so the Christmas exams are coming up soon here.I have to do a oral examen for english.The project is that we have to talk for about 5-10 of something typical British.So my Dad said that I should talk about the Battle of Britain.Now I’m asking for your help.Do you guys have ideas,references and what I could do?I’ve got the Battle of Britain DVD so I’ll be watching that again.But if you guys have anyhing you want to add just tell me.Also I kinda need to know what to say about the BoB.Remember guys it has to be typical British so we can’t go too far in the subject of the BoB.Thanks in advance for your help.
One thing comes to mind. One reason the British won the Battle of Britain had more to do with the tactical blunders the Luftwulf Commanders and Goerning made at underestimating Britains use of radar. Also Germany not manufacturing a fighter aircraft with more fuel capacity to endure dogfighting longer than 20 minutes before having to retreat from battle due to lack of fuel.
Not sure I completely understand what you mean when you say ‘typical British,’ but . . . The Battle of Britian certainly made obvious many traits meant to be ‘typically British.’ The resolve, the stiff-upper-lipness. I think about the way the civilians carried on while an air war took place right over their heads and having the countryside littered with fallen aircraft – both German and British. The city-dwellers having to send their children off to safety in the country, while they huddled nights in the underground as their neighborhoods were being bombed. And how they all owed their freedom, their very existence to those “few.” I just watched a good movie about foreign pilots fighting in the BoB. It’s called “A Dark Blue World.” It made me think a lot about what it must have been like to live through that.
I think that’s was one of the things AirMaster was referring to in terms of ‘blunders’. The Battle of Brittain DVD illustrates that ‘blunder’ well when an He-111 crew are lost in a night flight and decide to drop their bombs and go home. The navigator assures them that they are not over London. Bombs land on London, Churchill retaliates with a raid on Berlin, Hitler goes…well, Hitler, and orders continuous raids on English cities and the RAF is able to rebuild. As an American, I marvel at that time in WWII history when GB was really alone in standing against Germany.
And because of radar, the RAF was able to better coordinate effective responses to German air raids with little RAF resources.
Well, so far the Yanks are full of suggestions. [;)]
I agree it was ablunder. Makes you wonder why Hitler had any generals since he was a such a military genious. Goering was not that much better. Im sure he would have not have retaliated by bombing British cities if not pressured by Hitler.
I remember a poster I saw in a book once- It showed a bloated Goering dropping bombs on a giant heart(Cockney Heart), and the bombs bouncing off. Obviously that didn’t literally happen, but it definitely characterized how tough the British are,and how full of hot air Georing was.
Up until the end of the Battle of Britain it was nothing but losing that the allies heard about.
i wouldn’t say on an oral presentation that the BoB was won by the british just because the germans screwed up. i don’t mean to say it’s not true but that probably wouldn’t make a very good oral report. sounds awfully negative toward the brits as well. since the topic is “something british” it sounds like it’s not aimed at historical facts per say. on the other hand, mentioning that the blind-with-rage nazis bombed the cities instead of airfields would play up great. [:)]
don’t forget to cover the types of aircraft used and look up figures on how many. mention the spitfire of course but give due credit to the old workhorse hurricane.
If your gonna do the Battle of Britain, make sure you mention
the significance it had on the air war that followed.
If the Luftwaffe had succeeded, invasion of Britain would
probably have been a success. If the allied bomb campaign
couldn’t be flown from the U.K., they might not have been able
to damage the German infrastructure as much, especially the
technological advancements such as rockets and jets.
The Battle of Britain just may have been the deciding point of the war.