U S Army War College

The Battle of Britain: a Study in Command and Control U S Army War College

Publisher Marketing: The Battle of Britain is thought to be the greatest air battle in history. This battle began on 10 July 1940 and ended on 31 October 1940. It followed the German Blitzkrieg of the Low Countries and France and the ignoble British retreat through Dunkirk. During the previous months the German Luftwaffe had triumphed over the air forces of Poland, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France and had destroyed all but 66 of the 260 British Hurricanes sent to support the British Army in France. The German victories gave rise to beliefs of invincibility which were replaced by feelings of frustration and failure as the Battle of Britain progressed. Arguably the lack of a coherent plan for the German invasion of Britain, Operation Sealion, and the heroics of the British pilots and ground crews influenced the outcome of the Battle of Britain. However, it is the contention of this study that the Command and Control systems of the British coupled with the technology that made those systems possible were responsible for the British victory. The individual systems, RADAR, radio, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), direction finding and intelligence, and how they were integrated into the command and control structure are discussed.