• Overall Summary
• Reason for British Win
• Reason for German Loss
• Changes that Germany could have done better.
• Lesson to be Learned

Operation Sea Lion was the German codename for their mission of invading the British Isles. A land invasion, to reduce the possibility of continued British resistance, was the option chosen by German High Command. However, for this to succeed, they would have to deal with the RAF (Royal Air Force). The RAF with their advanced Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes were a large threat that could potentially derail any land invasion. So, the Battle of Britain commenced. An aerial war for air supremacy over the skies of the English Channel and South-Eastern Britain. The Luftwaffe, under Air Marshal Hermann Göring, were unable to drive the RAF away, ultimately losing the battle and forcing Hitler to postpone the invasion indefinitely.

The British, while on paper won the Battle of Britain, took many losses. Their civilian infrastructure was in tatters and their airforce, exhausted. However, they still won. This was in part due to the Dowding System. Comparable to modern radar, this air defense network used the best technology and science of the time to create a robust network of radar towers that spanned the entire eastern coast of the UK. It allowed for the detection of hostile aircraft and the time to prepare air defenses in the region. This was especially important as the British were outnumbered from the beginning of the conflict. Faced with such a drastic gap between the pilot numbers, the RAF were forced to resort to a more unorthodox strategy. Strategy which included the Big Wing. The Big Wing (or Duxford Wing) was a strategy championed by Leigh-Mallory of 12 Group and Douglas Bader. It was however opposed by Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding – the same person the Dowding System is named after – and the commander of 11 Group Keith Park. Now, to properly understand the inter-RAF politics and infighting present at the top, one must know the different RAF groups. These groups are simply another name for the area which the group protected. There were 4 RAF groups. Groups 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. The respectively covered the: north-west, south-west and Wales, London and south-east, Midlands and East Anglia, and the North (Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the North of England). 11 Group faced the heaviest attacks, protecting London from the waves of Luftwaffe bombers present for much of the war. 

In fact, it was 11 Group which most successfully combined the Dowding System with

scrambling small, precise fighter squadrons. The reason the Big Wing was considered a bad idea – and later proved to be one – was that it would cost too many pilots. See, the strategy was to create a large strike force, attempting to inflict as many losses upon the Luftwaffe as possible. However, Dowding correctly felt that this would lead to the loss of too many RAF fighter pilots as the Royal Air Force could not hope to win a war of attrition.

Dowding was removed from command in November 1940 – shortly after the battle was won – due to political pressure and debate surrounding the Big Wing strategy and the perceived inadequacy of night defenses.