1064 Ch. 26 • World War 11Fearing a German attack, the British government interned German sub
jects, including some of the 50,000 Jewish refugees from Nazism. In some
places, officials took down road signs and place names, and shopkeepers
shredded local maps to disorient any German invading army. For an inva
sion of Britain to succeed, the German air force (the Luftwaffe) had to con
trol the skies. The ensuing Battle of Britain, fought over the Channel and
above southern England, lasted four dramatic months, from the very end of
July through October 31, 1940, although most of the climactic duels in the
sky took place in August and September. The German bombing “blitz” of
London began on September 7. Londoners took to the subway stations and
underground air-raid shelters for protection. The British used radar, first
developed in 1935, to detect German attacks. Recently built British Spit
fires and Hurricanes reached greater speeds than the German Messer
schmitt fighters and could break through fighter escorts to get to the
cumbersome German bombers. Hitler ordered the bombing of key indus
tries and aircraft factories in England even as British bombers appeared
over Berlin in August, demonstrating that Britain was far from defeated.
Britain lost 650 fighter planes, but factories were producing replace
ments and new pilots were being trained. As German air losses mounted,
the Luftwaffe turned to less accurate night bombing to keep the British
fighters out of the air. At the end of September 1940, Hitler was forced to
abandon his plan to invade England. Churchill called the Battle of Britain
his country’s “finest hour.”
(Left) Evacuating children from London during the German bombing “blitz,’- (Right) British Prime Minister Winston Churchill amid the rubble in