Chapter One: Opening Moves
Hello all, I've been visiting this forum for quite a while now and I have decided to start my own timeline. So, without further ado, I present to you the first entry of my timeline, Defending the Realm.
In the final days of the Battle of France, shortly after the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at Dunkirk and before the fall of Paul Reynaud’s Government, Winston Churchill, recently appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, gave a speech to the House of Commons, declaring: ‘We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender’. This, more than anything, gave a clear indication that Britain would continue to fight Germany and Italy (known collectively as the Axis Powers, while Britain and her allies were known as the Allied Powers throughout the war) until they came out triumphant. In spite of this, however, the Nazi Government initially sent terms to Britain – these were quickly rejected by the determined British Government, and so the Second World War continued.
In Berlin, Hitler ordered the preparation of an invasion of Britain, so as to conquer the United Kingdom and bring the war forcibly to an end. This plan, known as Operation Sealion, was incredibly demanding, and required many factors to be in place for it to be remotely feasible – most importantly, the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force) required air superiority over the English Channel and Southern Britain, so as to allow the invasion force to cross. This would never happen, so long as the British Royal Air Force (RAF) continued to hold supremacy over the Home Islands, and so Hitler ordered Hermann Goering, the head of the Luftwaffe, to launch an aerial campaign over Britain to achieve air superiority.
The subsequent aerial campaign became known as the Campaign in the Air, the first phase of the Battle of Britain. During the Campaign in the Air, the RAF and the Luftwaffe fought each other over the skies of Britain, in an event which would determine the eventual outcome of the Battle. The first phase of the aerial conflict, known as Kanalkampf, began on July the 10th, and saw the Luftwaffe organise bombing raids on British shipping in the Channel – the Germans were able to damage many convoys and other ships, yet as the aerial combat began to move on land, the tide began to turn in the RAF’s favour. During fighting above Southern England, the RAF held numerous advantages – for example, the Dowding System (named after Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding) allowed the RAF to quickly move to an area which was under threat, while RAF plans were able to fly flexibly while the Luftwaffe was in a strict formation, which hindered its ability to respond to RAF attacks. These advantages (along with several others) enabled the aircraft of the RAF, primarily the the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire, to defeat the aircraft of the Luftwaffe, primarily Messchermitt fighters and Juncker bombers, when the two sides entered combat. With these numerous advantages, the Campaign in the Air ended in a British victory, culminating with the Action of September the 15th, which saw the RAF, under the command of Keith Park, decisively defeat the Luftwaffe in a large-scale aerial battle. Following September the 15th, the Luftwaffe campaign was called off, and thus Britain had retained air superiority over the Channel and the Home Islands.
In the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in the War of the Air, Hitler was furious with Goering for failing to secure control of the skies, yet the Führer did not abandon his plans for Sealion. Since the Fall of France, Hitler had considered himself something of a military genius, and the Luftwaffe’s defeat had done nothing to bring down the hubris he had gained since entering Paris. In addition to this, Hitler was determined to strike east at his main enemy, the Soviet Union, and, in his mind, the only way to do this was to neutralise Britain first – regardless of the cost. This was something which the German leader speculated on for several days, until, on September the 21st, he came to the fateful, and largely misguided, decision that air superiority was not needed for Sealion to go ahead, and simply landing an army in Britain would be enough to scare the British Government into requesting terms. Historians have en masse criticised Hitler’s thinking in the past, and will inevitably do so in the future, so this work will not focus on something which has already been explained heavily elsewhere. When Hitler ordered Sealion to be launched, his generals initially urged their leader to re-consider, as such an invasion was impractical, especially since RAF control of the skies had not only been sustained, but reinforced. Yet Hitler refused to heed the advice he was given, insisting that the Luftwaffe was still in a position to combat the RAF while the battle took place, and so his generals, aware of what outright protest against the Führer would bring, reluctantly agreed to launch the plan.
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On June the 22nd 1940, the French Republic signed an armistice with Nazi Germany, leading to a German occupation of Northern France, an Italian occupation of the South East, and a rump French state, known as Vichy France, in the South, led by Philip Pétain – once a French war hero, now a collaborator with Hitler’s regime. This left only one power at war with Germany – the British Empire and Commonwealth.
In the final days of the Battle of France, shortly after the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at Dunkirk and before the fall of Paul Reynaud’s Government, Winston Churchill, recently appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, gave a speech to the House of Commons, declaring: ‘We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender’. This, more than anything, gave a clear indication that Britain would continue to fight Germany and Italy (known collectively as the Axis Powers, while Britain and her allies were known as the Allied Powers throughout the war) until they came out triumphant. In spite of this, however, the Nazi Government initially sent terms to Britain – these were quickly rejected by the determined British Government, and so the Second World War continued.
In Berlin, Hitler ordered the preparation of an invasion of Britain, so as to conquer the United Kingdom and bring the war forcibly to an end. This plan, known as Operation Sealion, was incredibly demanding, and required many factors to be in place for it to be remotely feasible – most importantly, the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force) required air superiority over the English Channel and Southern Britain, so as to allow the invasion force to cross. This would never happen, so long as the British Royal Air Force (RAF) continued to hold supremacy over the Home Islands, and so Hitler ordered Hermann Goering, the head of the Luftwaffe, to launch an aerial campaign over Britain to achieve air superiority.
The subsequent aerial campaign became known as the Campaign in the Air, the first phase of the Battle of Britain. During the Campaign in the Air, the RAF and the Luftwaffe fought each other over the skies of Britain, in an event which would determine the eventual outcome of the Battle. The first phase of the aerial conflict, known as Kanalkampf, began on July the 10th, and saw the Luftwaffe organise bombing raids on British shipping in the Channel – the Germans were able to damage many convoys and other ships, yet as the aerial combat began to move on land, the tide began to turn in the RAF’s favour. During fighting above Southern England, the RAF held numerous advantages – for example, the Dowding System (named after Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding) allowed the RAF to quickly move to an area which was under threat, while RAF plans were able to fly flexibly while the Luftwaffe was in a strict formation, which hindered its ability to respond to RAF attacks. These advantages (along with several others) enabled the aircraft of the RAF, primarily the the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire, to defeat the aircraft of the Luftwaffe, primarily Messchermitt fighters and Juncker bombers, when the two sides entered combat. With these numerous advantages, the Campaign in the Air ended in a British victory, culminating with the Action of September the 15th, which saw the RAF, under the command of Keith Park, decisively defeat the Luftwaffe in a large-scale aerial battle. Following September the 15th, the Luftwaffe campaign was called off, and thus Britain had retained air superiority over the Channel and the Home Islands.
In the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in the War of the Air, Hitler was furious with Goering for failing to secure control of the skies, yet the Führer did not abandon his plans for Sealion. Since the Fall of France, Hitler had considered himself something of a military genius, and the Luftwaffe’s defeat had done nothing to bring down the hubris he had gained since entering Paris. In addition to this, Hitler was determined to strike east at his main enemy, the Soviet Union, and, in his mind, the only way to do this was to neutralise Britain first – regardless of the cost. This was something which the German leader speculated on for several days, until, on September the 21st, he came to the fateful, and largely misguided, decision that air superiority was not needed for Sealion to go ahead, and simply landing an army in Britain would be enough to scare the British Government into requesting terms. Historians have en masse criticised Hitler’s thinking in the past, and will inevitably do so in the future, so this work will not focus on something which has already been explained heavily elsewhere. When Hitler ordered Sealion to be launched, his generals initially urged their leader to re-consider, as such an invasion was impractical, especially since RAF control of the skies had not only been sustained, but reinforced. Yet Hitler refused to heed the advice he was given, insisting that the Luftwaffe was still in a position to combat the RAF while the battle took place, and so his generals, aware of what outright protest against the Führer would bring, reluctantly agreed to launch the plan.