by Ted Stewart
The course of the entire war had been turned.
Perhaps without even realizing it, in mid-September 1940 Hitler lost the war, defeated by the efforts of perhaps 1,000 young men. Unable to invade and conquer Britain, he would turn against the Soviet Union, sacrificing the German army, and thereby prolonging his war until, at last, the Americans were dragged into it by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, pitting Germany against three of the most powerful industrial countries in the world.36
• • •
World War II would drag on for five long and brutal years. It would be, by far, the most costly war ever fought. As many as fifty million people were going to die.37 Some say the number of casualties would probably be much higher, except that poor record keeping in Russia and China made the true number impossible to verify. By any measure, the war was a cataclysmic event.
And the suffering of the British people was just beginning. Over the next few months, they would endure the terror of the Blitz, with more than fifty thousand of them dying from the incessant German bombing of their cities and their towns—primarily at night.38 With no effective way for the RAF to detect and shoot down the German bombers in the darkness, there was little the English could do but suffer through the merciless attacks.
But the fact that Hitler was unable to invade and conquer Britain forced him to turn his madness somewhere else. In one of the great miscalculations in military history, Hitler unleashed his forces against the Soviet Union, sacrificing his own army in the process. An enormous number of German soldiers would die fighting on the Eastern Front. But the advantages Stalin had—primarily his willingness to sacrifice tens of millions of his own people in the war against the Third Reich—proved to be simply overwhelming.39
This prolonged Hitler’s war until the Americans, having been forced into the conflict by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, were able to organize and apply their military and industrial might. Once the Americans entered the war, the strategic situation changed dramatically. Once the Americans were fully engaged, the outcome was almost inevitable. Short of the Germans developing a nuclear weapon before the Americans did (something they were working on), there was very little that could change the fact that Germany was going to lose the war.
What If?
What if Dowding had not been put in charge of Fighter Command? What if he had caved to the opposition and never developed the Spitfires and Hurricanes that were so critical to defending the British homeland? What if he had never put his faith in radar? What if he had been forced to abandon his overall strategy of a carefully measured response and had turned his fighters loose at every bombing raid? The RAF would have been destroyed. Hitler would have then invaded.
Or what if Great Britain had accepted Hitler’s offer for peace? What if they had given him free rein to rule with blood and terror throughout the rest of Europe? Is there any doubt that, eventually, Hitler would have turned his attention back to Great Britain? Cut off from the rest of the world, including from its fuel supply, Britain’s ability to defend itself would have been nil.
What if the British had lost the Battle of Britain and their mainland had been invaded? Left with only a handful of half-manned divisions and little equipment (the British Expeditionary Force had been forced to abandon all of its tanks, artillery, and machine guns during the desperate evacuation at Dunkirk), would the English have been able to defend against the most powerful army in the world, an army that had already proven itself by smashing its way through all of Western Europe?
If Great Britain had been defeated, would the United States still have been willing to enter the war in Europe? And even if they had been willing, what would have happened without Great Britain being able to provide the critical staging ground for the U.S. to pre-position the military assets that were so crucial to the monumental task of invading and retaking all of Europe?
Had Great Britain been conquered, America’s war against the Germans and the Japanese would have been fought under very different circumstances. The Germans would have been able to use Britain’s mighty navy to control the Atlantic Ocean, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the U.S. to supply a war effort in Europe. The Germans were already working on bombers with a range that would have allowed them to bomb the east coast of the United States. They were developing long-range V-10 rockets. They were working on nuclear fission. With Britain gone, there would have been no way for the Allies to disrupt the development of these fearful weapons, as the extensive bombing of Germany from bases in England subsequently accomplished.40
What if the Soviet Union had been conquered, something that likely would have happened had the United States, Great Britain, and their allies not been fighting against a major portion of the German forces on the Western Front? Hitler would have controlled all of Europe, the largest, richest, and most powerful continent in the world. How many believe his appetite would then have been satisfied? Would the Near and Middle East have fallen to his hordes? Would India, and then China? Where would he have stopped?
Several frightening scenarios are laid out by Gregg Easterbrook:
Had Great Britain capitulated in 1940, the United States counterattack against German fascism probably could not have happened, and darkness might reign over Europe still. Alternatively, English capitulation in 1940 might have led to general atomic warfare in Europe, as the United States and Soviet Union attempted to defeat Nazism via the ultimate weapon. Both horrible fates were averted by Britain’s determination to keep fighting no matter what the cost; a case in which bellicosity on the part of a democracy turned out to benefit the entire world.41
Had any of these events occurred, the history of the world would have unfolded in a very different way.
But the British won the Battle of Britain.
And because of that, billions of people who otherwise never would have enjoyed the blessings of liberty are doing so today.
• • •
Ironically, in November 1940, Hugh Dowding was forced into retirement, largely because of his inability to make the RAF capable of night fighting. But he was not forgotten. At his former headquarters at Bentley Priory there is a bronze plaque that reads:
TO HIM THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN AND OF THE FREE WORLD OWE LARGELY THE WAY OF LIFE AND THE LIBERTIES THAT THEY ENJOY TODAY.42
White Cliffs of Dover Southeast Coast of England May 16, 1941
The boy and his little sister stood in the open meadow staring up at the sky, watching the German bombers flying back toward their bases in France. Though the children were young, there was no fear but only hatred in their eyes. Those were the creatures that had so disrupted their lives. Those were the aircraft that had killed a number of their countrymen too large for them to comprehend. But this much they did know: Both of their grandparents were now dead.
Their countrymen had survived the great Battle of Britain, then the far more terrifying Blitz, Germany’s outright attempt to kill or maim as many British civilians as they could. But it hadn’t worked. The English had held. And now, with the war raging in Russia, the Germans had been forced to move on. Throughout the spring, the bombing raids had become much less frequent and less intense. It had been almost a week now since the last German air attack. In fact, things had gotten so much better that their mother had told them that they could soon come home.
As they watched, the German bombers dipped over the cliffs and headed across the open water. Behind them, a single British fighter gave chase. But the bombers were light and fast, and soon they were lost in the fog that hovered over the cold waters of the Channel.
“There they go,” the sister muttered.
Her brother nodded but didn’t reply.
Both of them were silent for a moment; then they turned to walk away. With a final glance, the boy looked back. The last of the bombers were just fading into the mist, the sound of their mighty engines rolling across the open sea
. Though he didn’t know it, he was watching history fly away. This was the last of the massive German air attacks that the British were going to see.
Notes
^1. Easterbrook, Progress Paradox, 329. At this point in history, Great Britain was the only free nation in all of Europe left to resist Hitler’s totalitarianism. In the entire world, there were only about a dozen free nations left to fight the combined tyranny of Germany, Japan, and fascist Italy (see ibid., 71).
^2. Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 207.
^3. As quoted in Manchester, Last Lion, 48.
^4. Manchester, Last Lion, 48.
^5. As quoted in Manchester, Last Lion, 82. Actually, Hitler’s eyes were blue.
^6. Manchester, Last Lion, 76–77.
^7. As quoted in Manchester, Last Lion, 126.
^8. For an exhaustive account of the era of the rise of Hitler, appeasement in England, and the events leading up to the ascendancy of Winston Churchill, see Evans, Coming of the Third Reich; Evans, Third Reich in Power; Manchester, Last Lion. See also Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible, 64–66, 107–26.
^9. As quoted in Manchester, Last Lion, 682–83.
^10. Ibid., 686; emphasis in original.
^11. So named by Winston Churchill in June 1940. See Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 2.
^12. As quoted in Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 3. For information about the almost universally accepted view that “the bomber will always get through,” see Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 3–4, 18–29; Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible, 15–26, 45–54; Manchester, Last Lion, 96–97.
^13. This was a pre–nuclear age version of “mutually assured destruction,” or MAD, which dominated post–World War II thinking for decades.
^14. Germany’s thrust into Belgium, Holland, and France had resulted in Allied forces being trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk in northern France. In a heroic effort, during the last week in May and first week in June, more than 338,000 men were rescued by more than eight hundred civilian and military ships, all while under brutal attack by German aircraft (see Dear, Oxford Companion, 312–13). Before the evacuation, German General Milch had urged the Luftwaffe’s commander, Hermann Göring, that they should invade England while the bulk of its army was trapped in France. Fortunately, his proposal was not accepted (see Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 134–35).
^15. For a discussion of Hitler’s belief that Great Britain could be eliminated as a threat through negotiations or a change in leadership, see Bungay, Most Dangerous Enemy, 9–13, where the author asserts that had Lord Halifax become prime minister, there is no evidence that the nation would not have followed him if he had obtained a peace agreement with Hitler. See also Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 5–6, 78, 135, 153–54, 198–99, 248–49. An interesting question is whether England’s will to fight might have been the same if General Milch’s suggested invasion had taken place in May and if there had been German troops in England.
^16. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/hitler_plans_the_invasion_of_britain. See also http://rafairman.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/directive-16-eliminate-the -english-motherland/; Dear, Oxford Companion, 988.
^17. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/hitler_plans_the_invasion_of_britain. See also http://rafairman.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/directive-16-eliminate-the -english-motherland/.
^18. The British had a powerful navy that could have helped repel an invasion. However, unless it could receive air protection from the RAF, it would have been at the mercy of the Luftwaffe in the English Channel. In fact, the navy had been forced to move to harbors on the west side of Great Britain, out of range of the German air force.
^19. See Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 5; Dear, Oxford Companion, 988–89.
^20. Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible, 102.
^21. For information regarding Dowding’s preparations for the Battle of Britain, see Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible, 58–95, 140; Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 15–16, 33–58, 124–25, 150.
^22. It is interesting to note that while most of the pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain were from Great Britain, some came from other nations—New Zealand, South Africa, Rhodesia, Jamaica, Palestine, and America, to name a few.
^23. See Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 211.
^24. Ibid., 87.
^25. For information about the RAF pilots and their training and losses, see ibid., 86–87, 124, 142–46, 211.
^26. For information about Lord Beaverbrook, who was born in Canada and whose real name was William Maxwell Aitken, see ibid., 130–34.
^27. Throughout the Battle of Britain, pilots on both sides reported enemy losses well in excess of reality. Considering the nature of the conflict, with engagements lasting mere seconds, with aircraft flying toward each other at high speeds (three hundred miles per hour), with cloud cover hindering the ability to observe planes for more than a few seconds, it is easy to understand that such overestimates were the result of pilot error.
^28. Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 85–86.
^29. Ibid., 87.
^30. Ibid., 233.
^31. Ibid., 253–54.
^32. Ibid., 255.
^33. Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible, 216; emphasis in original.
^34. For information about the change in bombing strategy, see Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible, 211–25; Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 244–50, 256–72.
^35. For detailed information about the day-to-day events in the Battle of Britain, see Dear, Oxford Companion, 158–63; Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible, 136–236; Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 141–282. For perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of the Battle of Britain, see Bungay, Most Dangerous Enemy.
^36. Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 282. For information about the Blitz and the RAF’s failure to respond to it adequately, see Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible, 239–52.
^37. Ambrose, American Heritage, 599.
^38. Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 283.
^39. Accurate records regarding Russian military and civilian deaths in the war are difficult to verify. Estimates of Russian losses range from 17 million (see http://www.worldwar2database.com/html/frame5.html) to 28 million (see http:// civilianmilitaryintelligencegroup.com/?p=3337). A 1993 report published by the Russian Academy of Science estimated the total Soviet losses at 26.6 million (Andreev, Naselenie Sovetskogo Soiuza; Ellman and Maksudov, “Soviet Deaths in the Great Patriotic War: A Note,” 671–80).
^40. See Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible, 271–72.
^41. Easterbrook, Progress Paradox, 329.
^42. Korda, With Wings Like Eagles, 119. For more information about Dowding and his irreplaceable role in winning the Battle of Britain, see Fisher, Summer Bright and Terrible; Korda, With Wings Like Eagles.
Conclusion
Where Did Freedom Come From?
Noted American scholar Thomas Sowell relates that once a student asked his professor of history, “Where did slavery come from?”
The professor replied, “You’re asking the wrong question. The real question is: Where did freedom come from?”
Dr. Sowell then goes on to explain that “slavery is one of the oldest and most universal of all human institutions. Slavery has existed among peoples around the world, as far back as recorded history goes. . . . It is the idea of freedom for the great masses of ordinary people that is relatively new.”1
How was freedom born? And how does it survive?
This book was written to answer those most important questions.
We contend that freedom exists because Christian Europe created an environment where an incredibly rare combination of values—commitment to reason, personal accountability, individual freedom, equality, rule of law, the right of self-government—provided a philosophical nursery that allowed these ideas to take root and then to flourish
.
Because of this evolution in human thinking—which took place uniquely in the West, along with a commitment to expend blood and treasure in its defense—billions of people today enjoy the blessing of living free.
History shows that the freedom distinctively found in what we call the Western world did not suddenly emerge out of nothing. This astounding mesh of morals, philosophy, respect for human rights, and understanding of the role of government did not emerge from thin air. It came with a price. And it took a long time. The march of freedom was like a fire in total darkness that smoldered with barely visible embers. From time to time, a breeze might blow to flame it, but then it retreated to an ember once again. Finally, in the form of the United States of America, it burst into full blaze and has served as the beacon of light ever since.
But had it not been for a handful of critical and unpredicted events, freedom would not exist as it does for us today.
If an Assyrian tyrant had not had a change of heart, there would have been no Jewish community in which Christianity could be born.
Had things happened differently at Thermopylae and Salamis, Europe would have been just another domain of Eastern philosophy and culture, leaving no Greek experiments in democracy, no Roman Empire within which these ideas could spread.
If Constantine had not believed that he had seen a cross in the sky, there would have been no Christian Europe, leaving the infant idea of freedom without a friend.
Had it not been for Charles Martel, the death of a Mongol khan, and the bold discovery of the New World, the West would not have survived. Freedom, if it had sprouted, would have never found a home.
Finally, were it not for the daring and courage of a handful of British pilots and the vision of their leaders, all of the values cherished by the West would have been extinguished by the catastrophic events of World War II.
We know that we have only scratched the surface in what we have presented here. There are many other events that altered history, many other themes that we could have followed. We have touched upon only a few, and, in the minds of some, perhaps we have not explored some of the most important.
