Notes

The Battle of Britain is justifiably remembered as Britain's 'finest hour'. Although a huge number of men and women were involved in the battle, working in the factories, manning the radar stations, repairing aircraft or working the control rooms, the crucial part of the fighting was carried out by around 1,000 fighter pilots on each side at any one time. When the battle began everybody expected that the Germans would soon attempt to invade Britain, and despite Churchill's powerful rhetoric Britain looked to be doomed. By the end of the battle it was clear that the Germans would not be invading in 1940, and that they had probably missed their best chance to do so. By the spring of 1941, when the threat of invasion should have resumed, Hitler's attention had turned away to the east and the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union while the British had been able to replace much of the equipment lost on the Continent in 1940. A German victory in the battle and the invasion that would probably have followed would have had a dramatic impact on the course of the war. If Britain was defeated then Hitler wouldn't have needed to prop up the Italians in the Mediterranean and North Africa, probably wouldn't have been dragged into Greece, and wouldn't have needed to maintain a large U-boat fleet. The attack on the Soviet Union could have happened earlier and in greater force. The United States would probably not have entered the war against Hitler, and even if it had done wouldn't have had the UK to use as a base. Dowding's 'chick's, the famous few, won one of the most significant military victories in histories.