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Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a World War 2 air campaign conducted by Germany against Britain in the summer of 1940. The objective was to gain air superiority over Britain in preparation for a possible invasion by sea.
370 Questions
Were German pilots shot down over England killed?
German pilots who were shot down over Britain in both World Wars became prisoners of war if still alive after crashing or landing. Exactly the same happened to British pilots shot down over Germany.
What was the battle of Britain for?
The Battle of Britain was a momentous struggle between the RAF and Germany's Luftwaffe. Hitler saw England as the last bastion of Fortress Europe, and by taking it he could gain mastery of the continent. However, the Royal Air Force would have decimated the invasion force, and so Hitler needed to forcibly remove it. it began with small scale attacks on shipping in the English Channel, before Goering (Head of the Luftwaffe) decided to attack the RAF's airfields. This drew the British fighters into massive clashes in the sky with the Luftwaffe. Goering had also realised the presence of radar, which was the RAF's key to success, but unfortunately for Germany had not realised its full importance. This meant that the Luftwaffe attacked the RAF's radar stations infrequently, believing they were some kind of aerials. They were much mistaken, and the radar operators could track the Luftwaffe's every move. Throughout the battle, the RAF was constantly outnumbered by Goering's Luftwaffe, having about 650 fighters versus Germany's 2500 fighters and bombers. at the lowest point in the conflict, the RAF were short of 200 pilots, though they were aided by a great many pilots from countries invaded by the Germans (notably Czechoslovakia and Poland, whose pilots possessed a real hatred for the Germans) and airmen from the commonwealth and British Empire. However, the German's effectively lost the Battle for themselves. German bombers accidentally attacked London, which the RAF retaliated for with attacks by Wellington bombers. This led the Luftwaffe to stop attacking the RAF and concentrate on attacking London by night, so starting the great Blitz, which lasted until the winter of 1941. After a final massed attack by as many bombers as Goering could muster on 15th September 1940 (during which the Luftwaffe's bombers were annihilated), the Germans stopped all attacks on the RAF. This was essentially the death blow for the Luftwaffe who had not wiped out the RAF, despite beliefs that they could and had. The German army withdrew from the channel ports, and Hitler scrapped Operation Sealion (the plan to invade Britain) in favour of an equally disastrous invasion of the Soviet Union in the winter of 1941. It was the last time any military force attempted to attack the island nation of the United Kingdom.
Where did the battle of Britain happen in world war 2?
The Battle of Britain was an air battle fought in the skies over southern England in late summer 1940.
What was the weather during the battle of Britain?
Most of the Battle of Britain was fought in very clear weather.
How many airfields were involved in Britain during the Battle of Britain and where were they?
There were 102 airfields split into 4 groups = 10, 11, 12 & 13. For a full listing and other information I suggest a visit to the Battle of Britain web @ http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/11group.html
The only aircraft that fought in Battle of Britain were British aircraft in RAF and German aircraft in Luftwaffe
The only aircraft that fought in Battle of Britain were British aircraft in RAF and German aircraft in Luftwaffe
The Lancaster was not in service at the Battle of Britain. It did not fly in the RAF until early 1942.
Why did the battle of Britain affected many people's lives?
i dont know i searched it but it comes up with wiki and we are not allowed to use wiki :( grrrr
How did the Battle of Normandy affect Canada?
The Canadian landings at Juno Beach by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade were the only D-Day assault force to reach their objectives. The country's spirits were lifted. Canada had suffered heavily at the Raid on Dieppe and their showing at Normandy were exemplary.
What was the role in the battle of Britain?
The victory roll was a maneuver performed by fighter pilots when they returned to their base having shot down at least one enemy fighter.
Did the regia marina and regia aeronautica use seaplanes in the battle of Britain?
See the links below for your answer about the Regia Marina and Regia Aeronatica.
What happened to Margaret Kemble Gage after she was shipped to Britain?
Margaret lived a long and happy life in London, dying in 1824 at the age of 90. Her death notice was published in magazines at the time ("the Gentleman's Magazine", etc.) and can be found online.
How did the battle of Britain affect the conduct of World War 2?
It led to Hitler cancelling his planned invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion).
Why battle of Britain successful?
Hitler had ordered:-
Since England, despite its militarily hopeless situation, still has not shown any signs of being prepared to negotiate, I have decided to prepare a landing operation against England and, if necessary, carry it out. The objective of this operation is to eliminate the English home country as a base for the continuation of the war against Germany...
and also a) The English air force must have been beaten down to such an extent morally and in actual fact that it can no longer muster any power of attack worth mentioning against the German crossing.
Despite the large numerical superiority the high rate of loss (5 German aircrew for every RAF fighter pilot at the height of the battle) was too much for the Luftwaffe to sustain. The Luftwaffe failed to 1) destroy the air defenses of Britain so it could launch and invasion (Operation Sea Lion) and 2) failed to bomb Britain into surrender or an armistice. The RAF on the other hand established an effective fighter force (of Spitfires and Hurricanes) efficiently controlled by the advanced (for it's time) radar (RDF) system. They defeated the Luftwaffe objectives but not the Luftwaffe completely which recovered to its former strength and aided the Germans in victories against the allies in North Africa and Greece. The experience lost over the channel and Britain however could not be replaced and the Luftwaffe was "not the force it had once been". The battle also proved the Germans were not invincible and convinced the Americans that Britain would survive and should be supported. Given the survival of Britain led to it being used as a base with which to liberate Europe from the Nazi's its significance was huge. So 1-0 to the RAF then (1940) and that great quote "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".
The Luftwaffe strategy had been to destroy the RAF fighter command in the South East within 4 days and then move onto destroying the military installations and the aircraft industry in the rest of the country within 4 weeks. Lack of intelligence on the success rate and a lack of focus on pursuing parts of the strategy combined with a much higher manufacturing capacity to replace losses enabled the RAF to survive. The British control systems which achieved 80% interception rates and the demand for protection from the bombers hindered some of the more successful Luftwaffe strategies in the air. The Germans while initially attacking the radar stations failed to follow up or attack the infrastructure supporting them and a lack of understanding that they were used not just for early warning but also control led to the attacks being abandoned. At one point the RAF believed they were within weeks having to withdraw and of running out aircraft, in fact it was more the lack of trained pilots that would have caused problems. The German's lack of reliable intelligence in underestimating the capacity of the British to replace losses led them to shift the attack from the airfields to the industrial targets believing they had achieved success just as the RAF had its backs against the wall.
Eventually it became apparent the Luftwaffe had exaggerated its success against the RAF and the invasion was postponed several times, the attack switched to bombing cities and was later stopped as the German focus switched to Russia and the invasion was formally abandoned.
What did Hitler do before the battle of Britain?
He was elected Chancellor in 1933, and during this time period, he was beginning to enforce more and more restrictions on Jews under Nazi rule (ie; curfews, boyycotting from certain restaurants, standing away from others on the tram, etc.).
