June 17th 1940, the defeated French signed an armistice and quit World War II. Hitler then turned his attention to Britain and started making an invasion plan called “Operation Sea Lion.” The plan was to get control of the air because if they had control of the air, then they would have control of the English Channel. The Germans needed to control the English Channel so that the British Navy would not be able to attack their invasion barges which were planning on landing at the Kent and Sussex beaches. Hitler was so confident that he would win the Battle of Britain, that he made thorough plans of who would rule Britain after it was conquered and his propaganda machines already made a newsreel of the ‘victorious’ German soldiers and the British they had
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They evacuated children from cities and other hazardous areas to safer areas, often the countryside. Air raid shelters called “Anderson shelters” were issued on request by city councils to city houses. Gas masks were distributed to everyone, even babies. Black out procedures begun at night to make cities harder to see. Volunteer “Fire Watchers” were tasked to look for fires from observation posts located at the top of high buildings during air-raids and report their observations to the fire and rescue service by phone call. The government also prepared a multi-level strategy to deal with the upcoming war. Lookouts were placed to report enemy activity at all potentially suitable landing sites, some beaches were heavily mined, and obstacles were placed on the threatened beaches including anti-tanks and anti- landing craft devices. The ringing of the church bells was band to allow their emergency use as an invasion warning, this was a fallback system in case the Germans interrupted conventional communications. Furthermore, all road signs were taken down to make navigation more difficult for invasion forces. The manufacturing of the RAF’s latest the Spitfire and Hurricane, were sped up. The British
They evacuated children from cities and other hazardous areas to safer areas, often the countryside. Air raid shelters called “Anderson shelters” were issued on request by city councils to city houses. Gas masks were distributed to everyone, even babies. Black out procedures begun at night to make cities harder to see. Volunteer “Fire Watchers” were tasked to look for fires from observation posts located at the top of high buildings during air-raids and report their observations to the fire and rescue service by phone call. The government also prepared a multi-level strategy to deal with the upcoming war. Lookouts were placed to report enemy activity at all potentially suitable landing sites, some beaches were heavily mined, and obstacles were placed on the threatened beaches including anti-tanks and anti- landing craft devices. The ringing of the church bells was band to allow their emergency use as an invasion warning, this was a fallback system in case the Germans interrupted conventional communications. Furthermore, all road signs were taken down to make navigation more difficult for invasion forces. The manufacturing of the RAF’s latest the Spitfire and Hurricane, were sped up. The British