Battle of Britain



The Battle of Britain is the conflict between the RAF and Germany. During 10 July 1940 - 31 October 1940 huge numbers of bombers were destroyed without incapacitating the British fighter airfields permanently. It was started after Germany attacked France and Britain stepped in to help then retreated back to Britain where Germany attacked next.

Allies side of Battle of Britain
On July 11, 1940, one of the most spectacular air battles of World War 2 was fought. The battle started after the Nazi air squads tried to attack a convoy. The British planes soon came to defend and then hundreds of planes from both sides engaged in combat. There were losses for both sides in the first air battle. The Nazis lost about 30 planes, while the British lost a cruiser, four merchant ships, and 10 planes. The Nazi air squads also went on raids in England and Wales, which resulted in civilians killed and injured, and damage to private property.

The Nazis made 2 attacks on the convoy. The first one consisted of a Nazi air squad trying to bomb the ships that made up the convoy. It failed though, and none of the bombs found a target. The second attack came about 10 minutes later. About 30 bombers came in, protected by fighter planes. They started bombing the ships and while the British forces were busy, more fighter planes flew in to join the battle. The British forces managed to badly damage the German squadrons and forced them to retreat. Although the British forces were successful in driving the German air forces back, there was still a number of people killed or wounded. In addition, freight yards, oil refineries, and airbases were bombed in the raids.

German side : Battle of Britain
Fighters had to do very intense military training to join the force. They went to flight school and got ready for new assignments. During the Battle of Britain, they could see the smaller and bigger ships fleeing back to England, they were ordered not to shoot, and some thought it was the right thing to do. During the war, you would know that the codes being sent between armies were being intercepted by each other. The English had one big advantage over the Germans, they had full tanks, where as German planes were nearly empty, therefore they had to go back once in a while to refill. Later on the planes got better. Life as a pilot was always quick and dangerous, during combat, you had to be 100% determined and ready to die.

thumb|300px|left|Battle of Britain combat footage