Let's Put this Battle of Britain thing in Historical Context..

[[URU]AkeR]

Please not politics we have enough with FM DM tracers stutters etc!!!!

[xnomad]

Well Stephen Bungay put it very well in his book "The most dangerous enemy" (If you haven't already read it then get a copy, it will make you appreciate the game a lot more too.)

If Britain hadn't won the BOB, then the two likely alternatives would have been.

The entire European continent would have been under Nazi rule, or the more likely outcome would have been that the entire European continent would have been under communist rule, and for a very long time. Not really a good result for humanity in either case.

America could never have entered the war in Europe if it weren't for the island of Britain from which the allies could launch the invasion. What were they going to do launch from New York?

The Battle of Britain is of huge importance don't underestimate it.

[Redroach]

WoW, if there is a thread likely to invoke an instance of Godwin's law, this is it!

Nobody can seriously contest that the BoB was an important... well, 'turning point' in WWII. However, even if the battle had been lost by Britain, all hope wouldn't have been gone. With Churchill, Britain certainly wouldn't have given up and German High Command did only half-heartedly prepare for an invasion of England - they were still expecting, pretty seriously, to make peace with Britain.
And, as this wouldn't materialize, Germany would have to invade, challenging the huge Royal Navy and the well-prepared, well-motivated Home Defence. On top of this, there would be inadequate equipment on the German side - river barges as troop transport which capsize in all but the calmest seas, plus the Luftwaffe had already expended nearly half their Ju52 fleet over the Netherlands, so airborne assault troops would be hampered as well.

Additionally, as Churchill stated in his "we will fight on the beaches", at least part of the Royal navy would have carried on "beyond the seas".

[baronWastelan]

If Britain hadn't won the BoB, America would still have been fine, and I'd still be driving a Porsche today. Or at least a KdF Wagen.

[Theshark888]

BoB was huge, no doubt about it. If Great Britain "lost" the BoB, the government would have fallen and Churchill would be out of a job and GB would sue for peace. Remember Germany and Soviet Union were still allied at this point. No allied threat to Italy. Japan may have realized that they do not have to attack the USA. WW2 would have played much differently.

[swiss]

Originally Posted by Theshark888

Japan may have realized that they do not have to attack the USA. WW2 would have played much differently.

Because there wouldn't be an US oil embargo?

[Redroach]

Because Japan could just get their oil from Majkop and Grozny once Germany had conquered the western half of the Soviet Union and Japan had conquered China?

[MadTommy]

Don't forget no invasion could have happened without the destruction of the Royal Navy too.. BoB was very important, but don't believe all the war propaganda.

Originally Posted by [URU]AkeR

Please not politics we have enough with FM DM tracers stutters etc!!!!

Politics on game forums is always 100% win!

Get a bucket of salt, a group of kids, some angry adults.. every now and then give it a little stir... sit back and enjoy. Perfect recipe for an amusing thread

(but i'm a little disappointed at the lack such heated behaviour in this thread.. you have let me down! Lets have some rants, flaming and general mayhem!)

Edit: pls apply some of the above salt to this post

[bongodriver]

Politics on game forums is always 100% win!

Get a bucket of salt, a group of kids, some angry adults.. every now and then give it a little stir... sit back and enjoy. Perfect recipe for an amusing thread

(but i'm a little disappointed at the lack such heated behaviour in this thread.. you have let me down! Lets have some rants, flaming and general mayhem!)

Edit: pls apply some of the above salt to this post

+1

[MikeC1980]

The battle of Britain did have huge consequences.

If Hitler had defeated the RAF, he would have given the order to invade Britain. He would have eventually defeated Britain.

Without a free Britain, there would have been nowhere for the United States to amass forces for the invasion of Italy and more importantly the D-Day invasion of France. An invasion fleet sailing all the way from the east coast of the US to Europe could not have happened in such great numbers. And also Britain was vital as a launching point for years of bombing raids that struck at Germany's manufacturing capability.

Now here is the bit nobody has thought of.

Without the D-Day invasion, the Russian forces would have had to fight the Nazis on their own... and eventually would have forced them back to Berlin... and beyond.

There is no reason to think the Russians would have stopped at Germany.

The Soviet Iron curtain would have covered the whole of Europe.

The entire history of the world would have been very, very different.

Its (almost) all down to those men in their flying machines!

-Mike C