.

What General Vegard has called the battle of France is over. The battle of Britain is about to begin.

Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life and the long continuity of our institutions and our empires.

The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.

It learns that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war.

If we can stand up to him or Europe may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad sunlit plans.

But if we fail then the whole world including the United States including all that we have known and cared for will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister and perhaps more protracted by the likes of the science.

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duke.

So bear ourselves for this is the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years.

Men will still say this was their finest hour.

Hi everyone this is John Hagridorn and this is one thousand one heroes legends histories and mysteries podcast.

And welcome back to the Battle of Britain Part 2 as I make my case that the incredible air fight over Britain in the summer and fall of 1940 which continued into 1941 and the determination and courage of the British people, civilian and military.

Throughout all this helped in a great way to preserve the cause of freedom in Europe.

Had Britain fallen or capitulated to Hitler their people would have been through process subjugated and retrained and their resources would have been used to fuel the Nazi quest for power.

British power in the air as well as their navy would have been erased. European allies would have lost all hope and Britain would have been re-fortified by its captors to prevent a U.S. invasion.

And the participation of Britain and very likely its colonies as allies on all fronts would have been greatly diminished.

Its colonies may well have fought on but their flow of materials from the home country would have been dwindling severely.

The war would have lasted until U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Berlin and Germany's manufacturing centers provided Hitler didn't come up with the atomic bomb first.

There's more fuel for debate there but for now I need to begin part two of our story as Britain's air war intensifies and German bombers begin to target the civilian population.

Here are the five main phases of the Battle of Britain as stated by the Royal Air Force Museum granting the dates and overlapping of phases make pinpointing each phase to a date and time impossible.

Phase I, June 26th through July 16th, 1940, nuisance raids scattered small-scale probing attacks both day and night armed reconnaissance and mind-lane sorties from July 4th to channel battles, daylight raids against shipping.

Phase II, July 17th through August 12th daylight attacks on shipping intensified through this period, increased attacks on ports and coastal airfields,

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