Episode 41-Great Britain’s turn.

[0] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[1] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.

[2] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[3] What do they know?

[4] What are their skills?

[5] And what would you do in their position?

[6] Vengeance felt good seeing these.

[7] People paid for what they'd done, felt righteous.

[8] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.

[9] This episode is brought to you by Audible.

[10] As you know, Audible .com is the Internet's leading provider of amazing audiobooks.

[11] With over 100 ,000 titles to choose from, everyone should be able to find something, hopefully each month, to enjoy.

[12] This time, I would like to recommend two books, as they really helped me to get a feel for the period we're covering now.

[13] The first one is Winston S. Churchill, The History of the Second World War, Volume 2, Their Finest Hour.

[14] First off, the reader does a very good impression of Churchill, and there are moments when you forget it's not the author reading to you, or talking to you.

[15] But what I really got out of this, besides hearing the British version of the Battle of Britain, was Churchill's interactions with others in the government, his meetings, how he spent his days and his weekends, and who was making what decisions, and his take on the other major British players.

[16] This book really filled in the gaps for me. And of course, the writing is superb.

[17] Churchill knows how to tell a story.

[18] The second audiobook is Citizens of London.

[19] The Americans who stood with Britain.

[20] in its darkest, finest hour by Lynn Olson.

[21] This is a great behind -the -scenes story of three men, Edward R. Murrow, the CBS head in Europe, who told Britain's story as they attempted to keep the German invasion at bay, Averill Harriman, a railroad tycoon who would organize the Lend -Lease program for FDR in Britain and then in the USSR.

[22] and then would go on to use his own money to explain to the citizens of the U .S. how the Lend -Lease program was actually good for America.

[23] And finally, the U .S. ambassador after Joseph Kennedy left in late 1940, John Gilbert Winant.

[24] Winant had a lot of work ahead of him after the pro -appeasement Kennedy left the position.

[25] When Winant arrived in London, He was met by King George VI, and he quickly made it clear to the king, to Churchill, and the British people that he was on their side, and he would do everything he could to get America in the war.

[26] These driven and influential men had access to the most powerful in Britain and the U .S., and they used their influence to ready the hesitant Americans for eventual full participation in the war against the Axis.

[27] I think you'll enjoy both of those.

[28] Now, because I'm building a new website as we speak, and I'll tell you more about that later at the end of the episode, the best way to access my website is to go onto iTunes, search the History of World War II podcast, and under the cover art, if you look down there, there's a link for the website.

[29] You just click on that, and it will take you right to the website, and that way you can get to the Audible banner from there.

[30] Or you can just email me at ray42harris at yahoo .com and I'll email you the link.

[31] But hopefully I'll have the domain worldwar2podcast .net hooked back up to the website soon.

[32] I know I'm making your life very difficult right now and I apologize, but these two books are definitely worth it.

[33] I enjoyed listening to them very much.

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[43] Hello, and thank you for listening to the History of World War II podcast, episode 41, Looking for Chinks in the Armor.

[44] It was now Great Britain's turn.

[45] They would be the next in a long line of political and military victories for the leader of Nazi Germany.

[46] His bluffing and guile had gotten him the remilitarized Rhineland, Austria, the Sudetenland, and then the rest of Czechoslovakia.

[47] Then the Western powers had finally caught on to the truth that Adolf Hitler was not settling problems of the proud and shabbily treated Germans after World War I. He was building a European empire.

[48] So they drew the line at the Polish border and told him crossing it would mean war.

[49] Hitler, who really didn't believe them and can be somewhat forgiven in this, crossed the line with his troops, panzers, and Luftwaffe.

[50] But the Allies stuck to their word for the most part.

[51] War was declared, but as we have already discussed, the British were not equipped to launch a large -scale offensive, and France was equally unable due to internal division.

[52] Now that war was upon Europe, there was no need of hiding Nazi goals or for holding back.

[53] Denmark and Norway were next to fall, and quickly it seemed, due to the blitzkrieg tactics of this new and powerful Germany.

[54] Now...

[55] it was time to face the Western powers directly.

[56] The invasion plan was discussed and changed, and discussed some more.

[57] In the end, it was simply but brilliantly turned in on itself, and the main thrust would come south of where the Allies expected it to, and so were caught off guard.

[58] France fell in about six weeks, but the British managed to save many of their troops due to their proximity to the Channel, their vast navy, many brave private citizens, and their ships and boats.

[59] and the Royal Air Force.

[60] Of course, only a very small percentage of their equipment was saved, and that was what the Nazi warlord was counting on as he waited for the British to come to him and seek terms.

[61] But instead, he either got silence or defiance, and the latter he did not deem their true position until many weeks later.

[62] But now he saw their unfathomable resolve clearly, and so it was their turn.

[63] Of course, Hitler could not do everything alone, and so he surrounded himself with either men very much like him, or at least professional men who were very good at what they did.

[64] Either way, the British people and the government were about to have the full attention of the fanatical Nazi state and the competent men who pledged loyalty to it.

[65] The two forms of government, their organization, military structure, and the adversaries themselves, opposed across the Channel, could not have been more different.

[66] Each side had their planes, pilots, and plans, and settled down to the business of trying to destroy each other.

[67] As the other branches of the military on both sides watched their respective Air Force clash, the opposing leaders assessed the game board and their pieces.

[68] However, for the Germans, the aggressors, it came down to their army waiting on their navy, and their Navy waiting for their Air Force to succeed.

[69] Field Marshal Hermann Goering was flamboyant, intense, and energetic.

[70] He was the political leader of the Luftwaffe from the very beginning in 1933 when Hitler came to power and appointed him leader of the yet -existent German Air Force.

[71] His ambition and political clout allowed him to build up this new branch of the military in only six years.

[72] To streamline things even more, Goering became the commander -in -chief of the German Air Force in 1935, and in early August of 1940, he would take direct control of the air war against the RAF.

[73] The British structure was the mirror opposite.

[74] Things were too important for any individual to control, and so were run by committees seeking efficiency and the common good.

[75] It was a democracy after all.

[76] The men who would indirectly face off with Goering were British Air Minister Sir Archibald Sinclair.

[77] He was appointed by Churchill when he became Prime Minister, but had no direct experience.

[78] However, like many of his compatriots, he was a gifted amateur.

[79] The other indirect Goering adversary was Air Chief Marshal or Chief of Air Staff Sir Cyril Newell.

[80] His contribution was playing a part in the expansion of the RAF.

[81] from 1937 to 1940.

[82] But the name that has been associated with the Battle of Britain is Commander -in -Chief of Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Downing.

[83] He had also helped in developing Fighter Command over the last few years and would take what was available and directly face Goering and his air fleet commanders.

[84] He was 59 years old and at the end of a long and distinguished career.

[85] He flew in World War I and after the war, became a career air officer.

[86] Moving steadily up, in 1934, he was appointed to lead fighter command.

[87] Unlike the Germans, the British separated their commands between fighters, bombers, coastal aircraft, and training.

[88] Dowding, with all his experience, could see the importance of aircraft in any future war, and so let nothing stand in his way in developing an adequate defensive shield.

[89] He was always insisting on better, faster, more maneuverable fighters, regardless of cost.

[90] This drive to ready fighter command caused clashes with the air ministry and air staff.

[91] Those who got tired of coming up short when faced with Downing decided it was time for him to go.

[92] He was informed of his coming retirement, set for June of 1939.

[93] But it shows his successor had a fatal accident.

[94] and the air ministry kept Downing on until March of 1940.

[95] Then, with the war clouds hanging over the country, he was asked again to stay until July 14, 1940.

[96] But just two weeks short of that date, he was asked to stay on until October 31, 1940.

[97] Downing was not happy with this continuous extension of his responsibilities, but valiantly fought the Battle of Britain with his longed hope for retirement just out of reach.

[98] Dowling's Fighter Command was organized into four operational and territorial groups.

[99] Eleven Group would be the front line of the war as it covered Southeast Britain and was commanded by New Zealander Airman Air Vice Marshal Keith Park.

[100] His headquarters was at Uxbridge, a London suburb.

[101] The area north of London was covered by Twelve Group, which was commanded by Air Vice Marshal Trafford Lee Mallory.

[102] His headquarters was at Wadnal.

[103] The north of Britain and Scotland was covered by 13 Group, commanded by Air Vice Marshal Richard Saul.

[104] His headquarters was at Newcastle -on -Tyne.

[105] And finally, west and south of Britain was defended by 10 Group, led by Air Vice Marshal Quinton Brand.

[106] His headquarters was at Box.

[107] At the end of the War of France, Fighter Command had about 768 fighters within their operational squadrons.

[108] Only about 520 were operational.

[109] So the various committees came together, fixed bottlenecks as they arose, and by August 9th, right before a full launch of the German air offensive, those numbers had significantly improved.

[110] There were now just over 1 ,000 aircraft at their bases, which translated to 751 ready to take off, with a further 424 aircraft in storage and ready to fly.

[111] About 800 of these planes were Spitfire and Hurricane fighters.

[112] The rest were mostly bombers.

[113] The British had made good use of Hitler's hesitation.

[114] And with the losses of planes sure to come balanced out against newly built planes, these numbers remained relatively stable.

[115] In fact, as the air battle raged on, Fighter Command had a slight edge over the Germans and their number of fighters.

[116] Of course, theirs were spread out throughout Britain.

[117] offering protection as best they could.

[118] Also, the British had put in an impressive order for fighters from the U .S. before the battle started, but by their delivery, the fighting was past its peak.

[119] This is impressive enough on its own, but when one remembers that London was also sending fighters to Egypt, it becomes all the more so.

[120] Besides the skill and bravery of the pilots, what would matter most in this contest were the fighter planes themselves.

[121] Fortunately for the British, the two main fighter planes used were the Hawker Hurricane, the Workhorse, and the Vickers Supermarine Spitfire, the Thoroughbred.

[122] The other aircraft, the Bristol -Blemmen two -engine fighter and the Bolton -Paul Defiant, could not hope to compete with the German aircraft, and so were regulated to night fighters.

[123] And even though the Spitfire came to symbolize the British resistance to a possible German invasion, mostly because its job was to combat the German fighters, there were always more hurricanes than Spitfires in operation.

[124] This was mainly due to the hurricane being easier to put together, and so more were assembled.

[125] Their duties would mostly evolve around taking out the bombers.

[126] But regardless, both planes were the cutting edge of fighter technology.

[127] The Spitfire Mark 1A had eight 303 machine guns mounted in its wings.

[128] The Mark 1B.

[129] only used experimentally in August 1940, had four .303 machine guns and two 20mm cannons.

[130] But the Mark II, used in June of 1940, had a higher rate of climb and a higher ceiling, but was slightly slower, 354 mph versus 362 mph, each at 18 ,000 feet.

[131] The Hurricane was slower but sturdier, and it was fortunate that they were the majority of the fighters used.

[132] The Hurricane Mark I had eight 303 machine guns with a max speed of 325 miles an hour.

[133] The Mark IIA was slightly faster and came online August of 1940.

[134] It had a ceiling of 34 ,000 to 35 ,000 feet.

[135] But the main drawback for both planes were their two -pitch propellers.

[136] However, they were soon replaced in late June 1940 with constant speed propellers that gave the pilot more control during takeoffs and when cruising.

[137] but also another 7 ,000 feet of ceiling.

[138] This was extremely important as gaining altitude over your opponent helped in setting up a successful attack.

[139] There was another drawback, however, that was not fixed.

[140] The 303 guns could not easily penetrate the armor installed in the German bombers and fighters.

[141] The RAF pilots would have to hope to hit a vulnerable area besides where the pilot sat.

[142] The real challenge for the British was keeping enough pilots available who were trained, and ready to give effective combat.

[143] During the crucial weeks of the air battle, the British had about 1 ,400 pilots available.

[144] But with the help of foreign pilots such as the Polish, Canadians, Belgians, Czechs, and a few Americans, they managed to raise that number to 1 ,500 by the second half of September.

[145] And by the end of the battle, almost 3 ,000 pilots went up for at least one sortie.

[146] In the end, 507 British pilots would die, and about that same number would be wounded.

[147] It's been argued that the number of German pilots were slightly fewer than the British in the battle, but it must be kept in mind that Germany had a much larger territory to maintain.

[148] They certainly started out with many more planes, about 3 ,000 or so.

[149] 1 ,400 bombers, 300 dive bombers, 800 single -engine fighters, and 240 twin -engine fighter bombers.

[150] Also, the superior armor installed on the German planes meant that their pilots had a lower rate of loss.

[151] Welcome to True Spies.

[152] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[153] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.

[154] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[155] What do they know?

[156] What are their skills?

[157] And what would you do in their position?

[158] Vengeance felt good.

[159] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.

[160] True Spies from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.

[161] The real deficiencies on the British side were the non -combat personnel needed at the air stations.

[162] They were the key parts of the complex system of command and control, and their contributions gave fighter command a real striking power and operational flexibility in defending Britain from the where and when of German attacks.

[163] The people on the ground that made the British air machine work were the fitters, armorers, instrument mechanics, maintenance, construction workers, and signal personnel.

[164] Machinery also played its part.

[165] After the fall of France, Fighter Command discovered a real shortage of tanker lorries for refueling aircraft.

[166] This had to be quickly dealt with like so many other shortcomings in repairing their defensive shield over southern Britain.

[167] Zooming out a bit and looking at a mental map of Great Britain, the nerve center and overall tactical control of the battle was at HQ Fighter Command at Stanmore.

[168] just northwest of London.

[169] Tactical control within each group area would be delegated to that group's headquarters.

[170] However, once an airplane was launched, it was directly controlled by its sector.

[171] This meant that each group and sector, plus HQ Fighter Command, had to have an operations room.

[172] This is where the large maps were displayed to show all air activity.

[173] Going from the smallest to the largest, A sector map, or general situation map, otherwise known as a plotting table, showed the entire sector, as well as the connecting parts of the adjacent sectors.

[174] Group operations rooms showed the entire group area, plus connecting parts of the adjacent groups.

[175] But the Fighter Command Ops room had a map showing the entire British Isle.

[176] It's interesting to note that the map they used was from the German, not British perspective.

[177] It was here.

[178] at Downing's HQ Fighter Command in Stanmore, where their filter room received information about incoming enemy aircraft.

[179] The intel was sent in by landline from all the radar stations and observational posts around the coast.

[180] The information was then made manifest on a large map.

[181] Once confirmed, the information about incoming planes was sent to any affected group headquarter and their individual sector stations or airfields.

[182] If you've seen pictures of the filter room at Headquarters Fighter Command or group operational rooms, you saw two rows of people working around a large map.

[183] The lower row, made up mostly of women, called croupiers, used their long rakes to push or pull symbols into place on the map.

[184] The row above them was called the filter staff.

[185] They helped organize the massive and quick -flowing information coming in by landline.

[186] Together, these two groups of women were called the Beauty Corps, and many a pilot found an excuse to visit the closest operational room.

[187] When news of incoming planes was received at group headquarters, the commanders of each group had to decide which of their sections to activate.

[188] Then the section station commanders were responsible for deciding which of the squadrons should fly on a particular operation.

[189] Once a squadron of planes was airborne, the aircraft were guided by Radio Telephony Direction Finding, and I hope I said that right, or RTDF.

[190] Again, the British were using technology to guide their planes to quickly engage the enemy.

[191] With practice, this process would eventually only take minutes.

[192] Still, ways to shorten even this were always looked for.

[193] Of course, all this was dependent on and started with radio detection finding.

[194] RDF, otherwise known as radar.

[195] Radar was developed in Britain in 1935 when it became known that aircraft reflected back to the ground shortwave radio pulses which could be captured.

[196] Soon the British government was experimenting and building RDF stations and by 1939 there were 21 chain home radar stations lining Britain's coastline.

[197] Although in theory it would detect planes from very far away, its average range was only 80 miles, but that was more than enough to detect German planes coming across the channel.

[198] With only four years of development, radar had its limits.

[199] It didn't work inland, but the observatory core of 30 ,000 helped take up the slack there.

[200] It also couldn't detect planes flying below 1 ,000 feet.

[201] So, a second system of chain home low stations were created, and the first one was online by November of 1939.

[202] They were limited in their abilities as well, but filled in the major gap.

[203] They also discovered it could detect coastal shipping.

[204] Still, radar was far from what we think of today.

[205] In 1937, it could be thousands of feet off in its height readings, but was improved as war drew near.

[206] With practice and organization, The time from detection to scrambling fighters to combat those incoming took four minutes by August 1940.

[207] This is impressive for the times, but keep in mind that it only took German aircraft six minutes to cross the Channel.

[208] Britain would use all of its modern technology to try to survive the coming assault.

[209] Decrypting German Air Force traffic, Enigma tried to assist the RAF, but its contributions were more of painting the larger picture.

[210] of German intentions than pinpointing the when, where, and how many planes were crossing the channel.

[211] In fact, low -level radio interception offered superior information, quantitatively and qualitatively, to the RAF in this regard.

[212] German air crews were notoriously slack in their radio silence or discipline, which of course could be chalked up to, with some understanding, overconfidence.

[213] Fighter Command also controlled a network of anti -aircraft guns and barrage balloons.

[214] They were only started in April of 1939, and by June of that year, with their 1 ,204 heavy guns and 581 light anti -aircraft guns, were way below the goals they set for themselves.

[215] Overall, Fighter Command was made up of 130 warning districts, wisely based on the layout of the national telephone system.

[216] Three telephone operators at HQ Fighter Command kept in continuous contact with trunk exchanges in London, Liverpool, and Glasgow.

[217] Briefly, and we'll go into details later, the warning system of an enemy aircraft was designed as follows.

[218] Enemy aircraft that were 20 miles distant would trigger a yellow warning to the affected sectors.

[219] Emergency services in those sectors would then prepare themselves.

[220] Five minutes later, a red alert would follow, and then air raid sirens would blast for all to hear.

[221] At that same time, the anti -aircraft barrage would be readied.

[222] Fighters would be launched and combat given until the enemy bombers and fighters left the area.

[223] Only when all enemy planes were out of sight would the all -clear green signal be given.

[224] To the German way of thinking, victory was a foregone conclusion.

[225] They just had to go through the motions.

[226] In fact, Field Marshal Gehring never believed in the invasion.

[227] He believed it would not be needed.

[228] His Luftwaffe would ring an agreement from the foolish Britons, allowing his Fuhrer to turn and settle the question of the East.

[229] The Luftwaffe chief was told from on high to take out the RAF and then return to bombing British ships and ports, making way for the upcoming invasion.

[230] Gehring paid lip service to these orders.

[231] but went on with his plans to focus on the RAF.

[232] He believed they would fall easily enough and relished the future honors, powers, and medals soon to be bestowed on him.

[233] But his staff and others under him did not bother thinking of the future.

[234] Having their orders, they pulled out their maps and got to work.

[235] The victory over France gave the planners the best gift possible.

[236] They would be able to attack Britain's western, southern, and eastern coastline from anywhere along the northern coast of France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and Norway.

[237] But reality quickly set in for the German planners when it was realized that the range of the ME -109 fighter would barely reach London, and that was without fighting, which consumed fuel even faster.

[238] Several things were tried to extend their range without an overhaul, but they were all abandoned.

[239] So, the Germans were limited in trying to gain air superiority over the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey.

[240] Directly facing Air Vice Marshal Keith Park's 11 group for the Germans was Air Fleet 2, or Luftflotte 2, and Air Fleet 3, or Luftflotte 3.

[241] Luftflotte 3 stretched from northern Germany through the Netherlands and Belgium and included France as far as Le Havre.

[242] just northwest of Paris.

[243] However, their fighter squadrons were centered around Calais, close to their desired targets.

[244] Further west along the northern French border was the area of Luftflotte 3.

[245] It contained more bombers and dive bombers, and their mission was to destroy coastal areas and naval equipment of all kind.

[246] Air Fleet 2, which controlled most of the northern coast of Europe, was led by Field Marshal Albert Kesselring.

[247] And after the Battle of Britain is over, he will return to our story as the Anglo -American forces are moving northward through northern Italy in a few years.

[248] But for now, it's worth noting that although he lacked air experience, he was an able organizer as well as a popular and respected leader.

[249] Air Fleet 3 was led by Field Marshal Ugo Sperla.

[250] He and his men had gained vast experience when he led the German Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War.

[251] He had limited flying experience from World War I, but like Kesselring, was energetic and popular.

[252] His most notable attribute was a corpulence that matched his commander -in -chief, Goering.

[253] As stated previously, the Germans planned and organized their armed forces for land battles, i .e. close coordination between the land and air forces, and so did well in Poland, the Low Countries, and France.

[254] However, they found themselves unready and untrained for an exclusive air battle.

[255] This lack of readiness tested and taxed the abilities of the two air fleet commanders and Gehring.

[256] Clearly, a transition was needed as many obstacles were discovered in preparing for the first part of Operation Sea Line.

[257] First, a whole network of air bases had to be established in northern France, and they had to be supplied.

[258] However, this was never completely carried out, and so damaged aircraft were mostly sent back to the homeland for repairs.

[259] And, of course, they had no radar and nothing in place to control the planes once they were in the air.

[260] The air fleet commanders were to suffer low reserves of planes relative to their area of operations throughout the Battle of Britain.

[261] And while it's true they had many more planes than the British, they could have had so many more.

[262] This shortcoming was mostly due to the leader of procurement, Colonel Ernst Udett.

[263] He was simply the wrong man in the wrong place.

[264] He had his qualities, and one of them was being Gehring's good friend.

[265] The Rotund Field Marshal was always jealous of Erhard Milch, his deputy air minister's abilities, so shunned him whenever he could.

[266] Fortunately for Germany, the deputy air minister was a superb organizer, which was needed, as Gehring used heroin more and more frequently to deal with his groin wound from World War I. But Udet had no political experience, nor a head for business, and was soon fooled and tricked by businessmen and officials alike, who were looking to maximize profits or cut corners.

[267] Colonel Udet, in charge of procurement, certainly tried to improve the air wing of the Third Reich, but in the end was not up to the challenge, and so in desperation committed suicide in 1941.

[268] But through these deficiencies, including a weak link in Udet, the German Air Force was still formidable, due to its experience, numbers, and confidence.

[269] In 1940, Germany could certainly claim to have the best aircraft in the world.

[270] The ME -109E1 had a top speed of 334 mph at 19 ,000 feet and a ceiling of 34 ,000 feet.

[271] It had two 20mm cannon and two 7 .9mm machine guns.

[272] It had a less rapid rate of fire than the British guns.

[273] but more effective explosives.

[274] It could outturn a hurricane and Spitfire, and when at 20 ,000 feet or higher, it could outperform the leading British aircraft across the board.

[275] It would be this plane that would give the British pilots pause, as the other German aircraft were far less effective.

[276] Like the ME -110C and 110D, twin -engine heavy fighters were supposed to fly further than its predecessor, but once in combat.

[277] burned fuel at a faster rate.

[278] The German bombers, for all the terror they created, could not compete with their British counterparts.

[279] The Ju -87B dive bomber was slow, like the Me -110, as well as being highly vulnerable during bombing attack, and soon was taken out of the battle.

[280] However, the Ju -88A1 could fly further at a higher speed and maintain its accuracy in a dive, also while in a dive.

[281] It could outrun a Spitfire.

[282] Its limitations were that it could only carry 4 ,000 pounds of bombs and was weakly armored.

[283] These major weaknesses could and should have been improved by Goering, but he didn't want to take the time.

[284] He told a colleague, Hitler will only ask me how many bombers I have, not the specifications.

[285] But flying these machines were highly experienced pilots.

[286] There were fewer single -engine pilots for the Germans, but they survived longer, and had a higher rate of operational readiness.

[287] Between the Spanish Civil War, Poland, and the war in the West, they were the cream of the German Air Force.

[288] With most of this known to the commanders of the Luftwaffe in late July, their plan was simple.

[289] They would use their devastating bombers as bait to lure out the British fighters and then destroy them with their own fighters.

[290] Thus the RAF would be brought low, and the Luftwaffe would rule the air over southern Britain.

[291] Now that Hitler had gotten directly involved, it was time to clear up all the loose ends.

[292] Goering met with the Kesselring and Spiro at one of his estates.

[293] Then Goering explained everything to Hitler.

[294] The plan was to send out relatively small forces of bombers with a light escort.

[295] But, as the British fighters engaged the threat, large numbers of German fighters, free from any protection duties, would join in and destroy the British fighters.

[296] The Luftwaffe elite expected to have Fighter Command destroyed, more or less, in four days of good weather.

[297] Once Fighter Command's back was broken, they would move systematically from county to county and finish off any survivors.

[298] Then, when it was safe for daylight bombing, the whole island would come under bombardment.

[299] In fact, invasion would probably not be needed.

[300] The codename for this specific attack to start was called Adlertag.

[301] Day of the Eagles.

[302] But this strategy couldn't begin until Hitler gave the order.

[303] Until then, the tactics ordered were far more confusing for the air fleet commanders.

[304] July saw a slew of orders and directives for the air fleet commanders that told them to commence probing attacks on ports and shipping, then to focus on imports, then they were told to prepare for an invasion, so they attacked coastal defenses, communication targets, and naval installations.

[305] But during all this, the pilots and the commanding officers were still waiting on the orders to begin Adlertag, the destruction of the British fighters.

[306] And wasn't that what everyone agreed on was the first step to Operation Sea Lion?

[307] Now that Goering and his commanders had their approved plan for victory, they just needed a few good days of weather and for Hitler to set the date.

[308] By early August, the weather was perfect.

[309] but they were still waiting on their Fuhrer.

[310] Finally, Hitler shook off whatever was holding him back and set the date to begin Adlertag for August 10th.

[311] But then the weather turned bad on the 10th, and everyone had to wait to see what the skies offered the next day.

[312] But that was no better, and so the date was set for the morning of August 13th.

[313] But the weather was bad again on late August 12th.

[314] so the attack was postponed until the afternoon of August 13th.

[315] However, hundreds of pilots did not get the news in time, and so launched that morning of the 13th.

[316] So, instead of a roar coming from the continent, the start of Adlertag was much more subdued.

[317] Of course, there had been bombing from both sides since June, but the scale was small compared to what was coming.

[318] The German bombing was mere probing, was limited, and its success was limited.

[319] British daylight raids suffered unmanageable casualties, and their nighttime raids were so bereft of success in taking out power or hurting industrial capacity that the Germans thought they were totally random raids for terror purposes only.

[320] Even though Fighter Command was the most ready of the defense commands, it still had inefficiencies to work out.

[321] Fortunately for them, the small -scale attacks during June and July allowed them to do just that.

[322] The Germans had better tactics, but the British unknowingly countered this by focusing on the German bombers.

[323] This forced the German fighters, who were supposed to have a free hand, to stay closer to their bombers than planned and significantly reduce their flexibility.

[324] Meanwhile, the British fighters learned to adapt their tactics and formations to suit their needs of defense.

[325] And that's what it came down to for the British.

[326] Not victory, but holding off defeat.

[327] These probing attacks also helped the group commanders to send up smaller formations in case incoming bombers were only faints.

[328] This almost always meant that the British fighters were outnumbered, but this was necessary as each station had to be ready to launch another formation at later waves of bombers.

[329] No one on the German general's staff or any of the newly promoted generals or field marshals really had an idea of how to cross the Channel.

[330] They just knew that victory was at hand.

[331] This would work out somehow, because they trusted Hitler.

[332] Had he ever been wrong before?

[333] Still, first things first, and they all agreed on one point.

[334] The first part of this battle against Britain in this modern war was to destroy the Royal Air Force and secure control of the skies.

[335] And now, the story of the Battle of Britain.

[336] According to most people involved, the Battle of Britain, otherwise known as the Battle, officially started on July 10, 1940.

[337] There were significant attacks on convoys and at the naval base at Portland on the south coast on July 4, but bad weather interfered with most planned attacks for the first nine days of the month.

[338] But by the 10th day, The weather cleared and that morning saw the first major raid from the Luftwaffe.

[339] A British convoy, codenamed Bread, was detected by four recon Dornier 17 bombers as it rounded North Forland in Kent.

[340] This is where the channel was at its most narrow.

[341] Six Spitfires of 74 Squadron from Horton Church took off and intercepted them about 11 a .m. However, and this would become the norm throughout the battle, They were outnumbered by the Dornier's escort of an entire group, which meant 20 or more ME -109s.

[342] Regardless, the Spitfires engaged, and one Dornier was forced to crash -land at Boulogne with heavy damage.

[343] But two Spitfires were hit and force -landed.

[344] The first engagement of the day was over.

[345] Soon, ME -109s and Staffel's strength which meant between 8 and 12 aircraft, performed a sweep over Dover.

[346] Spitfires from 610 Squadron intercepted them, but scored no victories.

[347] However, Squadron Leader Smith was hit and force -landed at Hawking.

[348] Later that day, around 1 .50 p .m., over 70 German aircraft made for the convoy Bread, still heading southwest through the channel.

[349] The attack was comprised of 24 Dorniers, escorted by 24 ME -110s and another 24 ME -109s.

[350] Thanks to radar and the observatory stations, Fighter Command was made aware and about 30 fighters intercepted them.

[351] There were Hurricanes from 32 Squadron, 56 Squadron, and 111 Squadron, and Spitfires from 74 Squadron.

[352] They would later be joined by six Spitfires from 64 Squadron, while the Hurricanes from 56 Squadron took on the ME -109s, all the Hurricanes from the 111 squadron made a head -on pass to the bombers.

[353] This would become a trademark move during the battle.

[354] Soon the other British fighters joined in and a confused dogfight was engaged.

[355] The Germans lost three Dorniers and one was damaged.

[356] Three ME -110s were shot down and one more was damaged.

[357] The British lost one Spitfire that crash -landed and one Hurricane.

[358] when it collided with the Dornier.

[359] Two more hurricanes crash -landed, and a further two were damaged.

[360] However, one British pilot was lost, and, as sad as this was, this rate of loss, compared to the Germans, was acceptable to fighter command.

[361] Of course, these low levels of loss would not remain.

[362] More significantly, only one ship from Convoy Bread was sunk.

[363] While this had been going on, Air Fleet 3, stationed further west, had been doing their part.

[364] Junkers, or JU -88s, raided Swansea and Falmouth.

[365] Sorry if I butcher those.

[366] Unfortunately, these attacks were not intercepted, and a munitions factory at Swansea was bombed.

[367] The main reason for the success of this sortie was that 10 Group of Fighter Command did not yet exist.

[368] It was inaugurated only later in July.

[369] The first official day of the battle was over.

[370] Aircraft losses for that day were 6 for the British and 13 for the Luftwaffe.

[371] Bad weather soon moved in and postponed further major attacks for the next week, although a few convoy attacks were launched.

[372] The British had only been concerned with the German bombers, and their focus on them severely disrupted German strategy and tactics, all without knowing it.

[373] Next time, the weather will clear and the battle will continue.

[374] The number of aircraft involved would increase, just like the number of victories, deaths, and destroyed planes.

[375] But the Germans' determination would also increase, just as would the desperate fighting of the British fighter pilots.

[376] Greetings from Central Virginia.

[377] So, I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.

[378] for those who celebrate Christmas.

[379] I have a lot of things I need to tell you about, so I'm just going to jump right into it.

[380] First of all, the tour.

[381] I'm getting a lot of emails about this.

[382] Unfortunately, the details, the places, locations, times are not set down yet.

[383] That's because I gave them a very long list of places I would like to go, so they're working on it.

[384] But here's what I think I know so far.

[385] Everything, of course, is subject to change.

[386] It's looking like...

[387] October of next year, 2012, that will be the tour.

[388] And of course, if it's successful, there should be hopefully more tours.

[389] It's looking like 10 days that the tour will last.

[390] We are certainly heading to London.

[391] There's a lot of different sites in there that I put on the list, so I'm not sure yet.

[392] I also put in Dover and things like that, Ramsgate, but I'm not sure about that.

[393] We're certainly going to Paris.

[394] We're certainly going to France, Paris, Dunkirk.

[395] Normandy.

[396] I put in for some other places, so I'm not sure about that.

[397] I put in for Sedan, the Ardennes, the River Meuse, where Rommel crossed, and Lille.

[398] I put in a whole bunch of places, so I'm not sure about that.

[399] And I was pleasantly surprised about Belgium.

[400] I put several places in there.

[401] I think if I had to guess, and this is only a guess, that the far left flank of the Dunkirk operation ended in Newport in Belgium.

[402] So I think that's a part of it, so I'm not sure yet.

[403] But as soon as they finalize and they put something out, I will definitely let you know.

[404] I'll put a little announcement on iTunes just to get that out there.

[405] So if you're even thinking about going or you want to do me a favor, you can always send an email to info at historyworldtravel .com and just a simple line.

[406] Hey, please send me the specs or the details on the information as soon as it's final.

[407] I figure they get a bunch of emails.

[408] Hopefully they drop anything else they're doing.

[409] Finalize this so it will all be done.

[410] It will be on the website.

[411] Then I can tell you all about it.

[412] It's going to be a lot of fun.

[413] I'm really looking forward to it.

[414] I do not know technology.

[415] And I like to think I've proven that on numerous occasions, but I do know history.

[416] So if you come along, we're going to have a lot of fun.

[417] I can't wait.

[418] So I've been reading a lot about the Battle of Britain, and I have a lot of books, and there's just tons of information.

[419] So I've been thinking about this for weeks.

[420] So here's what I'm going to do for the foreseeable future, at least when it comes to covering the Battle of Britain.

[421] whatever episodes, I'll spend the first five or ten minutes going into detail about some aspect of something besides the chronology of the battle.

[422] Whether it's the women, the role that they played, or the support staff, or the development of the planes, or whatever, there's just a lot of information there.

[423] So what I'll do is I'll spend five or ten minutes at the beginning of the podcast talking about that, picking something and going, and then the rest of the podcast will be about the timeline of the Battle of Britain.

[424] And I'll give you all the details that I possibly can.

[425] So we'll just do that for the foreseeable future.

[426] And when we get to sometime in September in the timeline, I might have to stop and start talking about North Africa because Mussolini is about to make his move there and to try to go into Egypt.

[427] So we'll see how it goes.

[428] And as far as a plan for the overall podcast, here's what I'm going to do.

[429] I'm going to stay with the war in Europe.

[430] until the tour next year.

[431] We're just going to go and go and go and cover as much as we can in Europe until October of next year, if that's when the tour is.

[432] And then what I'll do is I'll have somewhere between two to four.

[433] episodes in the can ready to just to give you when I go on the tour when I'm gone for 10 days and that and we'll just jump back to the war in Asia I've got a lot more resources and I've got a lot of recommendations from you listeners which you know thank you very much I got a lot of new information so we're going to be able to stop slow down go into a lot of detail in the war in Asia and I may even back up a little bit because I've got a lot of good stuff so we'll stay with Europe for now and hit Asia and go back into Asia sometime next year The only thing that would possibly make me deviate from that is if I go see, visit Laszlo Montgomery of the China History Podcast in California sometime early spring, late winter.

[434] We're still talking about it.

[435] We don't know if we're just going to hang out or actually do a couple shows together.

[436] So that's the only way that my plans would change.

[437] I also wanted to tell you about, and I'm very excited about this, I am having a website.

[438] built for me. I'm going to get away from Apple, iWeb, MobileMe, all that stuff.

[439] So it doesn't matter if my computer crashes, I won't be able to screw it up.

[440] It's going to be out there.

[441] It's going to be WordPress.

[442] It's going to be nice and safe.

[443] It's going to be backed up.

[444] So once this is done, and hopefully this is completed sometime in January, no more mistakes, no more multiple websites or iTunes pages or anything like that.

[445] It's going to be all behind us.

[446] And we're just smooth sailing from then on.

[447] Not only that, but it's going to be obviously I'm going to have the ability to do unlimited episodes, which I'm certainly going to need at the rate that we're going.

[448] And so if I miss something or if you think I should have covered something more, if you have a question or whatever, I can stop, do a show, put it out there.

[449] It doesn't matter.

[450] unlimited episodes.

[451] So we're going to go, we're going to cover this as much detail as I can.

[452] We're going to go for years, hopefully, and we're just going to cover as much as we can.

[453] And I'm really excited about that.

[454] And I'm very excited about no more disruptions and causing a lot of grief for you listeners, because I know how frustrating that is.

[455] So hopefully that is very soon, one day going to be all behind us.

[456] And a wonderful man named Paul.

[457] F in Scotland is helping me. He's donating a lot of his time to helping me build this.

[458] Actually he's doing 99 % of the work and I'm just sitting back and making very minor decisions.

[459] I think that's best for everybody.

[460] So if you meet a Paul F in Scotland, shake his hand, buy him a cup of coffee because you know there's one 100th thousand of a chance that it's my Paul.

[461] But hopefully with his help we're going to have this done soon and I'll let you know as we get closer.

[462] Okay, almost done here.

[463] I'd like to take a moment and thank a couple of people for the donations.

[464] This is a listener -sponsored show.

[465] You send donations, you get something from Audible.

[466] I buy more books.

[467] I've already had to buy another huge bookshelf for it.

[468] So please, I really do appreciate it.

[469] It makes the podcast a lot better because I'm able to get so many more details, and I really do thank you for it.

[470] So I wanted to thank Simon in Cambridge, UK, Mark in California, Robert P. and his father in California, John in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Paul H. in Raleigh, North Carolina, Stephen K. in Ballston Spa, New York, and finally, Kenzie C. of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.

[471] They just donated today, so thank you, Kenzie.

[472] The last thing I've got to tell you before I let you go, sorry it's so long, just wanted to get it all out at the end of the year.

[473] is in February I will be a guest on another podcast show.

[474] That show is called Paranormal F, and that is by Terry Koenig, and they discuss the supernaturals, things like that, and we're going to be discussing Hitler and the occult.

[475] So I'm brushing up on that.

[476] I'll let you know as we get closer to that, but you can check it out at Paranormal F with a question mark on iTunes, or you can go to paranormalfradio .wordpress .com.

[477] So I'm looking forward to that.

[478] That should be a lot of fun.

[479] I've already gotten some books on it.

[480] Some people say yes and some people say no. So we'll get into that.

[481] We'll talk about it.

[482] But as soon as we get closer to that, I'll let you know.

[483] So to end on a positive note, I think it's interesting that we are all sitting around talking about something that happened 60 years ago.

[484] And those people at that time were thinking, oh, my God, is this the end of everything that we know?

[485] But they made it through.

[486] I can only hope, and I just say this at the end of 2011, that 60 years from now, our grandchildren are sitting around talking about this time in world economic, political, cultural history.

[487] And hopefully they're saying that we were intelligent, caring, creative enough to come together and solve our problems.

[488] So take care, everyone.

[489] Welcome to True Spies.

[490] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[491] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in love.

[492] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[493] What do they know?

[494] What are their skills?

[495] And what would you do in their position?

[496] Vengeance felt good.

[497] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.

[498] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.

[499] Wherever you get your podcasts.