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PHASE TWO
This is a low point for England having been thrown out of Continental Europe by the Germans who are now prepared to invade England which is as difficult for them as it is for the English to land forces in Europe because of the 20 mile wide sea “moat” known as the English Channel.
Many things happen simultaneously:
- The French have a huge navy and Churchill has to test if Petain’s Vichy government will keep his ships for the Germans or order them to sail to England to join the British. On the 3rd July it is clear that Frenchman Petain is solidly on Germany’s side and the French ships fleet is destined for Hitler’s use. Churchill’s immediate response is to seize all French ships in British ports and sink as many as possible in French anchorage.
- 4th August the Italians invade British East Africa, Somaliland.
- The Battle of Britain commences on 13th August 1940 with Germany intent to destroy the British Royal Air Force (RAF) prior to landing forces in England.
- 7 Sept Britain prepares for a German land invasion within 2 weeks.
- 13 Sept 1940 the Italians invade British Egypt from Italian controlled Libya.
- 27 Sept. The so called “Axis” is formed. Germany, Italy and Japan agree to come to each others help if invaded by England, its empire or allies.
The Battle of Britain and the Blitz
Perhaps better described as the Battle for Britain with the intended elimination of the RAF as the first stage of the planned German invasion of England. It is interesting to note that Hitler initially had no plans for invading England, indeed he would have preferred to strike a deal with Britain before he’d invaded Poland; that if Britain would not interfere with his plans to dominate Europe he would not strike at either England or the British Empire. Further he thought that after Dunkirk the war was over and he had won, so why should he invade England and the English who he had always admired. After all the Kings and Queens of England had been of German origin for 250 years.
What changed Hitler’s mind?
- Firstly Stalin of Russia told Hitler that Churchill had written to him saying; don’t trust Hitler not to invade Russia”. Stalin did not believe it but Hitler thought he could not trust Churchill.
- Roosevelt, the US President said in a re-election speech that; you could not trust the Nazis which made Hitler very concerned that the Capitalist duo of Britain and USA could attack him, so best to attack England first.
The Battle of Britain commenced on 13th August 1940 and lasted 3 months when Hitler saw the Luftwaffe had not achieved the air supremacy necessary for an invasion. On 17th September Hitler postponed the invasion and on 12th October he abandons all thought of invading England. The English did not know this as the so called Blitz carried on. How on earth did the English RAF win against the German Air force who had been preparing for 6 years?
There were 3 main reasons;
- The English had developed and rapidly deployed Radar ahead of the Germans and could give advance warning to the RAF (and the civilian population) when an air attack was crossing the English Channel.
- The English Air Chief Marshall Dowding had refused to allow his beloved Spitfires and Hurricanes to support the British “Expeditionary Forces” in France in the September1939 to May 1940 when their numbers were small, to preserve them to defend any German invasion of England.
- England was blessed with these two magnificent fighter planes developed in the 1930s, the Spitfire and the Hurricane which were at least the equal of the German Messerschmitt 109.
- The British fighter pilots, many who had had limited and hurried training were at least the equal of the German aces. Bader of England and Galland of Germany typified the flying aces of each side. Douglas Bader had had his legs amputated in 1931 after a flying accident but fitted with two artificial legs became a flying ace in the Second World War. Adolf Galland became a General at the age of 29 largely due to his many hits on British aircraft in the Battle of Britain. He developed many air battle techniques to be generally adopted by German fighter pilots.
- On 7th Sept 1940 Hitler ordered a change of strategy for the Luftwaffe from bombing airfields to wreck the RAF, to bombing London. This was a drastic mistake as it allowed the RAF which was almost finished to regroup, repair planes and re-enter the battle.
What was is like to be in London and SE England during the Blitz?
- First of all a seemingly almost continuous high level noise. Mainly from anti-aircraft guns trying vainly to shoot down German bombers.
- Secondly the German Bombers themselves which seemed to be so numerous that the sky went black as they droned overhead.
- Thirdly fires. The Germans were dropping fire bombs(incendiaries) which when they fell on the chemical factories in the East End of London, caused fires which could be seen for 15 miles. (eg Silvertown in east London to Biggin Hill in Kent.)
- Sleeping or trying to in a fortified part of your house, like under the stairs or in central London on the platforms of the underground rail system. (The Tube)
- The darkness of the nights because of the “Black Outs”
- People dying next door or down the road when their houses were hit. If you were under 10 and it was not your parents you took it in your stride.
- Dog fights or aerial battles between British and German aircraft. In those days they were quite visible from the ground being between only 1000 to 5000 feet above your head.
- The wailing sirens firstly to warn of enemy aircraft and then “at last” to give the “All Clear” when the nation thankfully emerged from their underground shelters.
12 October 1940, after about 3 months of continuous bombing, Hitler realises the English are made differently to the rest of Europe and wont give up and he abandons his plans for an invasion of England in preparation for opening up his eastern front for attacking Russia.
11 May 1941 is the last day of the Blitz as Hitler diverts his air force to his eastern front. Londoners will however probably remember the 29th December 1940 as the worst night of the Blitz when Hitler ordered the largest air raid over London during he whole war. The whole of London seemed to be on fire and must surely disappear for ever. But the chaos just made the stoic Brits even more determined to fight to the now detested Germans.
North Africa All of Africa at this time is ruled by one or other European country.
In North Africa;
- Egypt is ruled by the British. The Suez Canal flows right through the middle of Egypt which is the shortest for British shipping, trading with and defending their Empire in Southern Asia and Australasia.
- Libya on the west of Egypt and much of the Horn of Africa in the east is ruled by Italy, hence now aligned with Hitler against England.
- Going west along Mediterranean North Africa, most of the other countries were then ruled by France and are thus effectively in the hands of the Germans.
British Egypt is therefore surrounded by Axis countries and on 13 September 1940 in the middle of the Blitz the Italians in Libya invade Egypt. The Italian army cannot be compared with the Germans. Whereas the Germans have been motivated by Hitler’s rhetoric to feel they are the superior race and are invincible, Mussolini is not so convincing and perhaps the average Italian would rather be at home enjoying the pleasures of wine, pretty girls and good food. The British army under General O’ Connor have no problem of driving the Italians back from Sidi Barrani in Egypt to Tobruk in Libya by 22 Jan 1941. However the Germans are not slow in coming to the aide of their Italian friends and on 12 February ‘41 Germany’s ace Blitzkrieg General, Erwin Rommel arrives in Libya as the British, under General Platt, invade and quickly rid the Horn of Africa of their Italian rulers.
The Atlantic
England is a densely populated island hence needs to import food by sea to feed its then population of about 52 million. Virtually all this merchant shipping needs to sail via the Atlantic Ocean. The Germans used both surface ships and submarines (U boats) to sink as many food and military supply ships as possible with devastating effect. The English adopted the convoy system (merchant ships sailing in line) with Battle Ships, Cruisers or Destroyers sailing along side to defend the convoy from U boat torpedoes. What saved the day for England was the development of Radar small enough to be carried both on ships and more particularly aircraft which solved the problem of detecting and locating the German attacking U boats at night. Notwithstanding this, all in England were very short of food, rationing was introduced which enabled food imports to be reduced by some 50%, and civilians were encouraged to cultivate any square inch of land they had to grow key crops like potatoes and carrots and breed chickens to produce eggs. The average English person however saw no eggs, bananas or fish from 1940 to the end of the war. The meat ration was 4 ounces per week but could sometimes be supplemented by rabbits or whale meat! Some say the population then was much healthier than today, certainly vastly slimmer.
England had for many years bought food from the US and attempted to continue, so the Germans torpedoed many neutral US merchant ship en-route to England which infuriated the Americans but did not cause them to come out of their staunchly neutral position in retaliation.
The American president, Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected for a record fourth time on 7 November 1940 and the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill continued to try and persuade Roosevelt to support England in their time of need. Roosevelt did however persuade the American people to let him supply ships and other military needs to England to replace those being destroyed by the German offensive. As England had spent every penny they had in keeping the Germans out of England, Roosevelt arranged a Lease-Lend financing package on 6 December 1940 to provide the supplies England so desperately needed but which could not be immediately paid for.
Back in North Africa and the Middle East, March-July 1941 England is now fighting the combined forces of Germany and Italy alone. The main theatre of land warfare is North and East Africa and the Middle East. Remember however Mainland England and the Atlantic fleets are also under continuous bombardment. Also note the English are now supported by the whole of their Empire which now includes forces from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and India. England fights in North Africa and the Mediterranean to keep the Suez Canal open to its empire in the East and fights in the Middle East to keep access to oil as Churchill was responsible for converting all the Royal Navy shipping from coal to oil fired boilers. In Africa the task is much harder because the German in command, Rommel is such a superb military tactician. In the Middle East, where England is supported by the “Free French” and Indians from the sub-continent, The Arabs who have been under either English or French control since the end of the First World War see their opportunity for self rule. England has to respond to secure the oil fields which they do not want in German hands.
Hitler changes his plans 1941 June 22. The overall balance of the war changes overnight as Hitler reneges on previous agreements with Stalin and invades Russia. Hence some two years after the outbreak of war Stalin is forced to look at Churchill and Roosevelt as allies rather than Hitler.
This is not particularly good news for England as; Churchill does not trust Stalin The Germans advance rapidly eastwards where they not only quickly close in on Moscow but also move through the Balkans onwards towards the vital English controlled oil fields in the Middle East. In a defensive move the English agree with the Russians to jointly move into Iran to secure the Anglo Iranian oil fields. 17 Sept 1941. Note at this time England controls the oil fields in both Iraq and Iran. (and Burma further east)
August 2nd 1941. Roosevelt agrees to extend lease lend equipment supplies to Russia and the first convoy of US merchant ships (the Artic Convoy) evades German U boats and arrives on Russia’s northern (Arctic) coastline in September 1941.
The might of the American production machine can be gauged as at this time they are supplying England, Russia and China with vital supplies of arms and vehicles plus food to keep them from starvation. One supply route to China is facilitated by English ruled Burma via the notorious “Burma Road”. The Japanese have been occupying and “raping” parts of China for more than 10 years now and many areas are destitute.
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