Comparing present misfortunes to those others faced in the past can be cathartic, so, during this COVID-19 pandemic, inspired by a recent viewing of Darkest Hour, I started reading about the Battle of Britain. During the summer and fall of 1940, the Nazis attacked Britain by air and killed over 40,000 civilians in the process. Imagine walking to work with enemy bombers flying overhead. Passing flattened buildings on your walk home that were standing when you passed in the morning. Going to bed at night wondering if a bomb might fall through your ceiling while you sleep. That was life in London during the battle.
The nightmare began during the last week of May 1940 across the English Channel in Dunkirk France where over 300,000 British soldiers were stranded and surrounded on the beach. For reasons that are still debated, Hitler ordered his men to halt just 10 miles outside of the city.[i] Hitler might have been skeptical that he had neutralized the French so quickly and was anticipating a counterattack from the south.[ii] He also expected the British to surrender, and he thought that he could spare some soldiers by waiting it out.
During Hitler’s hesitation, with the Luftwaffe — at that time history’s greatest air force — patrolling the channel, the British attempted a Hail Mary. Royal Navy ships were too large to get close enough to shore, so civilians were solicited to sail their own unarmed, leisure vessels to rescue the soldiers. Hundreds volunteered within hours, including women — some of whom called while disguising their voices to sound like men to be approved for the mission.[iii]
Entering the channel, the volunteers saw Dunkirk ablaze and heard the roar of Luftwaffe and RAF dogfights.[iv] Plumes of seawater from artillery shells that fell within meters of them violently rocked their boats. Eventually, they made it the 20 miles to Dunkirk then back, and some of these heroes returned to Dunkirk for a second trip after safely depositing their first batch of soldiers.[v] A June 5, 1940 Times of London article called their actions a “miracle of deliverance,” reporting that over 300,000 British and French soldiers were rescued.[vi] It was indeed a miracle, as only 20,000 to 30,000 were originally expected to make it.
But even after the successful, yet narrow, escape, the Nazis were primed to invade Britain. The prevailing thought was that Hitler would conquer London by the end of June.[vii] The American Ambassador called home to tell President Roosevelt that Britain was finished.[viii] Nonetheless, guided by their new prime minister, the British refused to surrender.
On June 4, Churchill, who was less than one month into his first term, made his famous “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech to the House of Commons. Knowing that the Nazis had their boots on London’s throat, Churchill spoke with irrational confidence:
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender ….
Behind the scenes, the military was indeed preparing in earnest for the imminent battle, which would be the first fought exclusively by air.
While Hitler hoped for a peace agreement, he knew that he would have to fight for it, at least briefly. The Nazis thus had two goals, with the second contingent on the outcome of the first: (a) strategically bomb Britain aerially to force a surrender, or, if that didn’t work (b) achieve aerial superiority (which was needed to curb the elite Royal Navy) to support a land invasion.
After a slow start, Britain started having some success in August, and, around that time, the news reports hinted at changes in the Nazis’ tactics. After they initially focused on strategic military targets like ports and factories, the Nazis gradually became more reckless (murderous). The Times of London reported on August 19, for example, that the Nazis dropped bombs on parts of London and southern England that hit an office building, homes, and injured civilians.[ix] Continuing this trend, and eager to break the British spirit, Hitler authorized the Blitz in September. Until that point, the British people had been “fighting mad and determined,”[x] but in the weeks that followed, Londoners especially were really tested.
Ceaseless terror bombings commenced. On October 1 alone, London was bombed seven times, with the newspaper reporting that “[t]hey showed up at breakfast time, returned for lunch, tea, and dinner.”[xi] Some raids involved nearly 1,000 planes. Alarms sounded day and night, and entire neighborhoods were flattened.[xii] The facades of buildings spanning city blocks were dislodged so you could see inside them like doll houses.[xiii] Busses were buried in craters in the middle of streets, with just their back window peeking out.[xiv] There is a famous picture of men dressed in suits perusing through books at a library that had its roof blown off.[xv] They climbed around piles of wood and debris to reach the shelves.[xvi] Women in high heels tiptoed on sidewalks around mannequins and glass blasted from storefronts.[xvii] Milkmen walked down obliterated streets, leaping from one foothold to another.[xviii] The London underground was used as a makeshift shelter where strangers slept next to one another on the escalators and in the trench where the train tracks were.[xix]
Just like their prime minister, however, Londoners pressed on. According to reports, in the slums of London, amongst the rubble, the Union Jack could be seen flying above the houses that remained and “God Save the King” was graffitied on remaining walls.[xx]
So how did they win the Battle of Britain? Well, militarily, in large part because of their home field advantage and the systems implemented by RAF commander Hugh Dowding.
The RAF was initially years behind the Luftwaffe technologically, but, through Dowding’s brilliance, including the use of sophisticated communications systems and radar, it was able to repel wave after wave of attacks. Dowding convinced the military to install eight machine guns on each fighter and to place the cockpit behind the engine to help protect the pilots.[xxi] Even though the Luftwaffe planes were faster, could fly higher, had stronger weapons, and the Luftwaffe’s ranks dramatically outnumbered those of the RAF, the RAF had more fire power with twice as many machine guns per plane and its pilots had a good chance of safely evacuating and rejoining the fight after being hit.[xxii]
Britain really won, though, because they were able to outlast the Nazis, and they were able to outlast the Nazis because the civilians didn’t want to surrender.
Why this resolve in the face of unimaginable terror? According to a New York Times correspondent’s report from an October 7, 1940 article, British citizens had witnessed what had “happened to other people who did not succeed in withstanding the Nazi, and both rich and poor worked it out in their own minds that they must win.”[xxiii]
It would have been hard to blame the civilians if they demanded that the government surrender, as essential portions of London were completely flattened. For months, people went to bed wondering if a bomb might drop through their roof and blow up their families. Yet, they endured, and their sacrifices allowed Britain to stay in the war. Had they not, the war might have ended before Pearl Harbor; the United States may never have entered; and, well, Hitler’s Nazi party might still be around today.
The Battle of Britain illustrates how resilient people can be. Today, amid the pandemic, we’re not being asked to make the same sacrifices that the British had to 80 years ago, but we can learn from their courage. Simple inconveniences like wearing masks and standing six feet away from your friends is nothing compared to what they went through. Still, many have lost loved ones and suffered terribly during the pandemic. With perspective, resolve, and consideration for our neighbors, however, we will get through it.
[i] Dick, Ron. “Battle of Britain” Air Power History, vol. 37, no. 2, 1990, pp. 11–25.
[ii] Id.
[iii] “The Small Craft at Dunkirk.” The Times, 6 June 1940.
[iv] Ullrich, James. “Salvation at Dunkirk.” World War II, 1 Aug. 2017, pp. 26–28.
[v] Id.
[vi] “A Miracle of Deliverance.” The Times, 5 June 1940.
[vii] Greenberg, Martin. “Churchill Revisited: Greatest of Leaders.” Sewanee Review, vol. 119, no. 4, 2011, pp. 609–622.
[viii] Id.
[ix] “Warnings in London, Many Delayed Action Bombs.” The Times, 19 Aug. 1940.
[x] “Churchill Warns Invasion Is Near” The New York Times, 12 Sept. 1940.
[xi] Reston, James. “Respite from Raids Enjoyed in London.” The New York Times, 12 Sept. 1940.
[xii] “Widening War, the Battle for Empire.” The New York Times, 22 Sept. 1940.
[xiii] Sanchez, Gabriel H. “24 Harrowing Pictures From The Battle Of Britain.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 10 July 2017, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/gabrielsanchez/harrowing-pictures-from-the-battle-of-britain.
[xiv] Id.
[xv] Id.
[xvi] Id.
[xvii] Id.
[xviii] Id.
[xix] Id.
[xx] Daniell, Raymond. “London’s East End Battered by Nazi’s.” The New York Times, 5 Oct. 1940.
[xxi] “‘Stuffy’ Dowding Savior of Britain.” The New York Times, 29 Sept. 1940.
[xxii] Id.; “Here Is How the Battle of Britain Was Really Won.” The National Interest, The Center for the National Interest, 16 Oct. 2019, nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/here-how-the-battle-britain-was-really-won-24238?page=0%2C1.
[xxiii] McCormick, Anne O’Hare. “London Is Being Wrecked without Effect on Londoners.” The New York Times, 7 Oct. 1940.
