Battle of Britain (September 1940)

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Britain

Date: 15th September 1940

Finally, the day has arrived! At 4 p.m. today, a time when most British are settling down for their afternoon tea, news broke that the Battle of Britain was won! And as this news came as a surprise to many, it was received by most of us especially the RAF, as a relief. Just yesterday, did Hitler announce that due to the Luftwaffe’s exemplary performance, victory for the Germans would be achieved in a few days! Such arrogance! Hitler will finally be forced to acknowledge that the Royal Air Force is much more superior to his beloved Luftwaffe and that he has underestimated us for far too long.

Yesterday, the Luftwaffe launched two heavy attacks on London and earlier today, air raids had been carried out and this culminated to the climax of daylight battles on London. This was mostly expected as the Germans were bound to take advantage of the improvement of the weather today. Knowing this, I decided to make a trip down to the Group 11 Fighter headquarters, in Uxbridge, in hope of witnessing, the conduct of an air-battle, first-hand.

The tense, stressful and urgent atmosphere was unforgettable. Air Vice-Marshal Park was present and we owe much to him and Dowding, both of whom have been working, strategizing and planning ceaselessly even before the war started. Without their hard work and direction, and of course the efforts and sacrifices of all the RAF pilots, the future of Britain would be unimaginable.

The speed at which the observers with their field glasses and portable telephones, carrying the precious information about the enemy planes flying overhead to us. Suddenly, the display indicating the number of enemy planes entering British airspace started flashing with the numbers constantly increasing! Our squadrons were dispatched in quick succession. But the German planes kept coming in new waves and all our planes were already in combat or refueling. It was therefore one of our principal objectives to direct our squadrons so as not to have too many on the ground refueling or rearming simultaneously during daylight. The situation was very tense and everyone in the room seemed to be sitting on a thread. The odds were great, our margins small, and the stakes infinite. It seemed to be, at that moment, that the fate of Britain could go either way.

Park notified me that our defenses had been compromise and German bombers continued infiltrating London, although several had been shot down. Later that day, my heart sank, when John Martin, my Principal Private Secretary notified me that delays had occurred in various undertakings elsewhere and that there had been disastrous results in the Atlantic. However, he added, the RAF had managed to shoot down 183 German planes for a loss of less than forty, and my heart soared. Never had I felt so relieved, overwhelmed yet at the same time bursting with pride at the resilience and bravery of the British!

Now, we will have to wait and see what Hitler’s next choice of action will be and I have no doubt that we will be able to counter his advances!