Changing Nature of Warfare Notes Section 2 1939-1945 Flashcards
what was the battle of britain
The Battle of Britain summer of 1940
What?
- Series of battles day after day
- Luftwaffe (german Air Force) trying to establish control of airspace above the channel and southern England so they could invade (operation sealion) without the threat of the RAF bombing the navy
- Needed to destroy RAF and British airfields
- Waves of German bombers escorted by fighter planes attacked key targets mainly in SE England
- Were often intercepted by British fighter planes
key events of battle of britain
Key events
13 August- Germans began raids on radar and sector stations in SE England
18 August- Luftwaffe targeted air fields in the South-East, trying to destroy RAF fighter planes
Early September- Britain had few reserves of fighter planes and was close to defeat
7 September- Hitler diverted Luftwaffe to London, Britain had some breathing space
15 September- Luftwaffe tried to bomb London in daylight and lost 56 planes.
17 September- Hitler decided to postpone the invasion of Britain
germany’s strength in battle of britain
Germany’s Strengths:
- Had more pilots than Britain
- Luftwaffe outnumbered RAF significantly
July 1940 German had 2550, RAF had 1963
-More fighters- 824 to 591 British
-Took 5 mins to cross the channel but 15 mins for British planes to be up and flying
reasons for RAF sucess and british developments (4)
technology
tactics
weapons
leadership
developments in technology Britain in battle of Britain
Technology
- Radar- developed in 30s/40s -could detect the German planes and make sure British fighter planes were in position
- Sector stations -Nerve centre of intelligence, gathering radar information and organising British fighters
developments in weapons Britain in battle of Britain
Weapons
-The Luftwaffe were often unable to catch/destroy British fighters on the ground
As they were for the polish Air Force
- Small range of Luftwaffe → Couldn’t cover all of Britain
- British fighter planes, Hurricanes and Spitfires, were superior to the German Messerschmitt 109
-Weaknesses in the German aircraft
Stuka dive bomber geared towards supporting ground troops, not equipped to deal with enemy fighter planes
- German fighter planes only had enough fuel for 30 mins of flying (whereas British planes could refuel) so a German bombers often flew unescorted making them easy targets
- Britain made 4x as many fighter planes per month than germany
developments in tactics Britain in battle of Britain
Tactics
- RAF pilots bailed out of Britain could return fighting but Germans became prisoners of war
- RAF fighters organised into regions
defend from any direction - British began to target bombers (bigger threat)
developments in leadership Britain in battle of Britain
Leadership
- Hermann Goering was not good at tactics/ didn’t understand modern air warfare
- Regularly shifted focus of attack - Became confusing for germans but also british
- German bombers told to fly close together → Easy targets
3 reasons why battle of britain was important
The Battle of Britain was important because…
- It prevented the German invasion
- Ensured British survival
- Provided a much needed morale boost for the public
aims of the blitz
The Blitz- Sept 1940
Aims:
- German attempt to bomb Britain out of the war
- Ruin British morale
- Seriously disrupt British industrial production and communications
planes used by germans in blitz
Planes used (German)
Dornier DO17
- Small
- Could not carry many bombs
- Designed to support ground troops or to carry out precision raids on strategic targets
Heinkel HE111
-Designed to support ground troops not carpet bomb
Both had been able to cause enormous damage in Rotterdam in 1940 and to Guernica and Barcelona during the Spanish civil war, as lack of air defences allowed them to fly low so could concentrate their bombing accurately, also each city had many timber framed buildings that would burn easily.
problems with german attack and london tactics in protecting the city
Both had been able to cause enormous damage in Rotterdam in 1940 and to Guernica and Barcelona during the Spanish civil war, as lack of air defences allowed them to fly low so could concentrate their bombing accurately, also each city had many timber framed buildings that would burn easily.
However London was a very different case, it had:
- Anti aircraft guns
- Searchlights
- RAF
Luftwaffe couldn’t fly low altitudes, also the size of london made it harder to cause widespread damage.
development by germans in blitz (3)
DEVELOPMENT: (german)
Incendiary bombs (help improve effectiveness of planes) - Didn’t explode but carried highly flammable fuel which ignited on contact with the air → Caused huge fires → Difficult to control
Radio Navigation devices
- Allowed planes to find their targets more easily in the dark (most raids happened at night)
Tactics
- Dropping a mixture of explosive and incendiary bombs was very effective, explosive bombs destroyed walls and roofs exposing more flammable material
british counter insurgency to german incendiary bombs, radio navigation and tactics in blitz (7)
BRITISH COUNTER MEASURES
- Well organised fire fighting teams (stop fires before they become firestorms)
- Anti aircraft guns
- Worked alongside searchlights
-Fired large shells
Not v accurate but could easily destroy an aircraft with a direct hit
-Searchlights
Could pick out even high altitude aircraft
-Barrage balloons secured around important buildings
Secured by strong steel wires attached to the ground, stopped planes flying low and bombing accurately (like they had in Rotterdam)
-Steel wires also almost impossible to see so planes could easily hit them
british counter insurgency to german incendiary bombs, radio navigation and tactics in blitz (plane)
DEVELOPMENT: (British)
Boulton Paul Defiant
New planes better suited to flying at night, and to shooting German bombers
1941- had been fitted with radar
targeted area of blitz - london
London
- Main target East end especially the docks
- Inner London also suffered
- From Sept 02 1940 bombed every night until Nov 02 1940
- Important buildings e.g Houses of parliament and buckingham palace damaged
- Raids continued until May 1911
- 15,000+ killed
- 250,000 made homeless
targeted area of blitz - coventry
Coventry
- Worst attack on 14th Nov 1940
- Targeting aircraft factories
- Hit by 30,000 incendiary bombs
- City and cathedral destroyed
- Despite raids aircraft factories resumed production within 5 days
targeted area of blitz - liverpool
Liverpool
- Worst attack on 3 May 1941
- 500 bombers
targeted area of blitz - belfast
Belfast
- Badly bombed in April/May 1940
- 1,000 killed
- 150,000 made homeless
targeted area of blitz - Glasgow
Glasgow
- 13-14 May 1941
- Main target being the shipyards on the Clyde
- In 2 nights 500 ppl killed
- Hundreds injured and community destroyed
- Out of 12,000 houses only 7 left undamaged
targeted area of blitz - Plymouth
Plymouth
- Royal Docklands at Davenport were the main target
- Early 1941 5 raids reduced much if the city reduced to rubble
- Last attack 30 April 1944
- During 59 bombing attacks 1,172 civilians were killed and 4,448 injured
cause for end of blitz
Hitler called the bombing off in May 1941. Mainly as he needed to divert the Luftwaffe to support the impending invasion of the USSR.
impact of blitz
Impact of the Blitz
- Luftwaffe lost 2,265 aircraft and 3,363
- Between October 1940-May 1941 40,000 British civilians killed
- Blitz did little to damage British Industry
- Dec 1940 industrial output 239% greater than december 1939
- May 1941 industrial output 319% greater than december 1939
- It didn’t affect industry too much as british industry was widely dispersed all over the country
- It didn’t affect British morale too much
Government made efforts to conceal the full extent of the damage from both the army and the people
E.g commuter trains travelling through east london , would have their window blinds pulled down
-Overall the raids caused a sense of outrage and a desire for revenge (not what hitler had predicted)
allied bombing of germany aims
Allied bombing of germany
aims
- Reduce morale of german civilians
- Disrupt german war production - targeting industrial and communications area
- Air marshall harris idea that germans can be bombed into submission
germany bombing what 4 cities?
May 1942 - first thousand bomber raid on cologne
Killed 40 000 people
1943 - hamburg virtually destroyed by firestorm
60 000 deaths
Regularly - Berlin
February 1945 - Most importantly dresden using incendiary bombs to create a firestorm
Dresden was not an industrial city but bombing destroyed dresden and caused 100 000 casualties
success of allied bombing (3)
Success:
- Only slightly reduced war production
- Drew off german aircrafts from eastern front
- Did affect morale and everyday lives of germans
controversy of allied bombing (5)
Controversy
Morally wrong to target civilians ( especially dresden as no military presence or industrial presence) also rise in death due to incendiary bombs
Counterproductive - often made germans more determined to support war cause and was used by goebbels for propaganda purposes
Little effect on german industry - in 1944 industry output only fell by 10 % DEVELOPMENT - german industry moved underground
Cost 140 000 allied airmen their lives and 21 000 planes crash
Did not bring about collapse of germans - this was the russian advance combined with western advance
the second blitz and advantages of V weapons(5)
V-Weapons
The British people suffered a second Blitz in the last year as of the war, sept 1944- march 1945, from V1 and V2 missiles.
Advantages:
They could travel extremely quickly
They could travel far (launched from western france)
Caused significant damage on the ground
There was no risk to life as they did not require a pilot
Cheap and quick to manufacture
3 disadvantages of V weapons
Disadvantages:
They were not very accurate, however, London was a large enough city that this did not matter.
They were used in the war too late to have a significance in turning around matters for the flailing Germans.
After the Normandy landings, missile sites were captured by the Allied forces which put an end to their use. They were not used effectively by the Germans.
facts about V 1 missiles (5)
V1 missiles:
6,000 V-1 bombs actually reached British targets causing casualties of 20,000 and caused considerable damage.
The V-1 caused blast damage over a wide area. It exploded on the surface, and a huge blast wave rippled out from the epicentre. This caused a vacuum to form, leading to a devastating pushing and pulling effect.
2,500 V-1 missiles reached London, killing more than 6,000 civilians.
Speed: 640 km h Range: 250km Weight of Warhead: 850kg
British Fighter: Boltoun Paul Defiant fighter was used to intercept the bombs and capture the launch sites.
development to V1 missiles (4)
DEVELOPMENT: V2 missile:
V-2 was much more dangerous because it was so fast that it could not be shot down or even seen when it flew (375 km in 5 min)
It was a genuine guided missile and flew at supersonic speeds of 5760 km/h and had a range of 320km . This meant that it could not be shot down.
About 500 V-2s hit london between September 1944 and March 1945 causing 900 casualties.
Developed too late in the war to have a decisive impact. And after the Normandy landings the Allied forces managed to capture launch sites so the attacks came to an end.