The world's classic blitzkrieg - Britain Air Battle British Air Battle

< H1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the Battle of Britain</h1>

A brief description of the campaign

Air combat in World War II as the Germans prepared to invade Britain to carry out large-scale air strikes against Britain. After the German occupation of France, Hitler set out to deal with Britain in northern Europe. After failing to induce the British to compromise, Hitler issued the "Sea Lion Plan" of a full-scale invasion of Britain in July 1940. The operation required the first annihilation of British air power to ensure the smooth landing. In order to seize air supremacy, the superior British navy was driven out of the English Channel, clearing the way for invasion and forcing Britain to submit. The Luftwaffe was ordered to annihilate the British Air Force and carried out a series of large-scale air raids on the British mainland. Germany had hoped to conquer Britain as quickly as it had flattened the European continent, but in fact, Britain's stubborn resistance made the confrontation between the two sides an arduous battle. So, the fight begins in a blitzkrieg, but it's not a typical blitzkrieg.

Pre-war situation

On September 1, 1939, Germany blitzed Poland and World War II broke out. At the beginning of 1940, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway and other countries fell one after another. In May, the Germans crossed the Ardennes and bypassed the Maginot Line and penetrated deep into French territory. In the face of Germany's iron hooves, France's resistance appeared weak and weak, and the "European military powers" were disgraced. On 22 June, France surrendered. However, Britain successfully withdrew the expeditionary force from Dunkirk with all available means of sea crossing, such as warships, merchant ships, fishing boats, etc., and more than 300,000 French resistance forces, thus giving Britain the strength of resistance that disturbed Hitler.

The easy victory inflated Hitler's desires infinitely, and he began to turn his attention to the East, ready to launch an offensive against the Soviet Union. In order to avoid a two-front war, Hitler hoped to live in peace with Britain for the time being. He believed that the British were already frightened in France, and that as soon as he went to war and intimidation, the enemy would fall without a fight, and peace talks were of course unattainable for the British. Thus, in the two months from May to July 1940, Hitler did not make a specific plan for the invasion of Britain, but was drafting a "peace treaty" with Britain. He tested london through the then neutral King of Sweden and the Pope of Rome to explore the possibility of peace talks. The Nazis also attempted to kidnap the Duke of Windsor, the brother-in-law of the Crown, who had traveled via Spain and Portugal to the Bahamas to become governor,in a vain attempt to bribe them with heavy sums of money to open channels for peace talks.

However, the British Prime Minister at this time was no longer the weak and incompetent Chamberlain, but the former Secretary of the Navy Churchill, known for his "belligerence". The British people are deeply disgusted by the appeasement policies implemented by the government in the past, and they cannot tolerate the government's mistakes again and again. On 13 May, Churchill addressed the entire Cabinet at the Prime Minister's inauguration: "... You ask: What is our policy? I say that our policy is to wage war at sea, on land and in the air with all the power that God has given us, against a dark and deplorable beastly tyranny that has no precedent in the history of human sin. That's our policy! This speech was undoubtedly a declaration of war against Hitler.

The british resistance was determined to bankrupt Germany's plan of abduction. So, embarrassed and enraged, Hitler was determined to conquer by force. Therefore, Germany developed the "Sea Lion Plan" against the British, in order to carry out landing operations against the British. The battle was planned to land infantry in the south of England, attack in depth until london was captured, and cut off its contact with the outside world, thus occupying LinkedIn country in one fell swoop. But the operation needed to first annihilate British air power to ensure the smooth landing. As a result, German Reich Field Marshal Goering was ordered to annihilate the British Air Force. Hitler and the German High Command set the earliest date for the operation on August 5, code-named "Eagle Strike." On August 6, Goering officially set the date of the attack on August 12 and named the day "Eagle Day". However, due to the unstable weather in the south of England, the Luftwaffe launched an air offensive against Britain on 13 August.

In fact, as early as May 1940, the British had foreseen that the Luftwaffe would carry out large-scale bombing of the British mainland, so on May 19 of that year, the British Joint Chiefs of Staff submitted a defense report in the event of France's withdrawal from the war, calling for the effective strengthening of various defensive measures, especially air defense measures. The report was approved by the Wartime Cabinet on 27 May and immediately began the necessary preparations: first, the Wartime Cabinet formed the Aircraft Manufacturing Department, with Beaverbrook as minister, and vigorously strengthened aircraft production, so that the monthly production of aircraft increased rapidly from the original 700 to 1600 in two months, of which 470 were fighters; second, the air defense force was uniformly adjusted and deployed nationwide, focusing on strengthening the air defense in the London area; subsequently, the Air Ministry established a combat training unit and established a number of training schools. The training of air and ground crews has been stepped up so that 200 new pilots can be replenished every month, and Commonwealth member states have been mobilized to train air crews on their behalf to form new combat units. On the eve of the Battle of Britain, the British Air Department established an air defence command, commanded by Admiral Edward Bill, with unified command of all fighters, anti-aircraft guns, radar and observational sirens in the country. There are a total of 56 squadrons of fighter units, 980 fighters, including 688 "Hurricane" and "Spitfire" fighters with excellent performance; anti-aircraft artillery units have a total of 7 divisions, more than 4,000 anti-aircraft guns, but less than 2,000 are large-caliber anti-aircraft guns, and because the monthly output of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns is only 40, the number is difficult to increase in a short period of time, so the British army adjusted its deployment, and deployed about 700 large-caliber anti-aircraft guns in the aircraft manufacturing plant; 5 brigades of air defense and blocking balloons, and more than 1,500 balloons. These jamming balloons are all tied to cars and can be quickly transferred; there are 2700 searchlights. The most important thing is that the British army already has a radar unit that is still little known at that time, the United Kingdom is the first country to put radar into actual combat, by July 1940 a total of 51 radar stations were built in the country, of which 38 were in the southeast coastal area, accounting for about 75% of the total, forming a strict radar warning system, divided into two levels, the first layer is a medium and high altitude air defense radar system, which can effectively find aircraft flying at an altitude of less than 4500 meters, and the second layer is a low-altitude air defense radar system. It can effectively detect aircraft flying at an altitude of less than 750 meters. In this way, the British army could detect the approximate direction and time of the German aircraft through radar, and command their fighters to attack in a favorable position and time. Before the use of radar, it is usually sent fighters to patrol in the air, by the fighter to find the incoming enemy aircraft, after the use of radar, each take-off of the British fighter is a purposeful battle, greatly reducing the consumption of aircraft, fuel and physical strength, to a large extent to make up for the lack of aircraft deficiencies. Therefore, the radar is undoubtedly the most important trump card for the British army to achieve victory! In addition, the British also has a national self-defense army of 500,000 people, they have set up countless air defense surveillance posts in coastal areas, using binoculars and simple direction finding instruments, undertaking tasks such as air surveillance, vigilance, and rescue, which is an indispensable auxiliary force for the regular troops of the British army.

At that time, the British Fighter Command was located in Bentley Abbey, and the commander was General Hugh Dowding, who was a veteran pilot who had participated in the First World War, and under his auspices, the Headquarters Intelligence Office was established, and an air intelligence system composed of radar, air defense surveillance posts, and the command war room and intelligence room was formed, which could obtain intelligence very quickly and command operations extremely effectively.

Admiral Dowding was more cautious and heavy-handed, retaining a reserve force of 280 aircraft and never using it until the last moment when the German landing formation entered the strait. He was well aware that large-scale air battles would be inevitable, so he always adopted a strategy of preserving his strength as much as possible, and even dared to resist the orders of Prime Minister Churchill and not send more aircraft to France. These efforts have laid a solid material foundation for the upcoming air war.

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Churchill

Winston Churchill (1874–1965), politician, painter, orator, writer and journalist, winner of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature (Memoirs of the Second World War), was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955, and is considered one of the most important political leaders of the 20th century, leading LinkedIn to victory in World War II. It is said to be one of the people in history who has the largest vocabulary of English words (more than 120,000). Listed by the American magazine "Show" as one of the world's eight most convincing speakers in the past hundred years. In 2002, the BBC held a survey called "The Greatest 100 Britons", which resulted in Churchill being voted the greatest Briton of all time.

Churchill was a national hero who led the people of LinkedIn countries to a great victory in the anti-fascist war during the Second World War, one of the "big three" who stood side by side with Stalin and Roosevelt, and a generation of great men who stood in the annals of world history. Churchill came from a prominent aristocratic family. His ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough, was a prominent military commander in British history and a prominent figure in British politics during Queen Anne's reign; his father, Lord Randolph, was a prominent British statesman at the end of the nineteenth century and a former Chancellor of the Exchequer in salisbury's Cabinet. The great achievements of his ancestors, the political achievements of his fathers, and the glory and political traditions of his family undoubtedly had a great influence on Churchill's life and played a key role in his growth into a british generation. They provided Churchill with an example to learn from, set goals for struggle, and cultivated his sense of historical responsibility for the motherland, becoming a powerful driving force for Churchill's tireless pursuit and meritorious service throughout his life. Churchill did not go to college, and his profound knowledge and multifaceted talents were learned through painstaking self-study. As a young man, he was stationed in Bangalore, southern India, where for more than half a year he "read four or five hours a day of historical and philosophical writings."

Since then, Churchill has drawn rich intellectual nourishment from the works of famous thinkers, philosophers, historians and biologists such as Plato, Gibbon, Macaulay, Schopenhauer, Lekki, Malthus, Darwin, Wilde, etc., which has brought great effect to his later political career. This made his thinking more profound, his conviction in life stronger, and his growth into "the most outstanding and versatile man of the times in which we live."

Analysis of the strength of both sides

Germans

In 1935, Marshal Goering was commissioned to form an independent Luftwaffe. With Goering's support, the Luftwaffe grew rapidly, and by early 1940 it had more than 4,000 aircraft of all kinds, plus 475 new fighters and 265 bombers per month.

Before attacking Britain, goering formed an air force group on Hitler's instructions. The group consisted of the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Air Forces, deployed in northwestern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway, forming a half-moon attack posture against Britain. The group has a total of more than 3,500 combat aircraft of various types, including more than 1,400 fighters, more than 1,600 bombers, and more than 400 reserve aircraft of various types. At that time, the British home air defense force only had about 800 fighters and more than 2,000 anti-aircraft guns.

British Army

There were four fighter groups under british fighter command: the 10th Brigade under the command of Major General Brand, headquartered in Box, which was responsible for defending the western part of England; the 11th Brigade under the command of Major General Pike, headquartered in Uxbridge, which was responsible for defending the south-east of England, including London; the 12th Brigade under the command of Major General Mallory, headquartered in Wattnell, which was responsible for defending the central part of England from the mouth of the River Thames to Yorkshire; the 13th Brigade under the command of Major General Thor, headquartered in Newcastle. Responsible for defending scotland. Of the four groups, the strongest were the 11th and 12th Brigades, especially the 11th Group, which defended London, with 270 of the most advanced Hurricane and Spitfire fighters, accounting for almost 40% of all advanced British aircraft. The British army divided the country into four air defense zones, each district was divided into several air defense divisions, each air defense zone deployed a fighter brigade, the air defense zone deployed two or three fighter squadrons, once the German aircraft attacked, the air defense zone only issued an attack order, the specific combat command was organized by the air defense sub-division command.

Campaign progression

In fact, as early as early June, Germany began a tentative bombing of Britain with a small number of troops, in an attempt to induce British fighters to expose their strength and garrisons through bombing, in order to find out the strength and deployment of the British Air Force, deplete the combat effectiveness of the British Air Force and test the scope and effectiveness of the British air defense system. The Luftwaffe's chosen targets were mainly air bases, cities, and merchant ships. Although in more than two months of tentative bombing, Germany attacked almost all British air bases, sinking more than 450,000 tons of ships, which greatly interfered with Britain's war preparations, the stubborn resistance of the British Air Force caused the "Sea Lion Project" to be frustrated before it could be implemented.

The failure of the air battle before the implementation of project Sea Lion did not dispel Hitler's ambitions to annex Britain. Instead, he wanted "the luftwaffe's great air battle against Britain" to begin immediately. On 2 August, the Luftwaffe General Command issued an order to launch the "Battle of Britain". Goering immediately boasted that the air defenses in the south of Britain would collapse in 4 days, while the British Air Force would be expelled from the airspace over Britain within 4 weeks. On 6 August, Goering ordered his subordinate commanders to begin a full-scale attack on the 10th. This offensive plan was known as the Hawkeye plan. Many German pilots were so proud of the Hawkeye plan that would have won them the war that they drew a map of the British Isles on their fuselages and wrote on them: London – August 15 – Doomed.

However, the plan was forced to be postponed due to weather reasons. On 12 August, Goering ordered the hawkeye plan to be implemented the following day.

As a prelude to the great air raid, the Luftwaffe carried out a fierce raid on the British coastal radar station on the 12th. Six radar stations were hit and severely damaged in the UK, and 1 radar station was completely destroyed. But the Germans did not yet understand the importance of radar to British air defense, and they lagged far behind the British in developing and using this electronic device. German ace pilot Adolf Garland later said: "We realized that the Royal Fighter Squadron must be under the control of some new device on the ground, because we heard the command to command the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft to fight the German fleet very skillfully and accurately." This radar and its control over the fighter aircraft surprised us, and it was a very painful accident. But we can't do anything with it, we can't blow it up. ”

From 13 August to 23 August was the first phase of the Battle of Britain, in which the Germans carried out five massive bombing campaigns against Britain in an attempt to destroy the British Air Force during the 10-day campaign. The tactical means adopted by the Luftwaffe were to concentrate superior forces, air raid the political and economic center of Britain and the main configuration area of the air force, take a large group of aircraft to sail, and the small group entered the target wave continuous assault, so that the British air defense force could not carry out centralized resistance.

On August 13, the sky was overcast and visibility was extremely poor, especially over Sussex and Kent, where dense clouds were only 4,000 feet above the ground and the weather was less suitable for air combat than before. But Goering could not wait any longer, for his Fuehrer was impatient, even a little angry. So the German bomber team set off as planned.

However, the escort fighters did not take off at the same time as planned, only a few fighters followed, and the German bombers had to attack alone with little fighter cover. A huge fleet of 80 Dornier-17 aircraft went to bomb East Churchfield and The Port of Hirness, with similar numbers of Junkers-88s roaring over the coast toward Odihan and Farnbahle, while a large group of Stukas flew along the Hampshire coastline.

As a result of the deployment of alert radars, british fighter command quickly received information on the upcoming German air raids. General Pike, commander of the 8th Fighter Group, ordered two Spitfire squadrons and two Whirlwind squadrons to protect a fleet at the mouth of the Thames and the forward airfields at Hawkinge and Rosstown, and to send a squadron to patrol over Canterbury. He kept 2/3 of the Spitfire and half of the Whirlwind in order to carry out a concentrated attack on enemy aircraft. Brand, commander of the 10th Fighter Group, also sent two squadrons of Whirlwind aircraft to patrol over Dorset.

The first German attack was the 5th Destroyer Group of the 1st Flight Training Regiment. 23 twin-engine destroyers, led by Captain Captain Linsberger, entered the South Coast of Scotland.

As Captain Linsberg crossed the British coastline, the last aircraft in the formation sounded an alarm: "The Spitfire has been spotted in the rear." ”

The sound of the alarm made the German pilots nervous as if they had been shocked. They understood that the somewhat clumsy twin-engine Messerschmitt was not as good as the British Spitfire. Messerschmitt- the 110 aircraft was commissioned in active service in 1936, with a maximum speed of 545 km / h, a range of 1400 km, 2 20 mm guns and 6 7.92 mm machine guns; the Spitfire aircraft entered service at the end of 1937, with a speed of 500 km / h, 8 Browning machine guns on board, and a rate of fire of up to 1260 rounds per minute. Although the Spitfire is slightly slower in speed and climb than the Messerschmitt-110, it has a small turning radius, easy maneuverability, and maneuverability in combat.

Linsberger immediately ordered the whole team to form a circular defensive formation, covering each other's tails. Linsberger took the lead in deploying in formation and began to turn. Before he could fully turn around, the British fighter plane flying high in the air suddenly caught up from the rear at high speed.

Linsberger's plane immediately turned to the right, cleverly avoiding the fire of the Spitfire. It's dangerous! Bullets passed his left side, and the Spitfire pounced. Another German plane tried to dodge with a dive, but it was not lucky for Linsberg, and the speed of this German plane could not be lifted at once, so it was tightly bitten by the British aircraft and attacked.

The Spitfire spewed tongues of fire under its wings and swooped down toward the circular phalanx with all its might. The horizontally flowing destroyer was able to capture the fighter for only a brief moment within range, so the 8 machine guns of the Spitfire were sprayed at the German aircraft together. In a few moments, two German planes were shot down.

Captain Linsberger's destroyer brigade was more than half damaged when it returned to the base, with 5 destroyed and more than 10 wounded. The aftermath of the attack reverberated among the Germans two days later. Goering lost his temper, and he couldn't tolerate this in his Air Force. This result gave Goering a resounding slap in the face. The haikou he boasted about seemed impossible to achieve.

The situation of the German army in other directions was also not good, the German bomber group targeting East Church Airfield obviously successfully carried out the bombing, but also paid a heavy price; the bomber group aimed at Port Sherness was even more unlucky, and was tightly bitten by the British "whirlwind" aircraft, so they had to throw bombs indiscriminately, stealing chickens and not reversing the rice. At the end of Operation Hawkeye, the Luftwaffe had lost 47 aircraft and more than 80 others had been damaged, while the British Air Force had lost only 13 aircraft. "The attack failed" - General Richterhofen of the Luftwaffe wrote bitterly and helplessly in his diary.

On August 15, the weather began to improve unexpectedly, the clouds gradually cleared, and the dark weather that lasted for several days suddenly became clear, which was a good weather for large-scale air raids. The Luftwaffe command did not anticipate the change in the weather at all, and the commanders of the various air forces were called by Goering to Karin Hill for a meeting.

Luftwaffe 2nd Air Corps staff officers such as Paul Deichmann, who remained on duty at the Calais Boningers Command, looked up at the sky at the time of the headmaster. He was thinking about what to do. In the end, Deichmann took the risk with a sense of duty as a soldier. He immediately issued orders to the troops to attack. Who could have predicted that this day would become the most intense and spectacular day of the air battle against the British mainland.

According to Deichmann's orders, the Luftwaffe came out of the nest, and the huge fleet consisted of more than 1800 aircraft, including more than 600 bombers and more than 1200 fighters. The whole of southern England was suddenly filled with the clamor of battle: bombers rumbled, fighters soared and swooped, weaved and intertwined, machine guns fired wildly, cannons continuously sprayed fiery warheads... This is an unprecedented spectacle in the history of world air warfare.

The Luftwaffe had a deep intention of putting such a strong force into the south of England. Because the Luftwaffe was about 650-750 kilometers from the base to the target, plus about 20% of the "tactical backup" range of the whole process, the aircraft attacking the British mainland must have an endurance of about 1800 kilometers. But at that time, the Messerschmitt-109 fighter had a range of only 750 kilometers, and when it flew to the coast of Britain, it would fall into the sea due to fuel exhaustion. In this way, the German Heinkel-111 and Juncker bombers had to attack without fighter escorts. This is tantamount to a moth to a fire, very dangerous. Therefore, the Luftwaffe attempted to clamp down on British fighters by storming the south, so that they would be intercepted by as few enemy aircraft as possible in the assault on central England.

However, this plot by the Luftwaffe was discovered by Marshal Dowding of England. Dowding transferred the 11th Fighter Group, which had been deployed outside the focus of contention between the two sides in the south of England, to Scotland and joined forces with the 12th and 13th Fighter Groups, which had never participated in the war, so that the German attempt was once again bankrupt.

Just as the air battle over the south of England was in full swing, a fierce battle was also launched over the north of England, which was another tit-for-tat battle. At 13:45, a total of 63 Heinkel-111 Aircraft of the First German Attack Wave flew to the northern part of Newcastle. When the fleet was about 40 kilometers off the coast of England, the radio equipment on board suddenly became noisy, and the enemy situation reported one after another:

"Find the Spitfire fighter on the left!"

"Enemy fighters are coming from the direction of the sun!"

"Our plane was attacked by enemy planes!"

The group was escorted by 21 destroyers from the 1st Group of the 76th Destroyer Regiment at the StavangerFors base. This brigade was highly effective and had a glorious historical success, having shot down most of the British Wellington aircraft that had fought in the Battle of Deutsche Bay in December 1939. During the occupation of Norway, it was also the brigade that braved the opponent's dense anti-aircraft fire net to land at Forneb's airfield in Oslo. In the Luftwaffe, this brigade was well known.

However, today's task seems very tricky. The British Air Force was not only more tenacious than them, but also had an absolute numerical superiority.

Flying at the forefront of this destroyer cover formation was Captain Restman, who was tasked with monitoring communications between British fighter jets in coordination with Squadron Leader Hartwich, who was in charge of reconnaissance. He wanted to use this as a breakthrough to grasp the British Air Force's defense system, so as to formulate the corresponding tactics and flight routes of the German bomber forces. However, before they could hear what was clear, a British Spitfire aircraft flew along the sun toward the German command plane. Before Restman could turn around and enter the battle, he was hit by a barrage of bullets fired by the other side, and the plane screamed and plunged into the sea, and the captain of the brigade, Captain Restman, was buried in the English Channel with the plane.

The command plane was shot down by the Spitfire fighters of Britain's 72nd Flying Squadron. After 15 minutes, the British aircraft that came to block the attack launched a three-dimensional attack on the German aircraft from all sides, and another German aircraft was damaged. In the face of a formidable opponent, the two sides engaged in a life-and-death battle, and several British planes were destroyed or withdrew from the battle due to injury.

At 16:45, the fighting in the southern airspace of England was still going on. At this time, a formation of more than 200 German aircraft flew north across the strait.

The British Air Force Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft, which had just finished fighting 1 hour earlier, were on standby on the ground. Soon, almost all squadrons signaled that "take-off is ready." At the sound of an order, more than 170 aircraft took off at the same time to meet the German aircraft invading from the south.

The German pilots experienced the stubborn resistance of the British army. The experience began again when the British coast had just appeared in front of captain Helbich, the navigator. Almost simultaneously, all the last Junkers 88 aircraft of each squadron formation sounded an alarm: "Enemy fighters have been spotted in the back." ”

Flying from behind the German planes were British Spitfires, all of their machine guns spitting out tongues of vengeance and swooping down from above the German formation at astonishing speed. As soon as these aircraft rushed through the effective firing position, they pulled up again, quickly ascended and turned, occupied a favorable position, and prepared to attack again. A series of graceful arc-shaped trails suddenly appeared in the sky.

Helbich saw the group of fighters escorting the bombers. Thousands of meters above the battlefield, there is no time for him to take care of it. It seems that it is impossible to rely on their protection, and it is only up to rely on oneself. The German aircraft did not change its original course and continued to fly towards the target. In order to ensure that the tail shooters could cover each other, the German aircraft adopted a dense formation.

The British Spitfire began a new round of attacks. In response to the new formation of the German aircraft, the British aircraft adopted the tactic of attacking the bombers behind the temple separately. As a result, the German planes had no choice but to turn around and avoid, and the formation was disrupted. The British fighters took the opportunity to chase the fleeing "Juncker" plane, and a chase scene suddenly appeared in the sky, and the British army's "rabbit hunting battle" began. The German bombers were caught in a chaotic escape.

In the days that followed, air combat was interrupted due to bad weather. By the 23rd, the first phase of the Battle of Britain was over. During this phase, 12 British air bases were destroyed, 6 radar stations were incapacitated, 1 command center was bombed, 7 aircraft factories were damaged to varying degrees, and 1 ammunition depot and 10 oil storage depots were blown up. However, because Germany chose too many targets and operated in an area too wide, it dispersed its forces and reduced the bombing effect. At the same time, the Luftwaffe itself suffered heavy losses, and the bombers consumed almost 1/3, so its intended purpose was not achieved. What was most inexplicable to the German pilots was that they were obviously flying and bombing according to ground instructions, but 4/5 of the bombs did not hit the target, but were dropped in the wilderness; and the British fighters put themselves in the most favorable position day after day, and even at every moment. The British planes took off from the airport as if they had calculated in advance the timing of the encounter with the German planes crossing the English Channel. The German pilots were puzzled and puzzled. In fact, how could they have imagined that the "electronic warfare" that would make the whole world boil in half a century had begun at this time.

At that time, German aircraft did not have independent airborne navigation equipment, and mainly relied on ground radio directional beacons to navigate. In response, the British soon developed a series of "Mecon" radios, specifically designed to intercept the signals sent by German radios, and then amplify them and then launch them from elsewhere, thus leading German aircraft astray. Soon after, this confrontation took on a new development. When the Germans used a radio beam to direct the bombers over the target fairly accurately, the British also set up a number of radio stations accordingly, using the "split beam" method to interfere with the German radio beam and keep the bombs dropped by the German aircraft away from the target. It was through this confrontation that Britain effectively reduced the losses caused by German airstrikes. Martini, who led the German radio beam study, admitted after the war that he did not realize early that a high-frequency war had begun, underestimating Britain's ability to conduct electronic countermeasures.

Goering was very unhappy with the Luftwaffe's record. On the 19th, after reviewing the situation at Karin Manor, he ordered: When the weather improves, the Air Force will immediately concentrate on attacking the RAF.

Beginning on 24 August, the Germans learned the lessons of the previous phase and concentrated on bombing the area deployed by the British 11th Fighter Group. To achieve this goal, Germany flew an average of more than 1,000 aircraft per day from August 24 to September 6. The Battle of Britain had entered a decisive phase, and RAF pilots had been on high alert for a month, and they were too tired to fly several times a day. Despite their last strenuous efforts, the numerical superiority of the German side began to work. Five forward airports in the south of the UK were severely damaged. To make matters worse, six of the seven key fan-shaped radar stations along the coast were heavily bombed, and the entire communications and command and control system was on the verge of complete paralysis. At the same time, the RAF fighters' defenses began to weaken, with 446 fighters destroyed or destroyed in just 10 days. In addition, 103 drivers were killed and 128 were seriously injured, which is almost 1/4 of all drivers at that time. Britain faces catastrophic danger, and the country is in a state of panic. Prime Minister Churchill said anxiously: "If the enemy persists, the entire organization of the entire fighter command may collapse and the country is in danger of falling." ”

At this time, however, Goering made a mistake similar to Hitler's halt to the use of tanks to attack Dunkirk on 24 May. In retaliation for the British airstrike on Berlin on August 25, Goering instead ordered the Germans to begin a massive air raid on London on September 7. The exhausted British Air Force pilots finally got a precious respite, and they regained their fighting power in a very short time.

In the private archives of The Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, Goering, with a background to the battlefield, has a propaganda photograph of Goering standing on a high hilltop on the coast of Calais, France, with the white cliffs of Dover glittering in the distance, and groups of German bombers swooping down on the other side of the English Channel; on the airfield, densely lined up "Stuka" bombers are ready to take off. The photograph was taken at 5 p.m. on September 7, 1940, a moment before the massive German airstrike on London.

Hitler believed that the bombing of London would cause panic among the British people, and that Germany might not need an Army labor expedition to force Britain to surrender. In fact, Goering and Hitler had imagined the bombing of London in early 1940. At a dinner at the Chancellery, Hitler reveled in his dreams about how to bomb London. He said: "Have you seen a map of London? The city is so crowded that a single fire can burn the whole city, just as it happened more than 200 years ago. Goering wanted to use countless incendiary bombs with new powers to sow fire in the various districts of London, so that London would be full of fire sources, and thousands of fire sources would merge into a sea of fire. Goering was exactly right. Bombs may not work, but It is possible to burn London with incendiary bombs. ”

At 7:50 p.m. on September 7, a massive swarm of 625 bombers, 648 fighters and destroyers crossed the English Channel from different directions and altitudes to London. The British fighter forces still estimated that the Germans were going to attack their fighter forward bases again, so they voluntarily gave way to London. This time, however, they had been deceived, and the Germans had changed their targets. When the British pilots realized that something was wrong, it was too late to intercept enemy bombers before they flew over the target. The first wave of German aircraft accurately dropped high-explosive bombs on targets such as Harbour Thames, the densely populated East End of London, and the Woolwich factory. All 23 British squadrons roared at the German bomber group and engaged in a fierce battle over London. But they came a step too late, and in just one hour, the Germans succeeded in pouring more than 300 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs into London. London was suddenly a sea of fire. Large and small industrial facilities, transportation hubs, power networks, and civilian homes were destroyed one after another, and the sounds of explosions, collapses, cries for help, screams, and the roar of police cars and fire trucks rushed into the sky with black smoke, and the city instantly turned into rubble. According to incomplete statistics, the number of fires caused by the bombing alone reached more than 1,300 that night.

When the sun rises over London again, London is still shrouded in a thick black smoke, and the sunlight can hardly penetrate this thick smoke screen, let alone erase the dark memories of Londoners of terror.

From a purely military point of view, germany's first large-scale air raid on London was a success.

At 5 p.m. on September 9, more than 200 Luftwaffe bombers, under the cover of a powerful escort fleet, went to bomb London for the second time. But this time they weren't so lucky anymore. The British Air Force had long been prepared for revenge, waiting for the enemy to invade again. As soon as the German fleet flew over the English Channel, the British Spitfire and Whirlwind squadrons were immediately ordered to take off. When the first German bomber formations, almost surrounded by escort fighters, flew over Dover, the two British squadrons that had been waiting in the air for a long time quickly pounced on them, the Whirlwind fighter squadron specialized in attacking enemy bombers, and the Spitfire squadron went all out to intercept enemy fighters. The planes of the two sides chased after each other in the sky and launched a deadly fight. Suddenly, a series of white flying trails appeared in the clear sky of Weilan. Although the Germans eventually bombed, they were also given a powerful warning: never again want to reach the skies over London without attack. In the days that followed, Germany continued to break into the skies over the London area at all costs and wreaked havoc on London. Heart-wrenching air raid sirens have been clamoring all day, seriously disrupting normal working order, and the production capacity of London's industrial district has dropped sharply.

British Fighter Command changed its interception tactics, and the Spitfire and Whirlwind fighters would no longer be engaged in battle in scattered squadrons, and they would be united into large fleets capable of fighting the Luftwaffe in a form of competition. In addition, London's civil defence system has also begun to work, more than 50,000 residents voluntarily participated in air surveillance, they carry telescopes and mobile phones patrol day and night, tirelessly monitoring the air, timely air raid alerts. London has also organized a huge national protection organization, with volunteer fire brigades and emergency medical clinics all over the streets, making an indelible contribution to alleviating the damage caused by air raids.

On 15 September, the Luftwaffe struck again. The 3rd Bombardment Regiment of the 2nd Air Force was the first to encounter an interception by British aircraft over Canterbury. This is the Spitfire fighter of the 72nd and 92nd squadrons of the British Air Force. Both squadrons had built up in the north of England and in battles against enemy aircraft over Dunkirk. Before the British fighters could take a favorable position, they rushed directly from the front into the German bomber formation. The pilots pressed the firing button, turning their anger into a series of vengeful flames to shoot at the German bomber group. Within minutes, German bombers were dragging smoke one after another, wailing and falling into the sea.

While the air battle was raging, Prime Minister Churchill came to General Parker's headquarters, which commanded the air battle. Without a word, he walked into the basement, his eyes fixed on the map of the changing combat situation at any time. This deadly battle was a matter of life and death for the British Empire.

The British finally won. After this day of special significance, the Luftwaffe no longer dared to engage in a large-scale battle with the British Air Force, and it could no longer afford to lose. On this day alone, the Germans shot down 185 aircraft. Churchill said excitedly: This day is the most intense day in the history of air warfare in the world. Later, the British designated September 15 as the "British Air Battle Day" as a celebration of victory.

While the Germans were still in the frustration of defeat, the RAF launched a counterattack with the aftermath of victory. On 16 and 17 September, the British continued to bombard the berths of German warships preparing for an invasion, dealing a severe blow to the German Navy. Admirals reported to the Fuehrer: "In Antwerp, the transport fleet suffered heavy losses, 5 transport ships in the port were seriously injured, a barge sank, an arms train was blown up, and several warehouses were on fire. "In Dunkirk, a total of 84 German barges were sunk or damaged. Hitler was even more dismayed by the news from Cherbourg: a large arsenal had been blown up, a large food depot had been burned, several ships and torpedo boats had been sunk, and heavy casualties had been inflicted. Some people even boldly and bluntly said to Hitler: "If we order the continued assembly of the landing forces, it is better to send my soldiers directly to the meat mixer." ”

The British Air Force's resurgence so quickly terrified Germany. Goering finally saw that his conceit and incompetence had caused him to fall out of favor in the face of Hitler, and the other services were furious with him. In order to minimize the losses, Goering ordered that from October 1, the air raids on London should be changed to nighttime.

On the evening of the 2nd, a huge German fleet of more than 1,000 aircraft took off again, and it was going to bring death into London again. Despite the full efforts of the British Air Force to intercept, the effect was not ideal. The British lacked sufficient experience in nighttime city defense, and a large number of German bombers successfully flew over London. Suddenly, the entire city sounded a piercing air raid siren, and the light control plunged the neighborhood into darkness. The searchlight beam swept through the air like a sharp sword, searching for targets for ground air defenses and fighter jets. Only to see all kinds of planes sometimes swooping, sometimes pulling up, a burst of soaring fireworks followed, one plane after another dragging thick black smoke to the ground, the entire London neighborhood seems to be suffering an unprecedented catastrophe.

By February 1941, the Germans had dispatched more than 24,000 aircraft and shot down 156 aircraft; london had suffered heavy losses, killing nearly 10,000 citizens, blowing up 1/5 of the city's houses, severely damaging transportation and public facilities, and reducing the number of trains departing from London from 60 before the bombing to 4 times a day. Other nearby cities were also damaged to varying degrees, the most serious of which was Coventry, the center of the aviation industry, where the Germans dropped more than 16,000 tons of bombs, almost destroying the entire city and severely destroying 12 aircraft parts factories.

In the face of this passive situation, the British Air Force came up with various methods: on the one hand, they used aircraft to load searchlights to illuminate the fighters with ground searchlight troops, and fired a large number of blocking balloons in the direction of German aircraft attacks; on the other hand, they interfered with the Luftwaffe's night navigation equipment by radio, destroying the Bomb shooting rate of German aircraft. They also developed a number of brand-new weapons and equipment in a timely manner, such as artillery aim radar, fighter night navigation equipment, and airborne radar systems. All these measures effectively curbed the rampant invasion of the Luftwaffe, thus reducing London's losses.

Until Hitler's determination to invade the Soviet Union, the bombing continued, but it was mainly used as a smokescreen to cover up attempts to attack the Soviet Union, and the scale of air raids gradually decreased. In May, when all preparations were in place for the attack on the Soviet Union, the Luftwaffe began a massive shift to the Eastern Front, ending the Battle of Britain.

Throughout the "Battle of Britain", the British lost nearly a thousand combat aircraft, and were killed and wounded by various personnel14. More than 70,000 people, more than 1 million houses were destroyed. But the heroic British aircraft crew also caused unbearable losses to the Nazis, causing Germany to lose more than 2,400 aircraft, and the "Sea Lion Project" had to be postponed indefinitely, and eventually vanished.

Campaign impact

Since the Luftwaffe was unable to complete its plan to seize air supremacy, the intention of landing in Britain, forcing the British government to surrender or cooperate with Germany could not be carried out. The Luftwaffe lost more than two thousand aircrews and more than two thousand aircraft of all kinds, and although it did not affect the overall strength, for Germany, which had very limited resources, these losses could not be fully recovered before the war on the Soviet Union began.

Germany lost the opportunity to negotiate political peace with Britain, nor could it solve the possible threat of Britain in the Atlantic and Mediterranean theaters, although for a short time Britain could only exert pressure on the German mainland in the form of strategic bombing, and with the assistance of the United States, Britain was able to block Italy's and German plans in North Africa and retain the largest base for counterattack on European soil.

At the same time, in terms of psychological factors, Britain temporarily blocked the sharpness of the German offensive, and also broke the Record of the Luftwaffe's total victory in the early stages of the war, so that British morale could have a slight chance to recover after repeated setbacks on the European continent.

The main generals of both sides

Goring

Hermann Wilhelm Göring (1893–1946), Marshal of the Luftwaffe, Marshal of the Reichstag, number two in the German Nazi Party, Hitler's designated successor, mastermind of the Reichstag arson and the formation of the Secret Police Gestapo. He was not only the political, economic and military head of the German fascists, but also the mastermind of the slavery plan and the suppression of the killing of Jews and other races, and was the main fascist criminal in World War II. At the Nuremberg trials, Goering was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to hanging, but he committed suicide in prison hours before the execution.

Dowding

Hugh Dowding (1882–1970) was a British Air Force general. Born in Scotland, he graduated from Sandhurst Royal Officers' School and The Camberley Staff College. Fought in World War I. He was commander of the British Air Force in Jordan and Pakistan and a member of the British Aviation Commission. In 1936, he became Commander of fighter aviation in the Royal Air Force, where he worked on radar and hurricane fighters. In the Battle of Britain in World War II, he commanded Ruoding and crushed the Luftwaffe's air attack. He was made a baron in 1943.

The story of the war

Ace pilot without legs

In 1931, British pilot Douglas Budd lost both legs during an air show, but after the start of World War II, he mounted a prosthesis and continued to fly the aircraft, shooting down a total of 22 German fighters. In August 1941, Bard's fighter jets fell into flames after being hit by German artillery fire. When he was captured by the Germans, the latter was shocked to find that the British ace pilot was actually a "legless flying general"!

The crash suffered from the loss of both legs and was forced to retire

In 1927, at the age of 17, Bud signed up for the Air Force. After graduating from the prestigious Rajcian Air Force Academy in Cromwell in 1930, Bud was awarded the rank and assigned to The 23rd Flying Squadron at Kenley Airport.

On December 14, 1931, the young Bud piloted a Bulldog fighter jet through the airport at an ultra-low altitude and made a low-altitude tumble. Because he was flying so low, the left wing of the plane rubbed the ground and rolled out of control on the runway. The accident left Bud losing both legs. After a long and painful recovery process, Bud learned to walk on prosthetic legs. However, in April 1933, he received a notice of retirement from the Air Force.

Returning to the blue sky to annihilate 22 enemy aircraft

After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Bud asked the RAF to return to the Air Force. After a series of rigorous examinations, in February 1940 he joined the 19th Squadron in the town of Duxford, England, and was subsequently appointed commander of the 222 Squadron.

In June of the same year, 222 Squadron, along with other flying squadrons, carried out the task of covering the Evacuation of Dunkirk. While flying over Dunkirk, Bud spotted four Luftwaffe Me-109s approaching him. So he immediately opened fire, and as the cannon fire on the wings erupted, a Me-109s turned into a ball of flames - the first time in Budd's life to shoot down an enemy aircraft!

On September 15 of the same year, the famous London air battle began, and Bud's troops, together with other forces, defeated the Luftwaffe attack in one fell swoop. In the ensuing battle, Bud's troops shot down a total of 152 German aircraft and lost only 30 of themselves——— an incredible achievement! According to statistics, in World War II, Bud personally shot down as many as 22 German aircraft!

The "Legless Flying General" overwhelmed the Germans

On August 9, 1941, Bud was leading his fleet over France when his fighter jets fell into flames after being hit by German ground fire. Bud struggled out of the wreckage of the plane, but dropped his right prosthesis into the plane. He was then captured by the Germans. The Germans were shocked to find out that this British ace pilot, who made them so afraid, was actually a "legless flying general"!

Thus, there was an unprecedented scene in World War II: the Germans opened a safe passage and informed the British Air Force to parachute the prosthesis that Bud desperately needed.

In the spring of 1945, U.S. advance forces liberated Bad's Cordiz concentration camp. Freed, Bud rushed to Paris and asked to fly to the final war, but was refused.

"Fans" bought legendary prosthetics at sky-high prices

After the end of World War II, Bud was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest honor of the British Army, and Hollywood in the United States used him as the prototype for the classic film "Fighting the Sky". On September 15, 1945, britain celebrated a grand commemoration of the air battle that Churchill called the "Battle of Britain" five years earlier, and Bud led 300 planes roaring over London. Below him, countless Britons waved flowers in tribute to the legendary hero.

Celebrity controversy

On 20 September 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill praised the British Air Force in a speech that was later widely quoted: "Never before in the history of human warfare have so many people received so much from so few people!" ”

Remnants of war

British Air Battle Memorial Tower

In order to commemorate the arrival of the 70th anniversary of the British Air War, the Royal Air Force Museum plans to spend 80 million pounds to build a building temporarily named the "British Air Battle Memorial Tower" in the city of Hendon in northwest London, according to design data, the memorial tower is 116 meters high, nearly 10 meters higher than the bell tower of the Palace of Westminster, the British Parliament Building, and even in the center of London will see the towering memorial tower, which may become a permanent memorial tower of the British Air Battle and become another famous attraction in the United Kingdom.