Germany did not lose the Battle of Britain

[kimosabi]

Originally Posted by jsg72

BoB. Surely was. The biggest turning point in WW2.

In a way it was but not directly. BoB got downprioritized by Germany prior to the Soviet campaign. Before you say " Yes it was, BoB turned the war!!", look into the amount of resources Germany sent to the Eastern front and how much of that was lost. No German soldier ever sat foot on British soil. They lost some aircrafts and pilots but an airforce is roughly just 1/3 of a fully operating war force, and they also put more aircrafts and pilots in to invade Soviet. The winning tactic of the Reich was using Luftwaffe as support, not a spearhead.

If I were to say which was the earliest most decisive factor which brought Germany and Luftwaffe to a halt, I'd have to say the Russian winter 1941-1942.

[tk471138]

Originally Posted by Igo kyu

It was either or both.

LOL that explains alot...ive always been confused watching all these ww2 documentaries and movies (der untergang) and seeing all these brown hair people....

[NDGraham]

Derek Robinson wrote "Invasion 1940" which reminded us of many facts already alluded to here by the many posters who have contributed to this discussion. Ultimately, he concludes that there never was a serious threat of invasion because the English Channel was not really crossable by towed barges. Tides, currents, shifting sandbars, winds, squalls were all factors that would have rendered an effort to tow 90,000 men and 70,000 horses and all the support materiel useless in and of itself. The Royal Navy was also waiting in the wings for the first sign of such an effort and would simply have run roughshod over all the cables swamping the barges while blowing the German tugboats out of the water. He also makes the point that German air attacks on Royal Navy ships would not have done much damage due to the difficulty in making precise hits especially when being harassed by RAF aircraft.

So when Hitler took his troops to the Eastern Front, he had lost little of his army and ground machinery or horse services which was after all his most powerful force in conquering western Europe. Germany's production facilities were still pouring out aircraft in late 1940 replenishing losses easily.

Hitler's efforts to demoralize the British people by terror bombing did not work as he hoped it might. So the "threat" of invasion was mostly a terrible bluff by an army that was occupying France and getting ready for the treacherous Operation Barbarossa.

The spin that Churchill put on the success of "the Few" was a morale boosting maneuvre that worked well to highlight that not everyone would give in to the Germans. The British population had seen their fighter pilots in action right above their heads unlike their armies either before or later in the war. They revered their heroes for giving them hope and encouragement.

Hitler also figured that if he couldn't invade England, then the Allies probably couldn't invade Europe across the Channel for the same reasons. While he might have been right in 1940, he truly underestimated the might of sea power commanded by the Allies over the next four years.

[Pfeil]

[Glider]

The Statement Germany did not lose the Battle of Britain is clearly wrong, they did lose the Battle of Britain in the air. They lost the ability and will to operate over the South of England during daylight so by default they lost, as that was one of their key aims and without it an invasion was impossible. If you cannot operate over the SOuth of England in daylight then you stand no chance of achieving control of the air.

There is a second question which is being mixed up and that is, Could Germany have invaded even if the BOB been won and the reply is no, they may have been able to land but almost certainly the RN and lack of specialist resources available would have doomed the invasion to failure.

There is also a theory that Germany didn't really try, yes they did, in the time available and the designs and resources at hand no one could have tried harder. Comment is made about the number of troops assigned. That wasn't the problem, you could have an army twenty times larger but if your boats can only carry X amount then X amount is all you really have to plan and invade with.

[Treetop64]

If I clearly lost a fistfight with someone, I'd downplay it too when explaining it to my friends, girlfriend, or whatever. I'd have them thinking it was, at a minimum, a draw, while in reality I got the snot beat out of me, despite the fact that I put up a good fight!

Heck, the Japanese were told by their government that they were decisively winning the war against the United States right up to when the Philippines and Okinawa were invaded.

Hitler thought he could force Churchill to sue for peace. Had Chamberlain still been in charge that would have almost certainly happened, but Winston was having none of it. Any way you look at it, Britain beat Germany over the channel. Period.

[ElAurens]

+1.

Totally agree.

[GF_Mastiff]

well they didn't lose technically, they gave up. lol I think the French had something to do with that..

[DD_crash]

How long before Stern shows?????

[Glider]

Stern?