The Air Battle For England

This book addresses the social, political and economic turbulence in which the UK is embroiled. Drawing on Cultural Studies, it explores proliferating crises and conflicts, from the multiplying varieties of social dissent through the stagnation of rentier capitalism to the looming climate catastrophe. Examining arguments about Brexit, class and ‘race’, and the changing character of the state, the book is underpinned by a transnational and relational conception of the UK. It traces the entangled dynamics of time and space that have shaped the current conjuncture. Questioning whether increasingly anti-democratic and authoritarian strategies can provide a resolution to these troubles, it explores how the accumulating crises and conflicts have produced a deepening ‘crisis of authority’ that forms the terrain of the Battle for Britain.

A definitive account of the three-month air battle in 1940 between the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe. The victory of the Battle of Britain ranks with Marathon and the Marne as a decisive point in history. At the end of June 1940, having overrun much of Western Europe, the Nazi war leaders knew that they had to defeat the Royal Air Force Fighter Command before they could invade the British mainland. With a finely-struck balance of historical background and dramatic renderings of RAF and Luftwaffe engagements over the English countryside, Hough and Richards offer a history that is at once deep and wide-ranging. They offer insight into how the British laid the groundwork for victory through aircraft research and production, the development and implementation of command and control structures, and research into new technologies, the most important of which was radar. Hough and Richards also utilize first-person accounts of the battle whenever possible, rendering the battle scenes with cinematic intensity. A compelling introduction to one of the most important battles of World War II, The Battle of Britain pays tribute to the men about whom Winston Churchill would remark, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Hugh Dowding may be described as the prime architect of British victory in the battle of Britain, and thus as one of a handful of officers and men most responsible for ensuring that Hitler's planned invasion of England never occurred. Dowding was born in 1882 at the apex of British imperial power and had an early career as a gunner on the fabled North-West Frontier of the British Indian Empire. During the first year of World War I, he served with distinction as a combat pilot in France, but his real test would come in 1936, when he was assigned the critical task of reorganizing the Air Defense of Great Britain as the first air officer commanding-in-chief of the new RAF Fighter Command. In that capacity he stood up to senior staff--and Winston Churchill--by preventing the dismantling of British air defenses during the Battle of France in the spring of 1940, defying pressure from the British Army, Britain's French allies, and His Majesty's Government to send the bulk of the RAF's front-line fighters to the Continent in what Dowding predicted would be a futile effort to stem the German onslaught. While holding back as many of his best fighter aircraft as he could, in June Dowding deployed 11 Group under his hand-picked lieutenant, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, to repulse the Luftwaffe over Dunkirk, covering the evacuation of some 338,000 British and French troops from the Continent. During the three months of fighting known as the Battle of Britain, the integrated air defense system organized and trained by Dowding fought the vaunted Luftwaffe to a standstill in daylight air-to-air combat. In October, the Germans abandoned their attempt to win a decisive battle for air superiority over England, turning instead to the protracted campaign of attrition by nighttime area bombing known as the Blitz. In building, defending, and overseeing the operations of Fighter Command, Dowding was thus not only one of the master builders of air power, but also the only airman to have been the winning commander in one of history's decisive battles.

The summer of 1940 witnessed the greatest air battle in history, as the men Winston Churchill dubbed ‘The Few’ fought over the skies of Britain to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority, which would have paved the way for Hitler to invade our island. Graham Pitchfork charts the development of the epic battle fought by Fighter Command as it reacted to the changes in the Luftwaffe’s strategy, reaching a climax on 15 September before finally coming to a conclusion in October 1940. In addition to the exploits of the pilots in the air, the contribution of the many ground organisations that played such a crucial role is also highlighted in this lavishly illustrated book. Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork is a well-known aviation author whose previous books include The RAF Day by Day and The RAF’s First Jet Squadron: 616 (South Yorkshire).

"A concise, penetrating account....This stirring book inspires an admiration for British courage."--New York Times Book Review

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"-Winston ChurchillHave you ever encountered the term "Battle of Britain" in the course of studying history or at least in the Second World War? To make sense of this battle, it is important to emphasize that the event should be defined in order to establish the scope of war and its causes. The battle commenced when the German military force defeated the French army in the summer days of 1940. As soon as France was disposed, Germany then turned their sights to Great Britain. The purpose of Germany's invasion was to debilitate the British Royal Force, especially the Fighter Defense in Air Arm so as to easily infiltrate the British Isles. The Battle of Britain is not an understatement in the era of the Second World War, it gave precedence to major world powers to enhance their military capability, especially in air forces. How did this battle provide a shift in the contemporary international relations? It has now shaped the modern power relations in the global arena. European countries are considered to have the largest economy in aggregate and the history of their battles is never to be forgotten...

This consequential work by a pioneer aviation historian fills a significant lacuna in the story of the defeat of France in May-June 1940 and more fully explains the Battle of Britain of July–October of that year and the influence it had on the Luftwaffe in the 1941 invasion of the USSR. Robin Higham approaches the subject by sketching the story and status of the three air forces--the Armée de l’Air, the Luftwaffe, and the Royal Air Force--their organization and preparation for their battles. He then dissects the the campaigns, their losses and replacement policies and abilities. He paints the struggles of France and Britain from both the background provided by his recent Two Roads to War: From Versailles to Dunkirk (NIP, 2012) and from the details of losses tabulated by After the Battle’s The Battle of Britain (1982, 2nd ed.) and Peter Cornwell’s The Battle of France Then and Now (2007), as well as in Paul Martin’s Invisible Vainqueurs (1990) and from the Luftwaffe summaries in the British National Archives Cabinet papers. One important finding is that the consumption and wastage was not nearly as high as claimed. The three air forces actually shot down only 19 percent of the number claimed. In the RAF case, in the summer of 1940, 44 percent of those shot down were readily repairable thanks to the salvage and repair organizations. This contrasted with the much lower 8 percent for the Germans and zero for the French. Brave as the aircrews may have been, the inescapable conclusion is that awareness of consumption, wastage, and sustainability were intimately connected to survival.

"First published in Great Britain by Bantam Press"--T.p. verso.

Over the past 80 years, histories of the Battle of Britain have consistently portrayed the feats of 'The Few' (as they were immortalized in Churchill's famous speech) as being responsible for the RAF's victory in the epic battle. However, this is only part of the story. The results of an air campaign cannot be measured in terms of territory captured, cities occupied or armies defeated, routed or annihilated. Successful air campaigns are those that achieve their intended aims or stated objectives. Victory in the Battle of Britain was determined by whether the Luftwaffe achieved its objectives. The Luftwaffe, of course, did not, and this detailed and rigorous study explains why. Analysing the battle in its entirety in the context of what it was – history's first independent offensive counter-air campaign against the world's first integrated air defence system – Douglas C. Dildy and Paul F. Crickmore set out to re-examine this remarkable conflict. Presenting the events of the Battle of Britain in the context of the Luftwaffe's campaign and RAF Fighter Command's battles against it, this title is a new and innovative history of the battle that kept alive the Allies' chances of defeating Nazi Germany.