In June 1940 Nazi Germany overran France and forced the British army to evacuate at Dunkirk. Severely lacking in military equipment, Britain and her empire now stood alone against Adolf Hitler’s forces. Nevertheless, Winston Churchill, Britain’s new prime minister, refused to come to peace terms, forcing Hitler to plan an invasion – codenamed Operation Sea Lion.
To stand any chance of crossing the English Channel, Germany needed to achieve mastery of the skies above Southern England during that summer. The Battle of Britain – the first major battle to be decided entirely by air power – began.
Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsely, Mary Beard and more. Watch, listen and read history wherever you are, whenever you want it. Available on all devices: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Xbox, Chromecast, and iOs & Android.
We’re offering a special discount to History Hit for our subscribers, get 50% off your first 3 months with code YOUTUBE: https://www.historyhit.com/subscription/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=YouTube2024
#battleofbritain #ww2 #theblitz
source
The people who did the graphics should be made Garter Knights. Well done! Loved your work!
I have said it several times before in my youtube comments to BoB videos, that this battle changed the course of the war. If It had been lost and Britain had capitulated, then Germany would have had free reign against the Russians. America wouldn't have been able to help. There would be no bombing of German held territory both day and night, no Africa campaign. no battle of the Atlantic, no one supplying Russia with weapons and more importantly – intelligence. Germany would have been able to throw all their recourses at the Russian campaign, and I think very probably have won. Look how long it all the allies working together, to defeat them.
Radar was hardly a secret When Generalfeldmarschall Miltch met Dowding for Lunch at Bentley Priory He asked Dowding how he was getting on with radio detection,The war would be won or lost in the Atlantic,not over southern England.
BOTH WAR GENERATIONS HAVE SOLD US DOWN THE GURGLER
Hitler decided to retaliate after carpet bombing of [Dresden? Can't remember], and shifted the offensive away from airstrips and RAF supply, to area bombing of cities. The RAF recovered and were able to slowly thin down poorly defended bombing runs.
The graphic representations of the speeches are fantastic!
Even with all his faults, and he had many, the FREE WORLD owes it’s(the apostrophe in this instance is to show possession) continued existence to Sir. Winston S. Churchill. Yes, the USA and other countries provided materials, supplies and later men, but it was Churchill’s iron will that kept the world free.
Britain fought from day 3 to the end. No other country did that. Churchill was the reason as so many wanted to give in to Hitler to avoid what had to be done.
Today Europe and Britain face a more dangerous Foe.
At about a minute, that looks like a P-40, which didn't participate in the BoB.
The title is all wrong. The BofB was not against the Nazi Party, it was against the Luftwaffe. Cut out all this woke political correctness and state the facts. It is a fact that many brave and highly skilled Luftwaffe pilots were certainly not Nazis, but honourable professional warriors, like Galland.
Why y’all not talking bout our US flyboys y’all? Saved yo asses fr mf’s.
Why didn't you mention the real reason Churchill bombed Berlin in late August? because the Luftwaffe mistakenly bombed London.
Respect to any pilot from anywhere if the fight the king and country they are on equal to any native Brit in those planes
Amazing bravery 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇦🇺
🇳🇿 🇵🇱 more I’m missing I’m. Sure
Great video. Have to give a shout out to the graphics design team at History Hit. The animated words of Churchill’s iconic speeches were strikingly good. Great job!
By bombing civilians with incenderary bombs. And caused suplies to the camps to be hindered, which lead to many deaths. It wasn't gas chambers nor the SS that killed the Js it was the RAF..
0:44: ⚔️ The pivotal Battle of Britain in 1940 determined the fate of Western Europe and the course of World War II.
5:00: ✈️ RAF superiority in Battle of Britain due to Hurricane and Spitfire advantages, production efforts, and trained pilots.
9:43: 💔 Brothers flying together in WWII, one tragically dies in battle leading to the other's nervous breakdown.
13:31: ⚔️ British RAF's strategic advantages and challenges during Battle of Britain.
17:24: ⚔️ RAF's resilience and determination against German air attacks during the Battle of Britain.
Timestamps by Tammy AI
Once again, you guys knocked it out of the park with another brilliant documentary, well done!
Love your work 👍
There are numerous memorials to the battle. The most important one are the Battle of Britain Monument in London and the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-feme in Kent.
Just because you have 50 different fonts doesn’t mean you have to use them. Very annoying.
To my knowledge, this documentary is the first one to bring up the Royal Navy in relation to Germany's invasion intentions. Many movies overlook the Royal Navy's unwillingness to allow Germany to tow those invasion barges unopposed in the North Sea because of the excessive focus on the Royal Air Force (which I also believe should be the case). The Germans were well aware that the home fleet would annihilate them regardless of their air superiority.
great video as always I do love how Dan is so Enthusiastic.
Didn't the americans win the BoB?
I am learning to praise myself.
It was Britain's first stand. The RAF was the FIRST line of defence against invasion, not the last.
An excellent documentary and some aerial combat footage I don't recall seeing before. Many thanks.
According to Adolf Galland it was a draw
Surley the title of this video should be '' How the RAF defeated the Luftwaffe in a battle of little significance'' to sully the brave young men of the Luftwaffe fighting a battle that they could not have won with a political ideology is shamefull.
Great video but Dan Snow is very inept.
The Battle of Britain shows how technology and the spirit of resistance can change the fate of a war. A lesson that's still valid today.
And were is polish sqadron 303 ?
Pff … the title on its own. Do the Britsh believe this themselves or are they aware that this is mostly utter bullocks?! Good lord.. load of propaganda gone wild.
I don't want to rude, but this not even half the story. And the half the do tell is exacerbated. Kind of posh.
LOTS of amphetami**.
Britain was the brains and created the key technology to defeat the Axis. This includes the nuclear bomb, as it was British research that helped the Manhattan Project. The Battle of Britain showcased that.
The few❤
Excellent video spoiled by the graphics.
poor britian with its global empire spanning the entire worlds oceans against a central european power with limited resources and a fragil infrastructure. how ever did you resilient llmeys manage?
Funny… the video announcer said the Spit flew at 387 mph. Tgat is completely untrue at that stage of the war. It flew at approximately 348-350 mph.
The fact the Battle of Britian was lost because of simple mistake…Is crazy…. If the bombing of london did not happen it could have been the end of fighter command.
The Battle of Britain was more of a draw , rather than a loss for the Germans……… put simply the Germans simply had bigger fish to fry ( Barbarossa ).
Inspiring victory for those defending their country.
I cannot help but thinking the what ifs of history, had the Britons manage to hold off Anglo-Saxons, or had Anglo-Viking Harold Godwinson succeeded defending Britain against the Normans, would they be hailed as the few who defended their country? Or, had the invasion not been canceled and succeeded, would the Nazis in Britain would be assimilated into a totally different culture from the continent like the Anglo-Saxons and Normans before them? Of course noting that Nazis were probably more evil than Anglo-Saxons, Normans and Vikings combined.
By the way, the font show is good for a few sentences, but I think don't push it too far.
Thank God that The Few didn't live to see us handing away everything they fought and died for. Our southern shores invaded day by day, the steady Islamification of our country, cities and towns destroyed by corrupt, pathetic governments and councils. Our culture eroded, day by day. I could cry when I watch this.
I just want to register my admiration, again, for Churchhill's way with words. All these years later and his speeches still hit.
Churchill's speeches always give me goose bumps!
Thankws for sharing.
‘The Royal Navy was still the most powerful fleet in the world…any invasion fleet would have been destroyed as it tried to cross the Channel…’
Mmmm, well, yes, theoretically.
The Nazis would only have attempted a crossing with aerial superiority.
But even putting this aside, the English Channel (or Narrow Seas, as they were called) were hardly an ideal place for a massed naval operation in response, and it is doubtful that any of our capital ships would have been risked there.
Especially as it was also heavily sown with minefields on both sides and, doubtless, U-boats would have concentrated there.
Unfortunately, their Lordships of the Admiralty were not always at the forefront of technical innovation, or at keeping abreast of new developments.
At the beginning of the war RN ships, especially lighter units like destroyers, were woefully under-equipped with AA defences and extremely vulnerable to aerial attack.
As was discovered in the 1940 Norwegian campaign, even capital ships with comparatively heavy AA armament could be attacked by the Stuka dive-bomber and, as a result, the fleet had had to be completely withdrawn from coastal waters until it was out of range of the Luftwaffe.
Probably, the fairest assessment is that if it had actually come to it, there would have been a bloodbath out there in the Channel, on both sides…