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The Battle for Britain - Part 1

© William Waller

All that stood in the way of Hitler's Panzers was, according to Napoleon some 140 years earlier, 'a mere ditch' which would be crossed as soon as someone bothered to do it. It is tempting to think that if, today, the same situation were to arise as existed in 1803 and 1940, then the latest world conqueror would again fall at this last ditch.

The English Channel is only narrow on a very short front and rapidly gets wider as you move west. The weather is normally atrocious, brought on by the warm Atlantic current pushing up the Channel and meeting the cold water coming down from the North Sea and the Baltic, and even the smallest of storms would bring catastrophe to landing craft and barges if they attempt the journey from France. Hitler was not a stupid man but even a dictator must be successful continuously if he is to retain his credibility. He had, therefore, to order the preparation for Operation Sea Lion even though, with his keen knowledge of history, he must have known that Napoleon did not succeed either, and for exactly the same reasons. In testimony after the War, in fact, certain generals made this very claim, that Hitler merely played the game with no real intention of attempting an amphibious operation of the scale needed to bring success. However, it seems apparent from the captured documents of the time, that Hitler was in earnest in invading England but wanted to be sure it would succeed.

From the start the Army and the Navy were at odds. The first plan drawn up by the Army proposed a landing in 3 areas, starting from points in France that ranged from 25 miles from England to 150 miles, and were spread over a distance of 200 miles. The initial wave was to be 90,000 men building to 260,000 by the third day and shortly thereafter a total of 41 divisions was to have been landed. The Navy flatly said that it had neither the resources nor the ships to protect such an operation. They proposed that they might be ready by May 1941. Hitler insisted that it would have to be by 15th September as per the original plan but that he would make his final decision after the effects of the Luftwaffe's attempt to destroy the British air force were known. On 1st August, he issued his directive to the Air Force to commence its campaign on 6th August, while the Navy was to step up its own actions against the British Navy while starting its preparations to meet the deadline of a 15th September invasion.

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