With the fall of France, and the other Allies already defeated, Hitler turned his attention to Britain. Hitler assumed that Britain would be unable to defend herself against the great German army without assistance. He made an offer of peace talks to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, however, Hitler overlooked one fact; Britain had not been successfully invaded since the year 1066, despite centuries of attempts. The British government had no intention of giving in now. Winston Churchill and Britain were prepared to save the world from a “Dark Age”. What ensued was a monumental air battle.
Hitler’s planned invasion of Britain was code named Operation Sea Lion. He realized that in order to wage a land battle against Britain he must first reduce the Royal Air Force to virtually nothing. The German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, believed they could achieve this goal in approximately four weeks.
The Luftwaffe began bombing the English Channel and the Royal Air Force bases on July 10, 1940 and thus began the Battle of Britain. Battles continued throughout the month. The German’s suffered great losses. The British were holding their own. The Spitfire and Hurricane proved to be excellent matches against German fighters. However, the British Royal Air Force was losing valuable pilots. On August 1 Hitler issued a command that war efforts be increased and that the Royal Air Force be eliminated as quickly as possible. The Luftwaffe was to initiate intensive attacks against Air Force Bases and Radar Stations. These bombings began August 10. The loss of Radar Stations and the constant defense of Air Force Bases took its toll. The Royal Air Force was suffering losses faster than it could recover from them.
On October 7, the Germans, changed tactics and began bombing London and other major cities, unaware of the damage it had caused to the Royal Air Force. This change in tactics gave the Royal Air Force the opportunity to re-group; repairing and replacing as necessary. With increased strength and radar restored the Royal Air Force was able to attack the Luftwaffe with great success. The Luftwaffe daytime raids of major cities turned to night time raids in an attempt to reduce the Royal Air Force success during sorties; still the Luftwaffe’s ranks were diminishing.
By mid September 1940, Hitler had canceled Operation Sea Lion. Though bombing of British cities continued until April/May of 1941, the Battle of Britain had been won despite seemingly insurmountable odds.