Although none of the fan stations in Britain were completely bombed, they were seriously damaged by a series of bombings, especially those in Beacon Hill and Kenley. The function of these nerve centers began to shrink.
Since then, Britain's frontline airports have also been attacked by air. On August 3rd1,the fighter command of the Royal Air Force had its worst day. Crowds of German bombers roared like craters on the moon. The warehouse and command building of the airport were razed to the ground, the power transmission lines were cut off, the plane was blown up and people on the ground were killed. On this day, the Germans always drop 4400 tons of bombs. The Royal Air Force * * * lost 39 planes and 14 pilots-this is the deadliest day so far. Since the beginning of the Battle of Britain, the number of planes destroyed in Germany in one day is less than that lost by the Royal Air Force.
In the following days, storms and clouds never visited the British sky again. For several days, Wan Li was clear and Wan Li was cloudless. From August 24th to September 6th, there were 13 consecutive days. The Germans organize thousands of planes to bomb almost every day, that is, nearly 1000 planes are dispatched every day to attack the airport, air force ground forces and aviation industry in southern England. These attacks and the resulting air combat reached a climax here. The battle of Britain has entered a decisive stage. Pilots of the Royal Air Force have been on high alert for 1 month, and they have to be dispatched several times a day. They are already too tired. Although they persisted in their last hard work, the German numerical superiority began to take effect.
Subsequently, in order to confuse the radar monitor of the Royal Air Force, the Germans adopted a new tactic in the air, that is, the fleet of the German Air Force flew around the French coast all day, just within the range that the radar screen of the Royal Air Force could see. It is impossible for surveyors to predict which plane will suddenly turn north, skim the English Channel and launch a real attack on Britain.
1 1 Five forward airports and six war zone airports of the fighter group were seriously damaged. On the Kent coast, Manston and Liam airports were closed to fighters for several days. The main fighter base for defending London, Bijinshan, was bombed six times in three days, and the dispatching room of the base was destroyed, causing seven casualties on the ground, so that it could only be used by 1 fighter squadron 1 week. The Royal Air Force's fighter defense began to weaken. In this crucial two weeks, 290 fighter planes in Britain were shot down and hit hard; The German Air Force lost 285 aircraft, including 2 14 fighters and 138 bombers.
Britain is facing catastrophic danger, and the whole country is in panic. Prime Minister Churchill said anxiously: "If the enemy persists, the whole organization of fighter command may collapse and the country is in danger of collapse."
Yes, if the German attack continues, even if it only lasts 1 week, there will be no organized large-scale resistance in the British sky. It is certain that the "Sea Lion Project" will make progress.
On the night of August 24th, two planes of the German Air Force suddenly and unexpectedly bombed the British capital London. Several bombs fell in the center of London, the old St. Giles Church was razed to the ground, and the statue of John Mill in the nearby square was shaken from its pedestal. Some houses were bombed, causing some civilian deaths. This mistake immediately caused a quick reaction in Britain. Churchill preferred to think that it was intentional. He believes that nothing can win the sympathy and assistance of the United States more than seeing London in ruins.
Churchill will be wrong, ordered an immediate staff meeting to study countermeasures. The next night, the Royal Air Force Bomber Command was ordered to retaliate against Berlin.
On August 25th, the Royal Air Force launched its first air raid on the German capital. At night, there are dark clouds over Berlin. Overlooking the ground target from the air, vaguely, looming, only about half of the RAF bombers found the target. The actual loss caused by the air raid in Berlin was very small, but it caused great panic in Berlin.
In the following days, the Berlin company was bombed several times. The night bombing on August 28th killed the Germans for the first time in the German capital. German officials announced that 10 people were killed and 29 people were injured. Hitler flew into a rage In the afternoon, Hitler flew back to Berlin from his temporary base camp, Berghoff. He ordered Goering's bomber troops to prepare for an air raid on London at night as a punishment for Churchill's "stupidity".
In this way, Hitler made this stupid decision not for military purposes, but for political purposes, in order to defend his personal status and dignity.
On August 3 1 day, the high command of the German Air Force decided to shift the focus of the attack on September 7 to London.
1 September 7, 940 to1year1October 30 was the third turning point of the British war. The German Air Force changed its target and bombed London with all its strength. The British air force was able to breathe and the battle was turned around.
On September 7th 19: 50, a huge German fleet consisting of 625 bombers and 648 fighter planes flew across the English Channel from different directions and heights to London. The British fighter forces still expected that the Germans would attack their fighter forward base again, so they took the initiative to take off to defend the air base, thus giving up the possible passage to London. This time, however, the RAF was fooled, and the Germans have changed their goals. They want to carry out a large-scale lightning air raid on London.
The first wave of German planes accurately dropped high-explosive bombs on Thames Harbour, densely populated East London and woolwich Arsenal. All 23 squadrons in Britain roared at the bombers. There was a fierce battle over the vast London. But they came a little late. Crowds of German "tuskegee airmen" roared and bombarded London. Only 1 hour, the Germans successfully spilled more than 300 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs into London.
London suddenly became a sea of fire. The north bank of the Thames was blown into a burning ruin a mile and a half long and a half wide, and the town of Silver was completely swallowed up by the fire. Large and small industrial facilities, transportation hubs, power networks, private houses and parliament buildings were destroyed one after another, and explosions, collapses, cries for help, screams and sirens of police cars and fire engines soared into the sky with black smoke.
The city instantly turned into ruins, the vegetation suddenly burned to ashes, and the whole earth trembled. From a purely military point of view, Germany's first large-scale air raid on London was a success.
In the following days, the German bombing brought unprecedented disaster to London. The bombing of German planes turned the city into a sea of fire. The fire made the sky red and the Thames water bright ... But before the firemen put out all the raging fires, the subsequent German bombers roared under the guidance of the fire and dropped bombs and incendiary bombs like raindrops.
In the tragic scene after the German bombing of downtown London at 5 pm on September 9, more than 200 bombers of the German Air Force went to bomb London for the second time under the cover of a powerful escort fleet. But this time they were not so lucky. The British Air Force has long been ready for revenge and for the enemy to invade again.
Just as the German fleet had just flown over the English Channel, the British squadrons of Spitfire and Cyclone were immediately ordered to take off to monitor important targets in London. When the first German bomber formations, almost surrounded by escort fighters, flew over Dover, two squadrons that had been waiting in the air for a long time quickly swooped down. "Cyclone" fighter squadron specializes in attacking enemy bombers, while "Spitfire" fighter squadron tries its best to intercept enemy fighters. Two planes chased each other in the sky and launched a life-and-death struggle.
The blue sky was suddenly painted with a white flight path, which was dazzling. Although the Germans finally succeeded in bombing, they also gave them a powerful warning: they would never want to reach London again without being attacked.
In the next few days, Germany continued to invade London at all costs, causing great damage to London. More than 0/000 places in the urban area/KLOC-were bombed, and fires broke out, killing nearly 10,000 people. Houses in the urban area 1005 were bombed, and broken walls was everywhere. People are short of water, electricity, gas, food and even medicine.
However, the brutality of the Nazis did not and could not destroy the indomitable soul of this nation. On the contrary, their actions increased the hatred and hatred of the British civilians towards the Nazis.
At this fateful moment, the tactics of British fighter command have changed greatly. "Spitfire" and "Hurricane" fighters no longer fight with scattered squadrons, but against the German Air Force in the form of large fleet formations that can compete with the enemy. The day has come to fight the "big flying wing". Hundreds of "Spitfire" and "Hurricane" planes sparkled in the sun, like swords across the sky, waiting to cut off the clutches of the invaders.
September 15, a golden autumn day. On this day, the German Air Force concentrated its greatest strength on another daytime air raid on London after two fierce air raids on June 5438+04. More than 200 German bombers, under the cover of more than 600 fighter planes, covered the sky and pressed against London. German pilots feel that victory is almost within reach.
The commander of the Royal Fighter told the Admiral that almost all the troops were sent to the sky. 1 1 and 12 fighter brigade * * There are 24 squadrons with nearly 300 planes, which are vacated in batches. All these Spitfire and Hurricane fighters built a steel line of defense in the air in south and west London.
At this moment, these royal fighters can't wait to occupy a favorable attack position, and they can't wait to plunge into the German bomber formation from the front like handfuls of daggers at the same height as German planes, and immediately stir up the German fleet into a "pot of porridge". Dozens of Spitfire fighters immediately dispersed and went their separate ways. The pilot slammed the shooting button and the muzzle suddenly caught fire. German bombers suddenly lost their footing and crashed a few minutes later, smoking black smoke one after another. Today, both sides have tried their best to launch a large-scale chaos.
Just after 2 pm, when the German plane crossed the coast again like an endless tide, two pairs of British flying squadrons and three semi-independent squadrons quickly flew to the enemy plane. German pilots have encountered more Spitfire and Hurricane planes than before. The air battle was fierce and the sky was covered with white smoke.
On the ground, you can clearly see anti-aircraft guns firing angry shells at enemy planes in the air and hear the explosion of shells in the air. From time to time, the sound of plane shooting, the explosion after the plane was hit, the scream when the engine accelerated and the shrill sound when the plane swooped came from the air. This is a bloody battle! This is a fire competition! German planes fled in panic! After this special day, the German Air Force no longer wants to find an opportunity to launch a large-scale fighter confrontation with the British Air Force.
On this day, the Royal Air Force won a great victory. The next day, the London newspaper printed "185 adowa German plane" in big letters. People rejoiced and ran to tell each other. Every household in London spontaneously held the British flag to celebrate the victory of the Royal Air Force. Churchill called this day an unprecedented and largest fierce battle day in the history of air combat. Later, Britain designated September 15 as the "Great Britain Air Combat Festival" to celebrate.
Facts show that it was another miscalculation for the Germans to change the bombing target to London. The shift of the German bombing center of gravity saved the RAF, which was on the verge of despair, gave the almost helpless RAF fighter headquarters a breathing space, and freed the devastated fan station, thus saving Britain, marking the turning point of the first great air war in history, and the balance of the great air war began to tilt in favor of the RAF. The German High Command is well aware that the British Air Force has not been wiped out since the beginning of the British air war. Bombing London not only caused heavy losses to the German Air Force, but also bombed a Britain. Goering finally felt that his conceit and incompetence made him fall out of favor in front of Hitler, and other services were angry with him. Goering was isolated, and the responsibility for defeating Britain fell entirely on him.
In order to reduce the losses as much as possible, the Germans decided to air raid London at night from June+10/October 1 day, 65438.
On the evening of the 2nd, a huge fleet of 1000 planes took off again, and they wanted to bring death to London again. The night became an accomplice of the German bombers. At night, a large number of German bombers successfully flew over London and other British cities. German planes swaggered through the night sky. The bomber in front threw incendiary bombs at the target area, and the bomber behind found the flame and dropped all kinds of killing bombs. Violent bombs exploded everywhere in London docks, crowded slums, food stores in the capital and one of the largest cities in the world. Molotov cocktails have turned the streets and lanes of London into ruins, with glass fragments everywhere. Not long ago, the horrors created by German fascists in Warsaw and Rotterdam were being displayed in front of the people of London. The whole London block seems to be suffering from an unprecedented disaster. Human justice has been destroyed and ravaged again.
Night air combat has brought various new problems to the Royal Air Force. Although the British Air Force tried its best to take off and intercept, the initial effect was not satisfactory. The Royal Air Force still lacks sufficient experience in urban air defense at night. At that time, among the 24 squadrons of the RAF fighter unit, only 8 fighter squadrons could be used for night interception. There are two Challenger squadrons and six Brenheim squadrons. These two kinds of aircraft have poor performance, and they are not effective in air combat against the enemy during the day, let alone at night. There is a serious shortage of anti-aircraft guns, searchlights and other anti-aircraft weapons deployed near London, of which only 92 are heavy anti-aircraft guns. At that time, there were only 32 heavy antiaircraft gun companies with a shooting height of 25,000 feet, while there were only 22 light antiaircraft gun companies with a shooting height of 6,000 feet. The searchlight company only had 14, and the beam could only reach 1.2 feet. The power of these air defense weapons is limited, which is far from meeting the requirements of such a big city.
What is more difficult is that the "Clairvoyance" mine net, which has been playing an important role in air defense operations, is also helpless. Because British radar stations are mainly deployed in coastal areas, there are basically no inland areas. The information of enemy aircraft's activities over the inland should be provided by air observation posts in various places, but at night, all air observation posts can only look at the dark night sky and do nothing.
Air defense has fallen into great passivity. Night bombing made the German bombing successful, and the losses of German bombers were also significantly reduced. In June, 5438+ 10, only 325 aircraft were shot down, far lower than the 662 aircraft in August and the 582 aircraft in September.
However, the Royal Air Force quickly learned its lesson, adjusted its deployment and strengthened its troops. In particular, General Pyle, who commanded the anti-aircraft gun team, quickly pulled the anti-aircraft guns out of the cities of various counties, and the number of anti-aircraft guns in London increased by 1 many times in two days. In order to inspire people, Prime Minister Churchill specially ordered the deployment of several anti-aircraft guns in Hyde Park in the city center. Anti-aircraft balloons have been raised in some important places where enemy planes may come in and out, such as the mouth of the Thames. ...
Since then, air defense in London has entered a new stage. Every time a German plane invades, the whole city will suddenly sound a harsh air raid alarm. The power failure suddenly turned the block into darkness, and the whole city was hidden in the night. Suddenly, the searchlight beams of ground anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes searching for targets shot into the sky like handfuls of swords, sweeping in the air. The whole sky has become like the daytime again, even brighter than the daytime. German pilots can't see the target below at all.
London's underground railway network is used as a bomb shelter. When the searchlight illuminates the night sky, another air battle stage is presented to the citizens of London. Hundreds of anti-aircraft guns boomed into the air, and the fire and roar came from all directions, weaving a flickering net of Zhang Hongguang in the sky. Although sometimes the anti-aircraft guns are not effective at night, the deafening sound of guns makes the residents very satisfied. All the people rejoiced and felt that they had fought back against the Germans. With the improvement of gunner's shooting technology, the number of planes shot down by German invaders has greatly increased.
Sometimes the anti-aircraft guns stop shooting and let the fighters of the Royal Air Force rush into the night sky to intercept enemy planes. I saw all kinds of planes of the Royal Air Force rushing into enemy planes "bitten" by searchlights, sometimes diving and sometimes pulling up, thick atomized trails flying wildly in the night sky, and shooting sounds came from time to time in the air. German planes occasionally hit by anti-aircraft guns or fighter planes suddenly turned into fireballs, falling from the sky with shrill screams, followed by explosions and soaring smoke. When the German Air Force bombed Britain indiscriminately, the bombers of the Royal Air Force were also ordered to carry out air strikes against the Germans.
On September 5th, British light bombers attacked two German bases in France.
On the night of September 7, heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force launched a fierce attack on the port where Germany was preparing to invade for the first time. The Royal Air Force's attacks on the entire coastal ports from le havre to Antwerp, and from Antwerp to Buren caused great losses to German ships stranded there. 84 barges were sunk and damaged in Dunkirk; From Cherbourg to Denhold, a 500-ton arsenal was blown up, a munitions warehouse was burned down, and many ships and torpedo boats were sunk.
From September 7th to June 2nd, 2000, the Royal British Air Force sank and damaged 2/kloc-0 German transport ships, 2 1 4 barges, 5 tugboats and 3 motorboats, accounting for 12% of the total number of ships assembled when Germany invaded Britain.
On September 23rd and 24th, the British Royal Air Force Bomber Command sent 1 19 bombers from Whitney, Wellington and Hampden to attack Berlin. Among them, 84 planes arrived at the target area, and the only most successful bombing was in Charlottenburg, where incendiary bombs blew up an air storage tank. But many bombs didn't explode, and one of them landed in the garden of Hitler's official residence, scaring Hitler's guards out of their wits, but in the end it was a near miss. The bombing killed 22 Germans.
On September 16, the bombers of the Royal Air Force attacked the Germans who were conducting a large-scale invasion exercise, causing only heavy losses to personnel and landing ships. Soldiers who were killed and burned back to Berlin were put on two long ambulance trains. As a result, the news spread in many places in Germany and continental Europe: the Germans did try to land, but they were turned back by the British. ...
When the Germans were still immersed in the desolation of defeat, the Royal Air Force launched an attack with victory. On the night of September 15, and in June 16 and June 17, RAF bombers carried out large-scale continuous bombing of German ports of call, which severely damaged the German navy. Ships from boulogne to the port of Antwerp were heavily bombed. The losses in Antwerp are particularly serious.
The admirals reported the losses to the Fuehrer one after another. On September 17, Hitler had to agree with the opinion of the General Staff of the Navy that the Royal Air Force had not been defeated and the German Air Force had not yet mastered the air superiority of the British Isles. The Nazi commander was reluctant, but he had to postpone landing again. 10 10 12, Hitler issued a formal order to postpone the "sea lion" project. Hitler called it a delay, but in fact, due to various complicated reasons, he was forced to give up his plan to invade Britain. In this way, the evil "sea lion" quietly escaped.