Germany

On 3rd September1939 England declared war on war mongering Germany because they invaded Poland, having already annexed the Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia.

Asia Pacific

Actually for the commencement of the war we must go as far back as 1931 and to the other side of the world, when Japan embarked on their first move in their expansionist bid to seize land in South East Asia to secure more territory for their bulging population together with supplies of oil and rubber. Their first stepping stone was the invasion of Manchuria. (An area in North East China which has a long history of changing hands between Russia, China and Japan.) However the Japanese were also particularly interested in the British oil and rubber territories of Malay and Burma.

Italy invades Africa Italy, under their Fascist dictator Mussolini, who had seized power in a coup in 1922 was in fact, the first aggressor in Europe, after the First World War, as he marched into the Horn of Africa in 1935. Abyssinia quickly fell to the much more powerful Italian army.

World reactions The world was outraged by all these aggressors, but did nothing.

The cause of this global war was The world wide recession, indeed “the slump”, in the 1920’s which caused a number of leaders to look for growth abroad to take the pressure off the disasters at home. This applied to the Germans, Italians and the Japanese. The result of World War One (1914-18), when Germany lost so much land created a determination to get it back when the time was right. The observation by the Japanese that they were the only country of significance without an Empire and as opposed to the British who had the largest world empire, had no cheap and secure source of oil, rubber (for car tyres), and food. (Rice in their case)

At this time The forum for keeping world peace was the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations. England still had the largest navy in the world built to defend the huge British Empire The English, after World War One, were not in the mood for war. Indeed a debate at Oxford University had come down on the side of those who if asked, would not take up arms for “King and Country”. Germany was ruled by another fascist dictator, Hitler, who was determined to not only get the lands back Germany had lost in the First World War but to rule the whole of Europe (Napoleon Style) based on an ideology of race.

The Germans had for some time preached that as fair skin Arians they were superior to all other races, particularly Jews and Gypsies. Germany was friendly with Russia and although forbidden to build up an army after the First World War, not only did so, but undertook military exercises secretly in Russia where they perfected the use of new military technology particularly, tanks+ planes+ battlefield radio+ fast moving vehicle carried infantry. The technique they developed was called Blitzkrieg or lightning strikes. The French who with the English were on the winning side in the 1914-18 war had a larger army than the Germans, supported by tanks and planes but poor radio. Military commanders thought only in World War One terms so to defend France, they had dug a huge World War One type trench between France and Germany called the Magino Line which they were confidently sitting behind. No modern Blitzkrieg techniques were developed, indeed their cavalry still used horses.

The French like the British had a substantial navy but conducted few naval exercises to hone new battle techniques. The Germans were forbidden to build up a Navy, but did. They also saw the submarine as a much better solution for sinking ships than slugging it out with bigger and better battle ships. The Germans also developed excellent army Blitzkrieg support fighter planes and light bombers. Notably the Messerschmitt 109 and the Junkers 87 dive bomber (Stukas). The only weakness in the Luftwaffe was perhaps with heavy bombers their best bombers were the lightweight Junkers 88 and Heinkel 111. The English were fortunate to have developed two top fighters, the Spitfire and the Hurricane which now everybody knows helped to win the Battle of Britain. As with Germany, England had no large four engined heavy bombers at the start of the war but were quick to develop them.

At sea the English had the biggest Navy but it was stretched to support the Empire world wide. This put both the German, Italian and Japanese Navy’s at an advantage in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Eastern Oceans respectively. All these countries had Aircraft Carriers, Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers, Frigates, Mine Sweepers and submarines. The Americans like Britain were initially reluctant fighters and took a lot of persuading to join the war. See later. When they joined, their fighting capabilities and equipment in all three services was only similar to the British and certainly not up to German standards. But as the Japanese had predicted The Americans were quick to learn.

Pre-war build up.

The British had landed their first troops on friendly French soil by 9th September. What the English did not know was that Hitler had previously agreed with Stalin, the Russian dictator, to attack Poland simultaneously, one from the West and the other from the East and share the spoils.

The Russians invade on the 17th of September. The Poles resist manfully but are no match for the German Blitzkrieg techniques and by the 6th October this battle is over while the British army is still in France.

In the mean time; Sept 5th. USA declares its neutrality.

Sept 6th. The loyal South Africans declare war on Germany.

Sept 10th. The even more loyal Canadians declare war on Germany. Sept 30th General Sikorski forms The Polish Govt. in Exile in Paris

Also Sept 3rd. British cruse liner Athenia sunk by a German submarine (U boat). 28 Americans including tourists killed. The British commence their defensive “convoy” strategy (ships inline protected by naval vessels like Destroyers or Crusers on either side) for all future transatlantic shipping.

Sept 17th. British aircraft carrier Courageous sunk by a German U boat.

Oct 14th. A U boat sails into one of Britain’s most secure harbours, Scapa Flow, and sinks the British battleship Royal Oak with the loss of 800 crew. Scapa Flow is a stretch of water north of Scotland in the Orkney Islands.

Oct 16th. German air force planes (Luftwaffe) bomb two British Cruisers in the Firth of Forth. (Edinburgh Scotland)

During this period Sept/Oct 1939 the English are expecting the Germans to bomb London as a precursor to a main land invasion and there is a mass exodus of children from London, without their parents, into the country where the London kids are welcomed by country folk. The bombing does not happen and after a few months many children go back to their London homes.

1940 May 10th 1940 Eight months after the commencement of war, Winston Churchill at 66 years old becomes Prime Minister of Britain and assumes responsibility for the armed forces.

May 26th-June 4th. Dunkirk. The British and French armies who have been fighting against the well prepared German forces for some nine months are finally surrounded by the Germans in north eastern France. But the majority of the English and many French successfully escape in the operation known as Dunkirk when half a million troops are successfully shipped from Dunkirk, France to Kent, England by a flotilla of naval vessels supported by all the small fishing boats that can be found in time.

June 1940. Commencement of nation wide speeches by Churchill to the British people saying no way will the British ever surrender to the Germans and will fight to the last man and woman. (“We will fight them on the beaches” etc and “I can only offer you blood tears toil and sweat.”)

June 10th The Italians join the war as they see the Germans are winning and attack France on June 20th.

June 12th The Germans take Paris.

June 22nd 1940 France surrenders to the Germans. Actually it is an armistice not a surrender which enables the formation of a new French government to rule southern France and all Frances colonies in for example North Africa and South East Asia. This puppet government under General Petain is headquartered at Vichy and cowtows to all things required by Nazi Germany. Many French see Petain as a traitor notably General de Gaulle who flees to England and the many brave French men and women who stay and form the French underground “Resistance”.

June 24th France surrenders to Italy, again actually an Armistice to save face.

August 17th 1940. “Eagle Day” for the Germans as they commence the “Battle of Britain”.

End of Phase One

England now “stands alone” as the only nation in Europe or indeed the world who is willing to stand up and face Hitler’s obviously excellent military machine. England have had a year, September 1939- August 1940 to: