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

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GlossaryAbwehr Wehrmacht Counter-Intelligence ServiceCIGS Chief of the Imperial General StaffDeTe Dezimator Telegraphie Gerät – early name for GermanradarErpro Erprobungsgruppe – experimental wingFallschirmjäger German parachute troops, and part of the LuftwaffeFreya type of German radarHeHeinkelJafü Jagdfliegerführer – German fighter divisionJGJagdgeschwader – German fighter unitJuJunkersKGKampfgeschwader – German bomber unitMae West inflatable life jacketMeMesserschmittMTmotor transportOKH Oberkommando der Heeres – the Army High CommandOKM Oberkommando der Marine – the Navy High Command,also the KriegsmarineOKW Oberkommando der Wehrmacht – the combined ArmedForces High CommandRDF Radio Direction FindingR/TRadio TelegraphySNO Senior Naval OfficerSt.G Sturzkampfgeschwader, or Stuka-Geschwader – Stuka unitWehrmacht the German Armed Forces, i.e. army, navy and air forceWürzburg type of German radar
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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
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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,
Page 623 and 624:
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
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46WolfpackAS IT HAPPENED, the fadin
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Across the Channel, the pilots had
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convoys. Having had another success
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losses are assuming serious proport
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as the British are taking it.’ In
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finally driven back to Biggin Hill,
Page 652 and 653:
‘There was a terrific explosion a
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47ExhaustionON 19 SEPTEMBER, Church
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‘They were frightful old chaps -
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across the Channel to shoot at shad
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achieving air superiority. On 4 Oct
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two tin legs had still returned to
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Salmond’s report, he ticked three
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little, then suddenly the jolting s
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Thames estuary below - he thought h
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But then the moment passed as he be
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telegram announcing that John was m
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1940, the Luftwaffe had lost 3,701
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was grossly incompetent. Nor did th
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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 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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