Series 117
This is a Ladybird Expert book, one of a series of titles for an adult readership. Written by some of the leading lights and outstanding communicators in their fields and published by one of the most trusted and well-loved names in books, the Ladybird Expert series provides clear, accessible and authoritative introductions, informed by expert opinion, to key subjects drawn from science, history and culture.
GENERAL HISTORIES
James Holland The Battle of Britain (Corgi, 2011)
T. C. G. James The Battle of Britain (Routledge, 2000)
Richard Collier Eagle Day (Orion, 1999)
David Edgerton Britain’s War Machine (Penguin Books, 2012)
Stephen Bungay The Most Dangerous Enemy (Aurum Press, 2009)
Phil Craig and Tim Clayton Finest Hour (Coronet, 2001)
Patrick Bishop Fighter Boys (Harper Perennial, 2004)
MEMOIRS
David Crook Spitfire Pilot (Grub Street, 2008)
Geoffrey Wellum First Light (Penguin Books, 2009)
Ulrich Steinhilper Spitfire on My Tail (Independent Books, 1990)
Tom Neil Scramble! (Amberley Publishing, 2015)
Tony Bartley Smoke Trails in the Sky (Crecy Publishing, 1997)
NOVELS
James Holland The Burning Blue (Arrow, 2004)
James Holland Duty Calls: The Battle of Britain (Puffin, 2012)
Andrew Greig That Summer (Faber and Faber, 2001)
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Michael Joseph is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com
First published 2017
Text copyright © James Holland, 2017
All images copyright © Ladybird Books Ltd, 2017
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Illustrated by Keith Burns
Every effort has been made to ensure images are correctly attributed, however if any omission or error has been made please notify the Publisher for correction in future editions.
ISBN: 978-1-405-92946-2
On 6 July 1940, Adolf Hitler returned in triumph to Berlin after his astonishing victory against France. Millions lined the streets to get a glimpse of their Führer, most of them believing the war had already been won. Half of Europe now lay in the hands of Nazi Germany, including once-mighty France, which had been defeated in just six weeks. Britain’s army had also been smashed, and forced to retreat across the English Channel. In so doing, nearly all its arms and equipment had been left behind.
Hitler had always seen Britain as Germany’s most dangerous enemy. Britain had the world’s largest empire, and was the centre of a global trading network bigger than that of any other country. Her access to the kind of resources needed to wage war was far better than that of Germany, whose location in the heart of Europe offered few outlets to the world’s oceans. At a time when the sea remained the best way of moving goods around the world, this was a great disadvantage.
Another concern was the United States. Although neutral, the USA backed Britain and was no friend of Nazi Germany. If Britain was no longer a belligerent, the potential threat from America would be less.
Germany could not afford a long drawn-out conflict like the last one of 1914–1918. Hitler knew he had to force Britain out of the war, and on that July day he was confident the British would soon sue for peace. After all, they no longer had much of an army left with which to fight.
Hitler’s triumph in Berlin.