The Sound of Drums - A British Hearts of Iron II AAR
Part Forty
1st -12th July 1940
With the fall of France and the rejection of any form of negotiated surrender from Britain, it was widely expected that Germany would turn its full might on the British Isles. With airbases in occupied France, Belgium and the Netherlands under their control, as well as additional planes from Hungary, Italy and Romania, the Luftwaffe could unleash its full strength. It didnt.
Prime Minister Sharuminar had always made quite public his belief that, while invasion was unlikely, England would probably suffer a tremendous bombardment from Axis bombers. For this reason alone, Chief E350tb decided on abandoning any notion of offensive campaigns throughout July, instead grounding his own bombers and creating an air-shield around England and the British coast. There were to be fighter squadrons in the air around the clock, with additional reserve squadrons always on standby. The minute that an enemy squadron was confirmed - and thanks to the Radar network it was always well in advance - at least one British squadron was on an intercept course with the enemy.
To the surprise of everyone in Cabinet and High Command, the Axis bomber fleets were rarely given as escort, and usually attacked in groups of three air-wings or less. Never was there more than one raid at a time, and the only attacks were on British fleets in port. Thanks to the E350tb system, the bomber attacks were nearly always intercepted before enemy planes even reached their targets, let alone release their payloads.
Map showing a German bomber attack, RAF fighters are already in the air.
It seemed that Hitler had his attention fixed elsewhere, or that he had discounted any possibility that Britain was even a threat anymore. For a worried Cabinet, it seemed much more likely that the weak attempts on Britain was a ploy, and Hitler hoped to fool Britain into weakening its defences. How the Cabinet scoffed at the thinking of that silly man in Berlin. Why, not only were the coastal defences along the Portsmouth-Dover-Norwich Line strengthened in mid-July, but the fortifications were extended to Plymouth! In addition, rather than have the Royal Army trust their troops would be able to improvise a defence should the Germans arrive, a new command structure was announced with Headquarters based in London. Britain was, as far as the Cabinet was concerned, defended.
Satisfied that their homes were safe, attention turned to the rest of the Empire.
18 divisions had been evacuated from France, and that was 18 divisions that could be used to better effect than simple home guard duty. The BEF as it had been was finally dissolved on the 5th of July, separating into three groups to replace the Australian divisions in Norway, reinforce the Far East and for launching a second front in Libya. Of the last group, it was believed that it could be back in action as early as August, hopefully sealing the fate of Italian ambitions in Africa.
To the soldiers heading to Norway to replace the 1st Australian Infantry, their part in the war was over. It was believed that Hitler had given up on his desire to take the country after the disastrous failures of the Kriegsmarine in April, but apparently this couldnt be further from the truth. On the 6th July, German troops finally managed a successful landing in Bergen. Norway had been invaded
