Not so much the end of the beginning?

[Cogidubnus]

Today marks the anniversary of 24th August 1940, a day of huge significance to East-Enders, and possibly the whole Western world...this was in my view, ultimately, the day Hitler lost the war....

Throughout the Summer of 1940 the Luftwaffe have been concentrating their efforts on securing air mastery over the English Channel - if they can gain that for 24 hours then maybe, just maybe, the ramshackle and hastily assembed collection of Rhine Barges and other transports can transport enough of the Wermacht to secure a bridgehead...without air superiority forget it...

German efforts have concentrated first on Channel convoys (on which they've inflicted significant casualties), then Radar Stations (which have been painstakingly and desperately patched up), and finally on fighter stations and sector stations...this could easily have been the fatal blow...if maintained...despite everything there was no shortage of planes...but fully trained pilots? No way...everything was right on the edge...more than once the RAF had no reserves...it was right down the line who could last the longest...despite all the wonderful efforts of "the few"...and the Luftwaffe had a huge numerical advantage...

But on 24th August 1940 Hitler bombed London...we now know it was accidental...but nonetheless...

On 25th August, and in retaliation, the RAF bombed Berlin, something Hitler and Goering had always claimed wasn't possible...the die was cast...

The Battle of Britain continued (in RAF terms at least) until 15th September...but effectively from the 7th September the Luftwaffe was ordered to switch targets...to ignore the RAF and concentrate most of it's efforts on bombing London...57 continuous days and nights of Blitzkrieg during which London shops were often "More Open than usual", but more significantly on this website, 57 nights in which the East End was thoroughly pounded and burned...

The East End never surrendered, but more significantly the RAF and it's radar defences gained invaluable time to regroup, repair, retrain...the moment was gone...

24th August is a date we should all remember...

Dave

[lynn cates]

right

Hello Dave. Hear hear! Hitler picked on the wrong country.

Cheers.
LC

[Errata]

I always considered Dunkirk more pivotal. I mean, yes, technically it was a loss. But it's just SUCH a screw you to Germany. Like Hitler's big bad air force couldn't keep the British from evacuating 300,000 troops by yacht. And it took a week, so it's not like the Germans missed their chance. They just didn't succeed. It's all "I can beat Hitler with my fishing boat" which I love.

[Cogidubnus]

24th August

Dunkirk brought our men back...the loss of equipment being (long-term) incidental...yes it was all important of course...but the switch of attention from the airfields to the slums was actually of far more import...the moment was lost and so was the war...

All the best

Dave

[Beowulf]

Dunkirk brought our men back...the loss of equipment being (long-term) incidental...yes it was all important of course...but the switch of attention from the airfields to the slums was actually of far more import...the moment was lost and so was the war...

All the best

Dave

I just hate that Hitler bombed London. I hate the fact that lovely places were destroyed.

I have read before that some of the Jack the Ripper files were destroyed in these raids, is that true? Depressing.

Of course so much more is lost than files, so much more. I raise a glass to you, London, I raise a glass, you survived. He's gone. What a monster. Makes JTR look like an amateur.

[Cogidubnus]

I just hate that Hitler bombed London. I hate the fact that lovely places were destroyed.

Yes...quite true, but he wiped out some shite too...and I also recall my Great Aunt Vi quite bitterly telling me that the GLC had achieved far more than "bloody 'itler" had managed...she was talking of thoughtless post-war development...in Wapping mostly...and this was before the gentrification of East London...

All the best

Dave

[harry]

Perhaps the 1934 naval treaty between Britain and Germany,which Hitler adhered to,untill war appeared inevitable, was a crucial factor.The treaty limited Germany to building four hundred thousand tons of naval shipping to Britains one million tons yearly.Disagreements between the German leaders,led to Hitler deciding the 400 thousand be used mainly in building pocket battleships instead of uboats.Consequently,only one pocket battleship,and a handful of uboats were operational,at the beginning.The German air force alone would not have guarenteed a successful crossing of the channel,and it's navy was outnumbered.

[Fleetwood Mac]

That strip of water is a god send.

a) It means we don't think like the continental Europeans.
b) It saved from us being steamrollered by the Germans.
c) It means we don't have to share a border with the French.

God certainly looked upon us kindly when he was sorting out the creation and evolution of the earth.

[sdreid]

The English Channel is the result of global warming 8000 or so years ago.

[sdreid]

I have read before that some of the Jack the Ripper files were destroyed in these raids, is that true? Depressing.

I believe the City Files were lost which probably had a lot about Eddowes. Hopefully some were pilfered and are still out there somewhere. Probably no one is still alive who saw them before the war.

[Robert]

Looking at it cynically, I suppose another thing that saved us was German tanks and planes. Without them we could have been bled to death for four more years in the trenches.

PS since the Germans destroyed our records, I think they should be forced to solve the mystery.

[DirectorDave]

The best tribute I have heard to the people of the time was made by someone who is not even british.....infact he is not even human (but may be half-human on his mothers side).

The Doctor: 1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it, nothing. Until one tiny, damp little island says "No. No, not here." A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. I don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me.”

[Bridewell]

Dates

I always considered Dunkirk more pivotal. I mean, yes, technically it was a loss. But it's just SUCH a screw you to Germany. Like Hitler's big bad air force couldn't keep the British from evacuating 300,000 troops by yacht. And it took a week, so it's not like the Germans missed their chance. They just didn't succeed. It's all "I can beat Hitler with my fishing boat" which I love.

The switch from bombing airfields to bombing London ended the realistic possibility of invasion, but the war was still winnable for Germany at that point. The two dates which decided the outcome of the war, in my opinion, were 22nd June 1941 & 7th December the same year (Barbarossa & Pearl Harbor respectively).

Regards, Bridewell.

[Cogidubnus]

The switch from bombing airfields to bombing London ended the realistic possibility of invasion, but the war was still winnable for Germany at that point. The two dates which decided the outcome of the war, in my opinion, were 22nd June 1941 & 7th December the same year (Barbarossa & Pearl Harbor respectively).

Hi Colin

7th December 1941 was very important...but it was a date well outside Hitler's control...Barbarossa, I'd say was ultimately fatal, (a point well made)...but exactly what failure elsewhere actually led to Barbarossa? (Says he, pointing firmly to the last 10 minutes of the "Battle of Britain" film...)

Cheers

Dave

[Bridewell]

Hi Colin

7th December 1941 was very important...but it was a date well outside Hitler's control...Barbarossa, I'd say was ultimately fatal, (a point well made)...but exactly what failure elsewhere actually led to Barbarossa? (Says he, pointing firmly to the last 10 minutes of the "Battle of Britain" film...)

Cheers

Dave

Is that the bit where Susannah York gets her kit off? (Probably not).

Regards, Bridewell.