Fortress Britain 1940: Britain’s Unsung and Secret Defences on Land, Sea and in the Air

"Through meticulous research in archives and crumbling ventilation shafts, Chatterton paints a picture of Britain in the Second World War that turns our popular narrative on its head. This is important, shocking, and impressive.” ― Dan Snow MBE, historian, broadcaster and television presenter

Alone, unprepared and weak. These are generally the words used to describe Britain’s position in 1940, part of a narrative that has been built up ever since the end of World War II. However, the reality is very different. On land, sea and in the air, Britain was prepared. It had the most powerful navy in the world; the RAF was relatively strong, but more importantly, was operating as part of a plan and a joined-up group system that was in reality never in any real danger of being defeated; even the post-Dunkirk British Army was better armed than the post-war narrative tells us. These forces were backed up by the Home Guard, and thousands of men and women in secret roles ready to help fight the invasion of the country. Even if all of this had gone wrong and the Nazis had defeated Britain militarily then a separate, highly secret civilian group were ready to become active only after the occupation had started.

One word associated more than any other during this period of the Second World War is ‘Alone’ – Churchill played upon this in his speeches but in 1940, Britain had a hugely powerful empire. Although in many cases this support was thousands of miles away, the Empire and other Allies would have played a huge role had the Germans had invaded, one that has been overlooked in many accounts.

Table of Contents

Section One: Land
Chapter One: Regular Army/Stop-line and strategy
Chapter Two: The ‘real’ Home Guard and actual effectiveness
Chapter Three: Secret anti-invasion civilian forces
Chapter Four: Post-occupation pre-prepared civilian resistance

Section Two: Sea
Chapter Five: Impact of the Norwegian campaign
Chapter Six: Royal Navy’s capability
Chapter Seven: Kriegsmarine capability and invasion preparation
Chapter Eight: Operation Sea Lion (Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 1970’s wargame)

Section Three: Air
Chapter Nine: Fighter Command and Dowding
Chapter Ten: Bomber Command
Chapter Eleven: Coastal Command
Chapter Twelve: Radar/WAAF
Chapter Thirteen: Royal Observer Corps

Section Four: ‘Alone’
Chapter Fourteen: The role the Empire and Britain’s Allies played in Britain’s defences. So often overlooked in the ‘Alone’ narrative the support in terms of manpower and equipment was huge.

Conclusion