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The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England) was an effort by the German Air Force during the summer and autumn of 1940 to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom in preparation for the planned amphibious and airborne forces invasion of Britain by Operation Sea Lion.
The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England, lit. 'air battle for England') was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe.
The Battle of Britain began in July 1940, followed by the Blitz, an eight month bombing campaign against the United Kingdom. During this time, London was attacked by the German Luftwaffe for 57 nights, from September 1940 to May 1941, leading to more than 40,000 civilian deaths and millions of homes and buildings damaged or destroyed. [10]
The Kanalkampf (Channel Battle) was the German term for air operations by the Luftwaffe against the Royal Air Force (RAF) over the English Channel in July 1940, beginning the Battle of Britain during the Second World War. By 25 June, the Allies had been defeated in Western Europe and Scandinavia.
German aircrews had been told the RAF was a defeated force and the German bomber units that had seen the Big Wing form up were quite shocked, and those crews in the badly hit units, including KG 2 and KG 3, that had witnessed head-on collisions with German aircraft were badly shaken. [117] A German victory on the Battle of Britain Day was unlikely.
During the Battle of Britain (and, indeed, the rest of the Second World War), both sides claimed to have shot down and destroyed more enemy aircraft on the ground and in the air than they had in reality. RAF Fighter Command claimed 78 German aircraft shot down on 13 August 1940. [2] Another source states that official RAF claims amounted to 64 ...
Leutnant Schnabel and Oberleutnant Wappler were German Luftwaffe airmen who had been shot down during the Battle of Britain. Schnabel's aircraft was damaged by British fighters. He crash-landed in Kent on 5 September 1940; Wappler's bomber had hit a barrage balloon over Newport one week later and crashed.
The first certain raid on Britain occurred on 21 December; the weather was dull with a slight wind from the south and rain showers. [10] At 1:00 p.m. Friedrichshafen FF.29 seaplane no. 203 from I. Seeflieger-Abteilung, carrying four 4.4 lb (2 kg) bombs, flown by Flugzeugführer Leutnant Stephan von Proudzynski and his observer (Beobachter) Fähnrich zur See Ludwig v.