Invasion, 1940 - Derek Robinson

What stopped Hitler in 1940 -- why did he not attempt to invade Britain? And if he had, would he have been successful? Most of us would answer that 'The Few' of Fighter Command saved Britain from certain invasion, because every historian of World War Two, from Winston Churchill onwards, has said so. Nevertheless, in this fresh look at events Derek Robinson asks some basic, commonsense questions with surprising results: the Battle of Britain could not, and therefore did not, stop Operation Sealion, the planned German invasion.

This is a big claim, but the reasoning is straightforward. Robinson's questions are: Why does the accepted view dovetail the Battle of Britain with Operation Sealion? How did the Battle prevent an invasion? Why is it taken for granted that an air battle could halt an assault from the sea? And was the Luftwaffe's failure to destroy the RAF, plus some bad weather, really enough to persuade Hitler to cancel Sealion?

That is what Hitler said, and Churchill claimed the great victory for 'The Few'. But Derek Robinson is convinced that the RAF could not have prevented Sealion crossing the Channel, any more than the Luftwaffe could have ensured it. The real obstacle was a force that both Churchill and Hitler failed -- for different reasons -- to acknowledge.

The skill and courage of the Spitfire and Hurricane pilots are undisputed, and Derek Robinson knows well the extent of their sacrifice -- he is the author of many celebrated books depicting the lives of fighter pilots in both world wars. Here he challenges a verdict that has been in place for fifty years and his views will be unwelcome to some. But as well as relating the Battle of Britain with all his trademark vigour and skill, Robinson succeeds in presenting the facts in a way that will certainly make us question our easy acceptance of the old story.