Battle of Britain during WWII - Essay Example

? Battle of Britain during WWII Battle of Britain during WWII Sun Tzu and other Strategies The battle of Britain during WWII started when the British intelligence intercepted coded transmissions from a German radio, which clarified that an invasion of Britain was eminent. This act confirmed what Sun Tzu says about investing in the art of spying at your enemies and preparing in advance.1 Sun Tzu also emphasizes on capitalizing on your strong point. This is when the British would rely on naval and air strategies as their major mechanisms of defense. One of Britain’s immediate aims was to prevent the French navy from being captured by the German. This gave rise to Operation Catapult on July 3, 1940. A British naval force based in Gibraltar went to Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria, to assist the remaining French navy that had fled. The French crews were offered a choice to sail to Britain at once, to join them in the battle against Germany, where the British would offer them the necessary supplies.2 This way, it would give them (the French) a chance to move their ships somewhere secure or scamper their fleet. All the choices were turned down by the French, hence the British had no alternative but to fire and destroy the French, thus killing over 1,200 of them. Thus, Sun Tzu advocated for creation of an illusion of choices while indirectly directing your opponent to your most preferred option where you lay in ambush.3 Anthony Adamthwaite, The Making of the Second World War (New York: Routledge, 1992), 30. Kenneth Brody, The Avoidable War: Pierre Laval and the Politics of Reality, 1935–1936 (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1999), 20. Donald Busky, Communism in History and Theory: Asia, Africa, and the Americas (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2002), 23. Another crucial battle faced by the British was the channel battle. During this operation, Sea lion was the German code name for its strategy in taking over the United Kingdom. This begun with a series of bomb attacks against British ships in the English Channel, in early July 1940, and the first attack was on July 10. This was despite Hitler making a speech on July 19 advocating for peace with Britain, which was a tactic to buy time. British ships in the Channel incurred heavy damage, but they were able to conserve pilots and planes since there was an oncoming battle. This strategy can be seen in Sun Tzu as art of deception which involves concealing your intentions while calculating your surprise attack. A good general never commits his whole arsenal in battle. Then, Hitler began large bombing raids on air bases and military command posts in southern England early in August 1940. This strategy was aimed at breaking Britain’s will. On August 13, nicknamed “Eagle Day” by the Germans, Germany deployed over 1,400 bombers and fighters across the English Channel. This whole effort only yielded a damage of thirteen British fighters while losing more than three times the number of theirs. The Germans tried to employ the tactic of ‘Attack at full force to completely destroy and demoralize your enemy”, but apparently, the British were ahead of them as they employed the tactic of ‘let your enemies exhaust their strength.’ Hitler directed the Luftwaffe to attack major British cities like London in early September 1940. The attacks which started on September 7 went on into May the following year. During this Second World War, there was a constant bombing of the United Kingdom by Germany, popularly known as the “Blitz,” which took place Between 7 September 1940 and 16 May 1941. Major attacks which involved more than 100 tonnes of explosives were dropped targeting 16 British cities: the capital, London, being attacked 71 times. Others like Birmingham, Liverpool and Plymouth were attacked 8 times, Bristol 6, Glasgow 5, Southampton 4 and Portsmouth 3. There were also large raids targeting other smaller cities eight in number. Luftwaffe bombed London for 57 nights in a row. Over one million houses in London were destroyed and/or damaged, civilian casualty being over 40,000, which was about half of the population in London.4 Ports and industrial centers in the outskirts of London suffered the same destruction; Liverpool which was a major sea port was the most fatally bombed city outside London, the death toll being estimated at 4,000. This strategy by the Germans is mentioned in Sun Tzu, which says that a general should attack his enemies at full force to completely destroy and demoralize them. Sun Tzu strategy also mentions the art of strategically destroying the opponents’ source of resources as a way of weakening them, as was the case with Germany in targeting important centers of British economy.5 This bombing which was like a retaliatory attack, but the Germans did not attain its intended objective which was to demoralize the British. Earlier, there had been a bombing campaign carried out by the British against Germany. In relation to the British bombing the Blitz, it resulted in basically few casualties; while the Hamburg bombing by the British alone caused 42,000 civilian casualties. These was perhaps a strategy in the part of the British, as Sun Tzu advocates on provoking your enemy and make them expose and exhaust their resources in their hasty pursuit of retaliation. During this World War II, the Germans also applied aggressive air offensive though did not yield the intended damage.6 Norman Davies, No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939–1945 (New York: Penguin Group, 2008), 34. Helen Graham, The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 45. James Hsiung, China's Bitter Victory: The War with Japan, 1937–1945 (London: M.E. Sharpe, 1992), 45. Several reasons are sighted for the failure of the German air offensive. Luftwaffe High Command failed to come up with a clear long-term strategy for demolishing Britain's war industries, constantly changing from operating over the territory at home. On the other hand, the German crews faced being captured even if they survived. The Germans somehow scattered their efforts as they were bombing one type of industry to another without applying any sustained force or pressure on any one of them. In this instance, the Germans failed to apply the principle of concentrating your forces. Sun Tzu strategy also incorporates the act of luring your enemy into your territory, where you can utilize the territorial advantage. In view of the operational capacity of the British, obstacles in technology pertaining to the German weapons and fast British reactions were making it even more strenuous for the Germans to gain strategic effect. Germany was focused on attacking ports, which cut shipping and imports and disrupting rail transport, which was crucial mainly in the distribution of coal, which was a major source of fuel in all industrial economies of the Second World War, thinking these efforts would yield positive result. However, use of delayed-action bombs, gradually decreased in levels of impact, partly because they would fail to detonate. Anticipating a change in strategy, the British scattered its production facilities, thus making them less vulnerable to the German concentrated attacks. Plenipotentiary powers were given to regional commissioners in order to restore communications and organize for the distribution of supplies in order to sustain the war economy. This tactic of anticipating your enemies move is advocated for in Sun Tzu, where it says that a good and wise general should always analyze the enemies move to know their pattern and be able to anticipate their next move well in advance. During this war, Germans had equipment capable of doing serious damage, but the problem was its unclear strategy and poor intelligence. OKL was informed that Britain was a potential opponent early in 1938, which was too late. Germans therefore had no time to collect dependable intelligence on Britain's industries. The Germans despite their air superiority failed. This is because they did not properly invest in intelligence. As stated in Sun Tzu, a good and wise general wins most of his battles not in the battle field but in being cunning mainly through intelligence. Sun Tzu strategy advocates for the use of intelligence and spies more than in weaponry and armies in war. Hitler was becoming impatient and advocated for change in strategy in order to reduce losses.7 This change in attacks was to take place at night, so as to give the bombers greater protection under the cover of darkness. However, this did not yield the desired damage. The strategy of using the cover of darkness is also advocated in Sun Tzu.8 German war strategists had to make a decision whether the Luftwaffe should carry out most of its attacks against specific parts of British industry like aircraft factories, or against a system of interconnecting industries like import and distribution networks. All of these were targeted at demoralizing the British population. This aim by the Luftwaffe to break the morale of the British can also be seen in Sun Tzu. It is a psychological warfare and Sun Tzu strategy mainly advocates for ways and means of wining battles with minimum casualties.9 Edward Kantowicz, The rage of nations (New York: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999), 57. Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1936–1945: Nemesis (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001), 48. Alison Kitson, Germany 1858–1990: Hope, Terror, and Revival (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 57. In an operational capacity in the part of the Germans, short comings in weapons technology and quick British reactions during World War II made it more difficult to acquire any significant strategic effect. Launching attacks on ports, targeting shipping and imports while at the same time disrupting rail transport in the surrounding areas, was thought to yield a positive result in weakening the enemy. This strategy of destroying your enemy’s supplies thus weakening and making then vulnerable is advocated for in Sun Tzu. British had anticipated the Germans change in strategy and scattered its facilities, which involved production. This tactic made them less vulnerable. The available local leaders in the destructed cities were also given plenipotentiary authority in order to be able to contribute in to restoring broken down communications systems and also plan for the distribution of supplies. This shows that the British maintained their vigilance while constantly watching over their enemies. Throughout World War II, the British are seen to heavily invest in aspects of intelligence. They understood and appreciated the importance of completely knowing all the plans of your enemy. They would also apply the withdrawal and surrender strategy, which was primarily meant to fool and lure the enemy. These were the two crucial strategies that helped the British, and these very strategies are greatly emphasized on in Sun Tzu strategy.10 Peter Preston, Pacific Asia in the global system: an introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998), 43. Bibliography Adamthwaite, Anthony. The Making of the Second World War. New York: Routledge, 1992. Brody, Kenneth. The Avoidable War: Pierre Laval and the Politics of Reality, 1935–1936. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1999. Busky, Donald. Communism in History and Theory: Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2002. Davies, Norman. No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939–1945. New York: Penguin Group, 2008. Graham, Helen. The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Hsiung, James. China's Bitter Victory: The War with Japan, 1937–1945. London: M.E. Sharpe, 1992. Kantowicz, Edward. The rage of nations. New York: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. Kershaw, Ian. Hitler, 1936–1945: Nemesis. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. Kitson, Alison. Germany 1858–1990: Hope, Terror, and Revival. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Preston, Peter. Pacific Asia in the global system: an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998. Read More