“The Battle of Britain”

Just as the epic events of Dunkirk were coming to a head across the Channel, so a new threat was becoming apparent. Winston Churchill, in a speech to the people said “ What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over; I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin” He went on to say that Hitler knew that he must break us in this island or lose the war, and that very soon the whole might of the Nazi state would be thrown against us. As a precursor to invasion the RAF had to be defeated to prevent it intervening in a sea-borne invasion, code-named Operation “Seelowe”, or Sea Lion. The job was given to Air Marshal Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe, and was code-named “Adlerangriff” or Eagle attack.

Britain maintained a small peace-time Air Force which had been steadily whittled away in attempts to stem the tide in France. The chief of Fighter Command was Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding and he had written a letter to the Chief of Air Staff, dated 16^th May 1940 in which he spelled out the likely disastrous consequences of committing further fighters to the lost cause – “…but if the Home Defence Force is drained away in desperate attempts to remedy the situation in France, defeat in France will involve the final, complete and irremediable defeat of this country” . It could be said that it was largely by this one letter that the future of Britain was saved, as Churchill had personally promised the French Premier further fighter squadrons. In the event, no further aircraft were sent to France, and Britain had retained a force capable of putting up a credible defence by the skin of her teeth.

Dowding then set about developing the systems that were to stand Britain in such good stead over the coming months. He personally selected his commanders, and in particular Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park who was to command the all-important 11 Group responsible for the defence of London and the S.East. He saw to it that RDF ( an early form of Radar ) and the Sector system of fighter control was put in place and operators and controllers trained to a fine degree. Aircraft production was stepped up, and the training programme for new pilots streamlined. Fortunately, because of the nature of the fighting, we were able to recover a large number of shot down machines and more importantly pilots, whereas to the Germans these represented a total loss.

The Aircraft

Britain entered the war with two major types of single-seater fighter aircraft, the Hurricane and the Spitfire. Both were single wing types, the Hurricane made in a more traditional way with fabric covered wooden wings and fuselage, the Spitfire heralding in the age of stressed-metal construction. Whilst it was the classic lines of the Spitfire that captured the public’s imagination, it was the rugged Hurricane which was more numerous and which contributed most to the winning of the battle.

Hurricane

Spitfire

The Germans had numerous aircraft types which they had been developing in the guise of passenger aircraft ( Lufthansa, the German national airline, had become the world’s largest airline with the largest number of pilots) as they had been forbidden to develop an Air Force by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles following their surrender in the Great War, but the most numerically significant during the Battle of Britain were the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, the Dornier DO17 and the Heinkel HE111 medium bombers. It was these aircraft that were largely to carry the fight to Britain in the summer of 1940.

Messerchmitt Bf 109 Dornier Do 17 Heinkel HE 111

The battle raged throughout the summer of 1940. When the battle opened, Britain had approximately 650 serviceable fighter aircraft – Germany approximately 3,500 of all types. Losses were heavy on both sides, with the Germans suffering proportionally more losses. As Dowding had put it, the essential arithmetic was that our pilots had to shoot down their pilots at a rate of 3 to 1 to keep pace at all. The tide turned on Aug 24^th when a few German stragglers jettisoned their bombs on what they believed to be open fields but in fact turned out to be suburbs of London. Until then the German bombers had been ranged against the Fighter Command airfields, seeking to destroy aircraft on the ground and rendering the airfields non-effective, forcing the aircraft to disperse ever-farther away. This accidental attack prompted Churchill to order retaliation against Berlin and a small force of British bombers dropped bombs on that city for four nights. This angered Hitler, who ordered an all-out assault against London, thus diverting his bombers from their tactical targets. This gave the RAF a valuable breathing space in which they could regroup and re-organize, and it was vital. Goering, the chief of the Luftwaffe, was forced to attack on two fronts, by day and by night, and the attrition on his forces was unsustainable. Losses mounted steadily, and the fighters were chained to the bombers during the daylight raids to provice protection, thus denying them the ability to take on and defeat the British fighter force. The Luftwaffe mounted one great effort on Aug 18^th, code-named “Adler Tag” or Eagle Day when almost the entire German Air Force was used at one time or another. This day saw the heaviest fighting of the battle, but by nightfall Britain’s air defences still stood firm and unbroken. Again on September 7^th a massive effort was made to break the British defences. September 15^th, now celebrated as Battle of Britain Day, saw the last full-scale attacks to be made by the Luftwaffe, although no-one realised it at the time. The battle was over – the Luftwaffe turned its attention to night raids on London ( The Blitz ) and Hitler called off his planned invasion of Britain and turned towards the east.

The Tour

Our tour starts at Fighter Command Uxbridge and a guided tour of the Operations room deep below ground from where 11 Group operations were directed. There is a splendid museum, and the Operations Room itself, which has been preserved and represents the position on the “hardest day”. After a spot of lunch we proceed to the RAF Museum at Hendon and the magnificent Battle of Britain Hall where preserved examples of all the major aircraft used by both sides can be viewed. Our last port of call is RAF Duxford from where Wing Commander Douglas Bader operated his “Big Wing” to such great effect. This represents a typical large sector station and a good feel of the times can be obtained from a quiet walk about.

The Battle of Britain Museum also contains a realistic street scene during the Blitz with a “Talking head” commentary, as well as a replica of Winston Churchill’s study and another realistic “talking head” of Sir Winston Churchill delivering one of his historic speeches. There is a snack shop cafeteria and a well-stocked souvenir shop as well as a flight simulator and other hands-on exhibits – all in all a great day out !

Prices start from £75 person all-inclusive depending on numbers.

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