by Alec Caprani

Created on: April 17, 2008

The world owes Great Britain a debt of gratitude, due to the stand it took against the tyrannical forces of Nazi Germany. After the fall of France in 1940, Great Britain was all that stood between Hitler and Nazi Germany's world conquering plans. Refusing to bow down and capitulate, Churchill and the British people stood firm and braced themselves for the worst that the third Reich could hurl at them. Having witnessed the fall of France and the fire and destruction rained down on most of western Europe, it was courageous to say the least.

Thankfully Britain had the first fully integrated, air defense and early warning systems using radar and spotters, it enabled them to vector in fighter squadrons to tremendous effect.It also had the much acclaimed Spitfire and Hurricane fighters (cutting edge at that time), the R.A.F. was the only truly modern air force, capable of challenging the much vaunted Luftwaffe. Being close to home and being able to re-fuel and re-arm was an advantage, that thankfully, the Germans didn't have.

Britain had a marvelous code breaking ability, which gave it the edge in intelligence gathering. It was initially called Ultra and it evolved into Colossus, the worlds first decoding computer. German communiques were eventually decoded in seconds, just in time for D-Day, on the 6th of June '44. It's estimated Colossus shortened the war by two years.

The Germans also had to contend with the legendary Royal Navy if they wanted to claim their prize, air superiority would have assisted their ambitions for an invasion, but they needed to conquer the skies first. Without air superiority, the large homeland fleet would have destroyed any vessels attempting to cross the channel, with men and equipment.

The battle over Britain's air space, was to gain the much needed air superiority Herr Hitler needed, prior to sending the Nazi hordes across the English Channel. The Battle of Britain ensued and was fought between June and October 1940, although significantly outnumbered the R.A.F gave the Luftwaffe a "bloody nose", due to the advantages outlined above.

For once, the self proclaimed super-race and their awe inspiring military machine had met their match, they had never been confronted by such ferocity, determination and raw courage. It was hard fought and a close run thing, thankfully Great Britain prevailed, Operation Sea lion was "canceled indefinitely" by Herr Hitler and Britain went on to win the war with her closest ally the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R..

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