by Ellen Weineck

Created on: November 18, 2007

The Battle of Britain was fought from 12th August to 30th September 1940. It happened when Germany had already invaded large parts of Europe, including France, and so Hitler then thought about invading Britain. The battle was fought between Hitler's Luftwaffe and Britain's RAF. It was fought over the skies of southern England.
The battle was important to both sides. It was vital for Germany, because without defeating the RAF, and gaining control over the skies of Britain, Hitler could not safely transport his troops across the channel. They could only go to invade Britain with their navy, when they were safe from attack by the RAF overhead. It was also important for Britain to win the battle, as it was the only thing that stood between them and invasion. Britain had previously been allied with France, but by this point in the war, France had surrendered, and Britain was left to fight alone. It was important for them to win, because if they didn't they would have no help from any other country fighting off an invasion.

At the start of the battle, the odds were strongly against Britain. The RAF faced a far stronger Luftwaffe. The RAF had 700 fighters and 350 bombers, compared to the Luftwaffe's 1,100 fighters and 1,900 bombers.
The final outcome of the war was Britain winning. This happened because British bombers had launched a surprise attack on Berlin after some German planes had accidentally bombed London. Hitler was outraged and so started the Blitz. He bombed major British cities in an attempt to get Britain to surrender. This was a major mistake. When he turned his attention away from bombing British airfields, it gave the RAF the chance to repair its airfields and build more planes to replace ones lost. As a result of this, Britain eventually won the battle, but they had previously been very close to defeat. Britain had suffered heavy losses, (769 fighters), due to good German tactics. Hitler had even been drawing up plans to invade Britain, (operation Sealion). He would not have done this if he had not believed that Britain could be easily defeated.
So, when Britain did actually win the battle it was a very important turning point in the war. It boosted the morale of the British people, and it also meant that Britain could carry on fighting in the war. For Germany, it lowered the morale because it was the first time Hitler had lost something in the war. It stopped his run of victories, and it showed the British that the Germans were not invincible. This

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