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N0KFQ > TODAY 13.08.10 17:29l 40 Lines 1800 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Aug 13
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From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@WW
Aug 13, 1940:
The Battle of Britain escalates
On this day in 1940, German aircraft begin the bombing of
southern England, and the Battle of Britain, which will last
until October 31, escalates.
The Germans called it "the Day of the Eagle," the first day of
the Luftwaffe's campaign to destroy the RAF, the British Royal
Air Force, and knock out British radar stations, in preparation
for Operation Sea Lion, the amphibious invasion of Britain.
Almost 1,500 German aircraft took off the first day of the air
raid, and 45 were shot down. Britain lost 13 fighters in the air
and another 47 on the ground. But most important for the future,
the Luftwaffe managed to take out only one radar station, on the
Isle of Wight, and damage five others. This was considered more
trouble than it was worth by Herman Goering, commander of the
Luftwaffe, who decided to forgo further targeting of British
radar stations because "not one of those attacked so far has
been put out of operation."
Historians agree that this was a monumental mistake on the part
of the Germans. Had Goering and the Luftwaffe persisted in
attacking British radar, the RAF would not have been able to get
the information necessary to successfully intercept incoming
German bombers. "Here, early in the battle, we get a glimpse of
fuddled thinking at the highest level in the German camp,"
comments historian Peter Fleming. Even the Blitz, the intensive
and successive bombing of London that would begin in the last
days of the Battle of Britain, could not compensate for such
thinking. There would be no Operation Sea Lion. There would be
no invasion of Britain. The RAF would not be defeated.
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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