Britain Alone

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Britain Alone

• 1940-41

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September 1939 Poland invaded
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September 1939- May 1940The so called Phoney
War
Children evacuated from danger areas. No actual
air raids on Britain
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May 1940 Germany attacks in the west.

• April 1940 Denmark Norway were invaded and
  occupied by Germany.
• May 10th 1940 German attacks on Holland,
  Belgium and France
• No-confidence debate in the House of Commons
  causes Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to
  resign. The King asked Winston Churchill to form
  a new government.

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Chamberlain associated with defeat.
Churchill had been the biggest critic of Hitler
and the British policy of appeasement before the
war.
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The German army moved swiftly across France and
surrounded the British army sent there to help
defend France.
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Disaster at Dunkirk
The 330,000 soldiers of the B.E.F. (British
Expeditionary Force) were surrounded by the
German army at Dunkirk and had to escape by boat
back home.
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Dunkirk was held for a vital few days to allow
time for the British army to escape.
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Evacuation of the British army from the beaches
around Dunkirk.
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The surrender of France June 18th 1940
Hitlers first and only visit to Paris.
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Hitlers Europe
How could Britain alone mount a full scale
invasion to liberate Europe from Nazi rule ?
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Hitler plans to invade Britain next.
Operation Sealion (the invasion of Britain) was
scheduled to take place on September 15th 1940.
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Hermann Goerings plan
The German army must cross the English channel in
order to invade Britain. But.the British navy
was far superior to the German navy and would
sink the German invasion fleet before it could
reach Britain. The British navy can only be
destroyed by sustained aerial attack. The
aircraft of the British RAF must be destroyed
first to give the Germans a chance of success.
Goering was Hitlers deputy and head of the
German air force or Luftwaffe.
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RAF Fighter Command was Britains main line of
defence. A few hundred planes stood between
Britain and a German invasion.
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Radar stations
Radar stations and air fields were the main
targets for the German bombers.
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British losses

• Within a few weeks Britains RAF had lost
• 25 of its pilots.
• Aircraft could be replaced quickly but a pilot
  takes at least a year to train.
• Volunteer pilots came from many nations
  (Australia, Canada, Poland, South Africa etc)

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German tactical mistakes

• At the height of the Battle of Britain the
  German Luftwaffe switched targets to bombing
  civilian centres like London and Coventry. This
  was a mistake as it gave the RAF a chance to
  repair their airfields and rest their exhausted
  pilots.

St Pauls cathedral surrounded by flames.
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(No Transcript)
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Was Britain fighting alone ?

• Britains allies came from the Empire
  Commonwealth (Canada, Australia, South Africa)
• 25 of RAF fighter pilots in 1940 were foreign.
• USA supplied Britain with oil, weapons, food,
  aircraft and all kinds of material for war on a
  cash and carry basis. In March 1941 cash and
  carry gave way to Lend-Lease.

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Destroyers for bases

• In September 1940 Britain was so desperate for
  extra warships that she purchased 50 obsolete
  destroyers from the USA in exchange for British
  bases in Trinidad, Jamaica and Bermuda.

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Lend -Lease

• Britain could purchase from the USA all the
  necessary material of war on a loan basis. There
  was no payment required until after the war.
  There was no limit on how much Britain could take
  from the USA.
• Without Lend-Lease Britain would have run out of
  money by 1942 and would have been unable to
  continue to pay for the war. Britain received
  between 14 20 billion worth of US aid.

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They are fighting in the front line of
civilisation as we speak. They need tanks and
guns and planes and supplies of all kinds. From
America they will receive tanks and guns and
planes and supplies of all kinds.
President Franklin Roosevelt on the Lend Lease
scheme
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June 22nd 1941. Germany invades Russia (then
known as the USSR)
Britain no longer had to fight Germany alone. The
main bulk of the German army and air force was
sent to Russia. Britain was safe from invasion.
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1941 the Atlantic Charter
August 14th 1941 Churchill and Roosevelt meet and
proclaim the Atlantic Charter declaring common
principles of democracy and freedom. The USA was
not at war yet but was clearly on Britains side.
President Roosevelt of the USA meeting Winston
Churchill.
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December 7th 1941 Pearl Harbour
Japanese attack on US navy at Pearl Harbour
brings the USA into the war against Japan and
Germany.
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Churchills reaction to Pearl Harbour
So we have won after all
Churchills diary entry December 7th 1941.
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A historians view.

• Churchill saw no way of winning the war without
  full American participation. His famous give us
  the tools and we will finish the job radio
  broadcast of 9th February 1941 was a piece of
  tactical phrasing and not hard truth. What he
  really meant was give us the tools and we will
  hold out long enough for you to take your time
  about joining the war. It was therefore a moment
  of joy when he heard the news of the Japanese
  attack on Pearl Harbour. Churchill wrote famously
  in his diary of that attack so we have won after
  all
• Churchill, by Roy Jenkins (2001)

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Your task

• Using the information from this presentation and
  the video, you will prepare in groups of 2-3 a
  short radio or film bulletin of the first two
  years of the war.
• It could be for an American audience. The USA did
  not join the war until 1941.