing firmly in the might of an England that had remained undefeated since the fall of the Roman Empire. Their faith would not be shaken. Equally as convincing was their lackluster mobilization. They did not believe the threat to Britain was nearly as grave as it truly was. Britain had intervened in every major world conflict for the last four centuries with shattering results.
As Napoleonic Europe lay at the feet of the self-proclaimed Emperor, his armies marching against the gates of Moscow having vanquished every major State on the continent, England intervened and defeated him soundly at Waterloo. Hastings, Waterloo, Trafalgar... names that for military historians represent some of the most pivotal and decisive victories in all of man's history. The British won them.
The impudence of our own nation, embarking upon the vagaries of Empire, was humbled by the British Empire that left us unmolested a century earlier. And as if to prove a point, before they withdrew, they burned Washington D.C. to the ground.

Now the waning Empire of the British and the rising Empire of the Germans were to finally meet in the skies.
Hitler's enthusiasm pushed for an early invasion of England, repeatedly delayed by concerned officers within the Air Force and Navy, who fully comprehended the supreme task at hand. Hitler's arrogance knew no bounds. Before the invasion of England had even begun, he spoke comfortably with his general staff of his plans to invade Russia. He espoused to the belief that, "if Russia were to be smashed, then England's last hope is extinguished." While Hitler flattered himself, Britain husbanded its forces.

The Day of the Eagle, 13 August 1940, launched Germany's fourth and first unsuccessful campaign, the invasion of England. From the onset, it went quite differently than Hitler had planned. It was also markedly devoid of any ground or naval action, all the fighting conducted in the air. The largest shock for the Luftwaffe was the skill and tenacity of the British fighter pilots that defiantly opposed them.

Of the 1,485 aircraft that crossed the Channel that day, 45 were shot down, for a loss of only 13 British machines. Only 7 British fighter pilots died, the others parachuting to the safety of English soil, in contrast, all the German aircrews were killed in the action of the day. The following day poor weather limited visibility limited the number of attacking aircraft to only 500. Regardless, a larger number of aircraft were downed, British pilots scoring 75 kills versus only 34 English machines. The third day repeated without relent, again the British scoring 70 kills against 27 British aircraft lost. In the third day of battle the Germans had lost 190 machines.
As the struggle for heaven raged above, a British victory creeped below. The cryptographers at Bletchly Park, once again reading German Enigma ciphers had determined the precise intention of the air battle. Finally, they knew that a "full scale invasion against England..." according to the decrypt, "would be pending the present struggle for air superiority."
Good news also reached Britain that day from America, where Roosevelt relented to giving the English 50 destroyers, in exchange for U.S. use of British Caribbean naval bases. If the 14th of August brought good news, the following day would strain the mettle of the RAF.

In all, 520 bombers and 1,270 fighters crossed the Channel between 11:30 in the morning and 6:30 that night. Again, the chuckling roar of propeller aircraft spirited into the heavens to do battle in the name of France, the world and England. By nightfall, 75 German aircraft were destroyed, to a loss of 34 British machines. It was a rate of loss that could not be long maintained. The following day brought an equally severe mauling by the RAF, destroying 68 German aircraft though losing 47 British aircraft on the ground at Brize-Norton and 13 at fields elsewhere throughout the south of England.
General Ismay, watching the battle as it was plotted in Operations Room 13 of No. 11 Group Fighter Command, later recalled; "There had been heavy fighting throughout the day; and at one moment every single squadron in the group was engaged; there was nothing in reserve, and the radar map showed new waves of attackers crossing the coast. I felt sick with fear."

If the Germans were exacting fear upon their British enemies, it was echoed in the secret German Enigma messages, now being read daily at Bletchly Park. For the first time, it was deafening. Germany would not invade if air superiority could not be established. A spark of hope went up with every British fighter, crawling skyward into an uncertain future, the hopes of a dreaming Empire laid upon it's broad, powerful winged shoulders. The flash of cannon.
A Canadian fighter pilot, writing in his diary declared, "we are informed through German radio that the south of England lay in ruin, our morale dashed. Well... there are some holes in farming fields and a few buildings destroyed, but all I can see is German bombers and fighters strewn across the countryside from Maidstone to Guildford. As for our morale- it's going up- and up!"
That day, further west near Southampton, a fighter pilot, Flight Leutenant James Nicolson, patrolling the area in his Hurricane, was attacked by four German fighters. His fighter was hit, Nicolson himself wounded by a cannon shell. His cockpit aflame, he remained in the fight, destroying a Messerschmitt fighter before abandoning his Hurricane. As a result of four minutes longer in his burning aircraft, he sustained 3rd degree burns over 90% of his body. No doubt if left an irrevocable impression on the other three fighters. The British, bodies afire, stormed the heavens in search of them and they would never relent. For his gallantry, Nicolson received the Victoria Cross, the highest such award granted during the battle and, indeed, throughout the course of the war.
By the 17th, the RAF was in a full court press they would lose. The Luftwaffe had more machines, more pilots and the will to persist in the face of such egregious losses. Hope was shaken. 3,851 British airmen had valiantly given their lives for men and women they had never met.
Losses in materiel were devastating.
But a small victory was won that day, when the Luftwaffe pulled the Stuka from combat duty over England. It had proved far to vulnerable to the British fighters.

Another silent victory fled from the lips of a German fighter pilot, who reporting to Goering and Ernst Udet that day, spoke highly of the British Spitfires, declaring them "every bit as good as our own fighter planes." That said, Goering replied calmly, "If that is so, I will have to send my Air Inspector General before the firing squad." Ernst Udet, a hero of the First World War and fighter ace, also his Air Inspector Marshal, smiled pleasantly but never forgot the insult.
On the gallant fighter pilots and the machines they flew fell the terrible responsibility again the 18th, as the Luftwaffe renewed with a formidable effort to break the British defenses. But again, 71 German aircraft slipped from the sky as their victors soared above. Only 27 British planes had been lost. That evening, Douglas Bader, already an ace at 21, wrote in his diary, "Goering withdrew to lick his wounds and count the cost; losses to the tune of 367 aircraft destroyed." Only 5 days old, the battle had cost both sides dearly, the Germans having lost almost 400 aircraft. Though British losses were less significant, their price was paid in pilots, whom they couldn't replace with another piece of armor plate.
As if to confirm the strength of British resistance, the following day, the 19th, there was no air attack. "They are making a big mistake," Churchill told his Secretary than evening, "...in giving us a respite." The following day Churchill addressed the House of Commons, expressing the gratitude "of every home in our island, in our Empire and indeed, throughout the world... goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of war by their prowess and by their devotion." He went on to say of those few airmen... "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
In five days of intense and overwhelming air attack, Hitler had failed to reach his one stipulation for the invasion of England. Air Superiority. Churchill's confidence unabated, he retaliated in his frequent war of words with Hitler, warning him, "we shall now continue to strike at German targets... upon an ever increasing scale, until the end of the war, and in dimensions hitherto undreamed of." Churchill would make good on his threat, but the Battle of Britain was not over yet.
After 4 days of rest, the Luftwaffe renewed it's attack, 300 bombers running the dangerous gauntlet of Fighter Command to strike targets throughout the south of England. Hugh Dowding phoned Churchill that night, "we no longer have the capacity to ensure air superiority throughout the evening... we are beaten." Then, the course of the war forever changed. Purely by accident. Dramatically.
Forever.
A German Hienkel, some reports say a flight of He-110's, low on fuel and being pursued by a swifter Spitfire, dropped its bombs to lighten the load. The bombs landed in London, killing 9 civilians. Furious, Churchill ordered an immediate retaliatory strike against Berlin. This angered Hitler, who changed his priority, which immediately switched to bombing cities in England, instead of attacking Fighter Command's radar masts, airfields and manufacturing complexes. Air raids against Fighter Command's airfields would continue, but at a tortoise's pace by comparison. It was all Fighter Command needed... a break.
By the 26th, another raid was launched against the RAF, but for the first time, all but one was forced back across the Channel by British fighter interception. Regardless, the Luftwaffe remained determined to break the British.
On 30 August another massive attack, renewed by 800 German aircraft against all nine British fighter operational command centers.
Over Biggin Hill, seventeen German aircraft were shot down, to the loss of only one British fighter, whose pilot parachuted to safety and returned to the fight. That evening, as if to assure the English there would be no quarter given, incendiary bombs were dropped in London, sparing the badly mauled Fighter Command. Crossing the Channel in the same direction, British bombers struck at German military targets in Berlin, passing within thousands of feet their German counterparts headed to London.
As August drew to a close, the battle for Britain had progressed for two and a half weeks, without a decisive victor emerging. The final day of August saw another attack, resulting in the loss of 39 German aircraft. The following two days saw attacks at Biggin Hill, repeated the following day at Brize-Norton. Fighter Command was reaching the end of tolerable human and materiel limits, buckling under the strain. The countryside was littered with valor, smeared with gallantry and decorated in the brilliant colors of autumn with the graves of German and British machines.

On 3 September, the anniversary of Britain's declaration of war with Germany, four spies were landed in the south of England. All four were caught by British Intelligence within hours. The regularity with which Bletchly now read German secret messages was hourly, compiling an enormous library of ciphers daily. It allowed the RAF and Ministry of Intelligence hours to react flexibly to any German attack in the world for the remainder of the war.
Furious at the inability of the Luftwaffe to destroy the RAF as they had done to six other Air Forces, Hitler directed them to "secure the submission of England" by ordering full attacks on London. Goering, confident of an aerial masterstroke, directed the effort himself.

Shortly before 4 o' clock on 7 September, 300 German bombers escorted by 600 fighters left their bases in northern France and headed skyward for London. Attacking in two waves, their target was the docks of London. Meanwhile, British Intelligence tried to decipher the meaning of the large-scale movement of barges to the forward German bases in the Channel. Air photo reconnaissance had revealed the Channel was filling with barges, all German Army leave had been canceled for the following day and the spies captured several days earlier led to a conclusion that the invasion was imminent. This very deduction was handed to the Chiefs of Staff at half past 5.
As this ominous prospect was discussed by the Chiefs of Staff, the German bombers continued their onslaught, opposed the entire remnant of the RAF. Londoners, pausing through the rain of bombs, watched as air battles were heard overhead throughout the afternoon of the 7th. That evening, 337 tons of bombs fell on London.
At precisely 8:07 that evening, as the aerial bombardment was at it's height, the code word "Cromwell" was sent to military units throughout Britain. The code word was absolutely clear; the invasion of Britain had begun.

Throughout the land, church bells rang out and all home defense forces were brought to a state of "immediate action". All throughout the next day, the invasion was expected hour to hour, but it would not come, nor, more precisely, had it even been planned. The invasion depended upon the new objective, the bombardment of the capital, the Luftwaffe, having failed in the three weeks of attack since the Day of the Eagle to eliminate the RAF's fighter power.
The Luftwaffe now suffered considerably as a direct result, the ability of Fighter Command to challenge each wave of attackers and their escorts growing in confidence and capability. On 8 September as 200 bombers attacked London's electrical power stations, 88 were destroyed for a loss of 21.

That day, Churchill went to an air shelter where 4 people had died the previous evening. As he entered, the blackened faces of bombed out Londoners cracked with dirty smiles. "It was good of you to come, Winnie." They exalted. "We thought you'd come. We can take it. Give it 'em back." Germans could bomb houses, but they could not destroy spirit.
Polish, Czech and Canadian fighter pilots also earned their place in history, eagerly taking the war to the Germans overhead. On 8 September, when 400 German aircraft crossed the Channel and overflew the British coast, 200 British fighters met them. In the ensuing battle, 28 German machines were destroyed, for 19 British lost.
The "London Blitz" as it became known, continued on 10 September. The British were also bombing, that night as the RAF struck Berlin, several bombs landed in Josef Goebbel's garden.

That 12 September, the war continued for London's skies. One bomber, on its return flight, was shot down, crashing into a house in Newport. As the house caught fire, little 14 year old Myrtle Phillips, a Jew, burned to death. Her 17-year-old brother Malcolm rushed into the flames to try and save his baby sister. He also perished. The father, a self-professed pacifist, went to visit the bomber's sole survivor in a hospital to assure him that the tragic deaths of his only children weren't his fault, but part of the horrific injustices of war.
On the 15th, that injustice would tear out of France to again strike England. 230 bombers escorted by 700 fighters struck London, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester. Of that attacking force, 56 were flamed, the British losing 23 aircraft. The following day, hoping to destroy as many invasion barges as possible Polish pilots were dispatched against them with "good success".
But finally, the true air struggle for Britain was over. On 17 September, Hitler told his adjutant, "we conquered France at the cost of 30,000 men. During one night of crossing the Channel we could lose many times that number... and success is not certain."

The Battle of Britain was over.

The London Blitz would go on. The British would continue to suffer, but they would not succumb. The roar of German panzers, the screech of German dive-bombers, the click of leather German boot heels upon London streets, would never be heard in England. England Triumphant.

The cost of that triumph is detailed here;

British Total Pilots KIA or MIA

(1822 Pilots) RAF and Commonwealth (KIA) 339
(56 Pilots) Fleet AIR ARM (KIA) 9
(21 Pilots) Australian (KIA) 14
(73 Pilots) New Zealand (KIA) 11
(88 Pilots) Canadian (KIA) 20
(21 Pilots) South African (KIA or MIA) 9
(2 Pilots) South Rhodesian (KIA or MIA) 0
(8 Pilots) Irish (KIA or MIA) 0
(7 Pilots) American (KIA) 1
(141 Pilots) Polish (KIA or MIA) 29
(86 Pilots) Czech (KIA) 8
(26 Pilots) Belgian (KIA or MIA) 6
(13 Pilots) French (KIA or MIA) 0
(1 Pilot) Israeli (KIA or MIA) 0

German Total Pilots KIA or MIA

Bomber Crew 1,176
Stuka Crew 85
F/B Crew 212
Fighter Crew 171
Missing in Action 1,445

Despite a superhuman effort on both sides, there was only one clear victor. This victory was greatly aided by several very powerful aspects, which are rarely considered. Very little loiter time was allowed German fighters over England due to considerations for fuel. Radar allowed Fighter Command to direct and husband it's small forces with care, concise accuracy and superb administration work making it the finest system in the world for it's time.
Differences in aircraft design also played a large part. The FW-190, though a remarkable aircraft, was ill suited to the role which Spitfires and Hurricanes fit so well. Though lacking the punch of their German counterparts, the British fighters boasted more ammunition. While not particularly fitted to fight well at high altitudes, both British planes were remarkable low to medium altitude interception planes. They were both light and extremely maneuverable. The Spitfire's unique planform elliptical wing allowed it performance abilities far removed from its German cousins. Though it embodied the British version of the 190, the Spitfire was found lacking in several areas, all very prominent. Though championed as the hero of the battle, that honor belongs to its less well known elder brother. The Hurricane was, by far and large, the true workhorse of the battle. It's visionary design laid in its simplicity. It's ease of repair was also a considerable advantage. A thin layer of Irish Linen acted as the skin of the aircraft and made it extremely easy to repair. A damaged "Hurri" could be damaged, land, be repaired and be in the thick of it again in less than an hour. It's younger brother the Spitfire had to be sent to a metal shop to repair it's skin.
Aircraft and men aside, the very nature of air war was carried from infancy to maturity in the 4 weeks of the Battle of Britain. The fundamental principles of air combat established in the skies of England by the propeller driven fighter remain the same today, carried out by it's progeny, the jet fighter. As I close the article, I can't help but feel that a wealth has been left out, unfinished business of years ago. Perhaps, at a later date, I will revisit Britain and it's most famous air engagement.

Some time after the war, Churchill, now an old man, was interviewed in the quiet hours of his parlor at his Manchester home. Flickering in the dim pall of firelight, his features glimpsed a younger, fiercer man. The interviewer, struck by a picture on the mantle of a young pilot standing nearby an old fighter of an age past, asked him reverently about it. The old man closed his eyes, his craggy features drawn as he was visited by specters of the war of his youth.
Awed by the moment, the journalist looked away.
When he at last returned his gaze, the old man was weeping.

God save the King.

"In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility; but when the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger: stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard favored rage; then lend the eye a terrible aspect."

-King Henry the Fifth, William Shakespeare

Of WWII, we need to remember.

It has no voice. It has no individual face.
It's passing into antiquity is quiet.

I charge you. Remember, friends.

Fair Skies.

9Iron.


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