"The
Battle of Britain" was when the German's
superior air forces (the Luftwaffe) were defeated
by the British Royal Air Force (RAF), despite
them being outnumbered heavily. It was one of
Britain's most remembered efforts at preventing
German forces from invading Britain.
Britain was the last enemy of Germany in the
west after the loss of France in June, 1940,
and so Hitler concentrated his forces towards
Britain. Hitler wanted to finish Britain off
quickly and the quickest way was invasion but
he wanted to neutralise the RAF first so the
Luftwaffe and RAF engaged in combat which was
known as the Battle of Britain.
The German's had codenamed their invasion plan
of Britain Operation Sea Lion, which was divided
into five separate Phases:
Phase
1: The Luftwaffe attacks convoys crossing
the British Channel.
Phase
2: Fighter against fighter. With the German
Air Forces being superior, they believed this
would not last long (they thought they would
beat the British easily).
Phase
3: The Luftwaffe place huge air raids on all
air fields, industrial centres and industries.
Phase
4: The Luftwaffe bombarded London and the
surrounding cities, which is known as "the
Blitz".
Phase
5: The Luftwaffe wait for the British reaction.
After
phase 5 was over Operation Sea Lion was cancelled.
Britain was not invaded by Germany mainly
because Hitler turned his attention towards
Russia and called back his troops. If Hitler
had continued with Operation Sea Lion it is
quite possible that Britain would have been
defeated.
