Conflict: World War II
Combatants: British vs. Germans
Location: Great Britain
Outcome: British victory
In preparation for the invasion of Britain (Operation Sea Lion), Hitler first had to neutralize the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN). On this day in 1940, Herman Goering's Luftwaffe began air attacks on the ports along the southern coast of the island nation. A defiant Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged his countrymen to endure. The battle for air superiority would continue until May of 1941 when Hitler admitted defeat and shifted resources toward the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Points of Interest:
In the four months of the battle, 43,000 British men and women were killed along with nearly 500 Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel. The RAF lost 915 fighters.
The Germans lost over 1700 aircraft in the Battle of Britain.
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Sources:
Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).
Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.
Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
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