The Battle of Britain

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The Battle of Britain Page 78

by James Holland


  271

  ‘We saw a piece … inside the boat’ IWM 021116

  272

  ‘Things are getting …’ Gardner, Evacuation from Dunkirk, Appendix R

  272–3

  ‘There was no thought … soldiers panic’ IWM 021116

  274

  ‘BEF evacuated …’ Gardner, Evacuation from Dunkirk, Appendix T

  Part II: Respite

  22. What Next?

  277

  ‘We silenced all six…’ Bartley, Smoke Trails in the Sky, p. 16

  277

  ‘but the wretch’ John Dundas papers, letter, 9/6/1940

  278–9

  ‘In our view therefore … to the imminent danger’ TNA CAB 80/12

  280

  ‘miracle of deliverance … never surrender’ WS, 4/6/1940

  280

  ‘The House was deeply moved’ Nicolson, HND, 4/6/1940

  280

  ‘It was a magnificent oration’ Colville, The Fringes of Power, 4/6/1940

  280

  ‘I thought it was …’ MO diarist 53967

  281

  ‘The French are hysterical…’ Chamberlain, Diary Letters, 2/6/1940

  282

  ‘The British Army? … it will be too late’ TNA WO 208/4340

  282

  ‘Had I had these four divisions …’ Cited in Irving, Göring, p. 92

  285

  ‘Captain, your breakfast’ Luck, Panzer Commander, p. 43

  286

  ‘And what do you command? …’ Cited in Blaxland, Destination Dunkirk, p. 374

  286

  ‘Dearest Lu …’ Liddell Hart (ed.), The Rommel Papers, p. 66

  23. The End in France

  288

  ‘One through the calf…’ Frank, Enemy Submarine, p. 89

  289

  ‘Hit almost amidships …’ Ibid., p. 92

  290

  ‘All that I found on my return …’ Alanbrooke, War Diaries, p. 74

  291

  ‘Winston is justifiably …’ Colville, The Fringes of Power, 6/6/1940

  291

  ‘It is embarrassingly …’ Engel, At the Heart of the Reich, 10/6/1940

  292

  ‘People who go to Italy …’ Colville, The Fringes of Power, 10/6/1940

  292

  ‘You mark my words …’ MO diarist 53967

  293

  ‘To say that I was …’ Donnelly, The Whitley Boys, p. 133

  295

  ‘At my command … was in Paris’ Knappe, Soldat, p. 183

  295

  ‘If the French will…’ Colville, The Fringes of Power, 14/6/1940

  296

  ‘I replied … I agree with you’ Alanbrooke, War Diaries, p. 81

  297

  ‘Your signal based on error …’ Guderian, Panzer Leader, p. 130

  297

  ‘Reply will be held …’ Halder, Diary, 17/6/1940

  297

  ‘But if we suffer …’ Chamberlain, Diary Letters, 21/6/1940

  24. Hitler’s Dilemma

  298

  ‘I observed his face …’ Shirer, Berlin Diary, 21/6/1940

  299

  ‘How many mothers …’ Schroeder, Er war mein Chef, p. 80

  299

  ‘What stupendous … of the world’ Wendel, Hausfrau at War, p. 81

  299

  ‘They thought only of their skins …’ Cited in Eberle and Uhl (eds.), The Hitler Book, p. 57

  300

  ‘F. talked again’ Engel, At the Heart of the Reich, 26/6/1940

  300

  ‘as he fully appreciates the unusual difficulties …’ NHB EDS/Apprec/6: The German Plans for the Invasion of England

  300

  ‘What he has in mind …’ BA-MA MsG2/5830

  301

  ‘If they will not quit…’ Schroeder, Er war mein Chef, p. 80

  306

  ‘We have nothing to lose …’ Cited in Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, p. 316; also Maier et al., Germany and the Second World War, Vol. II, p. 842

  306

  ‘Looks like a great deal of blood …’ Cited in Speer, Inside the Third Reich, p. 235

  307

  ‘We cannot win the war …’ BA-MA RW19/205

  308

  ‘Führer has again emphasized …’ IWM EDS 1571

  25. All Alone

  310

  ‘Think before you act…’ If the Invader Comes, TNA INF 1/250

  310

  ‘I am quite lucidly aware …’ Nicolson, HND, 15/6/1940

  311

  ‘He felt we should give in …’ Cockett, Love and War in London, 18/6/1940

  311

  ‘Although I will grant … wouldn’t it?’ MO diarist, 53967

  312

  ‘But this was due solely …’ Hughes, diary, 21–2/6/1940

  312

  ‘Hitler knows that…’ WS, 18/6/1940

  313

  ‘I call for effort, courage, sacrifice …’ Dallek, Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, p. 228

  313

  ‘I send you my heartfelt thanks …’ Loewenheim, Langley and Joans (eds.), Roosevelt and Churchill, Churchill to Roosevelt, 11/6/1940

  314

  ‘England is next … England from destruction’ JPK, memoir

  315

  ‘Well, it boils down to this …’ Raymond Lee, The London Observer, 4/6/1940

  316

  ‘Every hour the radio bulletins …’ Beaton, The Years Between, p. 31, and CBP, diary, 2/7/1940

  316

  ‘like a death … possible capacity’ CBP, diary, September 1939

  317

  ‘England will probably …’ Beaton, The Years Between, p. 31

  318

  ‘The moment the Germans …’ Self (ed.), Chamberlain Diary Letters, 15/6/1940

  318

  ‘All this … finished eating’ Zumbach, On Wings of War, p. 39, 59

  320

  ‘So he took a chance …’ Ibid., p. 64

  26. Getting Ready

  323

  ‘I cannot get information …’ Beaverbrook Papers, BBK/D/414

  323–4

  ‘Beaverbrook was an unpleasant bastard …’ Cited in McKinstry, Spitfire, p. 151

  324

  ‘I hope there won’t be any trouble …’ Cited in Suchenwirth, Command and Leadership, p. 86

  325

  ‘All this planning is garbage’ Cited in Irving, Göring, p. 291

  325

  Luftwaffe monthly production figures: BA-MA ZA3/304

  325

  ‘We’re all very fatigué!…’ Bethke, diary, 25/6/1940

  326

  ‘We were really glad …’ Bartley, letter to father, 25/6/1940

  326

  ‘The old easy-going outlook …’ Crook, Spitfire Pilot, p. 22

  328

  ‘We now have an embryo’ Cited in Orange, Dowding of Fighter Command, p. 80

  27. Trouble at Sea: Part 1

  332

  ‘Tomorrow at dawn …’ Colville, The Fringes of Power, 2/7/1940

  333

  ‘This was a hateful decision …’ WSC, p. 206

  333

  ‘You are charged with …’ Cited in ibid., p. 209

  333

  ‘unlikely to take place before …’ TNA CAB 66/9

  334

  ‘In general, I find myself in agreement…’ Ibid.

  335

  ‘If so we should welcome …’ NHB ND10

  335

  ‘The JIC have appreciated …’ Ibid.

  337

  ‘He would ensure that…’ Doenitz [Dönitz], Memoirs, p. 42

  341

  ‘Prien’s opinions were shared …’ Ibid., p. 89

  341

  ‘No sight of the enemy …’ NHB, logbook of U-47

  28. Bringing It All Together

  343

  ‘Can anyone … imminent future’ Jones, Mos
t Secret War, p. 90

  344

  ‘Hitler is now the gambler …’ Ciano, Diary, 18–19/6/1940

  346

  ‘a storm of wrath and steel … delaying his speech’ Ibid., 7/7/1940

  29. Trouble at Sea: Part 2

  355

  ‘Good heavens! … the French coast’ TNA ADM 199/2133

  357–8

  ‘We laughed … and he fell apart’ This entire account comes from IWM 27308

  361

  ‘You don’t actually realize …’ NHB

  362

  ‘Here’s one for us!’ TNA ADM 199/2133

  362

  ‘The assault of the 1st S-boat Flotilla …’ NHB, Kriegstagebuch des Führers der Torpedoboote, 4/7/1940

  362

  ‘The attacks on the convoy …’ WSC, p. 566

  30. Crooked Leg

  364

  ‘The next opponents …’ Rall, My Logbook, p. 49

  365

  ‘By now he might be having …’ Ibid., p. 50

  366

  ‘To hell with you … blood-sodden mattresses’ Steinhilper and Osborne, Spitfire on My Tail, p. 254

  366

  ‘Although we had just thrown …’ Knappe, Soldat, p. 189

  366

  ‘We didn’t hate the English so much …’ Wendel, Hausfrau at War, p. 82

  367

  ‘If and when Germany intends …’ Shirer, This is Berlin, 10/7/1940

  367

  ‘The Nazis are laughing’ Shirer, Berlin Diary, 8/7/1940

  367

  ‘What did I tell you?’ Wendel, Hausfrau at War, p. 81

  367

  ‘When nothing happened …’ Bob, Betrayed Ideals, p. 97

  368

  ‘That is why one day …’ Bethke, diary, 11–12/7/1940

  368

  ‘The intensified attacks …’ BA-MA RL 2-II/30

  369

  ‘well-developed defence forces … other tasks’ BA-MA RL 2-II/30

  369

  ‘The campaign had gone so well…’ Steinhilper and Osborne, Spitfire on My Tail, p. 262

  371

  ‘Good, Steinhilper …’ Ibid., p. 180

  372

  ‘Our communications …’ Ibid., p. 263

  372

  ‘The beginning of a thriller …’ Jones, Most Secret War, p. 84

  Part III: Kanalkampf

  31. First Combat

  380

  ‘Warmwell possessed …’ TNA AIR 27/2102

  382

  ‘Look out behind!…’ Crook, Spitfire Pilot, p. 29

  383

  ‘But he was dead now … casualties cause’ Ibid., p. 30

  384

  ‘In a squadron …’ Ibid.

  385

  ‘From now onwards …’ Ibid., p. 34

  390

  ‘There was no question …’ Neil, A Fighter in My Sights, p. 99

  32. Peace Offerings

  391

  ‘We must not be guided by hatred …’ Goebbels, Diaries, 7/7/1940

  393

  ‘The Führer is greatly puzzled …’ Halder, Diary, 13/7/1940

  393

  ‘Main point of conversation …’ Engel, At the Heart of the Reich, 15/7/1940

  394

  ‘Since England, in spite of…’ Trevor-Roper (ed.), Hitler’s War Diaries, No. 16, 16/7/1940

  396

  ‘Beppo Schmid was a complete wash-out… trimmed his sails to the wind’ both cited in Mitcham, Eagles of the Third Reich, p. 106

  397

  ‘The Luftwaffe is clearly superior …’ Cited in Wood and Dempster, The Narrow Margin, p. 110

  398

  ‘If I wear it, then it’s for men’ Irving, Göring, p. 293

  398

  ‘His boyish pride …’ Shirer, Berlin Diary, 19/7/1940

  398–9

  ‘I only know … of this war’ Cited in Lukacs, The Duel, p. 190

  399

  ‘fat into the fire’ Cited in Irving, Göring, p. 293

  399

  ‘Considering everything, Hitler …’ Nicolson, HND, 19/7/1940

  399

  ‘I do not propose …’ Colville, The Fringes of Power, 24/7/1940

  400

  ‘British ambassador to Washington …’ Halder, Diary, 22/7/1940

  400

  ‘Hitler may plant the Swastika…’ Cited in Roberts, The Holy Fox, p. 249

  400

  ‘all possible might’ Boelcke, The Secret Conferences of Dr. Goebbels, 22/7/1940

  400

  ‘German public opinion …’ Goebbels, Diaries, 23/7/1940

  400

  ‘The die seems cast’ Shirer, Berlin Diary, 23/7/1940

  33. The Besieged

  401

  ‘And as it passed close by …’ Beaton, The Years Between, p. 32

  401

  ‘Any day now…’ Ibid.

  401

  ‘I think that Hitler …’ Nicolson, HND, 20/7/1940

  401

  ‘Today is one but…’ MO diarist, 2/7/1940

  402

  ‘Though it is reported …’ Ibid., 31/7/1940

  402

  ‘Still, whatever does come …’ Ibid., 9/7/09

  402

  ‘I still feel that WE …’ Cockett, Love and War in London, 21/7/1940

  402

  ‘People cheerful and optimistic …’ TNA INF 1/264

  402

  ‘Opinion unanimous …’ Cockett, Love and War in London, 20/7/1940

  403

  ‘There is no doubt that…’ Nicolson, HND, 21/7/1940

  403

  ‘Very few of us …’ Cited in Gardiner, Wartime, p. 307

  404

  ‘But all depends now …’ WS, 14/7/1940

  404

  ‘He was in wonderful spirits …’ Alanbrooke, War Diaries, 17/7/1940

  405

  ‘Every day that …’ Raymond Lee, The London Observer, 17/7/1940

  405

  ‘We had no weapons …’ IWM 021116

  406

  ‘Using the sacks of grain …’ Fraser, wartime diaries

  408

  ‘operations of sabotage …’ TNA CAB 66/8

  408

  ‘And now go and set’ Dalton, Second World War Diary, 22/7/1940

  409

  ‘And when people …’ Amanda Smith (ed.), Hostage to Fortune, p. 451

  409

  ‘I thought this optimism …’ JPK, memoir

  409

  ‘I also believe …’ Raymond Lee, The London Observer, 15/7/1940

  409

  ‘I send plenty of cables home …’ Ibid., 30/7/1940

  409

  ‘They can do nothing but complicate …’ JPK, diary, 17/7/1940

  410

  ‘Well, I told him before …’ Raymond Lee, The London Observer, 3/8/1940

  410

  ‘Don’t let anybody …’ JPK, diary, 31/7/1940

  34. Hotting Up

  412

  ‘We returned to breakfast…’ Beamont, My Part of the Sky, p. 49

  413

  ‘Putting the majority …’ BA-MA RL 2-II/30

  416–17

  ‘This was not achieved … aim accordingly’ AFHRA, K239.0512–1838 C 1

  419

  ‘They have to run perfectly …’ Cited in Dallies-Labourdette, S-Boote, p. 42

  420

  ‘It’s uncommon how …’ John Dundas papers, letter, 27/7/1940

  422

  ‘What are those? …’ Galland The First and the Last, p. 19

  35. Bombs on Germany, Bomben auf England

  423

  ‘That was the first…’ Bethke, diary, 2/8/40

  423

  ‘But at that moment…’ Cited in Weal, Jadgeschwader 2, p. 47

  424

  ‘The war against England …’ Bethke, diary, 6/8/1940

  424

  ‘I shall at least have something to show …’
Hughes, diary, 26/7/1940

  425

  ‘The future stretches ahead …’ Ibid., 2/8/1940

  425

  ‘Recent reports and information …’ Cited in Webster and Frankland, The Strategic Air Offensive, p. 151

 

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