It was the largest air battle in the history of World War II, in 10 months, the two sides sent more than 8,000 fighters to participate in the battle, the number of battle losses exceeded 3500, an average of about 12 per day; it was also the most important air battle in the history of World War II, and it was also Germany's first defeat in World War II. Because after this battle, Germany not only failed to achieve the established combat objectives, but also lost almost the entire air force, thus indirectly affecting the direction of World War II.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > sea lion program</h1>
After a German blitzkrieg on Poland in September 1939, World War II broke out. Germany then conquered Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the powerful France. At this time, only Britain was alone in the European battlefield, and its army and air force were greatly weakened after the Dunkirk evacuation, but the strong navy still made Germany, which was relatively weak in navy, dare not rush to act, and Germany always regarded the Soviet Union as its strongest opponent. Therefore, Germany adopted the tactic of abduction against Britain in June 1940, and as long as Britain promised not to intervene in the subsequent war and return the German colonies occupied after World War I, Germany would not start a war against Britain. However, Churchill, who had only been prime minister for 1 month, decisively refused Germany's request. Enraged, Germany announced its "Sea Lion Plan" to invade Britain on July 16. At this point, the largest air battle in the history of World War II is about to begin, also known as the Battle of Britain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > the fourth stage of the Great War</h1>
After nine months of war, the Size of the German Army and Air Force expanded dramatically, but the strength of the Navy was still not comparable to that of the British. In order to successfully implement the plan, Germany decided to use 3,000 aircraft to destroy the British defense system around August 5, then use the cover of the air force to gain sea supremacy, and finally send 25 to 40 divisions to land and occupy LinkedIn in one fell swoop. In order to ensure victory in the air battle, German Field Marshal Göring concentrated 13 divisions of 3 Air Force Groups, which had nearly 2700 fighters. The British Air Force at the time had only 700 fighters, 500 bombers and 200 anti-aircraft guns. However, the United Kingdom, which was prepared for the rainy day, was equipped with an artifact to restrain the Luftwaffe, which we will talk about later. In the process of implementing the entire combat plan, because of the change in the direction of operations, it was divided into four stages.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > stage 1</h1>
Strictly speaking, the first stage refers to the German bombing of British ports, airfields, aircraft factories, and radar stations between August 13 and August 23, when Germany wanted to lure the British Air Force into attacking and annihilating them in one fell swoop. However, the British Air Force, which possessed secret weapons, not only failed germany to do so, but also destroyed 367 German fighters at the cost of sacrificing 183 fighters;
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > stage 2</h1>
The second phase was from August 24th to September 6th, and the reason why it entered the second phase was because the Luftwaffe felt that the British Air Force fighters were fighting more and more, so the Luftwaffe immediately changed its operational policy, and in these two weeks, the German army mainly attacked british aircraft factories, but the Luftwaffe pilots made a mistake in a combat mission, so that the "Sea Lion Project" entered the third stage.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > stage 3</h1>
On 24 August, 12 German pilots on bombing missions mistakenly dropped bombs over London, much to The height of Churchill's fire, so he organized 81 bombers the next day to carry out retaliatory bombings on Berlin, and on 28 and 31 August, they attacked Berlin in surprise. Although it was not very harmful, it was extremely humiliating to Germany. Therefore, the German high-level discussed countermeasures on September 3, and the final result was a tit-for-tat, eye-for-eye, and a plan for a large-scale bombing of London from September 7, which was the third phase of the Sea Lion Project.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" > Stage 4</h1>
The final fourth phase was a retaliatory german bombing campaign that began in November 1940 and continued in May of the following year in order to avenge and disguise its next operational plan, and its main targets were London and the aviation industry base (Coventry, etc.). From 24 August to 6 September, the Battle of Britain entered a crucial and extremely tragic second phase, when the Germans carried out large-scale air raids on the main base of the British 11th Brigade and the aircraft factory in the south of England in accordance with Goering's decision, and during these two weeks, the German army flew more than 1,000 aircraft per day, of which august 30 and August 31, an average of 1,600 sorties per day.
It was also during these two weeks that the German bombing shook the british air force fundamentally. First, since the beginning of the air battle, the British army has killed 103 pilots and 128 seriously wounded, accounting for a quarter of all pilots. The British Air Force began to have a shortage of personnel, especially the experienced flight backbone suffered a large number of casualties, even some young people who were only about twenty years old were already veterans; secondly, in these two weeks, the British Army had 195 aircraft shot down, 171 were seriously damaged, and at the same time, the total number of new aircraft produced by the British plus repaired aircraft was only 269, and the British Air Force fighters had already appeared to be in a situation of insufficient income, which showed how precarious the British army was at this time, if Germany continued to bomb at this time, Then the British Air Force will face the embarrassing situation of inorganic availability. However, at this time, the German army accidentally bombed London and the reaction between Britain and Germany pulled the British Air Force back from the death line.
As the Germans began bombing London, British aircraft factories were able to breathe a sigh of relief and began to produce aircraft at full capacity. Eight days later, on 15 September, the British Air Force dispatched more than 300 fighters from 19 squadrons to intercept the incoming aircraft group of 200 bombers and 600 fighters. The fierce air battle lasted for a whole day, and under the heroic resistance of the British Air Force, many German bombers could only drop bombs in a hurry and then quickly flee for their lives, and we will continue to talk about the specific reasons later. During the day, 56 German aircraft were shot down and 80 more landed with bullet marks, while the British lost only 20 Hurricanes, 6 Spitfires, and 7 badly wounded and scrapped fighters. To celebrate the British victory, the British designated 15 September as Britain Air Battle Day.
Subsequently, in a German retaliatory bombing campaign, the Germans dispatched 449 Heinkel-111 bombers, dropping 394 tons of explosive bombs, 56 tons of incendiary bombs and 127 time bombs to bomb Coventry; in May of the following year, the Germans dispatched more than 500 bombers to launch the last large-scale air raid on London. 700 tons of explosive and incendiary bombs landed in the city of London, and the fire lit up most of the night sky, killing 1,436 London civilians and seriously injuring more than 1,800 people. Subsequently, the Germans launched the Barbarossa Plan against the Soviet Union, and from then on, the Battle of Britain ended.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > both pay a heavy price</h1>
During the most critical phase of the Battle of Britain from July to October 1940, the Germans were shot down 1,733 aircraft of various types, 943 were wounded, and about 6,000 air crews were lost; the British Air Force lost 915 aircraft and 414 pilots. By May 1941, the Germans had flown more than 46,000 sorties and dropped more than 70,000 tons of bombs on Britain, but lost more than 2,000 fighters and more than 1,500 British fighters. Although britain won a crushing victory this time, this battle not only made The unprecedented strength of Germany usher in its first defeat in World War II, but also almost lost the Luftwaffe's family foundation, which also laid the groundwork for the defeat of the later Barbarossa operation. In terms of time, we will use a video to analyze the main reasons for the defeat of the German army in this unprecedented air battle. Interested netizens can pay attention to me Oh... Also, what is your opinion on the Sea Lion Project? Welcome to leave a message.
Germany lost world war II: 8,000 fighters were dispatched, 3,500 were damaged, and the entire Luftwaffe was buried
The largest air battle of World War II: 8,000 fighters, the entire Luftwaffe
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