The Royal Navy and the Battle of BritainFrom the dust jacket. This persuasive study attacks the key myths surrounding the Battle of Britain to revise the relative status of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force fighter pilots, Anthony Cumming challenges the effectivess of the air force an argues that the Royal Navy deserves much greater prominence in winning the battle. To make his case, Cumming gives more attention to the views of the German soldiers, sailors, and airmen than had been previously done and vigorously asserts the success of British warships in countering the plans for Operation Sea Lion and in repelling air attacks by the Luftwaffe. He also notes the dashing figure of RAF Fighter Command's leader, Air Marshal Sir High Dowding, in comparison with the greatly maligned and relatively unknown naval commander, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Forbes. Because of its heroic status, Cumming contends that the British opinion makers gave the RAF the lion's share of the glory because its colorful image could more easily be used to manipulate American opinion in support of the British cause. This ground-breaking book is one of the few academic studies to assert the primacy of the Royal Navy over the Royal Air Force in the defense of Great Britain in 1940. Cumming contends that the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain should celebrate the contributions of the many rather than focusing on the pilot elite. |
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Contents
We Cant Simply Swim Over | 8 |
Bombers versus Battleships | 28 |
Who Won the Battle of Britain? | 51 |
Copyright | |
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11 Group Admiralty air attack Air Force Air Ministry Air Staff air superiority airfields Allen American armor August Battle of Britain Battle of Crete battleships Beaverbrook bombers bombing British naval Churchill Churchill's claimed correspondents Crete criticism cruisers Cunningham damage December despite destroyers dive-bombing Dowding Dowding's effective enemy England Fighter Command Fighter Command HQ fighter pilots fighting film Finest Hour fire flying Forbes Fuehrer Conferences German German Naval gunnery guns historian Hitler Home Fleet intelligence interception invasion July June Kriegsmarine later Liddell Hart London Luftwaffe military Naval Staff Norway campaign November October officer Operation Sea Lion percent personnel Pound prime minister problems quoted radio Raeder raids Roosevelt Roskill Royal Air Force Royal Navy Sea Lord Second World September 1940 Showell Spitfire squadrons suggested tactics tion Tizard TNA ADM TNA AIR United Vice Admiral warships Washington Post Won the Battle