ON THIS DAY ·
Battle of Britain Day
Battle of Britain Day: the Luftwaffe’s maximum effort against London is met, wave for wave, by radar-guided squadrons. Invasion is quietly shelved.
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The moment in context
Operation Sea Lion was Germany’s plan to invade Britain. The Channel made it a formidable undertaking: the German navy had been battered in Norway, and a slow invasion fleet would face the Royal Navy. As long as RAF Fighter Command could operate, German aircraft could not be counted on to protect the crossing. The Luftwaffe therefore set out to destroy the fighters and the facilities that sustained them.
From Battle of Britain, chapter 4 of The War Room — WW2, 1936–1945 (AUG 1940).
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — The crossing problem. The Royal Navy stood between an invasion fleet and Britain. Germany’s navy had been badly weakened off Norway, so Sea Lion depended on the Luftwaffe…
- The turn — The defenses hold, 15 September. On “Battle of Britain Day,” 15 September, the Luftwaffe mounted a major effort against London. British fighters met the raids and German losses were…
- What it changed — A base for return. Britain remained a western base from which the Allies could prepare their return to continental Europe in 1944.
Then ask the room: Why did the shift from airfields to London help Britain continue the war? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
The atlas that shows it
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