PRELUDE: THE WORLD AT WAR

Context, early war years

When the Germans invaded Poland in September of 1939, the war in Europe turned into a shooting war. After staging what appeared to be an unprovoked attack by Poland, the Germans retaliated with an army of over a quarter of a million soldiers and airmen crossing the Polish border. Efforts by the European Allies to deter Adolph Hitler from invading his neighbors did not work. He had continued his quest to expand the German Reich and restore national pride following their ignominious defeat in World War I. The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, had led an effort to contain Germany through negotiations in Munich the previous year, but under Hitler's leadership Germany annexed Austria, the Sudetenland, and Alsace Loraine. Britain and France pledged to draw the line in Poland. So when the German Army crossed the Polish border, the time had come for Britain and France to take their stand. The Allies were officially at war with Germany. The Polish Army was no match for the Nazi juggernaut. Eventually, the Germans had poured over 1.5 million men into the effort. In a matter of weeks, the German Army quickly consolidated their position by overrunning Poland and negotiating a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union. As winter approached, the "hot war" cooled down for awhile. There was a short period over the winter months when no actual fighting took place. This was to change in the spring of 1940.

In April the German Army occupied Denmark. Simultaneously, the German Navy moved against Norway by attacking multiple ports and landing troops to march on the Norwegian capital, Oslo. The Norwegians resisted, but they were not prepared to defend against the powerful German war machine. The Germans subsequently claimed that they were moving into Norway and Denmark to prevent a British expansion of the war into those territories. This was their version of preemptive warfare.

With the eastern border secured by his pact with Russia, Hitler ordered the German Army to assemble on the western front. On May 10, 1940, he launched what would be known as the blitzkrieg against the combined French and British Armies. The Allies had not anticipated that the Germans would strike through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium or the Low Countries. By doing so, they bypassed the French fortifications of the Maginot Line that were built along the German border to protect France against an attack from the east. The German attack was launched using airborne forces to assault key fortifications and secure bridges needed by the advancing armored formations. The concept of airborne assaults was an untested concept developed during the interwar years by the German Air Force, also known as the Luftwaffe. Specially trained volunteers were parachuted into battle ahead of the main assault. They used the element of surprise to overcome the defenses of key installations. It worked very well, and the paratroops were quickly followed by the main assault force. The German blitzkrieg was now unleashed against Western Europe. In less than a week, the Dutch had capitulated and the Germans were moving through Belgium and on to France.

The Germans also pioneered the tactics of a combined arms team led by armor (panzer) forces that were supported by mechanized infantry, artillery, and air forces. Their speed and shock action quickly threw the Allied defenders off balance as they tried to consolidate a defense. Many of the French Army units were swiftly overrun. The remaining French forces and their British Allies were forced to retreat to the port of Dunkirk on the English Channel to make a stand. By May 26, the new British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, realized that the Germans had succeeded in achieving their objectives and that the soldiers in the Dunkirk pocket would be wiped out if they continued to fight. While France negotiated a separate peace, he ordered the evacuation of the British Army and surviving Allies so that they could live to fight another day.

A makeshift fleet of civilian and military ships was quickly organized under the leadership of Admiral Bertram Ramsey. When the evacuation commenced, the British only expected to recover 20,000 to 30,000 troops, but miraculously, the Royal Navy was able evacuate over 338,000 soldiers back to England. About two-thirds of the evacuees were British, and the balance of the survivors was a mix of Dutch, Belgium, Polish, and French troops. The evacuation had been possible not only because of the skill of the British Navy but also because Hitler had surprisingly halted the German army before they could deliver the final death blow to the surrounded Allied force. Instead, he directed the Luftwaffe to finish the job while the army completed the conquest of France, but weather prevented the Luftwaffe from operating for several days. Hitler's direct intervention would set a precedent for his personal influence in future operations with similar unfavorable results for the Germans. As what was left of the Allied armies evacuated the European continent for England, they either destroyed or abandoned their equipment. Now the British Empire stood virtually alone against the German war machine, but they had to lick their wounds before they could continue the fight.

The next phase of the war would be the Battle of Britain, a desperate fight to the death for air superiority in anticipation of a German invasion of the British Isles. Although the Germans had been bombing England in June and July, the Luftwaffe commander, Field Marshal Herman Goering, ordered the full onslaught of his attacks to begin in August. The German Air Force outnumbered the British four to one. As the attacks increased on English ports, cities, and airfields, the Fighter Command of the Royal Air Force valiantly resisted. They skillfully used emerging radar technology to respond to the incoming attacks and shepherd their resources. With advance warning, the anti-aircraft batteries and fighter squadrons scrambled to meet the aggressors or to avoid being hit on the ground. The Nazi attacks grew in intensity over the coming months. During September they concentrated their bombing runs on London, but the German losses continued to mount as the attacks...