The Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain mostly known as "Air battle for England" or "Air battle for Great Britain" was the name given to one of the most famous air campaigns in World War II, waged by the German Air Force (the Luftwaffe) against the British air force (Royal Air Force)in 1940. This battle was part of a plan made by Hitler called Operation Sea Lion. This Nazi Germany´s plan consisted in invading the United Kingdom and to have air and naval supremacy over the English Channel neither of which the Germans ever had at any stage during the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial and strategically bombing campaign to that date.

But what was the Luftwaffe strategy about? Initially, the Luftwaffe estimated that it would take four days to defeat the RAF (Royal Air Force) Fighter Command in southern England. This would be followed by a four week offensive during which the bombers and long range fighters would destroy all military installations throughout the country and ruin the British aircraft industry. Later reassessments gave the Luftwaffe five weeks to establish temporary air superiority over England. To achieve this goal, Fighter Command had to be destroyed, either on the ground or in the air; yet the Luftwaffe had to be able to preserve its own strength to be able to support the invasion.

Did the Luftwaffe have any limitations? The German fighters were also limited. Without sufficient fighter cover, the German bombers were very open to attack from British fighter planes. By the end of July, the RAF had lost 150 aircraft while the Luftwaffe had lost 268. Bad weather stopped the Luftwaffe from daily raids in August easy prey to the British fighter planes. From August 23rd to September 6th, the Luftwaffe started night time bombing attack on cities. However, for all this apparent success, the Luftwaffe was losing more planes than the RAF. On September 15th the Luftwaffe lost 60 planes while the RAF lost 28. On September 17th, Hitler postponed indefinitely the invasion of Britain though the night time assails. Another thing that the Luftwaffe lacked was bombs or aerial torpedo capabilities that were essential for defeating larger warships. The Luftwaffe made 21 deliberate attacks on small torpedo boats during the Battle of Britain, sinking none. The British had between 700 and 800 of these vessels in service, making it a critical threat if the Luftwaffe could not deal with the force.

Why was Germany defeated? The failure of Germany to achieve its objectives of destroying Britain's air defenses or forcing Britain to negotiate an armistice is considered its first major defeat and a crucial turning point in the Second World War. It prevented Germany from gaining air superiority. The battle ended the threat that Hitler would establish in Operation Sea Lion, a proposed airborne invasion of Britain.