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

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ABOUT THE AUTHORJames Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history atDurham University. A member of the British Commission for MilitaryHistory and the Guild of Battlefield Guides, he also regularly contributesreviews and articles in national newspapers and magazines.His many interviews with veterans of the Second World War are availableat the Imperial War Museum and are also archived onwww.secondworldwarforum.com.
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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
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An ashen and rather shell-shocked C
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insignificant, was his close friend
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his secretaries since 1933, when Hi
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Ardennes. ‘Our reconnaissance bat
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3The Go-for-Broke GambleAT HALF-PAS
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Arriving at Felsennet at around 6 a
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been poor too. Yet now Hitler wante
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because it ran counter to the more
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Sedan, ensnaring the bulk of the Al
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British forces all the way to the C
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of the way, he quickly got his two
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4Hook, Line and SinkerGUNNER STAN F
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emphases. An armoured - or panzer -
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telegraphy and portable radio commu
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agreed between the British and Fren
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attack. Georges was not enthusiasti
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friends, Stan had been greatly reli
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One last effort was made to persuad
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personal photographer, a hospital w
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Germany’s oil and synthetic-rubbe
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and a little over 1,500 twin- or si
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a French area of operations. In fac
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laughing, reporting that Ops were i
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turned to Kesselring and snarled,
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someone as passionate about shootin
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were horribly under-armed with just
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310 fighters had been built, and 33
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slopes rose sharply. There were als
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time in the world to reach the Dina
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Yet although the bulk of Army Group
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Loerzer readily agreed but in the m
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fire, he dropped his bombs and then
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‘Joy riding in canoes on the Meus
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groups. That is why I did not forwa
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not have been better. Murrow needed
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according to Nazi law. ‘There are
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material, yet Hilda thought little
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Goebbels held a ‘ministerial conf
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In 1933, the Volksempfänger (‘pe
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8A Battle Against TimeWHAT WOULD BE
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election, a National Labour MP. Lik
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‘Confidentially, I wish I weren
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Royal Flying Corps to gain his wing
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committees, too much discussion and
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The difference with this latest com
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production problems had been resolv
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9The Battle is LostON 13 MAY, Gener
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As the unfolding Allied disaster at
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time to wait for reinforcements. Th
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messages from Gamelin and Georges r
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Poor French logistics were symptoma
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perfect mine-laying terrain, while
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10Emergency MeasuresFROM ALMOST THE
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which raised around 20,000 firearms
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Columnists,’ says John, ‘and fr
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been in a mess together before and
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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
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David Crook had been during his fir
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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
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restructured the Luftwaffe in early
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178, whose maiden flight was in Jun
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side of the River Rhine, and within
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Larry and his crew were airborne at
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Incredibly, he made it back, but it
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and the rest of the flight arrived
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One person who was certainly taking
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Daladier and Gamelin, Churchill, fo
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should that be the case: to fall ba
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were all more or less now in line w
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hearing news that things were looki
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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
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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
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Three and a half years later, he wa
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Tommy was that should Britain be le
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also the Italians to consider. On 1
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when this was completed, and having
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as a new order, and it meant von Ru
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the Canal Line, so instead Gort dec
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‘I agree that this point is worth
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minutes later. At about 4 p.m., Rey
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majority of the War Cabinet agreed
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Shipping had met Ramsay at Dover on
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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
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to consider any terms offered by Hi
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18Dunkirk: The Beginning‘WE NOW A
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Lord Gort, meanwhile, finally caugh
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a bandage. He and his men were filt
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It was typically stirring stuff, bu
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caught fire. Huge clouds of thick,
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After that episode, they had sunk a
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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
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20Dunkirk: The MiddleTHERE WAS STIL
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that had made him determined to joi
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attacking around Bergues, it report
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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
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the ship - there was a sharp flash
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Then suddenly he heard a loud crack
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circled, dropping flares that hung
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fall back at round 4.30 p.m. that a
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having first crossed the decks of t
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22What Next?THE RAF HAD continued t
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It was with this in mind that beach
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Yet although the Government was now
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Göring had dismissed such plans. T
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intact but then came up against the
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23The End in FranceAT 8 A.M. EXACTL
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manned the U-boats were tough, hard
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Colville, ‘who referred to our tr
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The British were determined to pres
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would agree to join the fight. If t
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all France’s arms contracts in th
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24Hitler’s DilemmaWHEN HITLER HEA
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generous. He told Mussolini he had
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nation of German peoples rather tha
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Japan and Italy were not prepared t
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purges of 1936-7 in which the Red A
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How the tables had now turned. In t
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25All AloneIN BRITAIN, THE NEWS tha
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remember cheering when France colla
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them badly.’‘The President can
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prevalent gloom. One’s worst fear
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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
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for approval to spend development m
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when minds were focused. Britain’
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27
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well; indeed, many were friends.
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defensive measures to guard against
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Following Munich and the instigatio
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continually refined his estimates,
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neither hit, although one did explo
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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
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Trouble at Sea: Part 2ON 3 JULY, TH
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dive-bombed. Flaming ships flounder
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‘Me, sir!’ Ron replied.‘We’
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destroying British merchant trade t
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attention to Hartlepool. Because of
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30Crooked LegBY THE END OF the Fren
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distraught and begged Ulrich to get
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of taking the attack to England, JG
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with their own units in the air, bu
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ordination. ‘Our communications,
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pointing in slightly different dire
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31First CombatIT HAD BEEN A miserab
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The only solution was to send half
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three Me 110s bearing down on him.
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distracted by thinking about their
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been based at Boscombe Down and had
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Tall, good-looking, with a floppy m
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began to heat up, as surely it now
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Britain would not now roll over. An
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either of their doctrines. For most
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standing of the person who had give
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of Fighter Command; indeed, he did
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Before Halifax broadcast his reply,
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war. Somehow, almost overnight, the
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evacuation of the BEF, his position
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Germany. Towards the end of June a
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Hugh Dalton, the Minister for Econo
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worked. ‘They can do nothing,’
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34Hotting UpJUST AFTER 5 A.M., on W
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The third Gruppe of JG 52 had reach
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The next day, Thursday, 25 July, wa
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been fearsome, but the pilots simpl
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upon British shipping. A destroyer
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unnecessary and avoidable, and at t
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35Bombs on Germany, Bomben auf Engl
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of exploding flak could prove letha
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them and from that get a fix. Larry
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altimeter he could see 2,300 metres
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there were still to be no bombings
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plans only, a fall-back and nothing
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ashore in the initial attack, incre
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But there was another considerable
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took pride in the fact that they we
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Britain’s coastal lifeline. Despi
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This was a perfectly sensible plan,
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because the engines were to the sid
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however, all the pilots made it bac
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flown his first missions over Engla
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Two hundred yards away was HMS Vict
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darting tracer, four Dorniers were
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The cloud did begin to clear as the
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David’s section was flying slight
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38The Biggest Air BattleTHE PREVIOU
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much on edge,’ noted Jock Colvill
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There were, for example, forty Free
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signalling to his groundcrew to sta
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suffered at Ventnor, which would ha
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he pressed himself forward to count
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all the British fighters would be i
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could see for ever. All of England
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It was now too late. Suddenly the a
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further afield. The Luftwaffe’s r
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who was flying Tom’s Hurricane. A
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casualties, few people were being k
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Eventually emerging from the mêlé
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Pete, who shot down his second conf
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throughout the whole of August only
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he noted, ‘we had no insight into
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design of four independently functi
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effective attacks had been by a lon
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they actually got to it. Since Knic
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factory where Hilda Müller worked.
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the German fighter airfields of Gui
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at Farnborough of two intact Me 109
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turn. The theoretically minimum tur
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his 109 when he took off and sudden
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the Hurricanes and Spitfires was fu
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the RAF at seventeen, he had later,
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42Breaking PointIN CHURCHILL’S SP
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be mortal” if allowed to get out
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being knocked down, the German rear
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they wanted a warm jacket, then the
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been proved already. The raiders ha
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such as these. Almost exactly a yea
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further operation. It meant sending
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‘Don’t let America,’ added Be
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a very contented life near the Balt
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number of existing airfields, and o
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the way forward and the only tactic
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pillars of smoke rising into the sk
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In London that afternoon was RV Jon
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George Barclay had force-landed som
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44Summer MadnessSATURDAY, 7 SEPTEMB
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sobbed quite openly, the tears stre
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difficulties of flying in a large f
Page 614 and 615:
so he stayed at Pembrey, too excite
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which had already been lit by the d
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allowed to go out on benders if the
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extraordinarily calm in the plane,
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45The Crux‘THERE’S NO WORD I ca
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England is, of course,’ he told t
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have too few pilots,’ said anothe
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counterparts had been given. It was
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At Biggin Hill, most of 92 Squadron
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‘Hello, Gannic. Gannic Leader. Ca
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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 690 and 691: AcknowledgementsThis book has been
Page 692 and 693: steered me in the right direction o
Page 695 and 696: SourcesPersonal testimoniesAuthor I
Page 697 and 698: Maier, Klaus A., et al., Germany an
Page 699 and 700: Bullitt, Orville H. (ed.), For the
Page 701 and 702: Gilbert, Martin, Finest Hour: Winst
Page 703 and 704: Lee, Asher, Goering: Air Leader (Du
Page 705 and 706: Self, Robert, Neville Chamberlain (
Page 707 and 708: —, Pilot’s Notes Spitfire IIA a
Page 709 and 710: Caldwell, Donald, The JG 26 War Dia
Page 711 and 712: Engel, Major Gerhard, At the Heart
Page 713 and 714: Hooton, E.R., Eagle in Flames: The
Page 715 and 716: Ministry of Information, British Co
Page 717 and 718: Raymond, Squadron Leader R., and Sq
Page 719 and 720: Tangye, Squadron Leader Nigel, Teac
Page 721 and 722: Caddick-Adams, Peter, ‘Anglo-Fren
Page 724 and 725: NotesAbbreviationsAFRHA Air Force R
Page 726 and 727: ReferencesIntroduction‘The Battle
Page 728 and 729: ‘Held up by artillery fire…a jo
Page 730 and 731: ‘A paradox ball…’ The Times,
Page 732 and 733: 15. Fighter Command Enters the Fray
Page 734 and 735: ‘Von Luck you will…’ Luck, Pa
Page 736 and 737: ‘At my command…was in Paris’
Page 738 and 739:
28. Bringing It All Together‘Can
Page 740 and 741:
‘Still, whatever does come…’
Page 742 and 743:
‘Achtung, Achtung…’ TNA AIR 4
Page 744 and 745:
‘Up to date…’ Cited in James,
Page 746 and 747:
‘Hello, Gannic…chaps’ Bartley
Page 749:
GlossaryAbwehr Wehrmacht Counter-In
Page 752 and 753:
74 Squadron Spitfiresattack KG 2at
Page 754 and 755:
Abbeville, Panzer Corps Guderian re
Page 756 and 757:
Attlee, ClementAustralia, declares
Page 758 and 759:
on aircraft shortageon Dunkirk from
Page 760 and 761:
and invasion planson lost timeBray
Page 762 and 763:
German attacks onGerman consolidati
Page 764 and 765:
speeches broadcasts to nationeffect
Page 766 and 767:
and Stukaon Portland attackshoots d
Page 768 and 769:
and Beaverbrookand BEF fighter supp
Page 770 and 771:
Eden, Anthony, Minister for Warand
Page 772 and 773:
lossespilot lossespilots to avoid s
Page 774 and 775:
and Sedanconditioncommand issuescom
Page 776 and 777:
see also panzer divisionsGermanyeco
Page 778 and 779:
at Sedancrosses Meuseinsists on adv
Page 780 and 781:
on minelayingHigh Frequency Directi
Page 782 and 783:
strength after Dunkirk lossesIdenti
Page 784 and 785:
Udet andKanalkranheitKeitel, Feldma
Page 786 and 787:
LDV, John Wilson andLe Havre, IX Co
Page 788 and 789:
signal organizationstructuresee als
Page 790 and 791:
McIntosh, Plt OffMechelen incidentM
Page 792 and 793:
on Me 109ENelson, Horatio, on want
Page 794 and 795:
westward dash1st Panzer Divisionat
Page 796 and 797:
on LDVon Mussolinion parachutistswa
Page 798 and 799:
Raake, Majorradar, Admiralty coasta
Page 800 and 801:
Churchill seeks help fromdestroyers
Page 802 and 803:
‘Seetakt’ German radar systemSe
Page 804 and 805:
Steinhilper, Leutnant Ulrichand com
Page 806 and 807:
U-47and convoy HX72sinks HMS Royal
Page 808 and 809:
Wendel, ElseWerner Advance Detachme
Page 811 and 812:
The Battle of Britain.Copyright ©2
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