British Success in the 1940 Battle of Britain INTRODUCTION This research examines the

This research examines the Battle of Britain. For the United Kingdom, the European aspect of the Second World War lasted for a total of 70 months. At the outside, the Battle of Britain spanned only seven months of that total. For the mostpart, however, the Battle of Britain occurred over an even shorter time periodthe threeandonehalf months (114 days) from 10 July 1940 through 31 October 1940 (Gelb, 1985). Further, the second party the the BattleGermanyhas never agreed that a Battle of Britain per se ever occurred (Taylor, 1978). Of course, the Germans acknowledge their bombing raids over southern England, and the consequent air combat between the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Luftwaffe during the relevant time period. What they do not accept is the British attribution of German military objectives associated with that activity, and the British assessment of the significance of that activity (Deighton, 1978). Lastly, the most senior members of the RAF at the time were in almost total disagreement with the manner in which the Battle of Britain was waged, and wasted little time once it was over in giving the boot to the manAir Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowdingmost responsible for British success in the Battle (Deighton, 1978; Gelb, 1985; Wright, 1969).

In spite of its relatively short duration, the failure of the Germans to acknowledge either its decisiveness or their intent in it, and the eagerness of the British senior air

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d, some individuals, groups, and nations learned that terror could be induced in society through the manipulation of events and expectations. In the fall of 1940, terror was induced on the British population by the fear of massive bombing attacks which were aimed 7at population centers, particularly London, as opposed to mili tary targets. In the ancient world, terror was the basis of tyranny. Over time, many political leaders adopted terror as one of the tools used to maintain power. The Nazis, by 1940,had already successfully employed terror in Germany, and they hoped to use it successfully in the London Blitz. Although the devastation of the Luftwaffe attacks on London was awesome, the terror did not break the spirit of the British population, as had been intended by Hitler. Similarly, it should be noted, the massive Allied bombing attacks on German cities only served to stiffen the resolve of the German population (Toland, 1976). Although Fighter Command continued to be plagued by dissension and disobedience to orders by LeighMallory's group, it was successful in denying the Luftwaffe control of the air over southern England (Deighton, 1978). Although Fighter Command was not itself able to gain control of

Category: History - B