According to the BBC, Winston Churchill spearheaded one of the most iconic battles against the Germans soon after France signed an armistice (par 1). The battle started in favor of the Germans, who had already overpowered Poland and France. Some of the key figures in the battle include Churchill, Dowding, and Göring. Despite the advantage of German over the British air forces, Britain focused on its unity and the capabilities of the royal air force to defeat the Germans.
According to the A&E Television Networks, Churchill started by outmaneuvering all the politicians supporting negotiations with Hitler (par 1). He convinced his people to support him in protecting, and fighting for their cause. After winning over the politicians, Churchill capitalized on the RAF fighter commands to frustrate the German’s efforts of taking over the southern channel. The command used the hawker hurricane and the spitfire to counter the air strikes from German soldiers.
Additionally, one of Britain’s greatest leaders, Hugh Dowding, led the command and applied some of the best tactical skills that involved the separation of the command into several units to cover the most vulnerable regions.
In one of Churchill’s speeches, he rallied the soldiers and citizens into a mindset of war when he declared that France’s war was over, and it was time for Britain’s war. Dowding capitalized on some of the best fighter pilots and tactical leadership that generated significant losses to the German forces. In fact, the separation of the command into defensive military units covered southeast England, the northern region, and Scotland from attacks. Additionally, Britain changed its strategies from the defensive to an offensive attack on Berlin. The attack was one of the most significant in the battle because it crippled the German air forces.
According to MacKay and Price, Britain had one of the most sophisticated air defense systems when fighting with Germany (312). In fact, it had some of the most effective radar tracking and guidance systems that prevented the long-range German attacks from hitting its territory. Although the country lacked civil-defense mechanism, it had the advantage of fighting over friendly territories. The mechanism minimized their loss rates because they could manage to recover the wounded soldiers.
Additionally, Germany’s aircrafts were not designed for long-range attacks. They had to fly closer to the British territory to execute their attacks. However, British fighters used their numbers to shoot down the German planes. In fact, Germany lost very many planes before initiating a close escort strategy to their bomber formations. The British defense system frustrated the German commander, and he changed tactics by engaging in a series of attacks on London and other civilian towns. However, the strategy was not successful because the British command relocated to London and used their numbers to bring down a significant number of the German bomber formations.
Churchill relied on the relentless royal army to frustrate all German intentions. Additionally, he used the defense system to detect and suppress most of the attacks. The command’s dedication and resilience caused massive losses to the Germans. After the greatest defeat of German air forces in London, Hitler gave up and postponed his attacks. In fact, his withdrawal served as an end to the battle of Britain. Churchill recognized the great dedication and resilience of the RAF commands and celebrated the great victory over the Germans.
Works Cited
A&E Television Networks, LLC. Battle of Britain. 2009. Web.
BBC. The Battle of Britain. 2015. Web.
MacKay, Niall, and Christopher Price. “Safety in numbers: Ideas of concentration in Royal Air Force fighter defence from Lanchester to the Battle of Britain.” History 96.323 (2011): 304-325. Print.