Malta hoarded precious munitions and consumables. From India to Singapore, Canada to Australia, raw materials were stockpiled and economic collapse threatened in numerous market sectors. And the United States, trapped between isolationism and German gold, remained unwilling to come to the aid of its old ally.
On May 10, 1940, Britain’s struggle took a turn for the worse as Germany unleashed its military might on the Low Countries and France. By May 26, the BEF and isolated portions of the French Army stood with their backs to the Channel near the port of Dunkirk, praying for a miracle that never came. Pushed by Hitler to drive the hated British from the continent forever, the Wehrmacht, ably supported by the Luftwaffe, slammed ever forward, closing the last Channel port on May 29. General Erwin Rommel of the 7th Panzer Division accepted the official surrender of the BEF the following day. The Royal Navy, aided by many gallant civilian vessels, had managed to evacuate fewer than 30,000 British soldiers, most without even rifles, while suffering heavy losses from German land-based aircraft.
France surrendered on June 22, Hitler dancing a jig as French representatives signed the terms of surrender in the same rail car in which Germany had been shamed in 1918. The terms were harsh: occupation by German troops for an indeterminate period, loss of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, disbandment of France’s army and air force, surrender of its navy to Italian forces (Italy had at last joined the war—after Germany had beaten France), reparations (the amount to be determined “at a later date”), and forced participation in the Danzig Pact.
By mid-July the Luftwaffe had relocated its forward air bases to France. On July 28, Hitler unleashed Operation Eagle, designed to drive the Royal Navy from the Channel coast and the Royal Air Force from the Channel skies. Supported by three carrier groups from the North Sea, the German Air Force smashed shipping and repair facilities as well as major airfields throughout eastern England. On August 23, Prime Minister Winston Churchill quietly ordered the remnants of the Home Fleet to Canada, then broke the news to Parliament with those famous words, “Sometimes blood, sweat, and tears are of little avail …”
In the early morning hours of September 18, 1940, English residents near the coasts of Sussex woke to the sound of numerous planes flying inland. Many rushed to their cellars, waiting for the inevitable bombs. But this time the German payloads fell softly from the sky. Parachutists of the Wehrmacht’s veteran 7th Flieger Division seized critical road junctions and towns, isolating a long stretch of England’s coastline, while their comrades of the SS Parachute Brigade dropped directly (and with heavy casualties) onto four British airfields, allowing the rapid deployment of reinforcements from the Wehrmacht’s 22nd Air Landing Division. At dawn, units of the British Home Guard, supported by the pitifully few remnants of the regular army gutted at Dunkirk, watched with horror as German tanks swam from the sea alongside the flat-bottomed landing craft of the SS Liebstandarte and Das Reich Divisions. 24 The British troops fought bravely, but short of experience and equipment, and isolated by the German parachutists to their rear, the issue was never in doubt. By the end of the day, SS troopers from the beaches had linked with their comrades from the skies, securing a perimeter that included the port facilities at Brighton and Worthing.
Over the next two weeks, the SS slowly expanded the perimeter against determined resistance and piecemeal counterattacks. From captured air bases, the Luftwaffe dominated the skies. During that time, German armored units and heavy artillery rapidly off-loaded at the captured ports, while infantry battalions poured across the beaches. On October 2, the XXX Panzer Corps (two armored and a motorized infantry division) burst from
On May 10, 1940, Britain’s struggle took a turn for the worse as Germany unleashed its military might on the Low Countries and France. By May 26, the BEF and isolated portions of the French Army stood with their backs to the Channel near the port of Dunkirk, praying for a miracle that never came. Pushed by Hitler to drive the hated British from the continent forever, the Wehrmacht, ably supported by the Luftwaffe, slammed ever forward, closing the last Channel port on May 29. General Erwin Rommel of the 7th Panzer Division accepted the official surrender of the BEF the following day. The Royal Navy, aided by many gallant civilian vessels, had managed to evacuate fewer than 30,000 British soldiers, most without even rifles, while suffering heavy losses from German land-based aircraft.
France surrendered on June 22, Hitler dancing a jig as French representatives signed the terms of surrender in the same rail car in which Germany had been shamed in 1918. The terms were harsh: occupation by German troops for an indeterminate period, loss of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, disbandment of France’s army and air force, surrender of its navy to Italian forces (Italy had at last joined the war—after Germany had beaten France), reparations (the amount to be determined “at a later date”), and forced participation in the Danzig Pact.
By mid-July the Luftwaffe had relocated its forward air bases to France. On July 28, Hitler unleashed Operation Eagle, designed to drive the Royal Navy from the Channel coast and the Royal Air Force from the Channel skies. Supported by three carrier groups from the North Sea, the German Air Force smashed shipping and repair facilities as well as major airfields throughout eastern England. On August 23, Prime Minister Winston Churchill quietly ordered the remnants of the Home Fleet to Canada, then broke the news to Parliament with those famous words, “Sometimes blood, sweat, and tears are of little avail …”
In the early morning hours of September 18, 1940, English residents near the coasts of Sussex woke to the sound of numerous planes flying inland. Many rushed to their cellars, waiting for the inevitable bombs. But this time the German payloads fell softly from the sky. Parachutists of the Wehrmacht’s veteran 7th Flieger Division seized critical road junctions and towns, isolating a long stretch of England’s coastline, while their comrades of the SS Parachute Brigade dropped directly (and with heavy casualties) onto four British airfields, allowing the rapid deployment of reinforcements from the Wehrmacht’s 22nd Air Landing Division. At dawn, units of the British Home Guard, supported by the pitifully few remnants of the regular army gutted at Dunkirk, watched with horror as German tanks swam from the sea alongside the flat-bottomed landing craft of the SS Liebstandarte and Das Reich Divisions. 24 The British troops fought bravely, but short of experience and equipment, and isolated by the German parachutists to their rear, the issue was never in doubt. By the end of the day, SS troopers from the beaches had linked with their comrades from the skies, securing a perimeter that included the port facilities at Brighton and Worthing.
Over the next two weeks, the SS slowly expanded the perimeter against determined resistance and piecemeal counterattacks. From captured air bases, the Luftwaffe dominated the skies. During that time, German armored units and heavy artillery rapidly off-loaded at the captured ports, while infantry battalions poured across the beaches. On October 2, the XXX Panzer Corps (two armored and a motorized infantry division) burst from
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