The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

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time in the world to reach the Dinant area, dig in and build up strength. Theweir at Houx was also, bizarrely, the boundary between two French corps –the II and the XI. Coincidentally, it was the precise place that Germantroops had crossed back in 1914. Why a corps boundary had to be at suchan obvious weak spot is not clear; but it explains why, when the WernerDetachment crossed, they found a surprising lack of enemy troops on thenight of the 12th. They had inadvertently hit upon a French troop vacuum.As it happened, the French soldiers from II Corps to the north of Houxhad already arrived by the 12th but had not dug in with any urgency at all.To the south, only five of the nine infantry battalions of the 5th and 18thInfantry Divisions had reached the Dinant area. In other words, two Germanpanzer divisions had taken considerably less time to travel the seventykilometres of their attack than the French divisions had for their almostentirely undisturbed fifty-mile approach. Guderian and von Manstein hadalways recognized that it would be a race to the Meuse, and at Dinant theGermans had emphatically won hands down.Further south, near Sedan, Guderian was also managing to keep to his strictthree-day timetable and by the evening of the 12th his three divisions hadsmashed their way through the five major obstacles that barred their way tothe Meuse, the last of which was the French border posts some six miles tothe east of the river, which had fallen by the afternoon. His men had doneall he had asked of them: charging hell for leather, without a break, pumpedup on stimulants, and supported by a meticulously planned and uniquelogistical system. This included pre-prepared fuel dumps and insertinglorries full of laden jerrycans in with the spearhead that could roll pasthanding out petrol without stopping. Relief crews had also been transportedwith the lead panzers. These measures had been simple, effective andingenious.They had also had little interference from the air. Guderian’s leadpanzers might have benefited from being the spearhead, but Panzer CorpsReinhardt, following behind, had soon found itself in the world’s biggestgridlock as the infantry divisions supposed to be following behind andalong strict march routes began deviating from these orders. In places,divisions competing for road space found themselves cutting across oneanother – or trying to, at any rate – which led to the kind of traffic jam thatwould make the M25 in rush hour seem like a race track. General
Reinhardt’s divisions became increasingly separated and split up; his lead6th Panzer Division was shredded as no fewer than four infantry divisionsfollowing tried to cut across its advance. By the morning of 13 May, therewere traffic jams some 170 miles long.
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The author and publisher have provi
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ContentsList of Maps and FiguresNot
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47 Exhaustion48 Last FlightPostscri
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RAF FIGHTER COMMAND ORDER OF BATTLE
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Note on the TextSo as not to cause
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Truly, the Battle of Britain is an
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anticipation of the beginning of ho
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lower so that at last he could see
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2The Eve of BattleDAVID CROOK FLEW
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contempt for the French but he did
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had already written Achtung Panzer!
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Chamberlain, who she wished would b
Page 44 and 45:
An ashen and rather shell-shocked C
Page 46 and 47:
insignificant, was his close friend
Page 48 and 49:
his secretaries since 1933, when Hi
Page 50 and 51:
Ardennes. ‘Our reconnaissance bat
Page 53 and 54: 3The Go-for-Broke GambleAT HALF-PAS
Page 55 and 56: Arriving at Felsennet at around 6 a
Page 57 and 58: been poor too. Yet now Hitler wante
Page 59 and 60: because it ran counter to the more
Page 61 and 62: Sedan, ensnaring the bulk of the Al
Page 63 and 64: British forces all the way to the C
Page 65 and 66: of the way, he quickly got his two
Page 68 and 69: 4Hook, Line and SinkerGUNNER STAN F
Page 70 and 71: emphases. An armoured - or panzer -
Page 72 and 73: telegraphy and portable radio commu
Page 74 and 75: agreed between the British and Fren
Page 76 and 77: attack. Georges was not enthusiasti
Page 78 and 79: friends, Stan had been greatly reli
Page 80: One last effort was made to persuad
Page 83 and 84: personal photographer, a hospital w
Page 85 and 86: Germany’s oil and synthetic-rubbe
Page 87 and 88: and a little over 1,500 twin- or si
Page 89 and 90: a French area of operations. In fac
Page 91 and 92: laughing, reporting that Ops were i
Page 93 and 94: turned to Kesselring and snarled,
Page 95 and 96: someone as passionate about shootin
Page 97 and 98: were horribly under-armed with just
Page 99: 310 fighters had been built, and 33
Page 102 and 103: slopes rose sharply. There were als
Page 106 and 107: Yet although the bulk of Army Group
Page 108 and 109: Loerzer readily agreed but in the m
Page 110 and 111: fire, he dropped his bombs and then
Page 112 and 113: ‘Joy riding in canoes on the Meus
Page 114: groups. That is why I did not forwa
Page 117 and 118: not have been better. Murrow needed
Page 119 and 120: according to Nazi law. ‘There are
Page 121 and 122: material, yet Hilda thought little
Page 123 and 124: Goebbels held a ‘ministerial conf
Page 125 and 126: In 1933, the Volksempfänger (‘pe
Page 128 and 129: 8A Battle Against TimeWHAT WOULD BE
Page 130 and 131: election, a National Labour MP. Lik
Page 132 and 133: ‘Confidentially, I wish I weren
Page 134 and 135: Royal Flying Corps to gain his wing
Page 136 and 137: committees, too much discussion and
Page 138 and 139: The difference with this latest com
Page 140 and 141: production problems had been resolv
Page 143 and 144: 9The Battle is LostON 13 MAY, Gener
Page 145 and 146: As the unfolding Allied disaster at
Page 147 and 148: time to wait for reinforcements. Th
Page 149 and 150: messages from Gamelin and Georges r
Page 151 and 152: Poor French logistics were symptoma
Page 153 and 154: perfect mine-laying terrain, while
Page 156 and 157:
10Emergency MeasuresFROM ALMOST THE
Page 158 and 159:
which raised around 20,000 firearms
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Columnists,’ says John, ‘and fr
Page 162 and 163:
been in a mess together before and
Page 164 and 165:
England will never give up so long
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maintain his position as a reluctan
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there, Hajo began his flying missio
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JG 2 decided to give him a chance t
Page 173 and 174:
David Crook had been during his fir
Page 175 and 176:
Günther’s Curtiss go down in a s
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Siegfried Bethke, for example, and
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locomotives and shipping were conve
Page 181 and 182:
restructured the Luftwaffe in early
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178, whose maiden flight was in Jun
Page 186 and 187:
side of the River Rhine, and within
Page 188 and 189:
Larry and his crew were airborne at
Page 190 and 191:
Incredibly, he made it back, but it
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and the rest of the flight arrived
Page 194 and 195:
One person who was certainly taking
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Daladier and Gamelin, Churchill, fo
Page 199 and 200:
should that be the case: to fall ba
Page 201 and 202:
were all more or less now in line w
Page 203 and 204:
hearing news that things were looki
Page 205 and 206:
enjoyed spending considerable time,
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considerations, long-term plans, fo
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other words, less than a division,
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short way, taking over part of the
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had seemed like an impossibly long
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rumour. At the farmhouse where the
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the banks of the Escaut at Tournai
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Rundstedt, a conservative, agreed w
Page 222 and 223:
wondered Pownall. ‘It seems almos
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15Fighter Command Enters the FrayTH
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the new demands on Fighter Command
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at him, but on Tony’s second burs
Page 231 and 232:
Three and a half years later, he wa
Page 233 and 234:
Tommy was that should Britain be le
Page 235:
also the Italians to consider. On 1
Page 238 and 239:
when this was completed, and having
Page 240 and 241:
as a new order, and it meant von Ru
Page 242 and 243:
the Canal Line, so instead Gort dec
Page 244 and 245:
‘I agree that this point is worth
Page 246 and 247:
minutes later. At about 4 p.m., Rey
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majority of the War Cabinet agreed
Page 251 and 252:
Shipping had met Ramsay at Dover on
Page 253 and 254:
Only once the raiders had passed di
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Oskar tried to follow but failed. C
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spires of northern France. Hans was
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shirked his new responsibilities. T
Page 261 and 262:
to consider any terms offered by Hi
Page 264 and 265:
18Dunkirk: The Beginning‘WE NOW A
Page 266 and 267:
Lord Gort, meanwhile, finally caugh
Page 268 and 269:
a bandage. He and his men were filt
Page 270 and 271:
It was typically stirring stuff, bu
Page 272 and 273:
caught fire. Huge clouds of thick,
Page 274 and 275:
After that episode, they had sunk a
Page 277 and 278:
19Dunkirk: In the BalanceON THE AFT
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was the easternmost point of the Br
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The Germans, he told them, were now
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Squadrons were also moved around fr
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rain - but no wind. The Channel rem
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at Bray. Sid saw queues of people f
Page 291 and 292:
20Dunkirk: The MiddleTHERE WAS STIL
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that had made him determined to joi
Page 295 and 296:
attacking around Bergues, it report
Page 298 and 299:
It was not, however, for Lieutenant
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George Oakley was not so lucky, how
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Stan might have been safe, but thos
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artillery, while holding the line i
Page 308 and 309:
the ship - there was a sharp flash
Page 310 and 311:
Then suddenly he heard a loud crack
Page 312 and 313:
circled, dropping flares that hung
Page 314 and 315:
fall back at round 4.30 p.m. that a
Page 316 and 317:
having first crossed the decks of t
Page 320 and 321:
22What Next?THE RAF HAD continued t
Page 322 and 323:
It was with this in mind that beach
Page 324 and 325:
Yet although the Government was now
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Göring had dismissed such plans. T
Page 328 and 329:
intact but then came up against the
Page 331 and 332:
23The End in FranceAT 8 A.M. EXACTL
Page 333 and 334:
manned the U-boats were tough, hard
Page 335 and 336:
Colville, ‘who referred to our tr
Page 337 and 338:
The British were determined to pres
Page 339 and 340:
would agree to join the fight. If t
Page 341 and 342:
all France’s arms contracts in th
Page 344 and 345:
24Hitler’s DilemmaWHEN HITLER HEA
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generous. He told Mussolini he had
Page 348 and 349:
nation of German peoples rather tha
Page 350 and 351:
Japan and Italy were not prepared t
Page 352 and 353:
purges of 1936-7 in which the Red A
Page 354 and 355:
How the tables had now turned. In t
Page 357 and 358:
25All AloneIN BRITAIN, THE NEWS tha
Page 359 and 360:
remember cheering when France colla
Page 361 and 362:
them badly.’‘The President can
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prevalent gloom. One’s worst fear
Page 365 and 366:
But however hemmed in and threatene
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landed in England on 22 June. About
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allowing nothing to get in the way
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colleagues and displaying single-mi
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was the loss of nearly 300 pilots i
Page 376 and 377:
for approval to spend development m
Page 378 and 379:
when minds were focused. Britain’
Page 381 and 382:
27
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well; indeed, many were friends.
Page 385 and 386:
defensive measures to guard against
Page 387 and 388:
Following Munich and the instigatio
Page 389 and 390:
continually refined his estimates,
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neither hit, although one did explo
Page 394 and 395:
28Bringing It All TogetherIN EARLY
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of Britain’s southern coastline a
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least his Luftflotten would have bu
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would light up from the transmissio
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pilots. On the wall opposite the co
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and Balloon Command. Each had his p
Page 407 and 408:
Trouble at Sea: Part 2ON 3 JULY, TH
Page 409 and 410:
dive-bombed. Flaming ships flounder
Page 411 and 412:
‘Me, sir!’ Ron replied.‘We’
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destroying British merchant trade t
Page 415 and 416:
attention to Hartlepool. Because of
Page 418 and 419:
30Crooked LegBY THE END OF the Fren
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distraught and begged Ulrich to get
Page 422 and 423:
of taking the attack to England, JG
Page 424 and 425:
with their own units in the air, bu
Page 426 and 427:
ordination. ‘Our communications,
Page 428 and 429:
pointing in slightly different dire
Page 432 and 433:
31First CombatIT HAD BEEN A miserab
Page 434 and 435:
The only solution was to send half
Page 436 and 437:
three Me 110s bearing down on him.
Page 438 and 439:
distracted by thinking about their
Page 440 and 441:
been based at Boscombe Down and had
Page 442 and 443:
Tall, good-looking, with a floppy m
Page 444:
began to heat up, as surely it now
Page 447 and 448:
Britain would not now roll over. An
Page 449 and 450:
either of their doctrines. For most
Page 451 and 452:
standing of the person who had give
Page 453 and 454:
of Fighter Command; indeed, he did
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Before Halifax broadcast his reply,
Page 458 and 459:
war. Somehow, almost overnight, the
Page 460 and 461:
evacuation of the BEF, his position
Page 462 and 463:
Germany. Towards the end of June a
Page 464 and 465:
Hugh Dalton, the Minister for Econo
Page 466 and 467:
worked. ‘They can do nothing,’
Page 469 and 470:
34Hotting UpJUST AFTER 5 A.M., on W
Page 471 and 472:
The third Gruppe of JG 52 had reach
Page 473 and 474:
The next day, Thursday, 25 July, wa
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been fearsome, but the pilots simpl
Page 477 and 478:
upon British shipping. A destroyer
Page 479 and 480:
unnecessary and avoidable, and at t
Page 482 and 483:
35Bombs on Germany, Bomben auf Engl
Page 484 and 485:
of exploding flak could prove letha
Page 486 and 487:
them and from that get a fix. Larry
Page 488 and 489:
altimeter he could see 2,300 metres
Page 490 and 491:
there were still to be no bombings
Page 492:
plans only, a fall-back and nothing
Page 496 and 497:
ashore in the initial attack, incre
Page 498 and 499:
But there was another considerable
Page 500 and 501:
took pride in the fact that they we
Page 502 and 503:
Britain’s coastal lifeline. Despi
Page 504 and 505:
This was a perfectly sensible plan,
Page 506 and 507:
because the engines were to the sid
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however, all the pilots made it bac
Page 511 and 512:
flown his first missions over Engla
Page 513 and 514:
Two hundred yards away was HMS Vict
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darting tracer, four Dorniers were
Page 517 and 518:
The cloud did begin to clear as the
Page 519 and 520:
David’s section was flying slight
Page 522 and 523:
38The Biggest Air BattleTHE PREVIOU
Page 524 and 525:
much on edge,’ noted Jock Colvill
Page 526 and 527:
There were, for example, forty Free
Page 528 and 529:
signalling to his groundcrew to sta
Page 530 and 531:
suffered at Ventnor, which would ha
Page 532 and 533:
he pressed himself forward to count
Page 534 and 535:
all the British fighters would be i
Page 536 and 537:
could see for ever. All of England
Page 538:
It was now too late. Suddenly the a
Page 541 and 542:
further afield. The Luftwaffe’s r
Page 543 and 544:
who was flying Tom’s Hurricane. A
Page 545 and 546:
casualties, few people were being k
Page 547 and 548:
Eventually emerging from the mêlé
Page 549 and 550:
Pete, who shot down his second conf
Page 551:
throughout the whole of August only
Page 554 and 555:
he noted, ‘we had no insight into
Page 556 and 557:
design of four independently functi
Page 558 and 559:
effective attacks had been by a lon
Page 560 and 561:
they actually got to it. Since Knic
Page 562:
factory where Hilda Müller worked.
Page 565 and 566:
the German fighter airfields of Gui
Page 567 and 568:
at Farnborough of two intact Me 109
Page 569 and 570:
turn. The theoretically minimum tur
Page 571 and 572:
his 109 when he took off and sudden
Page 573 and 574:
the Hurricanes and Spitfires was fu
Page 575 and 576:
the RAF at seventeen, he had later,
Page 578 and 579:
42Breaking PointIN CHURCHILL’S SP
Page 580 and 581:
be mortal” if allowed to get out
Page 582 and 583:
being knocked down, the German rear
Page 584 and 585:
they wanted a warm jacket, then the
Page 586 and 587:
been proved already. The raiders ha
Page 588 and 589:
such as these. Almost exactly a yea
Page 590:
further operation. It meant sending
Page 593 and 594:
‘Don’t let America,’ added Be
Page 595 and 596:
a very contented life near the Balt
Page 597 and 598:
number of existing airfields, and o
Page 599 and 600:
the way forward and the only tactic
Page 601 and 602:
pillars of smoke rising into the sk
Page 603 and 604:
In London that afternoon was RV Jon
Page 605 and 606:
George Barclay had force-landed som
Page 608 and 609:
44Summer MadnessSATURDAY, 7 SEPTEMB
Page 610 and 611:
sobbed quite openly, the tears stre
Page 612 and 613:
difficulties of flying in a large f
Page 614 and 615:
so he stayed at Pembrey, too excite
Page 616 and 617:
which had already been lit by the d
Page 618 and 619:
allowed to go out on benders if the
Page 620 and 621:
extraordinarily calm in the plane,
Page 623 and 624:
45The Crux‘THERE’S NO WORD I ca
Page 625 and 626:
England is, of course,’ he told t
Page 627 and 628:
have too few pilots,’ said anothe
Page 629 and 630:
counterparts had been given. It was
Page 631 and 632:
At Biggin Hill, most of 92 Squadron
Page 633 and 634:
‘Hello, Gannic. Gannic Leader. Ca
Page 635 and 636:
and saw he was dangerously low on f
Page 637 and 638:
Once again, the Prime Minister watc
Page 640 and 641:
46WolfpackAS IT HAPPENED, the fadin
Page 642 and 643:
Across the Channel, the pilots had
Page 644 and 645:
convoys. Having had another success
Page 646 and 647:
losses are assuming serious proport
Page 648 and 649:
as the British are taking it.’ In
Page 650 and 651:
finally driven back to Biggin Hill,
Page 652 and 653:
‘There was a terrific explosion a
Page 655 and 656:
47ExhaustionON 19 SEPTEMBER, Church
Page 657 and 658:
‘They were frightful old chaps -
Page 659 and 660:
across the Channel to shoot at shad
Page 661 and 662:
achieving air superiority. On 4 Oct
Page 663 and 664:
two tin legs had still returned to
Page 665:
Salmond’s report, he ticked three
Page 668 and 669:
little, then suddenly the jolting s
Page 670 and 671:
Thames estuary below - he thought h
Page 672:
But then the moment passed as he be
Page 675 and 676:
telegram announcing that John was m
Page 677 and 678:
1940, the Luftwaffe had lost 3,701
Page 679 and 680:
was grossly incompetent. Nor did th
Page 681 and 682:
finally joined the fight, and in th
Page 683 and 684:
Zumbach survived, but with no Polan
Page 685 and 686:
masterpiece, The Rise and Fall of t
Page 688:
ABOUT THE AUTHORJames Holland was b
Page 691 and 692:
thank you for all your huge help. I
Page 693:
Sheila Lee, Larry Finlay, Katrina W
Page 696 and 697:
Steele, Joe, HMT Dalmatia and Darth
Page 698 and 699:
Beamont, Roland, My Part of the Sky
Page 700 and 701:
D’Este, Carlo, Warlord: A Life of
Page 702 and 703:
—, Göring (Macmillan, 1989)—,
Page 704 and 705:
Orange, Vincent, Dowding of Fighter
Page 706 and 707:
Vansittart, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Less
Page 708 and 709:
Blair, Clay, Hitler’s U-Boat War:
Page 710 and 711:
Dallek, Robert, Franklin D. Rooseve
Page 712 and 713:
Goss, Chris, Brothers in Arms: The
Page 714 and 715:
Lampe, David, The Last Ditch: Brita
Page 716 and 717:
Otter, Patrick, Yorkshire Airfields
Page 718 and 719:
Shirer, William L., The Rise and Fa
Page 720 and 721:
Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John (ed.), Ac
Page 722:
Schmider, Klaus, ‘The Last of the
Page 725 and 726:
Bethke, Siegfried, I/JG 2 (c/o Chri
Page 727 and 728:
‘And then what…in any case’ G
Page 729 and 730:
‘at this extremely grievous and f
Page 731 and 732:
13. New Appointments‘I am exhaust
Page 733 and 734:
‘It is all a first-class mess-up
Page 735 and 736:
‘On political grounds…’ WSC,
Page 737 and 738:
‘Well, it boils down to this…
Page 739 and 740:
‘Warmwell possessed…’ TNA AIR
Page 741 and 742:
‘Recent reports and information
Page 743 and 744:
‘Atmosphere cheerful…’ Cocket
Page 745 and 746:
‘Nobody was keen…’ IWM 26952
Page 747:
‘I still think this war…’ JPK
Page 751 and 752:
IndexThe index that appeared in the
Page 753 and 754:
and 15 September raid303 Kociuszko
Page 755 and 756:
airfield repairsAlanbrooke, Viscoun
Page 757 and 758:
Hurricane action at Louvainon sleep
Page 759 and 760:
Blumentritt, General GüntherBob, H
Page 761 and 762:
trapped near coastBritsum, hit by S
Page 763 and 764:
Chiefs of Staffanticipate immediate
Page 765 and 766:
on Churchill’s no surrender speec
Page 767 and 768:
Dietrich, Obergruppenführer Sepp,
Page 769 and 770:
1st Panzer sent toBEF withdrawal to
Page 771 and 772:
Fairey Battlesat SedanFall Gelb (Ca
Page 773 and 774:
and invasion defenceson pointless a
Page 775 and 776:
Geschwader commanderon Beppo Schmid
Page 777 and 778:
lost interestmeetings at Carinhallo
Page 779 and 780:
Harding, Plt Off GeoffHargreaves, N
Page 781 and 782:
HMS VictoryHMS Wakeful, lost at Dun
Page 783 and 784:
Jabo pilotsJackson, Andrewand Berli
Page 785 and 786:
and Canal Line consolidationand hal
Page 787 and 788:
London Treaty Submarine ProtocolLon
Page 789 and 790:
KG 4KG 51KG 54LuftflotteLuftflotteL
Page 791 and 792:
29th Minesweeping FlotillaRoyal Nav
Page 793 and 794:
Northolt, 609 SquadronNorway, defea
Page 795 and 796:
Panzer Group Kleistat Canal Lineatt
Page 797 and 798:
invasion, attitudesPoling RDF stati
Page 799 and 800:
Reims ChampagneReinhardt, General G
Page 801 and 802:
KenleyRudorrfer, FeldwebelRuhr Vall
Page 803 and 804:
Soviet UnionGermany andinvasionreac
Page 805 and 806:
technologyBritish army andBritish s
Page 807 and 808:
Vassincourt, 1 SquadronVentnor RDF
Page 809:
Zerstörers (Me 110s)92 Squadron an
Page 812:
1 SD was the Nazi abbreviation of t
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