European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hmm Mem Page 14 Battle of Britain "5, s i a \. _ _ in Nifon Churchill Waves to residents of a shattered area of Bristol after an attack by German bombers free try behind him Hatesa la . Ambassador John q. Winant. At right a German Meinket 111 bomber Over London in the autumn of 1940. Continued from Page 13 the Vanguard of a Landing Force of some 39 divisions. Plans were made to land 125,000 troops on English shores in the first three Days. The germans assembled an invasion Fleet of 170 targe transport vessels about 1,500 barges and hundreds of tugs trawlers motorboats and fishing Craft. The invasion was set for sept. 15, to make sea lion work however the germans knew they had to control the air Over the Channel to keep the still Strong British Navy at Bay. Air reichsmark Schari Hermann a flying elated by his fliers Mastery of the skies thus far boasted that his Luftwaffe could destroy Britain a Royat air Force within a month and bring Britain to its Knees with air Power alone. Given to Large statements he also bragged Quot if bombs d rap on g Ermany my Nam e is Meyer. A a in the fall of 1940, Vyacheslav. Molotov visited with German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in Berlin air raid sirens waited and the two fled to shelter. Ribbentrop assured the visitor not to worry that Britain was already finished Quot if that is so Quot Molotov inquired Quot Why Are we in this shelter and whose bombs Are those which fall Quot on july 10, even As britons Strung their beaches with barbed wire and evacuated children Inland the great air Battle commenced. Analysts believed it would be decisive. For if the germans gained a foothold on land Wilh a substantial armoured Force British troops weakened by the loss of most of their heavy equipment in France would be at a tremendous disadvantage reduced to fighting tanks with pop guns. Even Britain s million Man Home guard was running Short training with Broomsticks instead of rifles moreover the British seemed at a huge disadvantage in the air also. The Luftwaffe had nearly 3,000 fighters bombers and fighter bombers pitted against initially just 600-700 British fighters at first German pilots were quite optimistic Over the expected Early demise of the Raf. As time went on. However that changed. A there come Britain a last 50 fighters a again a they joked grimly As they arrived Over Britain on yet another Mission to be faced by yet another Batch of supposedly extinct British interceptors. As wave after wave of thundering Heinkele and dornier and junkers and Messe Schmitts darkened the sky As London Shook and burned around them instead of despairing the strange British grew More and More defiant even scolding their adversaries for Lack of mathematical acumen. A fall the Way from the coast to London the Countryside is strewn with the wreckage of shot Down nazi bombers said one report. A the German version of their losses yesterday is As usual incredibly  Gaz i no at Fields of charred German wrecks an englishman even managed to summon up a spot of pity for those trying to blow him to Smithereens. A a you be heard of the place where elephants go to die Welt this is the place German planed go to die certainly the invader s lot is not a Happy  on the Home front As Winston Churchill wrote Quot men and women toiled at the lathes and machines in the factories till they fell exhausted to the floor and had to be dragged away and ordered Home. The one desire of every male and Many women was to have a weapon. Even schoolchildren played their part As fire watchers. Hitler was for the first time. Faced with the courage of a people resolved to defend their Homeland and their Freedom regardless of  the air War was indeed costly for the British but it was both costly and confusing for the germans. From trying to Knock the airfields to pieces they had come perilously close to doing just that and putting British fighter come out of action they suddenly switched strategies to the terror bombing of London which would prove a big mistake operation sea lion  to be postponed again and again. Despite bring s arrogance even after he assumed personal command his aces still could t get the Job done unfortunately for arrogance behind this very stubborn English resistance was this very stubborn Ever in the Field of human conflict was so much owed by so Many to so few. Mif i .1.  Winston Churchill a August 20, 1940 65-year-old englishman. In May he had followed this other English gentleman a Nice Gullible sort who carried an umbrella and thought he could stroke the Savage beast tearing Europe limb from limb with soothing words instead of War clubs and make Quot peace in our . The irresolute Man with the umbrella Neville Chamberlain was followed just in time by the very Resolute Man with the Cigar jammed into the Side of his baby bulldog face. Winston Churchill believed in both words and War clubs vigorously applied. Rarely has one Man embodied such fierce will been such a great spirited inspiration for a nation and cause. Sulzberger described Churchill Quot remember him for he saved All of you Pudgy and not very Large but somehow massive and indomitable baby faced with snub nose Square Chin Rheum eyes on occasion Given to tears a thwarted actors taste for clothes that would have looked ridiculous on a less splendid Man. He wore the Quai test hats of anyone tinted Square bowlers great Flat sombreros squashed Down on his head naval officers Caps rendered just slightly comic by the huge Cigar protruding beneath the  had Britain succumbed wrote Sulzberger Quot As it had every. Reason to do in 1940, probably no successful coalition could have been formed. Although Hitler did t know it at the time this political event Churchill a leadership was the single greatest disaster he would experience. Without Churchill a skill and determination it is doubtful if Britain could or would have carried on the fight Long enough for the German invasion of the soviet Union and the japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor to take  the contrast in the commanders of the opposing air forces was striking. Air chief marshal sir Hugh Dowding was known As a solitary figure not Given to much display but with a great understanding of the tactics of Aerial War Spring puffed up with vanity ambition and an insatiable craving for luxury had been a world War i Ace but had no experience in commanding Large formations in War. His strategy against Britain was largely helter shelter relying on sheer numbers and massed  the Luftwaffe s superiority in numbers however the Raf had tactical advantages that escaped Goring s analysis. For one thing the advantage of fighting close to Home enabled the out manned British to husband their preparing for wan helmeted air raid Warden during a bomb shelter exercise in 1939. Resources and commit to the Battle at the last moment then later land refuel and rejoin the Battle for another when shot Down Over their own territory they were Able to Salvage More men and machines than the germans. In dogfights Between fighters the sleek British spitfire roughly matched the speedy Messerschmidt while the rugged British Hawker Hurricane was slower. But hurricanes outnumbered spitfires 5 to 3 and shot Down More aircraft than the rest of the Raf and antiaircraft guns combined. Though Messe Schmitts could deliver twice the firepower in a three second burst than the British fighters what proved a More critical Factor was German failure to give the fighters escorting their bombers extra fuel tanks. Thus the Messe Schmitts had no More than 10 minutes of combat time if they made it through the spitfire and Hurricane Gauntlet and reached London. German Ace Adolf Galland attributed this having to break off and run for Home As the main a formation of Hawker Hurricane fighters at left Tower Bridge stands out against a background of smoke and fire during the germans first mass air raid on London sept. 7,1940. A 0 Refa a a. Ita a. A a a Quot up. A a it s a Jav o. Al i t t k Ray a y -. A. Factor in their defeat. The British thought there was a bit More to it than fuel tanks there was also a splendid Early warning system that included the new radar there were the thousands of barrage balloons and anti aircraft guns which kept the German planes flying High and along predictable routes the better to shoot them Down from and there were the incredible fired up handful of British pilots a just 1,400 of them Between Britain and massive invasion. Often flying up to six sorties a Day Day in and Day out without respite Raf pilots were driven to the Point of exhaustion taking whatever rest they could. Though dashing and Carefree on the surface As one Pilot put it Quot we were too tired even to get drunk Quot at Churchill put it to the House of commons on aug. 20 Quot never in the Field of human conflict was so much owed by so Many to so  pilots died blown apart or burned alive in the air riddled by bullets in parachutes drowned in the sea broken to pieces when their planes smashed to Earth. It was getting desperate for the British that last week of August and first week of september. But then came the great Blunder. When Goring shifted his attacks from the nearly demolished airfields to trying to wipe London and the cities off the map with mass bombing raids it was just the respite that fighter come needed to regroup. The Day the shift occurred sept. 7, is considered by military historians the turning Point of the Battle. The air War by Day Over London called the Quot Blitz a was at its height Between sept. 7 and 15, and was essentially won by the end of the month. Y on hot sunny sept. 15, the germans launched More than 1,000 bombers against London and it s defending Airfield s. Once again the Raf fought Back ferociously. On sept. 17, the official German War diary recorded Quot the enemy air Force is still by no Means Defeated on the contrary it shows increasing activity. The Fohrer has therefore decided to postpone sea lion  Daylight raids stopped on oct. 5. Operation sea lion was postponed essentially forever on oct. 12. But then night raids against London and other major cities including the devastation of Coventry followed through november and december. Still trying to break the British spirit the germans bombed London for 76 straight nights As air raid sirens howled through the explosions firemen went 40 hours at a stretch without sleep. At one stage 1,500 fires burned simultaneously and the reel Clouds Over the City could be seen 60 Miles away. As the heart of London caved in people jammed the underground shelters. Hundreds of thousands saw their Homes turned to rubble but morale never came close to cracking. Quot you got used to it Quot said one briton in the spirit of the Day. A you can get used to anything Quot the bombing of the cities rumbled on and off until May of 1941, costing the lives of More than 40,000 British civilians with another 50,000 seriously injured. But by then the Battle of Britain usually placed Between july 10 and the end of october when invasion seemed imminent had Long since been determined. When it was Over the Raf had lost 1,023 planes and 537 fliers including four american volunteers. The Luftwaffe lost 1,887 aircraft and 2,662 fliers. Of the Battle Churchill wrote in his Dairy Quot the Odds were great our margins Small the stakes infinite Quot but if we fail.,.&Quot he told the House of commons a then the whole world will sink into the abyss of a new dark age. Let us therefore Brace ourselves to our duties and so Bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years men will say a a this was their finest  Quot a a a the stars and stripes saturday july 28,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15