Review of "Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain," by Richard Collier

 Review of

Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain, by Richard Collier, ISBN 0785816003

Five out of five stars

A true existential battle

 There were so many battles in the Second World War that it is hard to justify the labeling of any single one as existential. Yet, the Battle of Britain or the air war over Britain in late 1940 was truly existential for the British Empire. For if the German air forces had been able to gain control of the air over the British coast facing France, the Germans could have launched an invasion.

 People look back at the Allied invasion of Normandy with the massive force used to storm the beaches and think that the Germans would have had to use similar force to invade Britain. However, the defending Germans were well armed and fortified, In 1940, the British coast was not. Some areas were defended by little more than pitchforks, hunting shotguns and stout sticks.  Even with their limited naval means, the Germans could have made a strong run at it. 

 One very important point repeatedly made in this book is that the aerial Battle of Britain was one of attrition. The pilots of both sides flew to the point of exhaustion and the majority were put out of action. At the end, it was the tactical error by the Germans to end the bombing of airfields and airplane factories and bomb cities instead that led to their defeat. The British reached the point where they were putting pilots into the air to combat the Germans that had only two weeks of training and no combat experience. 

 Written with an emphasis on the lives and actions of the pilots on both sides, this book gives the credit where it is due. To the brave men that shook off terror and fatigue to launch themselves skyward in what was a repeated battle to the death. If you want to know the battle from the perspective of the boots in the sky, this book is one you must read. 


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