Resources and commitment to Mediterranean campaign 1940-43 was a mistake Resources The Suez Canal was seen as the

e Distracted German forces Hitler was not heart of the Empire and of British shipping and delighted or capitalising on the British delaying was fetishized by Churchill and meant that of the Second Front he resented that he had to resources that could have been better placed sort out Mussolinis mess in Greece and feared a were given to the Mediterranean campaign: At possible British push through the Balkans which the height of the Battle of Britain in August 1940 could have prevented his invasion plans in 1/3rd of British tanks were diverted to Egypt, the Russia, despite victories in Crete and Greece by closing of the Mediterranean to British ships June Hitler lost 1/3 of his men and over 200 when Italy joined the war in June 1940 meant aircraft, extra time had to be taken to crush a that it had to be diverted around the Cape to go rebellion in Yugoslavia in March and April which through the Suez with the use of naval convoys meant he had to go into Russia weeks later and and RAF support which distracted naval and weak than he had expected he would have been particularly RAF support from the Battle of the able to. The prestige Rommel was able to gain in Atlantic which during the early parts of 1941, sorting out Mussolinis loses in Egypt and Libya when rationing was extended, and March 1943, in getting Britain out of the latter also used up when communications were nearly destroyed, precious resources that could have been put to were becoming fatal to Anglo-American trading better use by Hitlers men. routes in the Atlantic. Greek Campaign Distracted forces in February Moral and Victory In the first two years of the 1941 from gains made in Libya Bengazi and war the British were aware that they could not Tobruk which were quickly lost when defeat the German part of the Axis when the Rommels forces met the lesser British forces allies were able to outnumber and outresource and pushed the British back into Egypt. Churchill the Axis during the French campaign the skilled was criticised for the Greek campaign as he German forces were still able to reached the appeared to push to British in to it with the Channel and travel 100 miles into France within single aim of British prestige and to create a ten days so the only option was to target the Balkan Coalition with Greece and Yugoslavia. weak link within the Axis power of Italy, this had Crete, abandoned in June, was poorly equipped, been allied policy and desire since after the with only 7 aircraft it was said that 3 squadrons failure over Norway, the campaigns in Greece of aircraft could have saved it, became the and Egypt gave the allies this opportunity to Mediterraneans own Dunkirk as the 18k deliver a massive blow to Axis prestige. Similarly, evacuated troops lost all of their equipment the defeats of Rommels forces, which lacked the 36k men also lost their lives. strength of the bulk of the German forces concerned with the Eastern Front, in El Alamein and Tunisia also gave the Allies their first victory over the Axis in open conflict. Political move Both the Americans, with their Logical Towards 1942 with the entry of the superior resources, after they entered the war Americans it can be argued that the campaign in and Stalin favoured the creation of a Second the Mediterranean was the most logical for the Front in Northern France or the Balkans British to take; Churchill was aware that Britain however, Churchill, knowing the British lacked couldnt compete against the strong Axis in the necessary resources, was holding on to the Europe, the Americans were having great idea of only having to fight a weakened German problems in the pacific and in the Battle of the forces after their assault on the Russians . He Atlantic and many British forces were already also knew that politically he needed victories stationed at Tobruk in Libya and on the Egypt after being pushed out of Libya in the Middle frontier. The saving of the Suez Canal in the first East by Rommels forces, Roosevelt also needed place was also logical as it was essential was oil decisive action before the November Congress links to the Middle East and to British trade with elections so, despite both sets of Chief of Staff her Empire. warning that this would put off a Northern When Churchill went to meet Stalin in August

French offensive until possibly 1943, the November landings in French North Africa won which eventually resulted in the German collapse in North African, along with the British victory at El Alamein in October 1942, in Tunisia in May 1943. Not only was this not what the American or British experts wanted it was clearly not what Stalin wanted or the dominion forces who wanted British help in the Far East, the British had promised they would leave the Middle East if the Far East was challenge but by March 1942 Singapore and Burma had fell and Australia and New Zealand looked set to be challenged. Members of the Empire were also opposed; a rebellion in Egypt in February 1942 had to be crushed with a pro-British government put in and similar conflicts occurred in Iran. Economic consequences In the midst of the British victories in late 1940 and early 1941 the huge financial bill that faced the British was being ignored. The only way the British were able to remain in the war was through the American Lend-Lease in March 1941 which allowed access to American resources without this the British would have to have pulled out of the war to focus on her exports industry.

1942 he followed the line he had taken in July 1941, after Britain signed the mutual assistance pact, he repeated his demands for the Second Front as the Russians were doing the majority of the fighting. Churchill refused yet was able to convince Stalin of the possibilities of the Mediterranean campaign and they departed on good terms.

Allowed for the invasion of Italy Whilst all the cynical interpretations of the Mediterranean campaign, to avoid the actual theatre of war and caring more for the Empire and its economic benefits than those at home, are valid Churchill also saw the campaign in the Mediterranean, which Mussolini wanted to make an Italian pond, as a way to get into the soft underbelly of Europe through Italy the invasion of which was agreed at the Casablanca conference of January 1943 and Rome was occupied in June 1944 after taking Sicily in July 1943 before reaching the mainland in September and Napoli in October.

Significance of Battle of Atlantic in winning war in Western Europe 1942-3 Importance of Naval Supremacy especially of Low Priority Naval Resources were given to the the Atlantic was essential to the British war Mediterranean campaign, which with the ocean effort, the early success of the U-Boat warfare closed had to go round the Cape using up vital forced Britain into rationing by January 1940 and resources and the RAF refused to focus their

nearly lost Britain the war, only the strategy of naval convoys kept British hopes alive. The closing of the Mediterranean to British shipping following June 1940 when the Italians joined the war made it even more essential. The Fall of France allowed Germany to gain ports in France to attack the Channel which was detrimental for shipping from the United States, especially when they joined the war in November 1941.

efforts on the Atlantic in the name of strategic bombing campaigns on German such as March 1942s attempts in Cologne where a 1000 plane raid failed to make any distinct impact on the German mainland and when they did attempt to bomb German U-boat ports thousands of tons of bombs were dropped at times with no UBoats destroyed. Hitler also gave little priority to his navy and began to win with under 30 U-boats in his entire fleet, most of his navy got destroyed In the Norway campaign of April 1940, and it took him until 1941 to agree to commission more U-boats. German success From 1942 Germany had more Mediterranean campaign had other factors U-Boats than ever acting in Atlantic waters and practical issues such as the fact that British was able to menace the United States on their troops were already there and the American entry into the war delaying supplies into Britain struggles in the Pacific and the British limitations and American troops to support the war effort to tackle the Axis in Europe, political factors such before they adopted the British convoy strategy. as Churchills need for a decisive victory in the Even then there were still holes in British Mediterranean after the loss of advantages planning; up until April 1943 between the gained against Italian forces on German entry in transfers of the American convoy to the British April 1941 and later the victory in El Alamein in convoy there was a 300 mile gap where no October 1942 furthered the gusto which allowed aircraft cover was given leaving merchant for the Anglo-American landings in French North shipping open to attack. Africa and the encirclement in Tunisia which removed the German and Italian forces from North Africa and would eventually allow for an Allied assault on first Sicily and then mainland Italy The allies overthrow of Mussolini and the invasion of Napoli in September 1943 and later Rome in June 1944 lost Axis prestige and divided the German forces and eventually victory in Europe. June 1942 to Match 1943 The newly developed Russians As occurred in the First World War tactic of U-Boats to hunt in packs was to mean the majority of the fighting for the bulk of the that all previous efforts to defend against UGerman forces happened in the war with the Boats were to become obsolete. In June 1942 Russians and the Soviet victories in Stalingrad in 700k tons of goods were lost and AngloJanuary 1943 and later Kursk led the Germans American communication was challenged and into retreat with heavy losses. When we close to being cut off by the sheer power of the consider the Chiefs of Staff of Allied and Axis U-Boat menace. nations thought that Russia had ATMOST three months before it was to crumble this was an incredible effort. British success 1943 saw the creation of new Allie bombing Allies began outproducing the types of technology the Huff Duff, a form of Axis powers and the British had effective air high frequency tracking device, and a new more supremacy. Campaigns such as the bombing of advanced radar system to replace the old longDresden in February 1945 killed 30,000 civilians distance tracking devices came in and allowed and destroyed the city in stark contrast to earlier the British to better prepare and deal with the British bombing campaigns of Germany which attacks of U-Boats sending out support groups had to be cancelled in November 1941 as it was which could stop the threat to British merchant killing more allied pilots then it was German

ships; in one day in May 1943 five U-Boats were lost to no merchant ship losses and the amount of resources reaching Britain began to rise and any losses, soon after naval supremacy was won and the U-Boat campaign was cancelled, none were built by the Nazis in 1945. This was crucial before D-Day when the Americans were able to station 500k troops in Britain.

civilians.

How close was Britain to losing the Battle of Britain? Early success Goerings pushing and claims he British advantages Britain had many could destroy Britain with only an air campaign advantages on the German forces home and the destruction of most of the German navy advantage was crucial, it meant that pilots shot in the Norway campaign meant that the initial out of aircraft were not simply killed or taken as part of Hitlers invasion of Britain was to come by POWs but could be nursed back to health and air. After a series of attacks in the Channel on then put back in the field, German aircraft could

British merchant shipping in July Goering gave orders for attacks on the British mainland in August, strategic bombing of airfields and radar communication systems was highly successful 6 out of 7 key airfields in the South East were put out of action and Britains advanced radar system on the Isle of Wight was temporarily shut down.

only hold enough fuel for 90 minutes meaning that once they reached the British mainland they had only a few minutes to conduct their attacks. Britain also had air superiority, German bombers were powerful but slow compared to the powerful new Hurricane and Spitfire fighter jets, and Britain was also out-producing the Germans in aircraft production, building around 500 in July 1940. The new early tracking radar system and the ability to intercept and decode German Luftwaffe correspondence at the Bletchley Park intelligence centre also allowed the element of surprise to be on the side of the RAF. British losses between 24th and 6th September German errors The Luftwaffe had no clear, the Luftwaffe was able to shoot down over 160 agreed-upon strategy for their attack on Britain RAF aircraft at a rate too quick for them to be thus pilots were not sure if they should be replaced. More importantly, over 100 attempting to fight the RAF fighters or bombing experienced pilots lost their lives and more than their strategic targets, many chose neither and a hundred more were injured, whilst aircraft as a result the Germans suffered heavy losses could be replaced the training of pilots could not during their first assault on the British mainland. be done quickly and under the high amount of Even when strategic bombing the Luftwaffes pressure that the RAF was under, if it wasnt for attacks on ports and airfields was misguided and the rest-bite gained by Goerings orders of a gave little thought to the other branches of the change of target to civilian targets the RAF would military that would take part in an invasion to have crumbled. which these would be crucial. Ultimately, the change of course from strategic targets to civilian targets lost Germany the Battle of Britain. Weak preparations Hitler had set October as Half-hearted Hitler It has been argued that his date for a full land invasion of Britain by Hitler had no clear intentions towards an which time the Luftwaffe was supposed to have invasion of Britain, he had always been destroyed the RAF and gained air superiority, sympathetic towards the British Empire evident British preparations for such an attack was even before his peace initiative of July 1940 and almost non-existent, as the Chiefs of Staff said at as AJP Taylor argues he was a land animal who the time all depends on the air force, few cared little for wars of the air or the sea and divisions were available, the navy didnt want to instead of Britain craved an attack on Russia risk their capital ships. Home Guard volunteers which he thought would force a British with pikes and ammunitionless rifles were surrender, destroy communism and gain the building road blocks and preparing to die in the living space for a Greater Germany he craved. village ditches. Soon after the Battle of Britain plans were completed Hitler said that he would need to directly give the order for any invasion, which he would do only days before it would take place, and complained that there may be technical issues, he took little interest in Goerings air assault and instead concentrated for the planned Russia invasion. Britain alone Poland had fallen, the superior Other The Battle of the Atlantic nearly lost French forces with the combined might of the Britain the war! The amount of tons of goods British who greatly outnumbered the Nazi forces they were losing forced them into rationing in had fallen just months before Britain was to be January 1940 before the plan of using convoys attacked and now the British had less aircraft was created, July 1940 attempts by Goering

than Germany how were they supposed to do any different?

before the assault on land failed to cause any damage. During the height of the Battle of Britain Churchill allowed for 1/3rd of the tank stock in the army to go to defend Egypt from a German invasion was Britain really that close?

The strategic bombing campaign of 1942 and 1945 was misguided. Took resources away The British fetishized the Symbolic the bombing campaign was idea of strategic bombing of Germany taking championed by British statesmen as a British Baldwins idea that the bomber will always get attacking offensive away from the side line war through. So much was the obsession that 1/3 of which took up little of the German resources yet British production resources and a large chunk of the bulk of the British in North African. In 1943 the Lend-Lease with the Americans were used the combined raids of the British and American for bombers for this purpose. Tank and naval airforces were able to smash German cities such demands took a backseat, the tying up of the as Hamburg and Berlin and the Ruhr. RAF meant that Crete in June 1941, Singapore in February 1942, The Battle of the Atlantic, the French port of Dieppe in August 1942, the invasion of Sicily and Italy in 1934 and D-Day in 1944 all had to suffer from less aircraft than they

may have wanted. Usually failed In 1942 both American and British RAF both began to take up the view that the war could be won with only the use of area bombing yet the impact of most of these assaults is debateable; the 1000 plane raid of Cologne in March 1942 has been argued to have been more for British public opinion and the newspapers than it was to have any real effect on the German public who went away their normal working days soon after the attack. Living standards in Germany actually went up in the earlier parts of the war despite the bombing campaign and didnt fall into the later years and even at that point did not fall below the British. No clear aim question asserts the strategic bombing yet strategy played little part in the Anglo-American attempts. Before the long range American fighter the Mustang came in in 1944 the Americans had given up any attempts at strategic bombing by day as it has miserably failed. The British had learnt this much earlier in November 1941 when they had initially halted their bombing campaign and instead resorted to attacks to challenge German morale such as the attack on Dresden that killed 30k in February 1945 which just made the German people more resilient to the allies. Not surprising then that this plan only went through after the Quebec Conference of September 1944 after the bombing campaign was cancelled as too costly in life and cost in March 1944. German production went up as the British bombs kept falling.

Used up German resources most of these advantages were unforeseen but important none-the-less; 1 million German workers had to switched from working in productions factories to working on air-raid precautions, the high flak guns for attacking tanks and the German fighter jets had to be kept at home to ward off the British attacks. More German money and resources were also poured into the creation of fighters and not bombers, these unforeseen advantages were crucial to the British war effort during the D-Day landings in June 1944 in Normandy. Resisted a Second Front From the mutual assistance pact signed with the USSR in June 1941 and the entry of the Americans in December 1941 to Stalins demands for a second front in August 1942 the British had been desperate to resist having to commit to a land invasion of France or the Balkans claiming that the bombing campaign along with the German blockade and the events in North Africa contributed a variable enough contribution to the war effort. The British favoured only having to attack a Germany once she had been weakened by the USSR which the British had assumed would lose.

The Moral Question Whilst attacks such as occurred at Dresden were criticised as barbaric and unnecessary after the war, and strategic bombing was kept out of Churchills victory broadcast, this was not the opinion at the time. After the war the effects of the bombing campaigns on the cities of Britain and Germany had a uniting function as a key part of the collective memory of the war it can be argued.

How significant was Britains contribution to the defeat of Germany in Western Europe in 1944-5? The Fall of Italy with its origins after the Germany took on too much it is often said that invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and the mainland Hitlers biggest mistakes came in 1941 in attack of September 1943 and the capture of declaring war on both the USSR and the United Napoli in October it wasnt until June 1944 that States which could eventually outproduce and Rome was captured. The fall of Italy was outnumber the German forces. By early 1945 essential to the British victory it used up German this was really starting to show as the German resources to once again attempt to clear up forces were exhausted and starting to run out of Mussolinis problems and German troops did not fuel and men, young teenagers had to be give up Milan till after May 1945, the soft conscripted to fill the shoes, literally, of more underbelly of Europe in Italy also gave the allies experienced soldiers. a dent into Axis prestige in Europe with the first land victories in Western Europe and won the allies airbases of which to strike the Balkans and Central Europe. Liberation of France relied on Britain despite The Americans and the USSR The Americans not making up the bulk of the forces Britain was made up a great deal of the Normandy invasion where American and British troops were force for the liberation of France 500k were prepared and stationed for D Day over the stationed over the summer in the United summer of 1944. British intelligence was able to Kingdom and also made a key contribution keep Hitler guessing as to where the invasion during the assault on Italy in 1943-45. Whilst the was coming thanks to fake armies in Kent, fake British had heavy losses and fighting against messages to British generals and through a Caen in France the American forces when they bombing campaign of French ports away from landed quickly took 30k German POW and were Normandy to create a decoy for the eventual able to give relief to the British. The Lend-Lease, British landing. The British quickly took Caen in signed March 1941, also still gave Britain most of July 1944 despite heavy resistance and assisted her economic and military power and without it in the liberation of Paris in August and Belgium would have had to have bowed out of the war in in September, they crossed the Rhine into the middle of the North African campaign to Germany in March 1945. concentrate on her export trade. Although not In Western Europe the contribution of the USSRs use up of German resources and eventual invasion has to be acknowledged, it was the Russian forces which entered Berlin and inflicted the final fatal defeat

Strategic bombing Promoted by Britain since the American entry into the war in late 1941 which despite early American objections eventually sold the idea to their RAF that the war could be won in Germany without a land campaign, whilst this was not true attacks such as those on Berlin throughout 1943 to 1945 and the attack on Dresden which killed 30k in February 1945 were able to turn German cities to rubble and pave the way for their eventual surrender. Strategic bombing over this time also allowed for the creation of air superiority, the Germans invested heavily in fighters and not bombers to make retaliation difficult and the fighters were mostly kept at home, this was essential at Normandy. Battle of the Atlantic Between June 1942 and March 1943 the attacks on British shipping from German U-Boats was at its peak, the new strategy in hunting in packs meant that the old British technique of convoy and RAF assistance was no longer as effective as it once was. However, the British invention of Huff Duff a high frequency tracking device and a more advanced radar system allowed for the early detection of U-Boats and made it easier for British battleships and aircraft to attack, the UBoat campaign was soon called off and in 1945 none were built. This gave the allies naval superiority as well as superiority of the air.

in April/May 1945 and not the Anglo-American forces which refused to be drawn into a race to Berlin. The Soviet resistance characterised by the 3 year siege of Leningrad which killed 1.5 million over 1941 to January 1944 kept the bulk of the German forces occupied for most of the war and the Russian advance through Poland in August 1944 and eventually Germany and Berlin made allied victory possible. Resistance In June during the liberation of France many of the smaller French cities were won for the allied forces by French resistance forces, the FFI. In July 1944 when Mussolini toppled in Italy he was not overthrown by the allies and replaced by a puppet government but by the Fascist party who then attempted to make a deal with the allies to switch sides. Although these examples didnt win the war for the Allies they undoubtedly contributed and in the latter case contributed heavily to the eventual collapse of fascism and the Italian war effort.

CYNICAL It can be questioned as to whether Britain truly did want the war to end. Churchill committed the British to the war in the Pacific after a victory in Europe which the American admiralty attempted to reject before Roosevelt overriding them, possibly in the knowledge that Britain still needed the vital Lend-Lease resources. It can also be argued that Churchills focus on pushing the allies into the Mediterranean which Roosevelt agreed to in 1941/early 1942 despite initially favouring a quick swoop and a battle of attrition which the Americans knew they would win prolonged the war longer than it needed to be. Chiefs of Staff at the time argued that the detour in the Mediterranean would push the Second Front back to 1942 and possibly even 1943, little did they know it would take until 1944.

Retreats and defeats? First two years of the war. Norway and Dunkirk Allies plan to mine the Norway and Swedish coast in order to cut off German access to Swedish Iron Ore had been part of Churchills strategy on the way to the aid of the Finns in November 1939s Finn-Soviet war, when the war ended in March 1940 the allies decided to press on with the plan regardless. They sent a large naval force and had made appropriate preparations for any German retaliation at sea but none on land, the 100k expeditionary force was left at home and was poorly trained and arrived too late. Denmark and Norway were overrun and troops were evacuated in June. Dunkirk, in France, was evacuated in the same month and was heavily criticised by the French at the time who thought that Gort and his expeditionary force should have continued fighting, citing the success at Arras just before the evacuation. 150k French troops who were not evacuated were lost as POWs also.

They werent defeated and they werent alone It can argued that between 1939 and 1940 the British were not defeated as such in most occasions the British were able to flee from the situation, as they did in Dunkirk, Crete and Norway, with a large amount of their forces. The very fact that Britain was able to remain in the war by themselves from the whole year from the Fall of France in June 1940 is remarkable; The German forces and the Blitzkrieg were able to destroy Poland within two weeks and reach the Channel of France home of Europes largest and most powerful army within 10 days but Britain managed to hold on. Although the British did not know it at the time the USSR was able to be a formidable fighting force on the Eastern Front and was to do the majority of the fighting of the bulk of the German army throughout the war. Even at this time the addition of USSR to what was left of the allies was seen as vital, even if the USSR line was losing and retreating, the line was there. Progress in North Africa The defending of the Suez Canal was seen as vital to British interests; for her shipping and her Empire at large when Mussolinis forces went into Egypt in September 1940 outnumbering British forces by 5 to 1 the British faced a significant challenge yet they were not only able to crush Mussolinis forces in Egypt they were able to push him back into Libya taking Bengazi and Tobruk before the majority of the troops were sent to Greece. Although the Germans then undid most of these gains the original allied victories were a massive blow to Axis prestige and a morale boost at a point when the British public mood was at an all-time low, it was also a burden on German resources away from their desired attack on Russia. It is thought that Egypt along with Greece were crucial in delaying Hitlers move into the USSR gaining vital time for Stalin which would eventually help prevent the German forces move into Moscow. Battle of Britain and Dunkirk The Battle of Britain was the only instance where Britain could consider themselves as victors; despite early

North Africa and the Mediterranean Despite making advances in North Africa before February 1941 Churchill diverted the majority of these victorious forces to Greece mostly for reasons of prestige and the honouring of the April 1939 guarantee. This was an error as just as the troops were leaving Rommels German forces were able to make large advances and by April had undone all the gains the British had made. The retreat was also forced in mainland Greece where the British forces were overrun and forced to the island of Crete. After weeks of heavy bombardment in June Crete had to be evacuated ala Dunkirk- with the loss of most equipment the 18k men got away, 36k lost their lives during the campaign, despite good naval and land coverage the allies had only 7 aircraft, it was said that 3 squadrons could have saved Crete but aircrafts were in the Atlantic and the bombing of Germany. Britain alone France and Poland had quickly fell and it was thought that Britain would soon also and become another part of German satellite

Europe whilst the USSR had been gained in June 1941 they were not expected to last more than 3 months by any Chiefs of Staffs estimates.

German success, shooting down over 100 aircraft and killing over 100 pilots over August 24th and 6th September, through the RAFs home advantage, the new Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft, ability to produce aircraft and sheer skill the British were able to secure air superiority shooting down 50 aircraft in a single day in early September, in October Hitler called off his invasion. Yet this can be disputed Luftwaffe errors just as much contributed to the British victory. The ability to save 340k lives at Dunkirk and keep the British expeditionary force in the war along with the potential shown in the counter attack at Arras also singles out General Gort as the producer of something which has gone down in modern British folklore as a victory of some form. Small victories The Norway campaign was not an absolute disaster, the German navy lost most of its major elements of its navy. This was invaluable as it prevented the opportunity of a significant naval force being put against the British in the Battle of Britain. The invention of the convoy strategy in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941 meant that the losses that forced Britain into rationing in January 1940 were put on hold.

Economic It has been argued that March 1941s Lend Lease from the Americans which kept Britain able to fight the war lost them their ability to be considered a great power, the North African campaign cost the British dearly and without American resources would have had to bow out of the war and return to her export industries.