Documentary Review: Battle of Britain: The Real Story (2010)

This is an incredible story about the Battle of Britain.  This battle is thought to have been a one-sided affair with Germany having many more aircraft.  However the English had control of the seas and the English Channel.  The battle wasn't as one sided as perhaps supposed.  At first the German air force attempted to attack the British navy from the air.  However there was enough resistance from fighters on the island to help Britain maintain control of the English Channel.  They would also launch attacks against the airports of the Luftwaffe, which kept some of them pinned down not attacking England.  They were made more effective by the use of a new technology, radar.  The attack then changed focus to the Royal Air Force an the radar installation.  Not enough credit was given by the Germans to the radar, and more attack there may have had an effect.  The attacks on the runways was very effective, although the airports remained in service.  A bit more concentration and the Royal Air Force may have been driven from the sky.  However, inadvertently a German plane accidentally dropped its bombs on London.  Winston Churchill ordered a retaliatory bombing of Moscow.  Hitler then lost focus, and the German air attacks began to focus on London civilian targets, rather than the air force.  This film contends however that the Luftwaffe was not very effective against the grass airfields in the first place.  It also contends that different methods of counting the number of planes in a squad.  the number of British planes was greatly underestimated.  As a result, the german airplane superiority began to ware down after repeated attacks.  They were not able to establish air superiority, and the invasion of England did not happen.

Movie Review: Apocalypse: The Second World War: Crushing Defeat

This movie continues the world war documentary which was originally produced in France using colorized original footage.  It was presented in the U.S. first by The National Geographic Channel.  This second episode takes us through the conquering of Poland, and the destruction of the French army.  The result of the fall of Poland was the creation of Jewish slums in most major cities where the Jews were required to live.  In many communities, such as Warsaw, these were surrounded by fences and food was not allowed into the slums.  I guess the first tactic was hope everyone would starve to death.
The fall of France was very interesting, and admittedly was a strategic success for the Germans.  The French expected the Germans to attack through Belgium as they had done in the first World War.  These was the area least defended.  The French had constructed a very lard defensive barrier which stopped at Belgium, who as a neutral country would not allow it.  Also to attack elsewhere the Germans would have to get through the thick forest Ardennes.
Hitler made an initial move like he was attacking through Belgium, and allowed the French to push him back, and thus exposing their flank.  The major thrust of his attack came through the Ardennes.  They were able to overcome the defenses which were less than adequately manned.  The French and British forces were facing being surrounded.  The British commanded that their expeditionary force be evacuated.  Every vessel available in England was sent to evacuate their forces, as well as French forces.  While other French forces were left to defend Dunkirk, thus becoming an expendable rear guard.
The German forces also had the luxury of  air superiority.  They used their planes to stop fleeing refugees, as well as control supply.  They also used them to attack vessels that were fleeing to England.  Some were sunk, but most did survive.
I had always thought from talk radio that the French did not but up much of a fight.  However it was the force at Dunkirk that allowed many to escape.  As a result of the Battle for France over 100,000 French soldiers killed.  Over a million soldiers were captured, and would rot in German POW camps for the next five years.
This episode shows how the British attacked a French fleet, now under control of the French Vichy government which was a puppet German government.   The reason Churchill would send his force against a former ally was to prevent their being used for a cross channel invasion of England. 
The Battle of Britain began then with Hitler trying to win the battle from the air.  The Royal Air Force was devastated.  The lost almost 500 planes and were about at their end.  However the Nazis lost 1000.  Hitler decided to change tactics, and bomb the British cities into submission.  Although this was tragic, the British citizens made bomb shelters in their gardens, or slept in the subways, but still went to work the next day.  The children where sent away.  Had Hitler continued his fight against the British Air Force, we would have defeated them.  However, in focusing on the cities, he gave the air force a chance to regroup.