Poland and France had both fallen to the Nazis. Of the Allied powers, only Britain remained. Hitler suggested peace talks, but Churchill refused.
Hitler planned a full invasion of Britain, codenamed Operation Sea Lion. He used submarines (U-boats) to attack shipping routes to Britain and to damage radar bases. For any invasion to succeed, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) had to be destroyed or badly weakened. The campaign of aerial attacks on Britain by the Luftwaffe became known as the Battle of Britain. On the fi rst day, 13 August 1940, 1,485 German bombers attacked RAF bases, including airfi elds and radar stations. These raids continued for a month. RAF pilots in Hurricanes and Spitfi res were in constant dogfi ghts (close combat between military aircraft) with the German ME 109s and ME 110s.
By mid-September 1940, the British had won the Battle of Britain. This was the fi rst time Hitler had suffered a defeat. Some reasons for this were:
• The Germans moved their focus to London, which gave the RAF time to reorganise. • Radar gave the British advance warning of German air raids. • The British Spitfi res were better than the German planes.
• German planes could not stay long in British airspace: they had to return to the Third Reich to refuel.
• German losses were greater: 1,700 Luftwaffe planes were shot down and nearly 3,500 airmen were killed or captured.
