233: The Battle After Britain Pt. 1 - Sleeping Sea Lion

History of the Second World War

Wesley Livesay

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.5 • 626 Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the aftermath of Battle of Britain Day, both sides struggled to understand what had really changed in the aerial war over Britain. While the Luftwaffe leadership blamed their fighter pilots for the costly losses on September 15th, faulty intelligence drastically underestimated RAF strength at just 177 fighters when the actual number was 659—a miscalculation that would prove decisive. As the German high command faced the reality that their air campaign had failed to achieve air superiority, the logistical challenges of Operation Sea Lion became insurmountable, from RAF Bomber Command's devastating "Battle of the Barges" to the impossible timeline for moving armored divisions across the Channel. On September 17th, Hitler quietly postponed the invasion—not with fanfare, but with a bureaucratic whimper that effectively ended Germany's hopes of conquering Britain in 1940. The final daylight raids of September would see the Luftwaffe's grand campaign dissolve into desperate, costly attacks that only confirmed Fighter Command's continued strength, marking the end of one of history's most crucial air battles. Contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to advertise on History of the Second World War. History of the Second World War is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:09.4	Hello, this is Matt from the Explorers podcast.
0:12.6	I want to invite you to join me on the voyages and journeys of the most famous explorers in the history of the world.
0:18.3	These are the thrilling and captivating stories of Vigllan, Shackleton, Lewis, and Clark,
0:23.0	and so many other famous, and not so famous, adventures from throughout history.
0:27.4	Go to Explorerspodcast.com or just look us up on your podcast app.
0:31.6	That's the Explorers Podcast. Hello everyone and welcome to history of the Second World War, episode 233, after the Battle of Britain part one, sleeping sea lion.
0:53.6	This week, a big thank you goes out to Michael, Christopher, and Philippe for supporting
0:57.4	the podcast by becoming members.
0:59.4	Members can access to ad-free versions of all of the podcast episodes, plus special member-only
1:04.0	episodes roughly once a month.
1:06.3	Head on over to History of the Second World War.com slash members to find out more.
1:11.7	With the advantages we have with looking back at history,
1:15.0	we know that September 15th, 1940,
1:17.9	forever immortalized as Battle of Britain Day,
1:20.6	would be the last maximum effort day for the Luftwaffe
1:23.6	in their attempts to decisively cripple the RAF
1:26.7	and its ability to respond to a possible
1:29.1	German invasion, which the Germans had codenamed Operation C-Liamp.
1:33.3	However, at the time, on both sides of the English Channel, it was far from clear that, as
1:38.8	the sun set on the 15th, those types of aerial engagements would not be seen again.
1:44.1	On the British side, they were completely
	...

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