{"product_id":"who-won-the-battle-of-britain-by-hr-allen-dfc-1976-paperback","title":"Who Won The Battle of Britain by HR Allen DFC: 1976 Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor: Wing Commander HR Allen DFC\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher: 1976, Panther Books\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePagination: 223\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat: Paperback + plastic sleeve\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: Fine, with shelf wear and a crease along the spine.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eH.R. \"Dizzy\" Allen DFC was a Battle of Britain ace of 66 Spitfire squadron and we honour him as one of The Few for saving Britain from invasion. His own story is in: Fighter Squadron, Battle For Britain, Ten Fighter Boys and other books he wrote. This said, the book: Who Won the Battle of Britain was heavily criticised by most serious and respected historians who knew the true facts of why Britain won in 1940. My own opinion is that we should have a more holistic veiw of 1940 including the deterrent effect of the Royal Navy, the Army and the RAF including the threat of Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Command. That said, the main reason invasion was called off was the Germans were held to a draw in airfighting, suffering severe losses, 5 times the number of aircrew losses and twice the number of aircraft, all caused by RAF Fighter Command. This air fighting from July to mid September, with a strong defence and no sign of Fighter Command drastically weakened, despite the losses inflicted by the Lufwaffe in bombing aircraft factories, radar stations, airfields and other targets and in the losses they caused to the RAF through air fighting, was the reason that air superiority-the key to launching invasion, was never held long enough to control the invasion beaches , ports, sea corridors and air corridors for the invasion ships or airborne troops to land. Had the RAF failed,been weakened and forced North- the Luftwaffe would next have attacked the RN in ports and at sea, without RAF air protection and been forced to withdraw further North or to fight from Canada, as was planned by Churchill, should losses become unsustainable. The RN proved it could not survive under sustained air attacks: in Norway, at Dunkirk , during the Battle of the Atlantic, the Channel Convoy battles it lost in 1940, requiring rerouting of cargo around the other coast-out of Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter escorted bomber range- or overland, which was an acceptance of defeat under air attack by Stukas and other aircraft. Later still, convoys were turned back or forced to scatter due to air attack: PQ17 Peewit, Malta convoys, Russian convoys, Middle East convoys and later also against the Japanese suffering the losses of Prince of Wales, Repulse and other warships. The RN was a deterrent, as mentioned but the real reason was that the RAF denied air superiority needed for invasion or for the next stage to take place-to severely weaken the RN, bomb ports and mine shipping lanes, all added to the threat of losses from air attack, U-Boat and E-Boat attacks and the warships of the German Navy working together along with the Channel Long Range guns. Most pilots I spoke to acknowledged the RN worried Hitler and his Army and Navy commanders but these RAF veterans of The Few, along with other war veterans, told me the losses to ships could not be sustained. They said that before the Invasion set sail, the RN would be neutralised. The main thing is this: Had the RAF failed to deny air superiority, the RN could not sustain huge losses, as proven over and over again, the Germans would have landed. All this we will never know because the RAF prevented us relying on the RN and the Army to throw back the German invasion. This book argues many things besides the RN threat, it denigrates the decisions of Dowding and Park, the pre-war RAF strategies of men such as Trenchard, H R Allen destroys the glory that is due his fellow aircrew and says the victory was down to the RN not The Few-which is shameful. Some modern authors -since this attack on established and proven facts, try to change history but the truth is told in over 600 books about the Battle of Britain-largely written with accounts from people who were there at the time, in the air, on the ground-on both sides and the arguments put forward in this book and newpaper articles, are thought provoking but flawed and on looking into each claim seperately, do not stand up to other evidence. The book is well written and, I suspect, designed to sell books, make controversy and make people rethink the battle. Where Dizzy Allen goes wrong is laying the decision to cancel invasion upon the threat of the RN. If this was true, then Hitler would never have told the Germans, or Britain, that he was coming to England, or that he would make an end of Britain as shown in many plans, documents, some showing SS extermination camps, concentration camps, etc. The cost of his keeping his Army and Navy ready for invasion, the cost of mofifying barges and ships and other equipment, the defence of these military targets in the Invasion Barge ports such as Ostende, cost millions and this was more than a bluff to sideline Russia. At the time he was serious about forcing Britain to negotiate surrender or peace terms, to remove them as a threat whilst he finished Russia then returned to Occupy Britain. As Britain refused to play ball, he had to remove Britain as a threat. The RAF, not the RN, won the Battle of Britain.The real Battle of Britain was never fought on land or at sea-thanks to the RAF fighter pilots and aircrew, backed up by those on the ground, supported by the factory workers, groundcrew, controllers, the work of the AA, Army and Navy and the will of the people not to give in, held together by Winston Churchill. Dowding had won this battle by his foresight, pre-war, with Radar and the Spitfire, Hurricane and other aspects he was involved with. Park won the 11 Group battle by his masterful control of the most fought over planned invasion area of the South East, backed up by support from the other groups. Bomber and Coastal Command kept pressure on the Germans by mining shipping lanes, bombing ships and airfields, factories and army camps and forcing a large force of the Luftwaffe kept for defence which could have been used against Britain. All played their part-all formed the spear the stopped Hitler but the point of that spear was the RAF Fighter Command. Buy the book for a good read, not least for his account of the top 17 aces of the battle scoring over ten victories-again he is wrong: Frantisek claimed 17, Lock however scored most in the period with 21, McKellar had 19 and Lacey had 18 victories between July and October 1940. Had Dizzy been alive today, he would have been invited to a debate online or on air, together with other fighter pilots, Royal Navy experts, RAF historians, Luftwaffe historians and others knowledgable about what really happened in September of 1940 when the postponement and eventual cancellation of Operation Sealion was decided upon. Hitler lost face, lost his first battle in this war that had been going his way and in saving face, stated, after the effect, that he was never serious and that the real enemy was Russia. All evidence, speeches, actions, logistics and other evidence support the case for an invasion if not risking heavy losses. However Fighter Command took the Germans on and delayed their ability to invade from July, August to late September when the weather proved too bad and too late in the year to rely on tides and favorable weather for resupplies by sea and by air-which would cause failure, had he tried. In his delaying, the RAF fought the Luftwaffe to a draw in the air. How they won was by not losing air supieriority and by preventing Hitler`s aims for Britain and removing the threat of invasion. The RN played a part but this was only part of the reason, the real reason is contained in many serious books of the period such as: Battle of Britain-Then and Now, The Narrow Margin, and others. Who won the Battle of Britain? Britain did-or, more importantly, did not lose. Paul Davies Aviation Historian.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Military History Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67671768334635,"sku":"18379","price":34.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1022\/1289\/5019\/files\/who-won-the-battle-of-britain-by-hr-allen-dfc-1976-paperback_18379_main_original.jpg?v=1791256967","url":"https:\/\/militaryhistorybooks.com\/products\/who-won-the-battle-of-britain-by-hr-allen-dfc-1976-paperback","provider":"Military History Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}