HISTORIC VICTORIES
Pilots of No 43 Squadron RAF based at Wick, Scotland, standing in front of a Hawker Hurricane Mark I
took a tremendous amount of battle damage without appearing to worry too much.’ The failure of Nazi high command to gather
effective intelligence lessened the damage the Luftwaffe’s attack on Britain’s defences could have had. Göring’s strategy was four-fold. He started by attacking shipping lanes in the English Channel in an attempt to draw the RAF into battle. Soon afterwards, by switching attacks away from radar stations and air bases and towards cities instead, he left Fighter Command’s intelligence network operational granting the RAF free reign to intercept German intelligence. Albert Speer wrote in his memoirs that a number
of important decisions were made based on Göring’s ignorance. As Göring did not understand the importance of radar, it was dismissed as unnecessary for success. Radar station RAF Ventnor on the Isle of Wight was therefore allowed to function throughout the Battle of Britain. Geoff Nutkins adds: ‘The Germans turned their
attention towards London. If they had continued to bomb air bases, the UK would have lost.’ The UK’s success in stopping the Nazi war machine over the cliffs of Dover can therefore be
Had it not been for the magnificent [work of] the Polish squadrons... I hesitate to say that the outcome of the battle would have been the same – Air chief marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
credited to a range of efforts. RAF fighter pilots displayed astonishing bravery by going up against bomber escorts and fighter squadrons – they were at the forefront of the campaign. Behind them was a highly effective intelligence
network that enabled their coordination in an efficient way that the Germans could barely comprehend. Other circumstances such as the Luftwaffe’s ill
thought out strategy and the genius of the designers of RAF fighter aircraft also factored hugely into the UK’s victory. Perhaps British efforts during August and
September 1940 can be better summed up by Churchill’s address to the House of Commons three months earlier in June: ‘Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “this was their finest hour”.’ •
48 SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
www.armedforcesday.org.uk
Biggin Hill
Commemoration
Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain – ‘Bravery, Sacrifice, Freedom’ will take place on June 26-27 at Biggin Hill, Bromley. The air fair will include an airfield attack featuring sound pyrotechnics and giant screens to help recreate the summer of 1940. A raft of the key aircraft
of the battle will be going on Battle of Britain memorial flights against the backdrop of central London, which can be seen from the airfield. These include the Hurricane Mk IIc, the Spitfire Mk 11a and the Spitfire Mk Vb. Bomber squadrons will also be remembered with a flight of the Lancaster bomber. Guests will include air and ground crew veterans who served in fighter squadrons during the battle.
For more information, visit
http://www.bigginhillairfair.
co.uk
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