Iain Ballantynes’ Blog

A great storm blew up in the UK in late August 2006, as the 66^th anniversary of the Battle of Britain approached, when academics stirred up a hotly contested debate by suggesting that it was the Royal Navy, which really prevented an invasion by Hitler’s troops rather than the Royal Air Force. The air power fanatics were typically pugnacious and hurled a few insults the Navy’s way that were completely unjustified while the pro-Navy pundits, finally seizing their chance to right an old wrong, perhaps over-stated the case a little. I could not resist taking part in this national debate and fired off a letter to the Daily Telegraph newspaper. A skilfully edited (concise) version of my letter made it into print. Fortunately I received an opportunity to grandstand at length on the Battle of Britain issue when the Western Morning News newspaper rang and commissioned me to write a comment piece. I had previously written commentaries on modern naval matters for them, so it was a nice change to get my teeth into a historical issue. Coincidentally I had been considering the true role of the Royal Navy in the Battle of Britain while researching and writing my next book, ‘H.M.S. Rodney’. The legendary battleship was held in reserve at Rosyth during that long hot summer of 1940, ready to attack any German invasion ships that were foolish enough to try and cross the Channel. Below is my letter as it appeared in the Daily Telegraph, followed by the (original, unedited) text of the feature published in the Western Morning News on the same day. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the Battle of Britain debate.

Letter as published, in edited format, by the Daily Telegraph, London, 25 August 2006, in response to its coverage of claims by academics that the Royal Navy won the Battle of Britain:

SIR - Only in a Nation as doggedly sea blind as 21^st Century Britain could the role of the Navy, traditionally the Silent Service, be over-looked.

Air power alone has never won a battle, never mind a war - something starkly illustrated by the Israeli failure to cow Hezbollah in the Lebanon.

The Royal Navy was not scared of bombers, as it proved during the Norwegian campaign and at Dunkirk where it evacuated the bulk of the troops (not the so-called ‘little ships’ – a myth).

Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty before becoming prime minister, was well aware of the importance of the Navy in preventing an invasion, but he knew that another myth had to be punctured - namely that ‘air terror’ could cow a Nation into surrender. Puncturing that myth was the real achievement of the RAF during the Battle of Britain.

Iain Ballantyne

Editor, Warships IFR magazine.

‘Battle of Britain Debate’ feature as published in Western Morning News, 25 August 2006:

INTRO:

Controversy has been caused by academics claiming that the Royal Navy won the Battle of Britain, rather than the valiant fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force. Iain Ballantyne argues that any consideration of the full facts will inevitably reach the conclusion that it was the Navy that prevented German invasion, although the efforts of the RAF did indeed achieve a remarkable moral victory.

FEATURE:

It has been called ‘The Spitfire Summer’, but for the sailors of the Royal Navy, the long hot, uncertain weeks of the Battle of Britain offered only boredom, as they waited in their ports for the Germans to try their hand at an invasion. None were more overcome with boredom than the sailors of the legendary Devonport-based battleship HMS Rodney.

After months as the Home Fleet flagship, and having narrowly escaped a serious blow from a German bomb off Norway that April, the Rodney left Scapa Flow in late August 1940, heading for Rosyth Dockyard, providing an opportunity for her sailors and marines to at last enjoy some leave. Some hoped for an opportunity catch the train south to their families in Plymouth, but they were to be frustrated, as they were all required to stay close at hand, in case Rodney was required to sail out and attack German invasion ships. Winston Churchill remained so confident in Royal Navy firepower as the ultimate deterrent that he made himself unpopular with his Admirals by insisting that a battleship, or battleships, should be at Rosyth despite the risks from air attack. Churchill knew that if the German invasion flotillas ever left their ports the truly decisive battle would be fought at sea, not in the air. It would be down to Rodney and her fighting consorts to destroy the Nazi invaders and for that reason he called the Devonport battleship, and her Portsmouth-based sister, HMS Nelson, ‘The Captains of the Gate.’ At the time they were the most modern battleships the Royal Navy had, despite being completed as long ago as the late 1920s.

IT is a well-known fact that, while the RAF’s fighter pilots played a key role in blunting the so-called invincible Nazi war machine, it was the British navy, fighting at sea from the moment war was declared in September 1939, which really gave Hitler pause for thought. Only in a Nation as doggedly sea blind as 21^st Century Britain could the role of the Navy, traditionally the Silent Service, now be so over-looked that people are shocked by the assertion that the brave fighter pilots of the RAF did not save Britain from Nazi invasion single-handedly. The RAF has always enjoyed superb PR, due to the glamour of flying, but the reality is that air power alone has never won a battle never mind a war, something starkly illustrated by the Israeli failure to beat Hezbollah in the Lebanon. Similarly, modern navies and armies cannot win wars on their own. The truth is that the Royal Navy was not scared of bombers, as it proved during the Norwegian campaign and at Dunkirk where it evacuated the bulk of the troops NOT the so-called ‘little ships’ (another myth that endures). By the way it is worth pointing out that the German Navy suffered severe losses in Norway from which it never really recovered, including a cruiser sunk by Royal Navy dive-bombers, so it knew full well the risks that it would run in any cross-channel invasion. People forget that the Germans had not a single full-size battleship at their disposal in the summer of 1940 and that their U-boat arm was not yet huge.

Certainly the German fleet was not up to the job of fighting off half a dozen British battleships, scores of destroyers and dozens of submarines. The battle-hardened Royal Navy would have ripped the German invasion ships to pieces.

The bomber threat was all-too familiar to the Royal Navy, as its ships were almost continuously under air attack at Scapa Flow and the Norwegian campaign of April-June 1940 had seen intensive air assault against British warships. The British fleet never hesitated to do its duty despite such a threat and both mines and U-boats were something it was accustomed to dealing with.

To claim otherwise is a slur on the many thousands of young men who gave their lives at sea in the defence of Britain, without the benefit of a nice soft bed and warm beer to return to each night. Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty prior to becoming Prime Minister, was obviously well aware of the importance of the Navy in preventing an invasion, but he knew that another myth had to be punctured, namely that ‘Air Terror’ could cow a Nation into surrender. Puncturing that myth was the real achievement of the RAF during the Battle of Britain, for it finally rammed home to Hitler that the stubborn Brits would not negotiate and so he had to invade Russia – his real enemy – while still fighting on a second front. People should never under-estimate the contribution of the Royal Navy to final victory in WW2, nor should they engage in point-scoring air power versus sea power games without telling the full story.

The story of ‘The Few’ winning the Battle of Britain is awe-inspiring and they deserve their place in history. However, so do ‘The Many’, those thousands of sailors and marines who sat and waited for Hitler to take his gamble but, fortunately, never had to fight a pitched battle in the English Channel in the summer of 1940.

• Iain Ballantyne is the author of several naval history books. He is currently working on the story of HMS Rodney, detailing the ship’s part in deterring German invasion, her key role in destroying the Nazi battleship Bismarck and how she saved Allied troops from disaster in the D-Day beachhead. ‘H.M.S. RODNEY’ is to be published next year by Pen & Sword Maritime and will contain remarkable eyewitness accounts of war at sea.