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Adlertag
''Adlertag'' ("Eagle Day") was the first day of ''Unternehmen Adlerangriff'' ("Operation Eagle Attack"), an air operation by Nazi Germany's ''Luftwaffe'' (German air force) intended to destroy the British Royal Air Force (RAF). The operation came during the Battle of Britain after Britain rejected all overtures for a negotiated peace with Germany. However, ''Adlertag'' and subsequent operations failed to destroy the RAF or gain local air superiority. On 16 July 1940 Hitler gave the German armed forces (''Wehrmacht'') a directive ( Directive No. 16) that ordered provisional preparations for invasion of Britain. This operation was codenamed Operation Sea Lion (''Unternehmen Seelöwe''). Before this could be carried out, air superiority or air supremacy was required. The ''Luftwaffe'' was to destroy the RAF in order to prevent it from attacking the invasion fleet or providing protection for the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, which might attempt to prevent a landing by sea. On 1 Augus ...
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Battle Of Britain
The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces."92 Squadron – Geoffrey Wellum."
''Battle of Britain Memorial Flight'' via ''raf.mod.uk.''. Retrieved: 17 November 2010, archived 2 March 2009.
It takes its name from This was their finest hour, the speech given by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons on 18 June: "What Maxime Weygand, General Weygand called the 'Battle of France' is over. I expect that the Battle ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was to have taken place during the Battle of Britain, nine months after the start of the Second World War. Following the Battle of France and that country's capitulation, Adolf Hitler, the German Führer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, hoped the British government would accept his offer to end the state of war between the two. He considered invasion to be a last resort, to be used only if all other options had failed. As a precondition for the invasion of Great Britain, Britain, Hitler demanded both air superiority, air and naval superiority over the English Channel and the proposed landing sites. The German forces achieved neither at any point of the war. Further, both Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the German High Command and Hitler himself held serious doubts about the prospects for success. Nevertheless, both the German Army (1 ...
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Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German military officer and convicted war crime, war criminal who served in the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. In a career which spanned both world wars, Kesselring reached the rank of the (Field marshal) and became one of Nazi Germany's most highly decorated commanders. Kesselring joined the Bavarian Army as an officer cadet in 1904, serving in the artillery branch. He completed training as a Observation balloon, balloon observer in 1912. During World War I, he served on both the Western Front (World War I), Western and Eastern Front (World War I), Eastern fronts and was posted to the Army Staff (Germany), Army Staff, despite not having attended the War Academy (Kingdom of Bavaria), War Academy. Kesselring served in the after the war, but was discharged in 1933 to become head of the Department of Administration at the Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Ministry of Aviation, where he became involved in the re-e ...
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Hugh Dowding
Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, (24 April 1882 – 15 February 1970) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Operation Sea Lion, Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain. Born in Moffat, Scotland, Dowding was an officer in the British Army in the 1900s and early 1910s. He joined the Royal Flying Corps at the start of the First World War and went on to serve as a fighter pilot and then as commanding officer of No. 16 Squadron. During the inter-war years he became Air Officer Commanding Fighting Area, Air Defence of Great Britain and then joined the Air Council as Air Member for Supply and Research. In July 1936, Dowding was appointed chief of the newly created RAF Fighter Command. During the Battle of Britain in the Second World War, Dowding's Fighter Command ...
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RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The command continued until November 1943, when it was disbanded and the RAF fighter force was split into two categories, defence and attack. The defensive force became Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) and the offensive force became the RAF Second Tactical Air Force. ADGB was renamed Fighter Command in October 1944 and continued to provide defensive patrols around Britain. It was disbanded for the second time in 1968, when it was subsumed by the new Strike Command. Origins On 20 May 1926, the forerunner of Fighter Command was established as a group within Inland Area. On 1 June, Fighting Area was transferred to the Air Defence of Great Britain. Fighting Area was raised to command status in 1932 and renamed Fighter Command on 1 May ...
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Oberkommando Der Luftwaffe
The (; abbreviated OKL) was the high command of the air force () of Nazi Germany. History The was organized in a large and diverse structure led by Reich minister and supreme commander of the Air force () Hermann Göring. Through the Ministry of Aviation () Göring controlled all aspects of aviation in Germany, civilian and military alike. This organization was established in the peacetime period predating the German involvement in the Spanish Civil War. In early 1937, Göring announced the reorganization of the Reich Air Ministry into military and civilian branches. The military branch was to be led by the Air Force High Command () with its chief and general staff. However, the separation of military from civil aviation was incomplete and fragmented. Some parts of the military branch were left under the control of the General Inspector of the Air force, Field marshal general () Erhard Milch. These were: * Central Branch * General Air Office * All the inspectorates The ...
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Reichsmarschall
(; ) was an honorary military rank, specially created for Hermann Göring during World War II, and the highest rank in the . It was senior to the rank of (, equivalent to field marshal, which was previously the highest rank in the ), but was merely a ceremonial appointment to accentuate Göring's position as Hitler's designated successor. No actual subordination of the other field marshals or a superior position of the holder followed from it. It was equivalent to General of the Armies in the United States, or in other countries. History Until July 1940, the highest rank in the German military was . At the beginning of World War II, the only active holder of that rank was Hermann Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the ''Luftwaffe''. On 19 July 1940, following the German victory in the Battle of France, Adolf Hitler held a ceremony in which he promoted twelve generals to the newly awarded rank of . During the same ceremony, Göring was elevated to the newly created rank of , ...
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France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and List of islands of France, many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean, giving it Exclusive economic zone of France, one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany to the northeast; Switzerland to the east; Italy and Monaco to the southeast; Andorra and Spain to the south; and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its Regions of France, eighteen integral regions—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of and hav ...
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Home Fleet
The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First World War between 1902 and 1904 the Admiralty reorganised its ships in home waters into a permanent force called the Home Squadron. At the beginning of 1905, it was renamed the Channel Fleet. In 1907 a new Home Fleet was formed from ships in reserve and new ships, and in 1909 the Channel Fleet was merged into it, forming the principal fleet in British waters. In 1912 it was renamed the Home Fleets, formed of the First, Second and Third. On the outbreak of the First World War the First Fleet became the Grand Fleet. When the Grand Fleet was redistributed after the war, the reserve fleet was briefly named Home Fleet in 1919 before being renamed, and after the Invergordon Mutiny in 1931 the Atlantic Fleet was renamed Home Fleet in 1932. Du ...
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Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early Middle Ages, medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Kingdom of France, France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the English Navy of the early 16th century; the oldest of the British Armed Forces, UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service. From the early 18th century until the World War II, Second World War, it was the world's most powerful navy. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire, and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy's ability to assert naval superior ...
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Air Supremacy
Air supremacy (as well as air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of command of the sea. Air power has increasingly become a powerful element of military campaigns; military planners view having an environment of at least air superiority as a necessity. Air supremacy allows increased bombing efforts, tactical air support for ground forces, paratroop assaults, airdrops and simple cargo plane transfers, which can move ground forces and supplies. Air power is a function of the degree of air superiority and numbers or types of aircraft, but it represents a situation that defies black-and-white characterization. The degree of a force's air control is a zero-sum game with its opponent's; increasing control by one corresponds to decreasing control by the other. Air forces unable to contest for air superiori ...
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