Okla-homey
8/13/2006, 08:03 AM
August 13, 1940 The Battle of Britain begins
66 years ago on this day in 1940, German combat aircraft begin the bombing of southern England, and the Battle of Britain, which will last until October 31, begins.
The Germans called it "Adlertag" (or in English; "the Day of the Eagle,") the first day of the Luftwaffe's campaign to destroy the British Royal Air Force and knock out British radar stations, in preparation for Operation SEA LION -- the planned amphibious invasion of Britain.
See, the Nazis understood they couldn't hope to move an invasion fleet against the British coast including thousands of vulnerable landing craft without air superority. Destroying the RAF was key to making such an invasion feasible.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4889/yyagainstalloddssi2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Combat head-on with a Dornier bomber during the Battle of Britain. This painting depicts a small squadron of 10 Spitfires from Biggin Hill facing 150 plus enemy bombers and fighters. Other friendly fighters joined battle but the defenders were still vastly out numbered, a scene repeated on many occasions in the summer of 1940.
Almost 1,500 German aircraft took off the first day of the air campaign, and 45 were shot down. Britain lost 13 fighters in the air and another 47 on the ground. But most important for the future, the Luftwaffe managed to take out only one radar station, on the Isle of Wight, and damage five others.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8261/yyeagleattacklz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Me109 fighters which escorted the bombers on Adlertag (Eagle Day) August 13, 1940 - the day the Luftwaffe staged their most concentrated attacks resulting in almost twelve hours of continuous battle
This was considered more trouble than it was worth by Herman Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe, who decided to forgo further targeting of British radar stations because "not one of those attacked so far has been put out of operation."
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3989/yygoeringhjk5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Herman Goering, Hitler's Luftwaffe chief. When he was younger (and thinner) he had flown with Von Richthofen's "Flying Circus" and was an ace in WWI.
Historians agree that this was a monumental mistake on the part of the Germans. Had Goering and the Luftwaffe persisted in attacking British radar sites, the RAF would not have been able to get the information necessary to successfully intercept incoming German bombers.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7237/yybuchanr7atj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
One of a couple dozen RAF ground radar sites which ringed the British coast. All the vulnerable and tough to replace components including the transmitter were built in a reinforced concrete bunker beneath the antenna seen here rising above the concrete bunker. Even if the antenna was knocked out, it could be quickly and easily replaced.
You see, the system of interlocking radar stations all transmitted data to a central control station at High Wycomb. There, controllers on the ground radioed "scrambling" (emergency launch) and steering instructions to the fighter squadrons who could then efficiently and quickly meet the German threat.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/108/yyadlertagvv6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hawker Hurricanes scramble to meet another wave of Luftwaffe bombers during the Battle of Britain. In the foreground, a downed Me109, and bomb craters at the end of the runway are evidence of the desperate struggle
"Here, early in the battle, we get a glimpse of fuddled thinking at the highest level in the German camp," comments historian Peter Fleming. Even the Blitz, the intensive and successive bombing of London that would begin in the last days of the Battle of Britain, could not compensate for such thinking.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5467/yyhurricanecountrymr9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
A victim of earlier aerial conflicts, a crashlanded German Ju88 of KG30 lies on the edge of a Sussex field; the attention of two members of the local Home Guard is drawn to the Hurricanes of 501 Squadron as the fighters race back at low-level to Gravesend for fuel and ammunition. Within minutes they will scramble again to rejoin the fray aloft.
There would be no Operation SEA LION. There would be no invasion of Britain. The RAF would be stretched thin, almost to the snapping point, but it could not be defeated as long as the RAF radar warning system remained intact. Britain remained free thanks to its radar operators, the ground controllers and a few hundred fighters and fighter pilots. Winston Churchill said it best when he stated:
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5941/yyhurricanontailbs1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
A Hawker Hurricane attacks and is about to smoke a Heinkel 111 bomber during the Battle of Britain.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7977/insane7zogw8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
66 years ago on this day in 1940, German combat aircraft begin the bombing of southern England, and the Battle of Britain, which will last until October 31, begins.
The Germans called it "Adlertag" (or in English; "the Day of the Eagle,") the first day of the Luftwaffe's campaign to destroy the British Royal Air Force and knock out British radar stations, in preparation for Operation SEA LION -- the planned amphibious invasion of Britain.
See, the Nazis understood they couldn't hope to move an invasion fleet against the British coast including thousands of vulnerable landing craft without air superority. Destroying the RAF was key to making such an invasion feasible.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4889/yyagainstalloddssi2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Combat head-on with a Dornier bomber during the Battle of Britain. This painting depicts a small squadron of 10 Spitfires from Biggin Hill facing 150 plus enemy bombers and fighters. Other friendly fighters joined battle but the defenders were still vastly out numbered, a scene repeated on many occasions in the summer of 1940.
Almost 1,500 German aircraft took off the first day of the air campaign, and 45 were shot down. Britain lost 13 fighters in the air and another 47 on the ground. But most important for the future, the Luftwaffe managed to take out only one radar station, on the Isle of Wight, and damage five others.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8261/yyeagleattacklz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Me109 fighters which escorted the bombers on Adlertag (Eagle Day) August 13, 1940 - the day the Luftwaffe staged their most concentrated attacks resulting in almost twelve hours of continuous battle
This was considered more trouble than it was worth by Herman Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe, who decided to forgo further targeting of British radar stations because "not one of those attacked so far has been put out of operation."
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3989/yygoeringhjk5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Herman Goering, Hitler's Luftwaffe chief. When he was younger (and thinner) he had flown with Von Richthofen's "Flying Circus" and was an ace in WWI.
Historians agree that this was a monumental mistake on the part of the Germans. Had Goering and the Luftwaffe persisted in attacking British radar sites, the RAF would not have been able to get the information necessary to successfully intercept incoming German bombers.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7237/yybuchanr7atj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
One of a couple dozen RAF ground radar sites which ringed the British coast. All the vulnerable and tough to replace components including the transmitter were built in a reinforced concrete bunker beneath the antenna seen here rising above the concrete bunker. Even if the antenna was knocked out, it could be quickly and easily replaced.
You see, the system of interlocking radar stations all transmitted data to a central control station at High Wycomb. There, controllers on the ground radioed "scrambling" (emergency launch) and steering instructions to the fighter squadrons who could then efficiently and quickly meet the German threat.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/108/yyadlertagvv6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hawker Hurricanes scramble to meet another wave of Luftwaffe bombers during the Battle of Britain. In the foreground, a downed Me109, and bomb craters at the end of the runway are evidence of the desperate struggle
"Here, early in the battle, we get a glimpse of fuddled thinking at the highest level in the German camp," comments historian Peter Fleming. Even the Blitz, the intensive and successive bombing of London that would begin in the last days of the Battle of Britain, could not compensate for such thinking.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5467/yyhurricanecountrymr9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
A victim of earlier aerial conflicts, a crashlanded German Ju88 of KG30 lies on the edge of a Sussex field; the attention of two members of the local Home Guard is drawn to the Hurricanes of 501 Squadron as the fighters race back at low-level to Gravesend for fuel and ammunition. Within minutes they will scramble again to rejoin the fray aloft.
There would be no Operation SEA LION. There would be no invasion of Britain. The RAF would be stretched thin, almost to the snapping point, but it could not be defeated as long as the RAF radar warning system remained intact. Britain remained free thanks to its radar operators, the ground controllers and a few hundred fighters and fighter pilots. Winston Churchill said it best when he stated:
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5941/yyhurricanontailbs1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
A Hawker Hurricane attacks and is about to smoke a Heinkel 111 bomber during the Battle of Britain.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7977/insane7zogw8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)