tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78402628755800444172024-03-13T14:53:29.271+00:00Days of GloryRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-55916967674838415572012-10-21T09:43:00.000+01:002012-10-21T19:00:50.072+01:00About this blog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As one of the "baby bulge" children, born in 1948, I am of a generation that missed the war. But it is still very close and very real. As a child, much of my time was spent exploring bomb sites, old bomb shelters, pill boxes and the paraphernalia of war. My stamping ground was Hackney Marshes, and the River Lea, where we watched the barges being unloaded, much as they were in the 1940s.<br />
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Churchill was still alive when I was born. He was to have a spell as prime minister as I grew up, too young then to understand what was going on. But I was one of the hundreds of thousands who filed past his coffin after he had died, and I watched his funeral. You really did then have a sense that a moment in history had passed.<br />
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With that, the war is part of my make-up. It shaped my generation and gave us much of our "world view", defined who we were and how we felt about ourselves. And within that period of the war, there is of course that very special time - the Battle of Britain. It may not mean as much to the current generation – especially as history teaching is so poor – but it really did have a very, very strong influence.<br />
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It was about our parents, and the British nation which stood up against the forces of evil. We, us, the Commonwealth and Empire, held the line. The forces of good prevailed. And the Battle of Britain had a certain innocence and purity about it. It made you feel good about yourself because you were British. It was a British achievement. It was part of your heritage.<br />
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On the 70th Anniversary of the start of the Battle, therefore, I decided set up a blog as a personal tribute to the "few" - the gallant RAF pilots who were the heroes of the battle. My entirely unambitious objective was to write a daily summary of events as they happened on each day, each exactly seventy years previously. There was no ulterior motive, and no expectation of doing anything more in an area where all the main historical issues seemed to have been settled.<br />
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The process of writing, however, focused the mind on events and the narrative in a way that just reading a series of books and reports cannot do. I thus found myself being drawn more and more into the established narrative than I had originally intended.<br />
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Responding to comments on the blog forum and my own innate curiosity, my source list widened and my reading deepened. But, contrary to my expectations, that process led not to an improved understanding and appreciation of events, but exactly the reverse. Away from what might be termed the classic "shoot 'em up" narrative, there are huge areas of disagreement on the sequence of events, their meaning and their importance. None of the crucial issues, it seems, are at all settled.<br />
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<b>The artificial battle</b><br />
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First and foremost though, what emerges is that the battle, at the time of its fighting, had no separate or distinct identity. For it formally to exist as the event which is currently recognised, it had to be defined - as to its nature, its participants and timespan. As a battle - with a beginning, an end and a recognisable outcome - it is an artificial creation.<br />
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The currently accepted definition is that component of the air war fought between 10 July and 31 October 1940 over British soil and adjacent seas. The aim was to deprive the German Air Force (<i>Luftwaffe</i>) of the air superiority it needed to achieve over the English Channel and Southern England, in order to permit the execution of Operation <i>Sealion</i> - the invasion of Britain. The participants are defined as aircrew members of RAF Fighter Command who flew one or more authorised sortie during the period. <br />
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In so far as the <i>Luftwaffe</i> did not achieve local air superiority during the period of the battle (at least, during daylight hours), and the invasion of Britain did not take place, Fighter Command is deemed to have won the battle. It is thus lauded as our saviour, having claimed t have prevented the subjugation of this island race - and by inference the whole of the "free" world - by the Nazis.<br />
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<b>A conceptual problem</b><br />
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With all of these concepts, I now have a serious problem. Firstly and mainly though, it is highly unlikely that <i>Sealion</i>, the invasion of Britain, would ever have been launched by the Germans, irrespective of whether air superiority had been achieved.<br />
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Even in peacetime, during daylight with perfect sea conditions and the best possible equipment, the task required, of delivering over 100,000 men and their supplies and equipment, the first wave to land near simultaneously on a series of beaches in Southern England - and then keeping them supplied and reinforced - would have been an amazing feat of organisation and seamanship.<br />
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Here, too many writers and analysts are simply not thinking straight, and it is not hard to work out why. Take away the threat of an invasion and the classic Battle of Britain narrative falls. Then as now, they need the threat of the invasion to be real, or the conventional narrative does not stand up.<br />
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But it takes little imagination to work out why the narrative is false. The "invasion", on which so much depends, was fraught with danger - even without hostile intervention. The invasion fleet was to be an <i>ad hoc</i> collection of river barges and ships. The river barges, many unpowered, were not designed for sea voyages and barely seaworthy even under optimum conditions. And the conditions were far from optimum.<br />
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The journey itself was to be undertaken at night, with poorly-trained and inexperienced crews, without the benefit of large-scale rehearsals, into highly dangerous and unpredictable waters. Furthermore, this was to be done without basic navigational aids - such as lighted buoys, beach and harbour lighting, and lighthouses - all in waters where sailors approaching the coast in daylight, without local knowledge, are advised to take on pilots.<br />
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Amazingly, this feat of navigation and ship handling was also supposed to be done without radio communications. The Germans thus picked dates for the invasion when there was to be a quarter moon, giving (supposedly) enough light for visual signals (flags and some such) to be used. In confined waters, in darkness, nearly 3,000 vessels were supposed to be co-ordinated through a series of complex manoeuvres to bring them to the beaches.<br />
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Then there was the minor problem of the British response. To deal with that, air superiority was a <i>necessary</i> condition for embarking on the exercise. But then, for far too many commentators, the thinking stops. Too few go on to consider whether it was also <i>sufficient</i> - i.e., that the invasion could have gone ahead, had air superiority been achieved.<br />
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Arguably, in order for the Germans to proceed, they would also have had to have gained command of the sea. That, they never had, and neither did they have the means of securing it. Yet, without it, ranged against the might of the Royal Navy, a contested invasion could not have succeeded.<br />
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This particular issue, though, has been argued out over the decades and, as it stands, this is denied by the traditionalists. But again, they are not thinking straight. Firstly, it is undeniably the case that any invasion fleet approaching British shores would have done so at night. Under cover of darkness, the Royal Navy could operate freely, without the intervention of air power which was wholly ineffective between dusk and dawn.<br />
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Secondly, while the limitations of the Home Fleet are constantly highlighted, those who would deny the role of the Navy also have to deny or downplay the presence of over a thousand small craft employed by the navy, ranging from sloops and armed trawlers, to armed yachts, MTBs and MGBs, and smaller craft. While not a formidable force against heavily armed warships, against the barges, small ships and motorboats of an invasion fleet, these could have caused great slaughter and chaos.<br />
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The perilous nature of the venture, and the almost certainty that it could not succeed, begs the question as to whether Hitler, and some of the main players, such as Goering or Raeder, the C-in-C of the German Navy (<i>Kriegsmarine</i>), actually wanted to carry out the operation - or what their real motives were.<br />
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Hitler, perhaps did not want an invasion because it thought it might fail. Mostly, though, his enthusiasm waned because he thought it an unnecessary risk. He expected the government of Britain to collapse, and was constantly putting out peace feelers in the expectation that the British government would see sense and sue for peace.<br />
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Räder most certainly believed it would fail, and thought Britain could be defeated by a blockade. Nor was he far wrong in his expectation - the U-Boat and long-range air assault on shipping, the mining of the coastal seas and the bombing of the ports very nearly brought the UK to her knees. Göring lacked commitment to the invasion. He never seriously planned for it and never took part in the planning meetings. As with Dunkirk, he wanted to win victory for himself and his <i>Luftwaffe</i>, without having to share the glory with the navy or the army. Like so many of his time and generation, he also had an inflated view of the effectiveness of air warfare and, in particular, the power of the bomber.<br />
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Necessarily, what emerges from this is the view that, as a military exercise, the battle conducted by Fighter Command was strategically irrelevant. There was never any realistic prospect that Britain was going to be exposed to a contested invasion. And had there, despite all the odds, been a German invasion, it would have been defeated in detail not by the RAF but primarily by the Royal Navy.<br />
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<b>Re-defining the battle</b><br />
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If it is the case that the invasion threat was not real, then the Battle of Britian has been wrongly defined. If you prefer, it has been expropriated by a group which is claiming exclusive ownership of something which is much bigger and more important than that which they project. For, while Fighter Command's day battle may have been of little strategic importance, that is not to say that there was not a different battle going on, the Battle <i><b>for</b></i> - Britain. <br />
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Certainly, it is the case that Hitler sought to defeat Britain, but an invasion was only one of his options. The first was the traditional blockade, Hitler seeking to turn the tables on the British and do to them what they had done to his country in the 1914-18 war. Another option was the utilisation of air power as a weapon of terror, cowing the population to such an extend that they would force their own government to sue for peace.<br />
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What emerges from this is that - from the German perspective - there were three interlinked and overlapping components to a battle which could rightly and properly lay claim to be components of a larger and real Battle of Britain, any one of which could, in theory, have brought Britain to the point of surrender. When all three are taken into account, the battle lasted much longer than the 114 days attributed to the very limited part of the war fought by RAF Fighter Command.<br />
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Briefly the order in which the battle played out was the the "blockade" phase, when the Germans sought to deprive us of the supplies essential to the prosecution of the war and, indeed, our very survival. This was overtaken for a short time by the second component, the invasion phase, during which Fighter Command fought with the <i>Luftwaffe</i> for the daytime control of the sky, on the assumption that Germany did, in fact, intend to invade. The third "terror" phase, more commonly called the Blitz, then took over, during which time the "blockade war" continued. That part, more commonly styled as the Battle of the Atlantic, was not defeated until 1943.<br />
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<b>The Churchill agenda</b><br />
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If the Germans had their own agendas, so did Churchill, and they were not simply the mirror image of the German ambitions. The most obvious agenda would have been the defeat of the Germans but, right from the start, Churchill recognised that Great Britain, without the support of France, could not amass a land army on the continent of Europe big enough to take on and defeat the German.<br />
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Therefore - and it is vitally important that this is properly understood - in the early days, Churchill's strategic objective was not to win the war. He neither sought nor intended to defeat the Germans. The first task he set, with the approval and agreement of the military chiefs of staff, was to survive long enough for the United States to enter the war and field an army which could, alongside the British, defeat the Germans.<br />
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From this devolved a second and intimately linked task, which was to convince a neutral, reluctant and largely isolationist United States to join the war on the side of Great Britain. That required projecting a narrative to the people and the government of the US, creating, in effect, propaganda war between Great Britain and Germany, the latter's objective being to keep the United States out of the war.<br />
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Beset by a string of failures and defeats, which continued after Dunkirk, with the loss of Somaliland and Kenya, and the debacle at Dakar, it thus became imperative to convince the United States that Britain could hold its own, and stay in the war. A nation on the brink of defeat was not going to get the support of the US, and it therefore became necessary to deliver a victory. To achieve that, the propaganda was focused on Fighter Command, creating a version of the Battle of Britain which the British, through its gallant airmen, was winning. To that extent, the activities of the RAF were being used to create a drama to entertain and captivate the Americans.<br />
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But there was another agenda - of domestic rather than international relevance. This was to do with Churchill securing his political base with his own Party. A newly appointed prime minister in May 1940, head of a coalition government, leading the nation in an unpopular war, he had to secure the commitment of the British people as well.<br />
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<b>Progressing the arguments</b><br />
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With such issues under consideration, and many more, the writing has developed its own momentum, especially as it has become evident that the story has not yet been fully told. One wonders whether it ever can be but, on the other hand, one knows that additional areas must be explored.<br />
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This blog now sets out to give as comprehensive an overview of the events as can be done within the limitations of the format. The central premise is that the battle can only be properly understood if the events are seen as an integral whole - the military, on the sea and land and well as in the air, the political, social and economic. The air battle, I assert, is only a very small part of the whole and not necessarily the most important.<br />
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That assertion, though, is not cast in stone. The blog has become a journey of discovery. My general technique (although not followed slavishly) is to write a basic narrative for each day, based on a limited number of (mostly secondary) sources, the objective being to tell a reasonably coherent story.<br />
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I then widen the range of sources, going back to original material, piling layer upon layer, correcting, adding, refining, revising and (I hope) improving the narrative as it develops, all to meld it into a single, integrated narrative. No one post is a definitive statement. Each and every one is subject to addition, revision and re-shaping.<br />
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In so doing, I bring to the table a synthesis of existing and original material. There is no point in re-inventing the wheel and, through the scholarship of people such as Francis K. Mason and his superb <i>Battle over Britain</i>, we have as good a record of the day-to-day Fighter Command air battle as we will probably ever get. In Larry Donnelly's <i>The Other Few</i>, we then have a useful record of other aspects of the air war, involving Bomber and Coastal Commands. This adds a necessary and wholesome balance and I use both sources freely, plus many more.<br />
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But what I then add is a whole raft of original and vastly under-exploited sources which are now available on-line and are thus accessible to the research process. And here, the internet brings a highly significant dimension to the research, which hitherto has been poorly understood. It offers a revolution perhaps every bit as profound as the Spitfire brought to air warfare.<br />
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<b>The research process</b><br />
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The issue, as with the Spitfire, is speed. A wide range of sources have now become available, from across the world, which no longer require a physical presence in order to obtain access to them. With many of the databases also electronically searchable, it is also no longer necessary to plough through thousands or hundreds of thousands of papers to find relevant material. Tasks which often took weeks and sometimes months - with the attendant expense, which can itself cripple the research process - can now often be completed in seconds.<br />
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The sources that add a special dimension to the narrative are very substantial. Not least, is the entire archive of <i>Flight</i> magazine, the weekly specialist aviation magazine, which was published right throughout the war, and which provides as unique insight into the thinking and development in aviation, during the period. The publishers have made the searchable archive available specifically to enhance the research process, and are to be warmly commended for it.<br />
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To this, one can add the electronic archives of the <i>Manchester Guardian</i> and the <i>New York Times</i>, the "right wing" <i>Daily Express</i>, the left-leaning <i>Daily Mirror</i>, and that of the regional "county" newspaper, the <i>Yorkshire Post</i>. Latterly, I have also been able to acquire copies of <i>Reynold's News</i>, the <i>Daily Worker</i> and <i>The Tribune</i> magazine and the Scottish <i>Herald</i>. Accessible online are the complete editions of the daily Hansard, the record of the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament through the period, and the weekly briefings from the Chiefs of Staff to the War Cabinet, plus the War Cabinet minutes and associated papers.<br />
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With that, we also have half a dozen or so on-line narratives of the Battle of Britain, some new, some official (such as the RAF Campaign Diary) and some well established, all of which give immediate access to the bare bones of the events, and much else besides. And we also have, courtesy of the academic team who published it in book form, the complete set of reports from the Ministry of Information's Home Intelligence team.<br />
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On top of this, there is a vast range of local and regional web sites which have sprung up over the last decade, representing thousands of hours of research labour, by local historians, archivists, librarians, journalists and many others, adding a phenomenally rich source of material which has barely been tapped. The quality is obviously variable but the best is highly professional and has been extremely valuable.<br />
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As the work progresses, the information accrues and the arguments develop and mature. But this is an evolution as much as a revolution. What you read today is not necessarily exactly what you will read tomorrow, especially as the writing is being pursued in conjunction with the blog forum, where many readers are adding their own observations and information, which is then incorporated into the growing narrative.<br />
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On 31 October 2010, the daily narrative ended ... but the writing did not. It continued, and eventually became a book, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Many-Not-Few-History-Britain/dp/1441131515/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319297545&sr=1-1" target="_blank">The Many Not The Few</a>, published in March 2012. And now the process has reversed. Progressively, I am inserting the text of the book back into the blog, adding to it where necessary, expanding the story - with additional photographs and other material as it comes available to me.<br />
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This, therefore, continues to be a live project. Updates have been entered up to and including October 2012, with the addition of the separate label category, "Shelter War". I will continue to add material, and expand entries, as time permits.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-73114191118173239082010-10-31T00:06:00.007+01:002012-10-17T21:19:52.858+01:00Day 114 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Officially, it's over. Today, after 114 days, the Battle of Britain formally ends. For the fliers, it is the quietest day for four months.<br />
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A few bombs are splattered over East Anglia and Scotland but neither side loses any aircraft in combat. The RAF loses a Beaufighter in a landing accident and the Germans lose two Do 17s in non-combat incidents.<br />
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This one time, even the night is quiet. The "raiders passed" siren sounds at the earliest time since September. People in shelters look at each other "almost in disbelief". But, warns the <i>Daily Mirror</i>, in a front-page headline the next morning: "Don't think air war is over". Curiously absent are the headlines declaring that the Battle of Britain is over - or even any sense that a turning point has been reached.<br />
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To inject a note of reality, the government issues an edict that the closing hour for shops through the winter — from 17 November to 2 March - will be 6pm, with an extension to 7.30 one night a week. That is the effect of a defence regulation, similar to that which was in force the previous winter. That much, at least, has changed.<br />
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That is one of the very few things that does change. The <i>Mirror's</i> warning is well made. Overnight on 1 November, heavy raids on London and a number of other towns and cities resume. Göbbels remarks in his diary that "Churchill invents a new lie about a massive attack on Berlin that never actually took place. Things must be very bad for him", he says. And the next day, and the days after than, it is bombing just the same.<br />
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Despite this, whatever the definition of the battle, and the time frame, it is indisputable that the Germans eventually lost. But could the Germans have ever won? That is a question posed by Lt Col Earle Lund, USAF, who carries out a Campaign Analysis Study in <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ETO/BOB/BoB-German/index.html" target="_blank">January 1996</a>.<br />
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Lund asserts that the <i>Luftwaffe</i> at least twice, held victory in hand, yet failed to gain that victory. The point is simply this, he writes: all efforts should have been directly linked to the primary objective, which in both cases they were not. As proponents of Clauswitzian-style theory, and purveyors of the Principles of War - even of Douhet - the <i>Luftwaffe</i> failed miserably in the application of air warfare. <br />
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We are cautioned to bear in mind, though, that major air operations against Britain were discontinued not because they were recognized as hopeless or because they could no longer be justified in terms of the losses incurred. They ceased "by order of top-level command because the German Air Force was needed for the forthcoming war with Soviet Russia." In the final analysis, Lund asserts that the Germans could have won. Perhaps, if they had aggressively pursued either campaign strategy they could have won, he says, adding the rather obvious caveat that this "will always remain conjecture".<br />
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Therein though, lies the bigger story. As we saw <a href="http://thedaysofglory.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-95-battle-of-britain.html" target="_blank">only a few weeks ago</a> Hitler's campaign against Russia was intended to serve many purposes, not least further isolating and cowing England - and thus helping to keep the US out of the war. After a swift victory, the bombers could return in force in the autumn of 1941. And in the meantime, out in the Atlantic, the U-Boats waited, augmented by the dreaded FW Condors.<br />
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In the autumn of 1940, therefore, the battle was far from over. It was to continue into the Spring of 1941 and then only the air component was put on hold while the Soviets were fought. That the campaign against the Soviet Union faltered on the outskirts of Moscow and then to become bogged down and founder in the cauldron of Stalingrad is perhaps the real reason why the Battle of Britain was finally lost by the Germans.<br />
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Hitler's fantasy, largely supported by his Generals, was that the Soviet Union could be conquered within six months. Had that happened, there is every reason to believe that, come the winter of 1941, the <i>Luftwaffe</i> air fleets would again have been camped in northern Europe, resuming the nightly blitz against London and other British cities. With the Soviet Union then out of the war, and the United States still sitting on the margins, who is to say that Britain would have resisted the renewed onslaught?<br />
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What then of the Battle of Britain? Beyond the hype and the rose-tinted spectacles, it really does have to be said that the short period of the daylight air fighting through mid-August to early September, was a strategic irrelevance. The much-vaunted "defeat" of the <i>Luftwaffe</i> on 15 September, celebrated as Battle of Britain day, was thus far from being the victory which it is so often portrayed. For sure, it was a reverse, but the effect was to enforce a change of policy, from day to night bombing - which was happening anyway. But from then, until the end of the Blitz in May 1941, far more damage was done than had hitherto been achieved.<br />
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One then has to ask what was the strategic purpose of this activity. The answer for this phase of the battle is the same as for the early phase (or phases) - to take Britain out of the war, achieving a cessation of hostilities. Missing here is the word "defeat" in the sense of securing the overwhelming military victory of the type inflicted on France. All the evidence indicates that Hitler would have accepted a deal, which kept the UK as an unoccupied nation, with its Empire largely intact.<br />
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This, then, points to a much-neglected aspect of the Battle of Britain - the politics. Having pieced together some of what went on and looked at those events as part of an integral whole, the entire complexion of the Battle changes. Essentially, the first phase of the fighting, up to 13 August 1940, is simply skirmishing - the greater strength of the Luftwaffe being held back while various peace initiatives were pursued.<br />
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It was only in early August, when Churchill finally rejected the peace proposal brokered by the King of Sweden, that the full force of the <i>Luftwaffe</i> was finally committed. We then see an attack on the RAF, which actually has very little direct relevance to preparations for an invasion. The invasion is best seen as more threat than reality, alongside the air campaign, creating psychological pressure on Churchill and his government, in the hope of a moral rather than military collapse.<br />
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This, in the context, is far from unreasonable or illogical. The fall of France was engineered as much by moral dominance as military victory, and Hitler quite clearly had expectations of repeating the trick. And when the direct assault on the RAF - together with the "hype" about an impending invasion - failed to have a desired effect, the tactics were changed, and London was bombed.<br />
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Far from being a "mistake" as is commonly portrayed in the standard hagiographies, this was effectively a repeat of the earlier strategy, albeit on a more intense scale - an air assault followed by peace "feelers" in the expectation of a deal. <br />
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Here, although we lack clear documentation, there are unmistakable signs and extremely good evidence that peace initiatives recommenced in early September, alongside that start of the Blitz. There is, however, no clear evidence as to when these were concluded - as we see with the August rejection. Perhaps it continued into the Spring, culminating in the mysterious flight of Rudolf Hess in May 1941, about which even today there is much controversy.<br />
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The point in our narrative though is that we see three phases to the Battle of Britain. First, there was an intensification of the fighting through July, accompanied by a peace initiative, the two issues closely interwoven. Then we see an intensive air assault through August - this one in the expectation of a moral collapse of the British government. This was followed by phase three, the Blitz, again accompanied by a peace initiative(s), running through until May 1941. The air battles of phase four, to be commenced in the winter of 1941, never happened - although the background economic war continued in the form of the Battle of the Atlantic.<br />
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That we never had to suffer a renewed air assault of the intensity of the earlier Blitz is something for which we have to thank the Soviet Union. Its defence of its territory proved to be the saviour of Britain, and paved the way for the victory of the Allies in 1945. But the British contribution was to stay in the war. But that Battle did not last a mere 114 days. It ran from the fall of France to December 1941, when the first and most important strategic aim of the British was achieved. The United States joined the war.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-6437809516378855462010-10-30T21:49:00.012+01:002010-11-10T17:56:56.618+00:00Day 113 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMyGkseZb4I/AAAAAAAASUg/fwTk0aJYNGc/s1600/Daily+Express+401030+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMyGkseZb4I/AAAAAAAASUg/fwTk0aJYNGc/s400/Daily+Express+401030+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
"People need coal", says the leader in the <i>Daily Express</i>, on page 4. The front page headline is focused entirely on the war in Greece. The only reference to the Battle of Britain is a report on the appearance of the Italian Air Force in British skies.<br />
<br />
Not even the growing ranks of the Air Ministry propaganda unit can give the air battle any higher profile. Fighter Command has disappeared, pro temp, from the script, and never again will it capture the headlines in the way it has done over the heady days of July through to September.<br />
<br />
The reality of war is now upon people who are looking to their second winter of the conflict, dreading its onset. And well they might. The transport system is on the brink, and to make matters worse, trains are ordered to slow to 10mph through the innumerable air raids. The delays mean they are simply not delivering the coal. Despite the summer to replenish stocks, shortages of supply loom, replicating the winter before.<br />
<br />
Thus complains the <i>Express</i> leader, "Mr Smith has no pile in his backyard, Mr Jones cannot order a ton and be sure of getting it. Again, we repeat. Risk is our normal lot. Safety must not impede speed. For we cannot be safe now, and we will not be safe ever unless we work at speed to throw off this great parasite of war that sucks at our happiness, our wealth, and our free will."<br />
<br />
The great battles of the summer, with contrails criss-crossing the sky, are no more. Today, sullen October weather hampers flying. Only small numbers of <i>Luftwaffe</i> brave the rain and the autumnal gloom. Even the night raiders, who are used to flying in poor visibility, are discouraged by the poor weather.<br />
<br />
In the public mind, the "few" is a distant memory, although operational intensity is as high as it has ever been (and higher than it was at the beginning of the battle) and they still are taking losses. An RAF fighter pilot's life is measured as 87 flying hours. Just today, the last day in which there are combat casualties, seven fighters are written off and three pilots are killed. Eight <i>Luftwaffe</i> aircraft are lost, including a Henschel 126 in a non-combat incident.<br />
<br />
One RAF pilot is shot down over the Channel. He does not survive. A Me 109 pilot is also shot down over the Channel. He is rescued by <i>Sennotflugkommando</i>, unwounded. RAF Battle of Britain survivors eventually come to be lionised as "The Few". The Air Ministry's task, it seems, is to make sure there are as few of the few as possible.<br />
<br />
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Meanwhile several newspapers, without any great prominence, are publishing the latest figures for shipping losses. The week ended 20-21 October has been the blackest since the evacuation from Dunkirk. Britain has lost thirty-two ships, totalling 146,528 tons, Allied losses run to seven ships, totalling 24,686 tons, and six neutral ships totalling 26,816 tons are lost. The cumulative total is 198,939 tons,<br />
<br />
We are told that Germany paid for her successes with U-boat losses, and that the Navy is increasing its precautions against U-boat attack, but there is no disguising the growing crisis. Despite this, there is no repeat of the <i>Daily Mirror's</i> sentiment from earlier in the month, even if here is writ large one important effect of the invasion threat. With so many patrol vessels kept in UK ports at immediate readiness, convoy escorts have been dangerously depleted.<br />
<br />
Whether intended or not, Göring, his airmen, and the threat of invasion have assisted the blockade by drawing off resources which might otherwise have been used to protect shipping. Fighter Command may be taking the glory for the battle in the skies above Britain, but merchant seamen are paying the price. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-81468820025369298772010-10-29T15:12:00.006+01:002012-04-20T16:37:00.869+01:00Day 112 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMr6ceLoMCI/AAAAAAAASUA/d8Zr2g4Wh8w/s1600/Daily+Express+401029+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMr6ceLoMCI/AAAAAAAASUA/d8Zr2g4Wh8w/s400/Daily+Express+401029+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The first day of the Italian invasion of Greece, and the heavy raids by Bomber
Command on the Skoda works in Czechoslovakia, drove news of domestic
air fighting from the front pages. Yet significant operations were continuing.
Overnight, Birmingham had been heavily bombed again, with New Street
Station badly damaged.<br />
<br />
The War Cabinet was told that a number of German vessels had been
reported in the Channel making eastwards. It was, however, too early to draw
the deduction that the risk of invasion had receded. Some sixty good German
divisions were ready at short notice, close to the invasion ports. So long as that
situation continued, it would be essential for us to keep a number of divisions in
readiness at home. Thus, the Minister of Information was invited to "inculcate
the need for continued vigilance in our preparations against invasion".<br />
<br />
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<br />
As to the daylight air war, after early mist, raids had started mid-morning and carried on into the early evening. Four daylight raids on London and two on Portsmouth were recorded, the largest involving forty bombers escorted by Messerschmitt fighters. No. 602
City of Glasgow Sqn distinguished itself by shooting down eleven Me 109s in six
minutes, for no loss.<br />
<br />
Fifteen Italian BR 20s (type illustrated above), escorted by CR 42 biplanes, attacked
Ramsgate. Five were damaged by anti-aircraft fire. At dusk, RAF airfields in East Anglia, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire were attacked by Ju 88s and Me 109s. Heavy night bombing of Birmingham and
Coventry was recorded. London was again bombed.<br />
<br />
On the day, Fighter
Command lost ten aircraft, including two Hurricanes caught while taking
off from North Weald Airfield during an attack. One pilot was killed there.
But Bomber and Coastal Commands lost eight aircraft, including two
Sunderland flying boats. The Germans lost twenty-four aircraft, including
fifteen Me 109s.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-240415674332934392010-10-28T15:43:00.011+01:002010-11-19T05:43:11.855+00:00Day 111 - Battle of BritainGermany announces "European Front" against England. This is no mere polemic, but a carefully constructed propaganda campaign aimed at the United States, to position the United Kingdom as the "aggressor" against a united Europe. Only England's intransigence is causing the war to continue. Without her, and the warmonger Churchill, there would be peace.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMnQ2lh9nWI/AAAAAAAASTs/TrgUXMZec9o/s1600/Daily+Mirror+401028+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMnQ2lh9nWI/AAAAAAAASTs/TrgUXMZec9o/s320/Daily+Mirror+401028+001.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>It is the <i>Daily Mirror</i>, oddly enough, which picks up the vibes on Greece most prominently, splashing the Italian moves on its front page as the lead item. Initiated without consultation with the Germans, Hitler is said to be furious and an emergency meeting is arranged. It is too late to stop Mussolini, so a facade of unity is projected to the outside world. But it makes a mockery of Germany's propaganda play.<br />
<br />
Too soon for the British press to report, the details on the moves on the ground are retailed by the <i>New York Times</i>. The Italian government had served an ultimatum at 03:00hrs, to expire at 06:00hrs. Italy was then reported to have attacked Greece by land, sea and air, "hurling" at least ten divisions of 20,000 troops across the Albanian-Greek border.<br />
<br />
British sources declared that warships of the British Mediterranean Squadron were steaming from their patrol posts to the assistance of Greece, "who holds a British guarantee of aid in event of attack",<br />
<br />
The <i>Daily Express</i> chooses to feature RAF raids on Berlin, claiming that the heaviest bombs ever have been dropped on the city in a "fierce" ninety-minute raid that "showed Berlin what blitz-bombing is really like". "Many works smashed, trams and buses wrecked, gas cut off", the sub-heading to the report reads. There is a small item about the <i>Empress of Britain</i> in the <i>Mirror</i>, the paper noting that the Nazis are saying that the ship is still on fire, having claimed two days ago on the Saturday that it had been sunk.<br />
<br />
There is little more on Petain, with the <i>Yorkshire Post</i> noting that "this has been a week-end of waiting in London for further news" on the Hitler-Petain pact. Until further information on the terms of the pact, and on certain other questions, is available, it would be fruitless to speculate widely on what the agreement may involve, the paper says. It continues:<br />
<blockquote>It seems at least possible, however, that Petain is still trying to hold out against some of Hitler's demands. But the veteran leader of the Vichy Government has placed himself in an extremely difficult position with Hitler by his unconditional capitulation last summer. Petain may now feel that he is faced with only two possibilities: complete surrender to the Fuehrer or resistance which France is in no position to maintain.</blockquote>Back in Britain, night spotters of enemy aircraft assert that three-engined aeroplanes have been used for some of the attacks on London. This lends confirmation to the German report that the <i>Regia Aeronautica</i> has been in action against Britain. Very soon, there is the physical evidence.<br />
<br />
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As the war goes on elsewhere, a haunting incident occurs far out in the Atlantic. Sunderland P9620 becomes lost while on convoy patrol after its compass fails in an electrical storm. The aircraft runs out of fuel and is forced to ditch, some 200 miles west of Ireland. It stays afloat for nine hours in gale conditions before breaking up. Of the 13-man crew, nine are rescued by HMAS Australia. In gathering darkness, a crewman is seen on the keel of the upturned craft as it drifts away into the gloom. He is not saved.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-54818920377301687372010-10-27T09:02:00.004+01:002010-10-27T22:27:29.878+01:00Day 110 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMiLHC1DW-I/AAAAAAAASTQ/-8KRplHpDJY/s1600/Guardian+401027+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMiLHC1DW-I/AAAAAAAASTQ/-8KRplHpDJY/s400/Guardian+401027+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The long-running Petain saga seems to be coming to a close, with the word "collaboration" high up in the lists of comment. France, somewhat under <i>force majeure</i>, is to integrate politically and economically with Germany, as part of the Nazi's idea of a new world order. However, Petain seems to have avoided full military integration, with a declaration of war against Great Britain. It is still a hostile power, but not a belligerent. The United States threatens to seize French overseas possessions if military co-operation between Vichy and Germany is too close. <br />
<br />
In the same edition of the <i>Observer</i>, where we see the news on France, there is also news of the <i>Empress of Britain</i>. German radio has declared her sunk. This is premature as, even as the paper rolls of the presses, a heroic struggle is under way to get the ship into port. The <i>coup de grace</i> comes not until tomorrow. The <i>New York Times</i>, on the other hand, has the ship on fire and beyond salvage.<br />
<br />
This day, a German radio message is picked up by a radio listening post in Britain. Deciphered by the top-secret facility at Bletchley, and included in the "Ultra" intercepts, it instructs German forces gathered at the invasion ports "to continue their training according to plan". This is interpreted as meaning that an invasion could hardly be imminent, if training was to continue. Churchill is informed of the intercept and the conclusion. <br />
<br />
The next day, photographic reconnaissance picks up substantial movement of shipping out of the invasion ports. It is moving eastwards, away from Great Britain. By 2 November, Churchill's private secretary is writing in his diary that the prime minister "now thinks the invasion is off".<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, tension between the Greeks and the Italians who are camped in Albania along the Greek border, are increasing. Late in the evening, Italian ambassador in Athens Emanuele Grazzi relays an ultimatum from Mussolini. It demands that Italian troops be allowed occupy strategic points in Greece. Ioannis Metaxas, the Greek dictator, rejects the ultimatum, noting "Alors, c'est la guerre". The Greeks know of the Italian plans and have already mobilised in the areas facing the expected attack.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-31594457199092341912010-10-26T09:06:00.009+01:002010-11-04T18:36:03.528+00:00Day 109 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMdG3idgZjI/AAAAAAAASSY/qlZKJEMKihQ/s1600/Daily+Express+401026+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMdG3idgZjI/AAAAAAAASSY/qlZKJEMKihQ/s400/Daily+Express+401026+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
There is no official or semi-official information as to the scope of the conversation between Hitler and Marshal Petain. A statement issued by the official German News Agency says: "Hitler did not hesitate to treat the Marshal as a great and honourable opponent deserved to be treated." That is the "take" from the <i>Yorkshire Post</i>. Others, like the <i>Daily Mirror</i>, hint at "surrender", and the <i>Daily Express</i> covers US intervention, aimed at stopping a Franco-German pact.<br />
<br />
Noting Petain's discomfort, evidenced by the protracted negotiations, the <i>Express</i> cannot resist the temptation to moralise. "Now you see what it is like to be beaten. Look at France. Look at Petain creeping to the feet of the conqueror, asking what it is he wants," the paper storms. "As we watch each step of that dreadful and pitiful pilgrimage we sing anew the praises of our invincible Navy and our unbeatable Air Force".<br />
<br />
Several newspapers focus on yet another gun duel across the Straits of Dover, the narrative running to a pattern established back in late August when the German shelling started. The German guns shell a convoy - unusually, German aircraft join in. The British guns respond. British bombers roar into action, launching the biggest raid yet on German-occupied France. Honour is satisfied. The warriors stand down, clean their guns and finish off the day with a late tea, or something stronger. Alan Brooke and others fret about the enormous expenditure of manpower on Winnie's "pets".<br />
<br />
For the rest, it is <i>déjà vu</i> all over again. A small number of <i>jabos</i> and their escorts fly across the Channel and head towards London. Like the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that, some actually get to drop their bombs over the city. This time, the Royal Chelsea Hospital is hit.<br />
<br />
The RAF flies 732 sorties, nine German aircraft are destroyed as are nine RAF fighters - by no means all, on either side, through combat damage. Two Hurricanes are lost on night take-offs, their pilots killed, and one Blenheim crashes on landing after a night sortie. The crew is unhurt. Additionally, two Beauforts, a Blenheim, two Hudsons, a Hampden and a Whitley are lost by Bomber and Coastal Commands. The FAA loses a Swordfish.<br />
<br />
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The big event though - not yet broadcast to the nation - is a <i>Luftwaffe</i> attack on the former liner and now troopship the <i>Empress of Britain</i>. She is found by a roving Condor about 150 miles from land, off the north-west coast of Ireland. Hptm. Bernard Jope, the aircraft captain, releases two bombs on the ship. He then strafes her, taking return fire from deck-mounted machine guns.<br />
<br />
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The bombs start large fires which soon cripple the ship. Many crew are trapped below deck by the fires, some forced to escape through portholes into the sea. A Sunderland and three Blenheims assist with the rescue. Under constant air cover from Hurricanes from No. 245 Sqn out of Aldergrove, the ship limps eastwards, only to be torpedoed by U-32 on 28 October while under tow.<br />
<br />
Most of the 643 passengers and crew are taken off. Only 45 are killed, all passengers in the initial attack. At 42,348 grt, she is the largest liner to be sunk through the entire war. Jope is eventually to become a senior Captain with <i>Lufthansa</i>. U-32 is sunk by the destroyer <i>Harvester</i>, two days after she despatches the Empress.<br />
<br />
Back in Britian, the creatures of the night are on the prowl again. They hit London and Birmingham heavily. New Street station in Birmingham is closed by an unexploded bomb. But for some, the war has become a spectator sport once more. The <i>Daily Express</i> reports thousands of people crowding Kent seafronts to watch and hear "terrific battles between convoys, planes and long range guns which shook the coast from early yesterday evening to long after dark," as German long-range guns, with the aid of a terrific bombing by the RAF, lit up the whole French coast between Calais and Boulogne.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-68247499467683659202010-10-25T13:53:00.007+01:002012-10-08T11:54:06.967+01:00Day 108 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMXl3uSc9SI/AAAAAAAASRw/leA8BQOqFmU/s1600/Daily+Mirror+401025+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMXl3uSc9SI/AAAAAAAASRw/leA8BQOqFmU/s320/Daily+Mirror+401025+001.jpg" width="253" /></a></div>
The newspapers had little more to add to the Pétain affair than when they first reported the meeting with Hitler. The <i>Yorkshire Post</i>, however, rather stiffly informed its readers that Germany might be about to launch a monster propaganda campaign carrying falsification to lengths far exceeding those already attempted designed to show that Britain’s chances of withstanding German might were hopeless.<br />
<br />
The <i>Mirror</i> announced a "Better night fighter plane". The paper, with others, was reporting on a BBC commentary the previous evening by Air Marshal Sir Philip Joubert. Amazingly, he was referring to the Defiant, saying that the aircraft, "originally designed as a night fighter and used experimentally for a while by day", had now been restored to its proper role and "with certain developments that we are considering, should be very effective". It wasn't. The aircraft was not suited to radar interception. That Joubert felt the need to talk up the Defiant simply reflected the growing unease at the inability of the RAF to deal with the night bomber, and its desperation to come up with a solution.<br />
<br />
The claim was, to say the very least, disingenuous, both as to its original role and as to its future effectiveness. The aircraft was not suited to carrying interception radar and, although the Mk II model was fitted with the AI Mk IV, it was never really successful as a night interceptor. With the twin-engined Bristol Beaufighter already on the stocks, the aircraft was withdrawn from combat duties in 1942 and used only for target towing and sundry other non-combat tasks.<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
But even in the daytime, the RAF was finding it hard to keep the <i>Luftwaffe</i>
at bay. Three people were killed when a German fighter-bomber scored a direct
hit on trams in Blackfriars Road, London, during a daylight raid. The trams
worst hit were in the middle of a group of five, drawn up near traffic lights.
The dead included a driver, a conductor and a woman passenger. A number of
women ripped up their clothing to provide temporary bandages for the injured,
of which four had been taken to hospital. Many others were cut by flying glass.
Adjoining buildings were badly damaged.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Come the night, though, an even greater horror visited the Druid Street railway arch shelter in Bermondsey. The area under the arch was used as a social club and billiards hall during the day but, at night, it was transformed into a sanctuary from the bombing. The ominous sound of the sirens were the cue for local people to congregate as quickly as possible in a bid for safety. That night, it took a direct hit. Many were killed instantly and many died later of their injuries. The final death toll was 77. Censorship kept the details from the wider public.<br />
<br />
And for for the first time, Italian aircraft were committed to an operation over British soil. Thirteen aircraft took part in a raid against Harwich.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-20028183883686381332010-10-24T21:04:00.015+01:002012-04-07T12:25:52.568+01:00Day 107 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TNsrKPGT-4I/AAAAAAAASbY/4I6Mi5KPkKY/s1600/Ju+88+night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TNsrKPGT-4I/AAAAAAAASbY/4I6Mi5KPkKY/s400/Ju+88+night.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
A few individual raiders and reconnaissance flights is the extent of German daylight air operations. From a British perspective, this is seen to be a ritual to keep the British defence system on alert, with no strategic significance whatsoever. The main effort now is through the night.<br />
<br />
<i>Flight</i> magazine has <a href="http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1940/1940%20-%202995.html" target="_blank">already made a decision</a> about this. The Battle of Britain is over as a battle and has degenerated into unimportant but spiteful slaughter and destruction, it says. But, once again, it is focused on day operations and the fighter war.<br />
<br />
This, however, is not the German "take" on the situation. General von Bötticher, the German Military Attache to Washington, reports that the situation in England is becoming more precarious. The objective to make life more difficult and to make life difficult is being achieved. Production has decreased and the traffic situation is difficult. There is a danger that epidemics might break out. Reports from the embassies in Lisbon and Sofia agree. There has been an "impressive change" in the tone of the British press.<br />
<br />
On the British front, however, internal politics rather than the Germans are keeping Dowding busy. He has let the enmity between Keith Park at 11 Group and Leigh Mallory at 12 Group go too far. The knives are out, and Dowding's own position is threatened. But, while the headline issue is the so-called "big wing" controversy, the politicians are also dismayed at the lack of protection Fighter Command can offer against the night bombers. Heads must roll.<br />
<br />
To prove the point, London gets 50 aircraft in the night. Birmingham is also a target while Basingstoke is also hit. The <i>Luftwaffe</i> roams virtually unmolested, still owning the night sky. The weather is the bigger enemy, accounting for more losses that the RAF on this day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMSVFOYSUXI/AAAAAAAASRA/UGmp6FI5UXs/s1600/Daily+Express+401024+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMSVFOYSUXI/AAAAAAAASRA/UGmp6FI5UXs/s400/Daily+Express+401024+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
RAF politics, though, is trivial stuff, when the real thing is in plentiful supply. News is emerging of a meeting the previous day between Hitler and Franco on the border of Spain. During the Brenner meeting between Hitler and Mussolini, news had been circulating to the effect that Spain's dictator, Franco, had decided to stay out of the war. Now Hitler is trying to reverse that decision.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sTG5a4kvFKw/T4AhWiKYr8I/AAAAAAAAV30/YYCJOvJarig/s1600/Franco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sTG5a4kvFKw/T4AhWiKYr8I/AAAAAAAAV30/YYCJOvJarig/s400/Franco.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hitler meeting with General Francisco Franco at Hendaye, Southern France</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
In a two-hour, head-to-head discussion, though, Hitler fails to change his mind. Famously, Hitler later confides with Mussolini that he would "rather have three or four teeth pulled" than go through another meeting with Franco. And so, Gibraltar is safe.<br />
<br />
From the Spanish border, Hitler travels to Montoire in France to meet Petain. News has since come through that Petain has rejected any deal with Hitler over the transfer of the French Navy. However, the fleet is said to be massing in Toulon. The only explanation for this "mysterious move", is said to be that the French Navy minister, Admiral Darlan, who is a strong supporter of deputy premier Laval, gave the orders on his own initiative.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMSwmZR42UI/AAAAAAAASRI/F1K_inkosns/s1600/Petain+Hitler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMSwmZR42UI/AAAAAAAASRI/F1K_inkosns/s400/Petain+Hitler.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
While the world waits with bated breath for news of developments, the War Cabinet is treated to a sombre appraisal on the current fighting. In particular, it learns that mines are having a significant effect on the shipping in coastal waters and on the Royal Navy in particular.<br />
<br />
In the preceding week, they have accounted for the numerous ships. Minesweeper HMS <i>Dundalk</i> is badly damaged 16 October off Harwich and founders early the next day while under tow. HM Trawler <i>Kingston Cairngorm</i> is sunk off Portland on the 18th, and veteran of the action in Boulogne to evacuate troops, HM Destroyer <i>Venetia</i> (pictured below at Boulogne) goes down in the Thames Approaches on the 19th. There are 96 survivors from the latter ship, but five officers, including the Captain, are missing.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Aq0yhbMzpXo/T4AkCf19F4I/AAAAAAAAV38/55kBFGok-sw/s1600/Venetia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Aq0yhbMzpXo/T4AkCf19F4I/AAAAAAAAV38/55kBFGok-sw/s400/Venetia.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HMS Venetia at Boulogne, 23 May 1940</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
HM Trawler <i>Velia</i> is also sunk in the same locality. The Minesweeping Trawlers <i>Wave Flower</i> and <i>Joseph Button</i> are sunk off Aldeburgh, apparently by mines, on the 21st and 22nd respectively, and HM Trawler <i>Hickory</i> sinks off Portland on the 22nd.<br />
<br />
The picture for merchant shipping is no better. During the period, 36 ships (150,091 tons) have been reported sunk. Of these, 17 British (89,199 tons), three Norwegian (14,080 tons), three Swedish (13,533 tons), three Dutch (10,878 tons), two Greek (7,408 tons), one Estonian (1,186 tons), one Belgian (5,186 tons) and one Yugo-Slav (5,135 tons) were sunk by submarine.<br />
<br />
Three British vessels (1,722 tons) were sunk by mine, one British (1,595 tons) was sunk by E-Boat and a British trawler (169 tons) was sunk by aircraft. In addition, three British ships (21,059 tons) previously reported as damaged were now known to have been sunk. Damage by aircraft, mine or submarine to 21 British ships (79,791 tons) had been reported and two additional British ships (10,232 tons) are now known to have been damaged in the previous period.<br />
<br />
As to civilian casualties, the approximate figures for the week ending 06:00hrs on 23 October are 1,690 killed and 3,000 injured. These figures include the estimated 1,470 killed and 1,785 injured in London, 56 killed and and 261 injured in Coventry, and 30 killed and 203 injured in Birmingham.<br />
<br />
But there is one thing few are concerned about - the invasion. Even the Lord Halifax is in the loop. On this day he notifies a British embassy that: "‘Though Hitler has enough shipping in the Channel to put half a million men onto salt water – or into it, as Winston said the other day –it really does seem as if the invasion of England has been postponed for the present".<br />
’<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-55438011942298355322010-10-23T17:26:00.013+01:002012-10-09T17:00:07.520+01:00Day 106 - Battle of BritainWeather here good, wrote Goebbels in Berlin, bad over England."Few incursions into the Reich, but neither do we drop much in England". The propaganda minister is not far wrong. Low cloud and drizzle, with the concomitant poor visibility, prevents any significant German air operations, either by day or night.<br />
<br />
The <i>Luftwaffe</i> reverts to its standard bad weather programme, sending out reconnaissance flights and single bomb-carrying fighters. One Hurricane is lost to an Me 109 and the <i>Luftwaffe</i> loses three bombers, two from the night contingent. Only one of the three is a direct combat loss - the other two crash on home territory.<br />
<br />
The OKW War Diary this day records a report from London which states that the effects of the German attack on London and the British industry were not very strong during September. During October, however, the effects are said to have been stronger. "The British people is said to be fatalistic," it notes. "The people, however, does not appear demoralised".<br />
<br />
Separately, in relation to the dispersion of forces intended for operation <i>Seelöwe</i>, it is recorded that: "long periods of time will, in future, be required to get this operation going". It then adds: "The measures to deceive the enemy are to be continued but the main effort of this deception should be directed to Norway". <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TPfRuw6-zoI/AAAAAAAASlI/cPB8JnvQAqE/s1600/Me+109+jabo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TPfRuw6-zoI/AAAAAAAASlI/cPB8JnvQAqE/s400/Me+109+jabo+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The diary also carries a report on <i>Luftwaffe</i> operations. "The morale of the flying units is excellent", it says. "These units are strained but not over-strained." It then goes on to observe that, in general, only fighter-bomber aircraft equipped with 250Kg bombs are to be committed in daylight operations against London and alternate targets. These are to fly at extremely high altitudes and, it is thought, the damages caused in London are "very considerable".<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMMtu3yTlVI/AAAAAAAASQU/9fJQnY4JdNc/s1600/Daily+Express+401023+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMMtu3yTlVI/AAAAAAAASQU/9fJQnY4JdNc/s400/Daily+Express+401023+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In Britain, the media focus is not on the domestic front. Big events are being staged in France where, only 24 hours after Churchill has made a radio appeal to the French to rise up and set Europe aflame.<br />
<br />
Predictably, Göbbels is less than impressed. "Impudent, insulting, and oozing with hypocrisy", he calls it, "A repulsive, oily obscenity". He releases the speech to the [German] press for them "to give it a really rough and ready answer" Otherwise, he writes, the English will carry on living an illusion. We shall battle on remorselessly to destroy their last hopes.<br />
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This day, Hitler arrives secretly in Paris to have a long conference with Pierre Laval. Reports emerging from Berlin indicate that Hitler is offering final peace terms to France in exchange for the surrender of the remnants of the French fleet. With the help of the French, Hitler and Mussolini are said to be planning a "decisive blow against the British Fleet in the Mediterranean.<br />
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According to the <i>Daily Express</i>, "Jubilant Nazi officials in Berlin boast that the three navies could either destroy the British Fleet or drive it off our great Empire lifeline."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YCVKLbI3LP4/T3DOH9v6_dI/AAAAAAAAVxE/unoMSACBo48/s1600/Hertfordshire+401023.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YCVKLbI3LP4/T3DOH9v6_dI/AAAAAAAAVxE/unoMSACBo48/s400/Hertfordshire+401023.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A DH. 95 passenger aircraft. The Herefordshire differed from the Flamingo in having oval rather then square windows.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Combat fliers were not the only casualties this day. On a scheduled flight to Belfast from RAF Hendon was a Hertfordshire aircraft, the militarised version of the De Haviland Flamingo passenger aircraft, and the only one of its kind. Shortly after take-off, its elevator jammed and it crashed at Mill Hill, a few miles north.<br />
<br />
Eleven people were killed – five crew and six passengers, the latter including Air Vice Marshal Blount, a first-class cricketer and commander of the air component of the BEF in France. After the Battle of France, he had returned to England to resume his original post as AOC, No. 22 (Army Co-Operation) Group. He was three days short of his 47th birthday.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-80780842667408887412010-10-22T10:19:00.003+01:002010-10-23T17:26:32.926+01:00Day 105 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMH8RVxYLnI/AAAAAAAASQA/vKFtNw_vvrc/s1600/Daily+Mirror+401022+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMH8RVxYLnI/AAAAAAAASQA/vKFtNw_vvrc/s320/Daily+Mirror+401022+001.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>Today sees what can only be regarded as a "planted" story on the front page of the <i>Daily Mirror</i>. Too close to the convoy disasters of SC7 and HX79 to be a coincidence, without giving any details of the events, it tells of a "Big U-Boat Blitz on our ships," the lead text stating:<br />
<blockquote>Hitler has started an intensified U-boat war in the hope of starving Britain into subjection by blockade now that his air attack and invasion plans have been rebuffed. Prowling in the wastes of the Atlantic, U-boats are hunting shipping, attacking on a scale greater than ever before. Scantily armed cargo boats, carrying food, raw material and munitions are their prey.</blockquote>More U-boats have been ordered into the Atlantic than at any time since the outbreak of war, the paper continues. In remote shipyards in Norway and the Baltic work has been pressed forward to repair the losses inflicted on the German underwater fleet in the early stages of the war by the Royal Navy and the RAF. The new vessels have been dispatched direct from their trials with the instructions, "Britain must be blockaded at all costs. Merchant ships must be intercepted and sunk."<br />
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This is Führer Directive No. 9 writ large. It has never really gone away and now, of the three options for defeating Britain, it is the only one left. As the paper acknowledges, openly, "air attack and invasion plans have been rebuffed." The "terror" bombing has failed. That leaves the economic war - the blockade.<br />
<br />
But, says the <i>Mirror</i>, Britain's food chiefs give the lie to Hitler's starvation threat. It will be averted, said Lord Woolton, Minister of Food, last week. "By the grace of God and the vigilance of the Royal Navy, the courage of the Mercantile Marine, the devotion of the dock labourers and transport workers and of food traders and the patient efforts of the farmers."<br />
<br />
With the recent disasters yet to be released, this has every sign of a piece which has been designed to soften people up for the bad news. Soon, convoy survivors will be coming ashore and talking. Details of the sinkings cannot be concealed for ever.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-11611400408552428882010-10-21T12:08:00.002+01:002010-10-23T06:14:44.794+01:00Day 104 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMCDcaml9oI/AAAAAAAASPQ/Yp6ptSPfguc/s1600/London+air+raid+400921.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMCDcaml9oI/AAAAAAAASPQ/Yp6ptSPfguc/s400/London+air+raid+400921.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The photograph is taken today, according to the agency file which tells you nothing more than the obvious - three survivors from a bombing raid in London. To get past the censor, there is no detail which will help pinpoint the location or anything specific about the circumstances of the incident it purports to depict. For all we know, the scene has been staged. Many were.<br />
<br />
The previous night's flying by the <i>Luftwaffe</i> may well have dispossessed these ladies, but Bomber Command, too, has been particularly active. It detailed 192 aircraft for missions, of which 135 report successful attacks on targets ranging from the Channel ports, German marshalling yards, armament factories in Czechoslovakia and factories in Italy. Nine aircraft are lost.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMCJ8d5kRWI/AAAAAAAASPU/7usY2i6pdus/s1600/Daily+Mirror+401021+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMCJ8d5kRWI/AAAAAAAASPU/7usY2i6pdus/s320/Daily+Mirror+401021+001.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>The exercise gives the <i>Daily Mirror</i> its headline for the morning, which offers the legend: "RAF's 100-a-minute bombing". But less comfortable is the news that an Italian push is expected in the Western Desert - the one area in the world where there is currently direct confrontation between British and Axis ground forces.<br />
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In England during the day, there is low cloud and mist over most areas of the south-east, which persist for much of the day - indicative of the general deterioration in weather conditions which effectively rule out any idea of an invasion. There is very little flying, with the RAF losing three aircraft to accidents and none to combat.<br />
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This, once again, is regarded as a "quiet" period - but come the night, Coventry suffers heavy raids, with considerable damage done to the Armstrong-Siddeley works. There are also raids over London, Birmingham and Liverpool. To the Battle of Britain commentariat, though, the night bombing is still all but invisible. One could speculate on what might have been the response had Fighter Command been equipped with effective night fighters. One presumes the the narrative would then have been extended to cover the night.<br />
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Perhaps the most significant news, however, is a report in the <i>Yorkshire Post</i>, on "New Drive for Shelters". Measures announced over the week-end, it says, "suggest a determined attempt by the Government to come to grips with the shelter problem. To speed up the provision of shelters, the whole cost of building and equipment in future is to be paid by the Government so long as local authorities show reasonable economy in their schemes."<br />
<br />
This is an important development, and is unlikely to be unrelated to the recent spate of shelter disasters. The <i>Yorkshire Post</i> remarks that "this is a promise that has long been needed." Much of the delay in shelter construction, it says, "has been due to uncertainty in the minds of local authorities whether they would find themselves burdened with intolerable debts if they showed initiative and went vigorously ahead with shelter construction. It is to be hoped that laggard authorities will now set to work with confidence."<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-64455160304283789882010-10-20T22:04:00.002+01:002010-11-19T16:04:34.453+00:00Day 103 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TL9SLTbiXnI/AAAAAAAASO4/1q0Q-W3bxpU/s1600/Guardian+401020+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TL9SLTbiXnI/AAAAAAAASO4/1q0Q-W3bxpU/s400/Guardian+401020+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
It is now just over two weeks to the general election in the United States, upon which outcome will depend Britain's fate. If Roosevelt wins, there is a chance America will enter the war. His opponent, Wendell Wilkie is running on an isolationist ticket, which could auger ill for the UK, except that Roosevelt looks to have a two to one lead in the electoral college.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TL9ZTMwBJxI/AAAAAAAASO8/VHUnmgQmXEM/s1600/Me+109+jabo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TL9ZTMwBJxI/AAAAAAAASO8/VHUnmgQmXEM/s400/Me+109+jabo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Back in the war, the <i>Luftwaffe</i> is continuing to pursue its daylight tactics of sending over high-level fighter bombers. Such aircraft and their escorts amount to 300 on this day, in five separate waves, keeping RAF pilots busy and tired. Fighter Command flies 745 sorties and loses four aircraft, the <i>Luftwaffe</i> combat losses amounting to eight, including a Do 17 on a reconnaissance flight. As always, the RAF exaggerates its score, claiming 14 aircraft downed.<br />
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Overnight, bombers revisit London. Coventry is heavily bombed and considerable damage is done. Rescue parties are heavily tested as several people are trapped in wrecked buildings. Minelayers are also active off East Anglia, and from the Humber to the Tees. <br />
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Meanwhile, British Intelligence has picked up rumours that the Vichy government is preparing its ships and colonial troops to aid the Germans in the war against the United Kingdom. Churchill is informed, but does not believe the rumours. Nevertheless, he appreciates that, if the French fleet, now at Toulon, was handed over to the Germans, it would be a very heavy blow. He writes to the US president, expressing his concerns.<br />
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Roosevelt responds in very positive fashion, warning that such an action would constitute "a flagrant and deliberate breach of faith with the United States Government". It would definitely wreck the traditional friendship between the French and the American peoples, create a wave of bitter indignation against France and permanently end all American aid to the French people. Further, there would be no US assistance when the time came to secure for France the retention of her overseas possessions.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-43832630700844637932010-10-19T08:49:00.008+01:002010-11-13T00:14:58.611+00:00Day 102 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMHciDYCxrI/AAAAAAAASP8/RM6sJxyTnco/s1600/convoy+sinking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMHciDYCxrI/AAAAAAAASP8/RM6sJxyTnco/s400/convoy+sinking.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The agony of Convoy SC7 continues into today. SS <i>Empire Brigand</i> and her load of trucks disappeares beneath the waves. Six of her crew die. Even the Commodore's ship is not immune, and SS <i>Assyrian</i> sinks beneath him. Vice Admiral Mackinnon is saved. SS <i>Fiscus</i> loaded with 5-ton ingots of steel, sinks like a stone. There is only one survivor from her crew of 39.<br />
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Twenty ships out of 34 which had remained in the convoy have now been sunk. The loss amounts to 79,592 tons, worth millions, even at 1940 prices. The German "star" is Otto Kretschmer. He operated for only 18 months of WW2 before being captured but sank 56 ships totalling 313,611 tons. This is a feat unequalled by any other U-Boat Captain. In U-99 this night, he sinks seven ships. <br />
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And still the killing has not finished. Those U-boats with torpedoes remaining join up with U-47, commanded by Gunther Prien, to attack HX79, another Liverpool-bound convoy, this one completely unescorted. A further 12 ships are sunk, with no loss to U-Boats, making this the worst loss of ships in a 48 hour period for the entire war.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TN3YWA_yKDI/AAAAAAAASc8/Ptae0rB3o6k/s1600/Fw_200_Condor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TN3YWA_yKDI/AAAAAAAASc8/Ptae0rB3o6k/s400/Fw_200_Condor.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Despite this, the U-boats are by no means the only weapon ranged against the Atlantic convoys. The long-range Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor (pictured above), first operating from Norway and later from France, is able to fly far out into the North Atlantic, out of the reach of the RAF's shore-based Spitfires and Hurricanes, and even the longer-range Blenheims.<br />
<br />
The Condors provide detailed reports on convoy positions to waiting submarines, they send meteorological reports and mount direct attacks on the shipping with their own bombs. Between June 1940 and February 1941, this type alone accounts for sinking over 365,000 tons. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMHU1TD9iiI/AAAAAAAASP4/T_kE0cnbfgk/s1600/Convoy+Condor+attack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMHU1TD9iiI/AAAAAAAASP4/T_kE0cnbfgk/s400/Convoy+Condor+attack.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
As to the fate of SC7 and HX79, it is still too early for anything of these convoy disasters to reach the media. H Taylor Henry, writing for AP, his copy to reach millions of Americans, reports on the war in London: "High explosive bombs dropped by raiders in the heaviest early-evening assault since the battle of Britain began killed many Londoners last night and caused "severe" damage in the British capital", he says. "One bomb landing outside a hotel," he adds, "killed an unannounced number of people in the bar; two others were killed in a cafe, and a direct hit which demolished a London club killed an undetermined number of casualties".<br />
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Golden prose this is not - and the details are suspect. Henry may be eliding incidents from several days into one narrative. But the report captures the flavour of events. The bloody war just got bloodier. This is corroborated by the Ministry of Homes Security activity report, which tells us that the bombing commenced at dusk and for the first four hours was abnormally heavy, then continuing on a large but more usual scale. The main attacks were against the London area, but Liverpool, Manchester and Coventry districts received considerable attention.<br />
<br />
Reading the <i>Daily Express</i>, however, you would think it was a different war:<br />
<blockquote>For the third Friday in succession, last night's London blitz was quieter than usual. This weekly "quiet night" has been marked by the anti aircraft gunners, who call it "Jerry's Amaminight." On each of the two previous Fridays an early "Raiders passed" was sounded. Last night's raid, which ended the blitz's sixth week, began in a blanket of mist and low-lying cloud that made it impossible to pick out targets from the air.<br />
<br />
Bombs were unloaded blindly and. as on the previous night, there were long lulls. A public house was blown into the roadway, and people were buried under the wreckage. A cafe and a shop were demolished by the same bomb. Close by, incendiaries fell on a hospital, but were quickly put out.</blockquote>It's how you tell 'em, I guess.<br />
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The main news, however, is an account culled from US newspapers of how aircraft from Bomber Command under their former leader Charles Portal, assisted had in mid-September pounded the assembled German invasion fleet so hard - killing 40-50,000 troops - that it had forced the cancellation of <i>Der Tag</i> - the projected invasion day.<br />
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Although Bomber Command had indeed mounted a "maximum effort" on the night of 15 September, and again on the 17th, the account is almost entirely fictional. Despite this, it is, according to the <i>Express</i>, "officially confirmed". The Air Ministry is thus crediting Bomber Command rather than Dowding's Fighter Command with the victory. - a victory which, according to the legend, is the reason why Portal has been promoted to Air Force Chief of Staff.<br />
<br />
How times change. With the Battle of Britain "brand" having become the exclusive property of Fighter Command, bomber crews are not even awarded the Battle of Britain clasp.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-90724168715210914342010-10-18T08:48:00.013+01:002010-11-03T21:26:33.897+00:00Day 101 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMGhPCJ0k-I/AAAAAAAASPs/2D3Bh14_kIw/s1600/convoy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMGhPCJ0k-I/AAAAAAAASPs/2D3Bh14_kIw/s400/convoy3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Unknown at the time, and only to be discovered after the war when German war records are translated, the war against Britain in 1940 has been initiated by Führer Directive 16, since postponed, but also the earlier Directive No. 9. That this is still in force is seen most immediately by the thirty-five merchantmen making up Convoy SC7, outbound from Nova Scotia since 5 October.<br />
<br />
They were headed for Liverpool, escorted by a single Royal Navy Warship, the sloop HMS <i>Scarborough</i>. Leading the convoy in the small 2,962 ton SS <i>Assyrian</i>, Vice Admiral L.D.I. Mackinnon, a retired Naval Officer, acting as convoy Commodore. Typical cargoes carried show the range of goods that Britain most needs to import to sustain her. Pit props from East Brunswick destined for British coal mines, lumber, and grain for the daily bread of the English population from the Great Lakes area, steel and ingots ex Sydney Cape Breton, iron ore from New Foundland.<br />
<br />
The largest of the 34 ships was the Admiralty tanker SS <i>Languedor</i> of 9,512 tons - already sunk yesterday, and a load of important trucks fills the holds of SS <i>Empire Brigand</i>. The majority of the ships belong on the British Register, but others have their home ports in Norway, Greece, Holland, and Sweden.<br />
<br />
The attacks actually started in the early hours of 16 October, when one ship was lost, but the convoy is then joined by the sloop <i>Fowey</i> and corvette <i>Bluebell</i>. On the 18th, two further escorts join the convoy, the sloop <i>Leith</i> and corvette <i>Heartsease</i>. That night, the convoy is under sustained attack from one of the first German U-boat "wolfpacks", with seven submarines coordinating their attacks.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMG0Rv0N7kI/AAAAAAAASPw/P76_5iEPYJQ/s1600/Creekirk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMG0Rv0N7kI/AAAAAAAASPw/P76_5iEPYJQ/s400/Creekirk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
One, the SS <i>Creekirk</i> (3,917grt) with a cargo of iron ore (pictured), is hit by torpedoes from U-101 early in the attack. Weighted by the iron ore, she sinks almost immediately, with the loss of her master, Elie Robilliard, 34 crew members and one gunner. No one survives.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLx1kDNZ1YI/AAAAAAAASOQ/di8em4N5wv4/s1600/Daily+Express+401018+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLx1kDNZ1YI/AAAAAAAASOQ/di8em4N5wv4/s320/Daily+Express+401018+001.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>The disaster is not yet played out and little enough is to filter into the media, and then not for some little time. But it says something of the the importance to Britain of sea warfare that the appointment of a new C-in-C to the Home Fleet gets star billing on the front page of the <i>Daily Express</i> and many other newspapers of the day. Novelty wins out with the second lead, giving the Dean of Canterbury high profile as his house is bombed for the second time.<br />
<br />
In the end, that is what it comes to. Even the horrific becomes so routine that it gets a one-column "round-up" article. In peacetime, any one of the hundreds of incidents would have merited front-page treatment on their own. Not any more - wartime has deadened the sensibilities and re-ordered the hierarchy of death.<br />
<br />
During the day, the <i>Luftwaffe</i> is back, its aircrew fortified by an Order of the Day from Göring, who tells them: "German airmen, comrades! You have, above all in the last few days and nights, caused the British world-enemy disastrous losses by uninterrupted, destructive blows. Your indefatigable, courageous attacks on the heart of the British Empire, the city of London with its 8½ million inhabitants, have reduced British plutocracy to fear and terror. The losses which you have inflicted on the much vaunted Royal Air Force in determined fighter engagements are irreplaceable."<br />
<br />
The <i>Luftwaffe</i> "celebrates" by mounting four fighter sweeps over Kent, some reaching the London district and the Thames Estuary. Approximately 300 fighter aircraft are deployed, some of which carry bombs. Four are claimed downed, while Fighter Command loses three aircraft with three pilots killed or missing.<br />
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One needs to be reminded that London is not the only recipient of German largesse. This night, as with many before, Birmingham takes the strain. The air raid warning sounds at 19.47hrs and the first bomb drops just over 15 minutes later. By the time the "all clear" comes at 23.29hrs, approximately 116 HE bombs have dropped, 34 of which do not explode. About 107 incidents involve incendiaries and about 78 fires are started. <br />
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The districts most affected are Sparkbrook, Sparkhill, Balsall Heath, Duddeston and Aston - names which are meaningless to most outside the area. Slight damage is caused to a number of factories, production is interrupted in a number of others because of the unexploded bombs, and there are some shops damaged. Trains are delayed on the main LMS Birmingham to London line, after a bomb damages an embankment. Other damage included the local gas works and a local canal.<br />
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But for all that, the total casualties were ten fatalities and 18 injured. But, over term, Birmingham is the third most heavily bombed UK city during the war, behind London and Liverpool. During the Blitz 2,241 people are killed, and 3,010 seriously injured. A total of 12,391 houses, 302 factories and 239 other buildings are destroyed, with many more damaged. Overall, around 2,000 tons of bombs are dropped on Birmingham during the conflict.<br />
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Yesterday, it was much the same. The siren sounded at 19:57 hrs and started falling at 20:05hrs. The "all clear" sounds at 21.35hrs. That time, approximately 117 HE bombs are dropped, and 41 do not explode. There were 95 incendiary bomb incidents.<br />
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The districts most affected represent another litany of unknown places: Sparkhill, Sparkbrook, Small Heath, Saltley, Bordesley Green and Erdington. Many houses were damaged in these areas and the total casualties run to 17 dead and 14 injured. Nine of those are killed and six are injured in one street as when an HE bomb demolishes a group of houses. A family of twelve is trapped in one of the houses. <br />
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A long list of domestic, commercial and industrial premises damaged marks another raid. The Brummies dust themselves off, bury their dead, treat their injured and repair the damage. The chief fire officer and already resigned. He was useless and has been replaced.<br />
<br />
The rescue services now work tolerably well, and their members too are taking casualties. Two Police Constables are overcome by coal gas fumes as they go to the aid of the stricken in one incident. A fireman is killed and three badly injured were an HE bomb demolishes Small Heath Motors Garage, an AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service) Station. <br />
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That is the nature of attrition. And tragically, on this day, the slaughter is not confined to the Midlands. London is also on the receiving end, as it has been for so many nights. Iin Lambeth, the Rose and Crown Public House is completely demolished at 20:25hrs by a direct hit. Over 40 are killed. <br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-37521882532037206322010-10-17T16:07:00.011+01:002011-07-15T16:00:46.951+01:00Day 100 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLsHAD7bfnI/AAAAAAAASNc/u5zMf6UKczI/s1600/Flight+401017+000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLsHAD7bfnI/AAAAAAAASNc/u5zMf6UKczI/s320/Flight+401017+000.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>This week's edition of the specialist aviation magazine <i>Flight</i> is published today, and in its leader and a long review of the "War in the Air", it offers a series of insights which possibly hold the clue into the thinking which drives the Battle of Britain legend.<br />
<br />
Oddly, for an aviation magazine, the front cover has an advert which depicts a motor torpedo boat engaged in a fleet action - but this is possibly explained by the fact that the manufacturer, the British Power Boat Company, also produces seaplane tenders and rescue launches for the RAF. The investment of a cover ad suggests that there might be business in the offing - the RAF looking to order some air-sea rescue launches perhaps.<br />
<br />
That aside, the magazine's offerings must be taken in reverse order, to get the full flavour, starting with <a href="http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1940/1940%20-%202921.html" target="_blank">its analysis</a> of the war in the air. In this, it notes that the Germans have lately been "largely employing" Me 109s fighters converted into bombers, which is indeed the case - but the "conventional" bomber force is still actively deployed on night missions.<br />
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The leader, however, does not refer to this. Rather, it suggests that the use of Me 109 fighter bombers "indicates that the Germans have admitted to themselves that the attempt to overwhelm Britain from the air has failed." It then concludes that:<br />
<blockquote>If the next great compaign (sic) is to be staged in the Balkans, or if bomber reinforcements are to be sent by Germany to the help of the Italian forces in Africa, there is good reason for conserving the German heavy bombers, which may be gradually withdrawn to the other spheres. That is one reading of the present position, and events should soon show whether it is correct.</blockquote>Curiously, the analysis here is being based on developments in the day fighting, almost as if the night bombing does not exist. Yet the reality is that the Germans have changed tactics, following the British in confining their heavy bomber fleet to night operations, while harassing the RAF during the day with raids by fighter bombers (a tactic which is giving 11 Group some considerable grief). That the night bombing had just been ramped up to a new peak of intensity and savagery is hardly indicative of the Germans having admitted failure.<br />
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But the clue to the reason behind this thinking is in <a href="http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1940/1940%20-%202923.html" target="_blank">the leader</a>. Doffing its cap to the recent damage done by the night bombing, it goes on to declare:<br />
<blockquote>We suffer indeed, but such sufferings do not affect our power to carry on the war, and indignation at the tragedies makes the British people all the more grimly determined that this barbarism must be stamped out of the world. From the military point of view, the Battle of Britain is going well for the enemies of the Axis.</blockquote>For all its brave discussions in past editions about total war, Douhet's theorising and the rest, the magazine (or its editorial team) is still looking at the conflict as one fought between military forces. And, in the sense that the RAF has confronted the <i>Luftwaffe</i> in the daylight battle and "won" means, in those terms, that the "Battle of Britain" - defined as a military conflict between the two air forces - is indeed going well.<br />
<br />
But the <i>Luftwaffe</i>, having failed to prevail over the RAF in the light of day, has bypassed it and is by night attacking the population directly, seeking a resolution by means other than armed warriors prevailing over another set of armed warriors. This idea, it seems, <i>Flight</i> magazine - and the military in general (or, most certainly, the RAF) - cannot cope with. A battle between the military of one nation, on the one hand, and the people of another, does not count as a "proper" battle. So it is ignored. The people in the shelters do not count.<br />
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Yet, in the week up to today, German bombing has killed 1,567 people, nearly three times the number of Fighter Command aircrew killed in the entire Battle of Britain period. And, unlike the memorials so carefully tended, the names of the airmen so assiduously recorded, for many of the "unknown soldiers" of this conflict, there is no marked grave, no memorial. And many are killed in the line of duty. This day, in Streatham, at approximately 21:35hrs a direct hit is registered on the fire station. Two heavy appliances are wrecked. Twelve firemen are killed and eight are injured.<br />
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Even then, there is another huge "elephant in the room" - the sea war. And while a specialist aviation magazine might not be expected to take a broader view of the conflict, there is little excuse for historians who take the "Battle of Britain" at face value or, more specifically, the value attributed to it by Fighter Command.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TNGz0ZdUcRI/AAAAAAAASXA/HVEI_Ms5yYk/s1600/Brest+squadron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TNGz0ZdUcRI/AAAAAAAASXA/HVEI_Ms5yYk/s320/Brest+squadron.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>But early on this day, the <i>Kriegsmarine</i> destroyer flotilla based in Brest is out hunting. Comprising once more destroyers <i>Steinbrinck</i>, <i>Lody</i>, <i>Ihn</i> and <i>Galster</i>, it is joined by six torpedo boats out of Cherbourg, intent raiding British shipping at the western exit of the Bristol Channel.<br />
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Three convoys are in grave danger but, fortunately, the destroyers are sighted at 07:19hrs by aircraft of Coastal Command, shortly after they have left Brest. The convoys are ordered to steer west until the threat is dealt with. Light cruisers <i>Newcastle</i> and <i>Emerald</i>, with five destroyers race out of Plymouth at 11:00hrs and, five hours later, have sighted the German force.<br />
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At distance, gunfire is exchanged but the Germans do not close for battle. They pull clear and disengage by 18:00hrs, turning for home. They are pursued by Blenheim bombers of No. 59 Sqn, one of which fails to return. All three crew are killed, the only casualties of the action.<br />
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Compared with the huge publicity afforded to Fighter Command, the activities of which are emblazoned on newspaper sellers' boards before even the fighter engines have cooled, this successful action gets a grudging mention, down page in the <i>Daily Express</i> two days later, and the back page of the <i>Daily Mirror</i>.<br />
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And yet, this is only a tiny fraction of the war at sea this day, a war which is never give the "star treatment" afforded to the fighters. As they do virtually every day of this long war, the coastal convoys are on the move, OB.230 departing Liverpool escorted by destroyers Antelope and Clare, corvettes Anemone, <i>Clematis</i>, <i>Mallow</i>, and anti-submarine trawlers <i>St Loman</i> and St Zeno. <br />
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Coastal convoy FN.311 departs Southend, escorted by destroyers <i>Verdun</i> and <i>Watchman</i>, headed north, while convoy FS.312 at the other end of the chain starts is southward journey, escorted by destroyers <i>Wallace</i> and <i>Westminster</i>. Anti-aircraft cruiser <i>Curacoa</i> transferred to convoy SL.49 A east of Pentland Firth and escorted it towards Buchanness, then joining convoy EN.10.<br />
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For the German U-Boats, the period July to October - right through the Battle of Britain - is called the "happy time" by commanders. In these four months, 144 unescorted and 73 escorted ships are sunk, with only six U-boats destroyed by British forces - of which only two are destroyed by attacks on convoys. And October is shaping up to be the worst month of them all for allied shipping.<br />
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On this day, U-38 sinks Greek steamer <i>Aemos</i> (3554grt), a straggler due to bad weather from convoy SC.7. Four crew are lost. U-48 attacks on convoy SC.7, sinking British tanker <i>Languedoc</i> (9512grt) and steamer <i>Scoresby</i> (3843grt). It damages steamer <i>Haspenden</i> (4678grt). U-93 attacks convoy OB.228 and sinks Norwegian steamer <i>Dokka</i> (1168grt) and British steamer <i>Uskbridge</i> (2715grt). Ten crew are lost on the Norwegian steamer, two on the British ship.<br />
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Then there are the mines. The British steamer <i>Frankrig</i> (1361grt) is mined in the North Sea. Nineteen crew are rescued. British fishing vessel Albatross is sunk by a mine off Grimsby. All but five crew are lost. Faroes motor fishing vessel <i>Cheerful</i> is sunk on a mine off the Faroes Island. British steamer <i>Ethylene</i> (936grt) is damaged on a mine close to the East Oaze Light Buoy. British steamer <i>George Balfour</i> (1570grt) is damaged on a mine eight miles from the Aldeburgh Light Vessel.<br />
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Six miles north, northwest of Smith's Knoll, British steamer <i>Hauxley</i> (1595grt) in convoy FN.311 is torpedoed by German motor torpedo boat She sinks under tow of Destroyer <i>Worcester</i> at 06:45hrs on the 18th. One crew is lost on the British steamer. British steamers P L M. 14 (3754grt) and <i>Gasfire</i> (2972grt) in the same convoy are damaged by German motor torpedo boats British steamer <i>Brian</i> (1074grt) claims sinking one of the German S-boats.<br />
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Only a fraction of this is to reach the media, yet the human energy expended far exceeds that devoted to the air war. And, while the fighting over the skies of Britain has descended into a meaningless scrap, of no strategic importance, upon the sea battle - in its totality - depends the very survival of Britain.<br />
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(Inquiry into daytime tactics)<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-86722227126789345292010-10-16T15:54:00.008+01:002010-10-17T17:02:05.572+01:00Day 99 - Battle of Britain<object height="370" width="460"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bLgfSDtHFt8?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bLgfSDtHFt8?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="460" height="370"></embed></object><br />
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The newspapers note on this day that the Ministry of Information has produced a propaganda film on the Blitz, called "London can take it". Narrated by American journalists Quentin Reynolds, it is intended for a US audience in a country where there is less than a month to go before the presidential election.<br />
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Theoretically, the Battle of Britain is still in progress but the RAF is not mentioned. The focus is on the Londoners, the civilians, with Reyolds saying: "These civilians are good soldiers ... ". His narration tells us:<br />
<blockquote>The searchlights are in position, the guns are ready, the people's army of volunteers is ready – they are the ones who are really fighting this war, the firemen, the air raid wardens, the ambulance drivers – and there's the wail of the banshee (siren sounds) ... the nightly siege of London has begun. The city is dressed for battle.</blockquote>This is very much the "People's War" imagery, as embraced by the socialists, wholly distinct from the elitist vision of the war that Churchill has offered with his "few". Would the message have been different had the film been produced for domestic consumption?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLsZkgwal_I/AAAAAAAASNk/VwbM9IFk3jg/s1600/London+moorgate+401016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLsZkgwal_I/AAAAAAAASNk/VwbM9IFk3jg/s400/London+moorgate+401016.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The propaganda element, though, is transparent to a modern audience and would be even more so to a Londoner in the midst of the carnage and destruction. The bombers have given London another pasting overnight and the cumulative effects of the bombing have already changed the face of the city.<br />
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Further, the contemporary shelter dweller, who would find it difficult to see any similarity between their circumstances and the scenes depicted in the film. And given that there have been three major shelter incidents in three consecutive days, the timing of the film and its general message, is unfortunate. As long as the censorship holds, however, the message can survive unchallenged.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLo-T15mkQI/AAAAAAAASNM/UhBMAPMUKJg/s1600/Daily+Express+401016+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLo-T15mkQI/AAAAAAAASNM/UhBMAPMUKJg/s400/Daily+Express+401016+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Fortunately, there is some alternative entertainment to report, the success of the cruiser Ajax in an action against the Italian navy, where three destroyers have been sunk. This legitimises keeping the air raid news off the front page which, had the shelter incidents been allowed into the public domain, would have dominated the news on this day and for days to come.<br />
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Crucially, though, taking up the Ministry of Information's own theme of London being a "city under siege", defended by a "citizen army", it is utterly bizarre to posit that the Battle of Britain is solely an RAF "show", much less the property of Fighter Command, or that the battle is in any way won. Possibly, all that stands between the collapse of civilian morale and overwhelming political pressure on the government is the evident success of the censorship operation, in keeping bad news off the front pages.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-12660918827839770572010-10-15T09:09:00.015+01:002012-10-09T16:31:03.482+01:00Day 98 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLgPM4vF6dI/AAAAAAAASMI/f-bLXJxtZ4g/s1600/Daily+Express+401015+FP+TP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLgPM4vF6dI/AAAAAAAASMI/f-bLXJxtZ4g/s320/Daily+Express+401015+FP+TP.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
By common accord, the night bombing had been the worst yet, provoking a classic "damage limitation" report from the <i>Daily Express</i>, which featured a banner headline claiming "Soon we may bomb Berlin by day, too".<br />
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The story is about the possible introduction of the American Boeing Flying Fortress into RAF service. It is interesting from several respects, not only for being a transparent attempt to divert attention from the intensification of the German bombing.<br />
<br />
Firstly, in British hands, the aircraft are never to come to much - the few models sent to the UK ending up as Coastal Command patrol aircraft.<br />
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Secondly, the prophesy of day bombing of Berlin by the British is not to come true, and for the USAAF, it is always a perilous task, eventually requiring the development of long-range escort fighters to contain spiralling losses. That this would be the case was evident daily in the skies over Britain but the US military, like those around the world, was not going to let a little thing like experience change their plans.<br />
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The diversion of the moment, however, is concealing the fact that London had had a truly dreadful night. A full moon has given Göring's bombers maximum opportunity to spread havoc and mayhem, which is precisely what they have done. Over nine hundred fires are caused this night, roads are blocked throughout the city, and the Underground rail network is severed in five places. A reservoir, three gasworks, two power stations and three docks are hit, causing extensive damage.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLn_9a-lKYI/AAAAAAAASM0/rHmuLA6ne5w/s1600/London+401015+Morley+College+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLn_9a-lKYI/AAAAAAAASM0/rHmuLA6ne5w/s320/London+401015+Morley+College+2.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
Then there is the human cost. Over four hundred people are killed and more than 800 are badly wounded. Some incidents particularly stand out. One such is the destruction of Morley College (pictured right), on the Westminster Bridge Road.<br />
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As an educational institute, it had been largely abandoned and is now being used as a rest centre for people who had been bombed our of their homes, pending relocation. Nearly 300 people are taking refuge when, at 19:40hrs, HE bombs fall on building, ripping it apart. Of the 195 people actually known to be in the building, 84 come out alive unhurt. Of the injured, 54 are sent to hospital and 57 people are killed, of whom ten died in hospital. More may have been buried under the debris, their bodies never accounted for or recovered.<br />
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This was certainly the case in an even worse incident at 20:05 - almost 24 hours to the minute after the Balham incident. Then, a bomb hit the public shelters in Kennington Park. According to <a href="http://www.vauxhallandkennington.org.uk/forgottentragedy.pdf" target="_blank">witness accounts</a>, only a 25kg bomb hit, but this was a trench shelter, shored with wood, roofed with corrugated iron and covered with earth. Fatally vulnerable to blast effect, the walls collapsed killing many of the people sheltering. There is no official casualty figure, but at least 104 are believed to have lost their lives. Only 48 bodies were recovered, the rest lying buried in the park. In November 1940, the damaged trench was filled in, but others in the complex continued in use.<br />
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The fatal inadequacies of the official shelter policy are now laid bare - or would be but for the intervention of the censor and the acquiescence of the newspapers. In three days, there have been three shelter incidents and a rest centre bombed - the high level of casualties all in some way the result of inadequate public policy, with nearly 500 unnecessary deaths arising. Hence, the people must not be told. <br />
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Instead, amid a level of almost unimaginable pain and suffering, the Prime Minister came to the House of Commons <a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1940/oct/15/war-aims#S5CV0365P0_19401015_HOC_191" target="_blank">to answer questions</a> ... on war aims. He was challenged by Samuel "Sydney" Silverman the Labour MP for Nelson and Colne, a prominent activist on Jewish causes, a pacifist who had spent time in jail in the First World War as a conscientious objector, and a reluctant supporter of the current war, in response to Hitler's anti-semitism.<br />
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"[I]n anticipation of the time when this country and its Allies are in a position to resume the military offensive," Silverman asked, would he state, "in general terms, our aims in this war, so that this country may take its rightful place as the leader of all those, wherever they may be found, who desire a new order in Europe, based not upon slavery to Germany but upon collective justice, prosperity, and security?"<br />
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Silverman, however, was given the opportunity of repeatedly questioning the Prime Minister, in a way not seen in contemporary Commons exchanges. He therefore asked Churchill whether a "continued negative attitude in this matter" fostered "the quite false impression that we are fighting this war merely to retain the status quo". This elicited what amounted to an affirmation that this was precisely the Prime Minister's intent, with his clearest statement yet on his position:<br />
<blockquote>
I do not think anyone has the opinion that we are fighting this war merely to maintain the status quo. We are, among other things, fighting it in order to survive, and when our capacity to do that is more generally recognised throughout the world, when the conviction that we have about it here becomes more general, then we shall be in a good position to take a further view of what we shall do with the victory when it is won.</blockquote>
What had originally brought up the matter had been an announcement by the Ministry of Information that they were running a series of meetings throughout the country on the very subject of war aims, reported in <i>The Times</i> and the <i>News Chronicle</i> and also the subject of a <i>Mirror</i> cartoon on 30 September, which had a Duff Cooper as a dove reading from "the Great Peace Manifesto" – with Hitler in the bushes attempting to shoot him with a revolver.<br />
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cRxxt99lzak/TXoFBE3L6YI/AAAAAAAAS7g/LmzQBYB-Wrg/s1600/Cooper+cartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cRxxt99lzak/TXoFBE3L6YI/AAAAAAAAS7g/LmzQBYB-Wrg/s400/Cooper+cartoon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This had excited the interest of Sir Geoffrey Mander, a Liberal MP, wealthy industrialist, philanthropist and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Archibald Sinclair. He had thus initiated <a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1940/oct/15/war-aims-1#S5CV0365P0_19401015_HOC_341" target="_blank">an adjournment debate</a> on the matter. That is how it came to pass that, amid the wreckage of London, Duff Cooper was called to answer a debate which excited considerable interest from the Members.<br />
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But, if they came expecting a statement of aims, they were to be disappointed. There was no intention to make a statement on war aims, even if Cooper showed where his sympathies lay, telling the House, "I admit quite frankly the desirability of issuing a statement as soon as possible, but ... there should be no undue haste".<br />
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Having spoken at length of the "threat of tyranny" and of taking up arms to defend our liberty and the freedom of the world, he was then sharply corrected by Richard Stokes, the Labour MP for Ipswich, Military Cross winner in the First World War and soon to become an arch critic of the area bombing policy. Cooper, said Stokes, had enunciated what we were fighting against, but not what we were fighting for. "[It] is no use fighting for a negative object. You must have a positive one, and the sooner that [is] stated the better". That brought an impassioned response from Cooper:<br />
<blockquote>
We are fighting for our liberty. When we walk about the streets of London we see how buildings have been destroyed. Some of them may have been beautiful houses, and some may have been ugly houses. If we had been asked a year ago whether we wanted to destroy those houses in that way, we would have said, "No, let them stand and serve their purpose as long as possible." But now naturally it is our duty to take thought of how, when the time comes, we can build them up again, better and more useful than ever. Equally this world which is now being destroyed by this terrific war, a war which we never desired and which we were prepared to do almost everything to avoid, when this war shall have destroyed a great part of the modern world, it will be our duty then, as it must be our duty now, to think how we can rebuild a more and more beautiful fabric.</blockquote>
But the Prime Minister had spoken – it was to be the status quo. There was to be no vision of how we could rebuild "a more and more beautiful fabric". <br />
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Meanwhile, the dirty business of war continued. At noon on this day, six large enemy motor torpedo boats are sighted nine miles off Dover proceeding to westwards. They are engaged by shore batteries, but not hit. HMS <i>Erebus</i> is again in action, this time off Dunkirk.<br />
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After nightfall, she fires 50 rounds from her 15-inch guns, 45 of which are thought to have fallen on the port facilities. Spotting conditions are good and a flare-dropping aircraft draws the ground defence fire so that the spotting aircraft is undisturbed. Fires are observed on the quays. There is no enemy action against <i>Erebus</i> or its escorts.<br />
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Interestingly, with this success yet to come, Churchill has cause earlier in the day to rebuke his own Naval Staff. Reading a prepared paper on the current situation, he finds it "pessimistic and nervous" and in many instances "overdrawn". Claims that the German battleships <i>Bismark</i> and <i>Tirpitz</i> must be added to the German strength, he dismisses as "not true". The <i>Bismark</i> still has to be worked up and the <i>Tirpitz</i> is three months behind.<br />
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Churchill is thus able to bring his own knowledge and experience to bear to challenge his own military, which he threatens to do if the paper is presented to the War Cabinet. In other areas of activity, his touch is less assured.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-85493936399394035302010-10-14T10:11:00.004+01:002010-10-16T17:42:17.355+01:00Day 97 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLnU1DcOZvI/AAAAAAAASMs/GmszfdKvLVI/s1600/Balham+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLnU1DcOZvI/AAAAAAAASMs/GmszfdKvLVI/s400/Balham+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
At 20.02hrs a 1400kg semi armour piercing bomb penetrates 32 feet underground into Balham tube station in South London. It explodes just above the cross passage between the two platforms causing debris partially to fill the tunnels where about 500 people are sheltering. Water pours in from fractured water mains and sewers. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), sixty-seven people in the station are killed - although some sources report 68 - and more than seventy injured.<br />
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Above, the High Street collapses into the void, leaving a huge crater into which a No.88 double-decker bus, travelling in blackout conditions, plunges. Huge damage is caused to surrounding buildings, leaving them in a perilous state, some close to collapse. <br />
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As with the other major shelter disaster, news of the event is kept under wraps, the government fearing that the grisly death of so many would be a huge propaganda blow and possibly put civilians off using the underground as shelter. Word of mouth spread about the deaths, however, and the highly visible work to open the station again takes until January 1941, the last bodies being found at the end of December.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLdzmWaiR6I/AAAAAAAASMA/BSjGdyw8MeU/s1600/Yorkshire+Post+401014+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLdzmWaiR6I/AAAAAAAASMA/BSjGdyw8MeU/s400/Yorkshire+Post+401014+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The picture of the bus in the crater later becomes an iconic representation of the Blitz, but not just yet. But is it on small part of the violence of which visited the citizens of London on the Saturday night continued through into Sunday night and even into the early hours of Monday morning. So intense and savage is the bombing that some see it as a new wave of what is being labelled more widely as "the Blitz".<br />
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But it is difficult to gauge the ferocity of the bombing from the newspaper coverage. As so often when the country has taken a hurt, the headline stories focus on the derring-do of the RAF - as we see from the headlines of today's <i>Yorkshire Post</i>. The difference now, from the earlier part of the battle, is that the bombers, rather than Fighter Command, tend to be in the news.<br />
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The technique is predictable, and in retrospect, obvious - the emphasis is on the "good" news, even if it has to be fabricated, while the bad news is buried or omitted altogether. This much can be seen again and again, as with the lead story in the <i>Manchester Guardian</i> for this morning - a witness account of last week's raid on Cherbourg. The Berlin raid gets a two-column centre spot, while the overnight bombing of Britain gets a single column with an anodyne, uninformative headline.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLd-7j54RJI/AAAAAAAASME/dO6KxpBC6FM/s1600/Guardian+401014+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLd-7j54RJI/AAAAAAAASME/dO6KxpBC6FM/s400/Guardian+401014+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
A different technique is used in the <i>Daily Express</i>, where cross-page headline is "Duce masses troops for a new invasion" - early warning of an invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece. The <i>Daily Mirror</i>, on the other hand, offers an account of a naval action in Maltese waters as its front-page lead story - which is actually of some importance. Also getting front-page treatment is the debut broadcast by princess Elizabeth, the queen-to-be, with the full text of her address on the BBC.<br />
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Nowhere is there any mention of Stoke Newington. That 173 people die in a single bombing incident, trapped in a wholly inadequate shelter, is a non-event. The censor has been hard at work. But is this to keep information from the Germans, in the interests of security, or is the news being withheld to protect the government from criticism?<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-71799807363540181442010-10-13T08:39:00.003+01:002010-10-13T19:45:08.842+01:00Day 96 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLXpVLbSfEI/AAAAAAAASLo/08PxHbbBM5g/s1600/Stoke+Newington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLXpVLbSfEI/AAAAAAAASLo/08PxHbbBM5g/s400/Stoke+Newington.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
One incident late in this night perhaps illustrates the great divide between those who see the Battle of Britain as a great aerial joust and those who see it in broader context. Endless narratives, newspaper commentary and analysis all agree that, in this phase of the war, the Germans are targeting the cities and the people within. They are doing so in an attempt to force a <i><b>political </b></i>crisis in which the present government is deposed and then replaced by one more amenable to discussing peace terms.<br />
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By any proper measure, therefore, "the people are the prize" - a phrase coined much later in the context of counterinsurgency campaigns. If, under the pressure of continuous bombing, the people crack, Churchill as prime minister would probably not survive and if his successor - possibly Lloyd George, who is often referred to in this context - opened negotiations with Germany, Hitler would have won.<br />
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The battle, therefore, is not between the pilots of the RAF - heroic or otherwise. They, through no fault of their own and to their intense frustration, are able to offer next to no protection against the night bombers of the <i>Luftwaffe</i>. The battle is between, primarily, the night bomber and the people. The weapons on the one side are incendiaries and high explosives. The defence is not steel, not the largely useless batteries of anti-aircraft guns, nor any other weapon of war. It is the endurance of the people, their will, their stubbornness and their refusal to do the bidding of Hitler, and attack their own government.<br />
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And a small but important part of the battlefield this night is Stoke Newington, an inner London suburb, then quite unfashionable and with a large Jewish (and Irish Catholic) population. Without any significant industry, it has no strategic or military value whatsoever, and it is also peculiarly vulnerable. It is one of those areas of London poorly served by the tube, relying on the surface railway. The nearest tube station, several miles to the south, is Liverpool Street, or the long trek to the west to get to Manor House on the Piccadilly Line.<br />
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With a large number of flat dwellers, the effects of the government's refusal to develop a deep shelter policy is at its most apparent, for there is not the option of the Anderson shelter for many. They must rely on public shelters. One such has been constructed from the shallow basements of three shops on Coronation Avenue, Stoke Newington Road, housing the best part of 250 people on this fateful night.<br />
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Late in the night, but definitely on the 13th, according to most accounts - repeated on the local memorial in the Abbey Road Cemetery (pictured above) - a large bomb hit the parade of shops completely demolishing them. The five-storey buildings collapse into the basements, blocking the entrances, and trapping scores of people. In total, 173 are killed, many - it is thought - poisoned by town gas from a fractured main.<br />
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Had it not already been thoroughly discredited, this would have put the seal on the shelter policy - but the impact was slight and localised. The government is also a "player" in this battle and it has its own array of weapons, not least censorship.<br />
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Shortly after the bombing, the weekly <i>Hackney Gazette</i> referred to the event but was not allowed to release details. It reported, "On Friday the King and Queen ... paid an informal visit to an area where there had been casualties owing to a bomb demolishing a block of tenements underneath which was a shelter". The other "weapon", of course, was the King and especially the Queen, which is deployed skilfully to stiffen resolve and present a "caring" image to the outside world.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-14880961361810323042010-10-12T13:04:00.010+01:002010-10-17T18:19:54.394+01:00Day 95 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLhogWvbWwI/AAAAAAAASMM/C2PYHccJTkQ/s1600/Daily+Mirror+401012+FP+TP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLhogWvbWwI/AAAAAAAASMM/C2PYHccJTkQ/s320/Daily+Mirror+401012+FP+TP.jpg" width="253" /></a></div>Many of the newspapers are covering the Cherbourg raid as the front page lead - not least the <i>Daily Mirror</i> (right) which offers "Navy guns Nazi port". But is is Saturday, a day when the media often slackens the reins and allows more wide-ranging comment than it would on the main business days.<br />
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Intriguingly, such a piece finds its way into the <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2BM1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=zqULAAAAIBAJ&pg=4023,882920&dq=peace-feelers&hl=en" target="_blank"><i>Glasgow Herald</i></a>. Written by the political correspondent, it states:<br />
<blockquote>It is known in political circles that not many days ago, "peace feelers" reached the Cabinet by a circuitous route. Their authenticity was not definitely established, and Ministers were not, it seems, called upon to give them serious consideration. In any case the Government, I learn, is not prepared to pay attention to any proposals unless they are proved to come from our principal enemy, and in this case such proof was lacking.<br />
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So far as my informants are aware, Mr Churchill and his colleagues did not reply directly to this vague invitation, but the whole tone of the Prime Minister's speech in the House of Commons on Tuesday was in effect an answer in its fresh registration of an unswerving determination to carry on to carry on the war until complete victory was won.<br />
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Mr Bevin's sturdily defiant series of speeches in the North of England this week are also cited to me as inferentially the Cabinet's attitude to any proposal for a peace short of the destruction of Hitlerism. The Minister of Labour doubtless knew of the attempt to get Britain to talk peace terms, and his firm, uncompromising negative is taken to express the minds of his colleagues.<br />
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Hitler, or those who claim to represent him, will no doubt try again, simultaneously with his drive eastwards, which may be used as an intimidating weapon. Parliament, however, has given the country proof this week that, together with the people, it is resolutely opposed to any patched-up peace, and, however often Hitler and his associates may craftily endeavour to inveigle us into a peace trap, the certainty of failure will await all his efforts.</blockquote>Such reports need to be treated with great caution, the very <i>Glasgow Herald</i> having warned <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6hk1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=QaYLAAAAIBAJ&dq=peace-feelers&pg=3371%2C6551505" target="_blank">in late September</a> that the Nazi propaganda machine was working intensively to spread rumours of peace initiatives, primarily aimed at engineering a split between the British and Americans.<br />
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The main thrust of these rumours, however, is of the moves coming from the British, using Roosevelt who, "according to legend" will make himself responsible for conveying the proposal to Germany. By this means, it is hoped to confuse public opinion in the expectations of destroying friendly relations.<br />
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What makes this current report different is that the "feelers" are said to come from the Germans. That makes perfect sense. Embarked as they are on an air offensive, aimed - in part if not in whole - on forcing the British government to the negotiating table - one would expect the Germans to be keeping channels of communication open and occasionally testing the water.<br />
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Limited support for the idea that there was indeed a peace offer comes from the US media. At the beginning of November there is a report by the <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2dAOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y00DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7248,203301&dq=peace-feelers&hl=en" target="_blank">United Features Syndicate</a> which refers to the "inside fact" that sub rosa peace feelers have been put out again and again for some time.<br />
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Usually, says the report, they come from Swedish sources, sometimes are conveyed by prominent Frenchmen, but always are vague "on-an-if, but-and-when" basis. They are just persistent enough, however, to indicate that Hitler would like to make peace if he could pretty much dictate the terms.<br />
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Then there is <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=41UyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TrYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2635,1190784&dq=peace-feelers&hl=en" target="_blank">a syndicated report</a> which does the rounds in mid-November. This has it that the story of imminent European peace deals which floated around London, Berlin and Washington just before the US presidential election, held on 5 November, "was no myth". "Inside fact" was that some very tentative ideas had been discussed by Sir Samuel Hoare, British ambassador in Madrid and a leader of the British appeasement group.<br />
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These are said to have dated from the time "Hitler's proposed invasion of England was frustrated last September." According to this narrative, Nazi diplomats had sent out feelers "to the effect that Germany now had almost the entire continent of Europe and might be satisfied to drop the war, leaving England to stick to its own islands".<br />
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So powerful and persistent do these rumours become that, on 5 November we see an AP report via the <i>Irish Times</i> headed: "Peace Offers are superfluous". This is the record of a formal response from the European Axis powers, which states: <br />
<blockquote>In view of their present political and military position, Germany and Italy have no reason for making the enemy a peace offer, it was stated today in the Wilhelmstrasse. The statement was made in reply to questions by foreign Press representatives about alleged peace moves by the Axis powers. The speaker declared that it was "superfluous" to make such a declaration.</blockquote>The date of the presidential election seems to have marked the end of peace offer speculation, for the time being but, before that time, a view that the British government had been "softened up" enough and might be prepared to deal would not have been wholly illogical. In the first place, there were the exaggerated bomb damage reports being fed back by the <i>Luftwaffe</i>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLh0SEUGoVI/AAAAAAAASMQ/mPqZKpgbv4g/s1600/Kennedy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLh0SEUGoVI/AAAAAAAASMQ/mPqZKpgbv4g/s400/Kennedy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
However, what was probably also extremely influential was a much-leaked and highly damning report from US Ambassador Joseph Kennedy (pictured above) sent in letter form to president Roosevelt <a href="http://ww2today.com/27th-september-1940-kennedy-the-british-are-a-lost-cause" target="_blank">on 27 September</a>. In this he wrote:<br />
<blockquote>The night raids are continuing to do, I think, substantial damage, and the day raids of the last three days have dealt most serious blows to Bristol, Southampton, and Liverpool. Production is definitely falling, regardless of what reports you may be getting, and with transportation smashed up the way it is, the present production output will continue to fall.<br />
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My own feeling is that… [the British] are in a bad way. Bombers have got through in the daytime on the last three days, and on four occasions today substantial numbers of German planes have flown over London and have done some daylight bombing.<br />
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I cannot impress upon you strongly enough my complete lack of confidence in the entire [British] conduct of this war. I was delighted to see that the President said he was not going to enter the war because to enter this war, imagining for a minute that the English have anything to offer in the line of leadership or productive capacity in industry that could be of the slightest value to us, would be a complete misapprehension.</blockquote>On top of this, the hostile press over the Dakar affair, and the signals given off by the recent Cabinet reshuffle might have led the Germans genuinely to have believed that Churchill was in a politically weak state - which indeed he was, although not weak enough to be deposed.<br />
<br />
In fact, on 8 October, the very day Churchill addresses Parliament with his monthly review of the war, the <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1BM1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=zqULAAAAIBAJ&dq=peace%20offer&pg=4106%2C545785" target="_blank"><i>Glasgow Herald</i></a> notes that "if ... Hitler really believes the reports give to him and sent all over the world that London is beaten to its knees, he may try the peace trick in the hope that ... the Government will be compelled by public opinion to listen to his offer". <br />
<br />
Seen in this light, the <a href="http://thedaysofglory.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-91-battle-of-britain_08.html" target="_blank">Churchill statement to the House</a> on 8 October does fit quite neatly as a rejection of a peace offer - or a move to pre-empt an offer in the making. It sets out an unequivocal case for continuing the war, embodied in it, as there is, the analysis of why the German air offense must fail. As a response, it would be entirely logical. Similarly, the bellicose text of Bevin's speech to the TUC could be serving the same, albeit undeclared, purpose.<br />
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In that context, the heavier than usual raids on London on 9 October and every night since could be taken as a response to Churchill's response. This could have been the Germans saying, "very well, the war goes on". But it was to be a different war.<br />
<br />
On this day, 12 October, Hitler issued a secret message to his operational services, formally cancelling any further invasion preparations. The barges, fishing boats and tugs were to be returned to their former duties, the soldiers to prepare for other adventures, the invasion of the Soviet Union high on the list. Only Göring and his bombers were to continue the war against England.<br />
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As the British reconnaissance picked up the dispersal of the shipping, it was assumed that this was a response to the British air force and naval raids, and in particular the recent attack by the battleship Revenge.<br />
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But there is no evidence in German records that Hitler - and it was his decision to cancel the invasion - was in any way influenced by the materiel losses. In fact, despite the intensity and frequency of the British counter-action, less than ten percent of the shipping was sunk or damaged - a level which could be replaced from the reserves already assembled. <br />
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Equally compatible with events is Churchill's rejection of the recent peace feelers, leading Hitler to conclude that there was little chance of an immediate British collapse. Hitler was now reconciled to a long war and thus his transport fleet was not needed for the time being. <br />
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It was back to the original plan - an economic war against England. And that, comprising an air war, with the U-boat offensive, had never been expected to yield swift results. He could conquer Russia - which was expected to take only six months - and then deal with England, a country further cowed by having had a potential ally removed from the field. <br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-18684519697179323062010-10-11T10:22:00.011+01:002012-03-26T18:47:04.694+01:00Day 94 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLMkNsmLCJI/AAAAAAAASKs/lQlLAfLIZ6c/s1600/Daily+Express+401011+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLMkNsmLCJI/AAAAAAAASKs/lQlLAfLIZ6c/s400/Daily+Express+401011+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
As so often, the previous day had been the calm before the storm, the Luftwaffe stepping up its tempo over the night of 10/11 October. Göbbels remarks on the "ideal weather", recording that "we attack England and in particular London without pause, by day and night", causing "wild devastation" - a wider area than any previous raid, one in which the roof of St Paul's Cathedral is breached and the High Altar devastated. But, although many houses are wrecked, only one major fire is started. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLYNr06Ub1I/AAAAAAAASLs/pkP1yToLil4/s1600/HMS+Revenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLYNr06Ub1I/AAAAAAAASLs/pkP1yToLil4/s400/HMS+Revenge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
While the German bombers are circling over London, RAF traffic is in the opposite direction. Despite Churchill's lament about its poor accuracy, in the early hours of this morning Bomber Command is again in action over Cherbourg - but with a difference. The aircraft are acting as spotters for the battleship HMS <i>Revenge. S</i>tarting at half past three in the morning, for twenty minutes she fires 120 fifteen-inch and 800 4.7in shells into the port complex. "Very large fires" are reported, visible from 40 miles.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RWS1n_gb9Uo/T3CrTpCs5uI/AAAAAAAAVw8/ZnkTggyFl4k/s1600/Bombard+401011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RWS1n_gb9Uo/T3CrTpCs5uI/AAAAAAAAVw8/ZnkTggyFl4k/s400/Bombard+401011.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 4.7-inch gun onboard HMS Jupiter firing on enemy shipping in Cherbourg</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
This is operation <i>Medium</i>, which has the battleship escorted by seven destroyers and a similar number of motor anti-submarine boats, the group having sailed from Plymouth the previous evening. On the west flank, it is guarded by the light cruisers <i>Newcastle</i> and <i>Emerald</i>, with four destroyers. They had left Devonport on the 10th. To the east is the light cruiser Cardiff, plus two destroyers, which had departed from Portsmouth on the 9th.<br />
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Screened by gale force conditions, with heavy rain obscuring visibility, the warships had approached undetected. The presence of RAF aircraft overhead confuses the German defenders, who initially mistake the gunfire for bombing and respond only with anti-aircraft fire. When the first shells land, an RAF observer notes that they (the defenders) "didn't know whether it was Christmas or Easter. The searchlights went drunk, waving aimlessly about the sky. The guns kept firing but goodness knows what at. There was complete chaos down there."<br />
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Latterly, a shore battery (estimated up to 13-15in) returns fire, some salvoes falling so close to the ships that it is suspected that the Germans must be using gun-laying radar. However, none of the ships are hit. All return safely to their bases without further enemy intervention.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TOa0Ym7Gk6I/AAAAAAAASgY/CYvj7Q3Tai8/s1600/zulu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TOa0Ym7Gk6I/AAAAAAAASgY/CYvj7Q3Tai8/s400/zulu.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Come the morning though, there is less welcome news. At 09:20hrs, destroyer <i>Zulu</i>, fourth ship in a line, is damaged by an acoustic mine not far from Beamer Rock in the Firth of Forth. The mine explodes 40 feet off the starboard side abaft of the bridge. There are no casualties on the destroyer but there are many minor leaks, machinery defects and distortion of the bulkheads caused by the explosion. Then HM Patrol Yacht <i>Aisha</i> is sunk, with two wounded, and HMS <i>Jersey</i> is damaged in the Thames Estuary. These too have succumbed to acoustic mines.<br />
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While this is happening, five German torpedo boats (type pictured below), <i>Falke</i>, <i>Greif</i> (leading in pic), <i>Kondor</i>, <i>Seeadler</i> and <i>Wolf</i>, slip out of Cherbourg Harbour, headed for the Isle of Wight and the convoys which assemble on the roads.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TOa9FCLwKlI/AAAAAAAASgc/ks1M-2iz0LY/s1600/greif_mowe_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TOa9FCLwKlI/AAAAAAAASgc/ks1M-2iz0LY/s400/greif_mowe_001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Late in the day, they are spotted by the anti-submarine trawler <i>Warwick Deeping</i> and the former French armed trawler <i>Listrac</i>, both of the 17th Anti Submarine Group. Although heavily outclassed, they engage the torpedo boats. <i>Greif</i> sinks the <i>Listrac</i> with a torpedo, the skipper and eleven ratings dying with their ship. <i>Kondor</i> and <i>Falke</i> then sinks <i>Warwick Deeping</i> with gunfire.<br />
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Past midnight, the German force runs into the French submarine chasers CH 6 and CH 7, both captained by British officers. Again the Germans sink the craft. Twenty from the two ships die and twenty are taken prisoner by the <i>Grief</i>.<br />
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Their sacrifices, however, have bought time for a response. Destroyers <i>Jackal</i>, <i>Jaguar</i>, <i>Jupiter</i>, <i>Kelvin</i> and <i>Kipling</i> come racing out of Plymouth and two destroyers depart from Portsmouth. At just after three in the morning, <i>Jackal</i> engages two of the German ships. They break off and turn for Cherbourg, arriving back mid-morning on the 12th. They will be back.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-63955477836723601352010-10-10T22:56:00.011+01:002010-11-19T20:28:04.096+00:00Day 93 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLnnGJkyHkI/AAAAAAAASMw/GDhizxRmnW8/s1600/Guardian+401010+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLnnGJkyHkI/AAAAAAAASMw/GDhizxRmnW8/s400/Guardian+401010+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Churchill assuming the leadership of the Conservative Party, succeeding Chamberlain, is given some considerable coverage in British newspapers, although not high profile - as can be seen from the morning's <i>Manchester Guardian</i>. The long-term political ramifications of this are profound. Churchill has vastly strengthened his power base.<br />
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There are also some reports of the TUC conference, which is addressed by Ernest Bevin. He appeals for "the last ounce of energy" to build up "overwhelming forces" to defeat Hitler. He doesn't get that "last ounce", or anything like it. There is another war being played out, one which will continue long after Hitler is dead. Nevertheless, the <i>Guardian</i> (and others) find the ramifications of the decision to reopen the Burma Road of greatest interest. Such is the inevitability of the bombing that it has become routine.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TObUbkGouZI/AAAAAAAASgg/5OkgPIaX_1w/s1600/Daily+Mirror+401010+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TObUbkGouZI/AAAAAAAASgg/5OkgPIaX_1w/s320/Daily+Mirror+401010+001.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>The media is having difficulty maintaining interest, although the censor may be having an influence. Reports have the feel of going through the motions, as most of the papers lead on other matters. The announcement that the US fleet is to be brought up to full strength is another issue which seems to get a higher profile than domestic war news, while the Daily Mirror (left) features Moscow-US relations as it front-page lead.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">As to the air war, Mason finds it difficult to ascribe to German daylight tactics any other purpose than that of creating nuisance and fatigue among British pilots. If that is the aim, then it is largely successful, although it also takes its toll of German men and machines.</div><br />
Here, we have seen the word "attrition" creep into a number of reports. In that context, there is the broader effect on the British population to consider - and the effect which the Germans believe they might be having, the two being somewhat different and divergent. Reich propaganda minister Göbells notes that the RAF yesterday mounted heavy air raids on Bremen. "In return," he writes in his diary, "we attack London without pause day and night. And to considerable effect". Göbells really believes this. Our <i>Luftwaffe's</i> losses, he states, have been heavily exaggerated (which, indeed, they have). He continues:<br />
<blockquote>It goes without saying that the losses among squadrons against England have been considerable. In all, including all those destroyed in accidents during training, we lost fewer than 700 aircraft in September. And we produced 1800. That is quite a tolerable ratio. Losses have been kept within normal bounds even for aircrew. Against this we must set the English losses and the devastation in their country. Just now there are dramatic reports of this from London. If these are true, all hell must be loose over there ...</blockquote>Inevitably, the reality is different. For sure, the 24 hour bombing is having an unsettling effect. But the daylight raids, spread over 700 square miles or more, are generally insignificant in terms of the damage they cause (relative to the mass raids) to be anything more than a nuisance. And the population is coming to terms with the nightly raids. More to the point, the Civil Defence services (as they are to be called) are getting the measure of the beast, especially the fire services.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TObdoy_wnCI/AAAAAAAASgk/7tqXd2ZQP5A/s1600/London+Blitz+090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TObdoy_wnCI/AAAAAAAASgk/7tqXd2ZQP5A/s400/London+Blitz+090.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The first twenty-two days and nights of the London raids have been the most testing, during which they and their regional and other reinforcements have attended nearly 10,000 fires. The nightly total exceeded 1,000 on three nights and the total on other nights fluctuated between 40 and 950. As the last aircraft had departed on the first night of the Blitz, there had been nine conflagrations, nineteen fires that would normally have called for thirty pumps or more, forty ten-pump fires, and nearly a thousand lesser blazes, a score of which would have made front-page headlines in peace time.<br />
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But in October, the attack has not been so heavy - even if the total still reaches 7,500 with nearly 2,000 of them on two nights. But, in the entire month, there are no conflagrations and only twelve fires of more than thirty pumps. If, like fractious children, the Germans are seeking to be the centre of attention, on this day they have failed and, as time progresses, the impact of the assault is diminishing. For today, the great Battle of Britain is little more than "noises off".<br />
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Almost completely unregarded by the major players and the media of both sides, though, the small-scale naval war goes on, with its steady toll of casualties. HM Patrol craft <i>Girl Mary</i> is the latest. She is sunk in the Firth of Forth by a mine. Two of the crew are lost and the skipper is seriously wounded. The British steamer <i>Till</i> (367grt) is also damaged on a mine<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-19322388403142844992010-10-09T20:00:00.014+01:002011-02-18T14:06:43.811+00:00Day 92 - Battle of Britain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKx3IWSAbsE/TV582SumHhI/AAAAAAAAS4I/R-X4Rdr7YZ0/s1600/Junkers+88+008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKx3IWSAbsE/TV582SumHhI/AAAAAAAAS4I/R-X4Rdr7YZ0/s400/Junkers+88+008.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Overnight has been rough for London - reported as one of the heaviest series of overnight raids since the bombing had began back on 7 September. The <i>Daily Express</i> reports that 94 places have been bombed. Amongst other targets, an air raid shelter harbouring 150 people, including children, is hit. At least eight are killed, some poisoned after a gas mains fractured. Many more are injured.<br />
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East Ham Memorial Hospital has been badly damaged by a land mine. Three complete floors are wrecked, destroying wards housing 108 elderly men and women, killing more than 50. In the morning, as the rescuers were reaching the trapped and injured, another bomb falls. Horrified commuters scrabble through the wreckage to put a small fire out and assist the injured. By contrast, the RAF is reported to have despatched 30 bombers to Berlin. The Germans claimed they have been driven off. <br />
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With the wreckage still smouldering in London and elsewhere, the newspapers are out on the streets, many proclaiming that the invasion threat is not over. The <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1RM1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=zqULAAAAIBAJ&pg=4243,652295&dq=portal+raf&hl=en" target="_blank">Glasgow Herald</a> features this prominently, its take on Churchill's speech to the Commons yesterday. The speech is thoroughly raked-over by the media, but few seem to have understood the point he is making about the casualties. The analysis generally is poor.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLoT5raRYDI/AAAAAAAASM4/P0lxK1XQNGQ/s1600/Daily+Express+401009+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TLoT5raRYDI/AAAAAAAASM4/P0lxK1XQNGQ/s400/Daily+Express+401009+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The big problem, though, is that the war is now getting complicated - not that it was ever that simple. And despite the importance of the air raids, the <i>Express</i> leads on the Burma Road situation, its second main concern being the developments in Romania. But the layer upon layer of complexity, with the passage of time, and the degrees of interaction make for an equally complex narrative. One can understand the attraction of the simple "Battle of Britain"story, converting history into a simple, romantic joust between modern-day knights in armour on flashing steeds (aka aircraft).<br />
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But it remains bizarre that, nine days into October with <i>Luftwaffe</i> bombers dominating the night skies, this is still deemed to be part of the Fighter Command's version of the Battle of Britain. Yet, the RAF is evident only during the day, its night-fighting capability still immature. To all intents and purposes, the aerial day fighting over Britain is strategically irrelevant - even more so than previously.<br />
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That said, lower down the front page in the <i>Express</i> is a small article, clearly seen as important enough to have such a prominent spot, but hardly given the attention it deserves. Under the heading, "It's not a blitzkrieg any more", the article in its entirety reads:<br />
<blockquote>Germany has called off the blitzkrieg. The Nazis have abandoned the "lightning war" against Britain and have decided to go in for "hammering and destruction". This announcement, says Reuters, was made in English over the Rome radio last night, reporting the statement of a High German Air Force officer at a press conference in Berlin on Monday.</blockquote>The German author of this statement is not named, and there is nothing obviously that corroborates it - other than the circumstantial evidence of the change in pace of the bombing. From the last few days, when the raids have been relatively low-key, the tempo has suddenly intensified. Does this presage a change in policy?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TNM82fka1pI/AAAAAAAASX8/KGTAqhU5SLU/s1600/U-Boot+pair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TNM82fka1pI/AAAAAAAASX8/KGTAqhU5SLU/s400/U-Boot+pair.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
One area where there has been no change, however, is in the U-boat campaign. The <i>Daily Mirror</i> picks up the latest Admiralty communiqué and reports: "U-Boats 15 Ships in a week". Ten British ships, total tonnage 55,927, four Allied ships, 12,119 tons , and one neutral ship, 4,291 tons, had been sunk by the Germans during the week ended 29-30 September. The week before, says the newspaper, we lost twenty ships, totalling 134,975 tons. It then goes on to say:<br />
<blockquote>The somewhat self-evident commitment was made in London yesterday that the Navy has never been large enough to give complete security to our shipping all over the world at the same time, but the stronger the escort provided to fewer will be the losses and the more hesitant the U-boat commanders to attack.</blockquote>The general shortage of escorts, however, was not the only issue. As a precaution against invasion, on 1 July, Churchill had minuted the Admiralty, instructing it to "endeavour" to raise the flotilla in the "narrow seas" (the English Channel) to a strength of 40 destroyers, with additional cruiser support.<br />
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With the demands from other theatres, including the Mediterranean, and latterly Dakar, this left perilously few warships to escort the convoys, a deficiency of which Churchill was very obviously aware. "The losses in the Western Approach must be accepted meanwhile," he wrote.<br />
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C-in-C of the Home Fleet, Admiral Sir Charles Forbes, was not entirely at ease with this line. With adequate intelligence and reconnaissance, he maintained, there should be sufficient advance warning of an invasion attempt for his destroyers to be employed on convoy escort and other duties, subject to rapid recall should signs of an imminent assault be detected.<br />
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This has become a running sore in the relations between Forbes and an Admiralty acting under the direct instructions of Churchill, with the Admiral as late as 28 September making a final appeal to the Admiralty. He writes a letter stating that "the Army, assisted by the Air Force, should carry out its immemorial role of holding up the first flight of an invading force". The Navy, he asserts, "should be freed to carry out its proper function - offensively against the enemy and in defence of our trade - and not be tied down to provide passive defence of our country, which has now become a fortress".<br />
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His entreaties are not to prevail, and the U-Boats are quick to exploit the absence of escorts. The results are now plain to see.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840262875580044417.post-52636123188634982822010-10-08T20:15:00.020+01:002012-03-18T14:12:01.963+00:00Day 91 - Battle of Britain<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; clear: left; color: #0000ee; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMRNX0MOWXI/AAAAAAAASQ0/bbFA-5WoxEA/s320/Daily+Mirror+401008+FP+TP.jpg" width="248" /> </span>Competing with news about the deteriorating situation in Romania is a report of the first day of the TUC annual congress at Stockport. President W Holmes - not a name instantly recognised - laid down a series of demands to government, calling for "instant and dramatic" action.<br />
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With the government ruled by a coalition, headed by a prime minister who had been awarded dictatorial powers, where parliament had become effectively emasculated, the TUC was the only effective opposition. And in the name of his 5,000,000 members, Holmes wanted better air raid shelters, the problem of the homeless dealt with and an end to profiteering. The shelter problem, he said, was "not insoluble and its remedy is overdue". As to the homeless, it was the nation's bounden duty, by immediate and comprehensive compensation, to enable the people to restore their shattered homes." <br />
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On profiteers, he said, "If the manifestations of the people's spirit do not shame the greedy and the selfish, better measures than the Government has yet applied must restrain them and make it impossible for anybody to slink away at the end of the war richer than he entered it." He affirmed the determination of the workers to carry on this struggle to the bitter end. "None shall make profit out of the war," said Holmes. " Profiteering, in such circumstances as the nation is called upon to face, is as dastardly a crime as looting the shattered homes of the poor."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMQ9sjVhCFI/AAAAAAAASQw/H0N4DxkpJUs/s1600/Guardian+401008+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rqH4fUbko2U/TMQ9sjVhCFI/AAAAAAAASQw/H0N4DxkpJUs/s400/Guardian+401008+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
As to the war, this continues. Morning raids totalling 150 aircraft cross the coast and head towards London. Bombs are scattered over a number of targets, including central London. The aircraft are mostly high-flying <i>jabos</i>, with top cover flying as high as 32,000ft. Several raids develop in the afternoon involving substantial numbers of aircraft, again comprising high-flying <i>jabos</i>. The tactic gives Park considerable problems, even if the bombing damage is slight, in relative terms.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-udDJPt_eSCU/T2XsnZyjVwI/AAAAAAAAVpo/-6SqHtsw8rE/s1600/BoB+401008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-udDJPt_eSCU/T2XsnZyjVwI/AAAAAAAAVpo/-6SqHtsw8rE/s400/BoB+401008.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Slight" damage - a London book shop damaged during a raid. The boy is said to be reading a book entitled "A History of London".</td></tr>
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This is the day Churchill addresses the House of Commons to give his monthly "war situation" report. He reminds MPs that a month has passed since Hitler "turned his rage and malice on to the civil population of our great cities and particularly of London." Curiously, Churchill makes a reference to Hitler's speech of 4 September, a speech which he ignored at the time. He notes that it was then that the Führer had said "he would raze our cities to the ground." Since then, he observed, "he has been trying to carry out his fell purpose."<br />
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Taking day and night together, 400 bombers on average had visited the UK every 24 hours and, the prime minister said, it was doubtful whether "this rate of sustained attack could be greatly exceeded". The strain upon the German bombers was "very considerable" and the bulk of them "do not seem capable of anything beyond blind bombing". <br />
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With this under his belt, he then says: "I always hesitate to say anything of an optimistic nature, because our people do not mind being told the worst." He adds: "They resent anything in the nature of soothing statements which are not borne out by later events, and, after all, war is full of unpleasant surprises." Then he declares:<br />
<blockquote>On the whole, however, we may, I think, under all reserve reach, provisionally, the conclusion that the German average effort against this country absorbs a very considerable part of their potential strength. I should not like to say that we have the measure of their power, but we feel more confident about it than we have ever done before.</blockquote>Churchill then proceeds to examine the effect of this "ruthless and indiscriminate attack" and notes the German claim that by 23 September, 22,000 tons of explosives had been dropped on Britain since the beginning of the war. No doubt, said Churchill, this included the mines on the coast. He then says:<br />
<blockquote>We were told also, on last Thursday week, that 251 tons were thrown upon London in a single night, that is to say, only a few tons less than the total dropped on the whole country throughout the last war. Now, we know exactly what our casualties have been. On that particular Thursday night 180 persons were killed in London as a result of 251 tons of bombs. <br />
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That is to say, it took 1 ton of bombs to kill threequarters of a person. We know, of course, exactly the ratio of loss in the last war, because all the facts were ascertained after it was over. In that war the small bombs of early patterns which were used killed 10 persons for every ton discharged in the built-up areas. <br />
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Therefore, the deadliness of the attack in this war appears to be only one-thirteenth of that of 1914–1918. Let us say "less than one-tenth," so as to be on the safe side. That is, the mortality is less than one-tenth of the mortality attaching to the German bombing attacks in the last war.</blockquote>The expectation on entering the war had been up to 3,000 killed in a single night and 12,000 wounded, night after night. Hospital provision had been made for quarter of a million casualties "merely as a first provision". But, up to last Saturday, as a result of air bombing, about 8,500 killed and 13,000 wounded. Churchill did not say "only" but it was there - the context made that clear.<br />
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Furthermore, since the heavy raiding had begun on 7 September, the figures of killed and seriously wounded had declined steadily week by week, from over 6,000 in the first week to just under 5,000 in the second, and from about 4,000 in the third week to under 3,000 in the last of the four weeks.<br />
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This explains the confidence. Churchill - or his advisers - have done the maths. Casualties are far lower than expected and at the present rate of bombing, even in Greater London and its population of eight million spread over 700 square miles, it is beyond the resources of the <i>Luftwaffe</i> to inflict terminal damage. As long as morale can be maintained (and improved) the air offensive cannot deliver a decisive result.<br />
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He makes great play of the role of the shelters, but does not acknowledge how poor the provision has been in some areas - and thus that the casualty rate could have been considerably less. And, although in the process of committing enormous resources to a reciprocal bombing programme, Churchill does not concede that the enemy population might be better protected and that his offensive might yield similarly mediocre results.<br />
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The prime minister, however, is not done. He asks, rhetorically of course, "What has happened to the invasion which we have been promised every month and almost every week since the beginning of July?" But the issue is raised for him then to declare, "Do not let us be lured into supposing that the danger is past." He goes on:<br />
<blockquote>On the contrary, unwearying vigilance and the swift and steady strengthening of our Forces by land, sea and air which is in progress must be at all costs maintained. Now that we are in October, however, the weather becomes very uncertain, and there are not many lucid intervals of two or three days together in which river barges can cross the narrow seas and land upon our beaches. Still, those intervals may occur. Fogs may aid the foe. <br />
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Our Armies, which are growing continually in numbers, equipment, mobility and training, must be maintained all through the winter, not only along the beaches but in reserve, as the majority are, like leopards crouching to spring at the invader's throat. The enemy has certainly got prepared enough shipping and barges to throw half a million men in a single night on to salt water - or into it.</blockquote>This scenario is so deeply implausible, on so many levels, as to be laughable. And Churchill must know it. The RAF and other reconnaissance efforts will have indicated to him a rough shipping capability and he will know that it goes nowhere near being able to transport half a million men - with their equipment - in one lift. That the Germans should, in any event, have that many men on immediate standby, on the off-chance that there is a foggy period (which must also coincide with favourable tide states) is a highly dubious proposition, and then there is the small question of re-supply.<br />
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But one can see from the context and the remarks around his assertion what Churchill is doing - and it makes sense. He cannot afford to have either the military or the population relaxing - especially the Army. Of this, he says, "During the winter training must proceed, and the building of a great well-equipped army, not necessarily always to be confined to these islands, must go forward in a hardy and rigorous manner." Churchill needs to maintain the threat level to keep his military alert, motivated and committed to its training.<br />
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But there are other issues, not least the failure of a recent expedition to Dakar, and an attempt alongside de Gaulle and his Free French to take over the African territory held by Vichy forces. The details need not detain us. What is important is that the embarrassment and the sense not only of failure but of poor judgement - a "fiasco", some are calling it. It has damaged confidence in Churchill's handling of the war and in his government. He needs to give the people (and the MPs) some good news. A victory will do. <br />
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This, Churchill has ready-made. "The main reason why the invasion has not been attempted up to the present is, of course," he says, "the succession of 297 brilliant victories gained by our fighter aircraft, and gained by them over the largely superior numbers which the enemy have launched against us". He adds:<br />
<blockquote>The three great days of 15th August, 15th September and 27th September have proved to all the world that here at home over our own Island we have the mastery of the air. That is a tremendous fact. It marks the laying down of the office which he has held with so much distinction for the last three years by Sir Cyril Newall, and it enables us to record our admiration to him for the services he has rendered. It also marks the assumption of new and immense responsibilities by Sir Charles Portal, an officer who, I have heard from every source and every side, commands the enthusiastic support and confidence of the Royal Air Force. <br />
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These victories of our Air Force enable the Navy, which is now receiving very great reinforcements, apart altogether from the American destroyers now coming rapidly into service, to assert, on the basis of the air victories, its sure and well-tried power.</blockquote>The prime minister's speech then gets a response from the acting leader of the opposition, a relatively unknown if interesting politician by the name of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings_Lees-Smith" target="_blank">Hastings Lees-Smith</a>.<br />
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A strong supporter of Churchill, he refers to the "encouraging nature" of the speech, especially that part of it in which he dealt with "the central danger", the invasion of Britain. As to Dakar, he says, "after an episode like that, the country may, for a moment, lose its sense of proportion". It may "not realise that victory in the Battle of Britain is, in its final effect, more important than anything which happens elsewhere, even at Dakar".<br />
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The Battle of Britain is beginning to acquire an identity of its own and, not for the first time, is being used - and successfully - for wholly political purposes.<br />
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<a href="http://umbrellog.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1008399" target="_blank">COMMENT: Battle of Britain thread</a>Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.com