The So-Called 'Battle of Britain': Another Political Myth Bites the Dust
(1.) “it was not the RAF but the Royal Navy that saved Britain in 1940.…This is the contention of three senior military historians at the Joint Services Command Staff College.”
(Senior British officers in all three services attend the College. Inter alia, they do courses in military history.)
Dr Andrew Gordon, head of maritime history: “To claim that Germany failed to invade in 1940 because of what was done by the phenomenally brave and skilled young men of Fighter Command is hogwash. The Germans stayed away because while the Royal Navy existed they had not a hope in hell of capturing these islands. The navy had ships in sufficient numbers to have overwhelmed any invasion fleet – destroyers’ speed alone would have swamped the barges by their wash, hardly a need for guns.”
Dr. Christina Goulter, the College's air warfare historian, quotes Gen. Jodl: “an invasion would be to send ‘my troops into a mincing machine’.”
"Wing-Commander H. R. Allen, DFC, a Spitfire pilot with 66 Squadron, wrote in 1975: “Sadly we arrive at the conclusion that the Battle of Britain has been glorified to the point of hyperbole by historians… the omnipotence of the air situation greatly exaggerated… and the importance of… command of the sea… overlooked.” Dr Gordon:- “For writing that, his name became mud in air force circles.” "
(2.) Dr Gordon continues:- “What you need to remember – and this gets rid of another great myth – Hitler had no plans for a long, total war. He hadn’t prepared his economy for it, or made plans for it. He had a script for the short, brutal fight he had in Western Europe. He reached the last page of that script on the coast at Dunkirk…And, according to that script, Britain was [now] supposed [to] do a deal.”
(3.) Professor Gary Sheffield, the College's senior land warfare historian: “Another myth we might dispose of. Dad’s Army…and knives tied to broomsticks. In fact the average age of the Home Guard was around thirty-five. And about half these men had served in World War One. Once you had trained and fought in a modern war, you don’t forget everything you learned. They were poorly armed at first, but once 500,000 rifles arrived from North America in July, they would have had a key part in delaying German troops.”
The article continues: “Some historians have always tried to explode the myths surrounding the Battle of Britain, particularly that the RAF was outnumbered. In a detailed account of events (Battle of Britain Day, September 15th, 1940, 1999) Alfred Price pointed out that on that day the RAF twice put around 250 fighters into the air – and still used less than half its available strength, against a Germany that used every fighter it possessed. The losses that day – 56 German (compared with the 185 claimed at the time) against 29 RAF – convinced the Luftwaffe it was not winning. In 1990 Clive Ponting showed that while Britain had 644 fighters against Germany’s 725 at the beginning of the battle, by October superior British production methods had changed the balance in Britain’s favour….30 per cent of our trained pilots, Ponting claimed, were tied down in desk jobs throughout the conflict.”
“Did Churchill truly believe invasion was possible? Dr. Gordon:- “He was fairly frank in his books. Part of his defiance was a hook to draw the Americans in. Part was hype to keep the British public behind him. And hype to keep the trade unions quiet – the last six months in 1940 was the only time in WW2 that Churchill had no trouble with trade unions.” "
Pie in the Sky? 'History Today', September 2006.