War Stories

Adlertag and Adlerangriff
"Concerning preparations for an amphibious operation against England. Since Britain still shows no sign of willingness to come to an agreement in spite of her hopeless military situation, I have decided to prepare and if necessary carry out an amphibious operation against England. The purpose of this operation will be to eliminate the English mother country as a base for continuation of the war against Germany and, if it should become necessary, to occupy the entire island."
- Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer-Anweisung No. 16

Adlertag ("Eagle Day") was the first day of Unternehmen Adlerangriff ("Operation Eagle Attack"), which was the codename of a German military operation by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) to destroy the British Royal Air Force (RAF). By June 1940, the Allies had been defeated in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Rather than come to terms with Germany, Britain rejected all overtures for a negotiated peace.

Hitler gave the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) a directive (Directive No. 16) that ordered the preparation for the aerial attack and pacification of Britain. The military invasion of Britain was codenamed Operation Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelowe). Before this could be carried out, air superiority or air supremacy was required. The Luftwaffe was to destroy the RAF in order to prevent it from attacking the invasion fleet or providing protection for the Royal Navy's Home Fleet which might attempt to prevent a landing by sea. Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe 's commander-in-chief, Reichsmarschall (Imperial Marshal) Hermann Goring and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (High Command of the Air Force) to prepare for the assault.

The essential target was RAF Fighter Command. The service's destruction would deny the British their air superiority asset. Throughout July and early August, the Germans made preparations for Adlertag. The date of the assault was postponed several times because of bad weather. Eventually, it was carried out on August 13th, 1940. The German attacks on August 13th inflicted significant damage and casualties on the ground, but, marred by poor intelligence and communication, they did not make a significant impression on Fighter Command's ability to defend British air space.

Goring had promised Hitler that Adlertag and Adlerangriff would achieve the results required within days, or at worst weeks. It had meant to be the beginning of the end of RAF Fighter Command, but Adlertag and the following operations failed to destroy the RAF. The engagements resulting from Adlertag became known as the Battle of Britain. During the course of that campaign, the Luftwaffe was prevented from gaining air superiority by the RAF. As a result, Operation Sea Lion was cancelled.

After the declaration of war on Nazi Germany by Britain and France in the aftermath of the German invasion of Poland, nine months of stalemate took place along the Western Front. After the Polish Campaign, in October 1939, the planners of the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (Luftwaffe High Command) and the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) turned their attentions to Western Europe.

The German offensive - named Unternehmen Gelb (Operation Yellow), and also known as the Manstein Plan - began in the West on May 10th, 1940. The central campaign - the Battle of France - ended in Allied defeat and the destruction of the main French Army forces. The British Expeditionary Force escaped during the Battle of Dunkirk, but the Wehrmacht captured Paris on June 14th and overran ⅔ of France. The French surrendered on June 25th, 1940.

With Western Europe neutralised, the OKL and OKW turned their attention to Britain, which was now home to the Allied base of operations in Europe. Hitler hoped Britain would negotiate for an armistice, for which he was prepared to offer generous terms. The tentative offers made by Hitler were rejected by the Churchill coalition government. Hitler now ordered the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine to prepare for an amphibious assault of Britain, codenamed Operation Sealion. The Luftwaffe was to eliminate enemy air power and the Kriegsmarine was ordered to make all the necessary preparations for transporting the Heer (Army) across the English Channel. The Luftwaffe's task came first. Once the RAF had been rendered impotent, Goring and Hitler hoped that an invasion would be unnecessary. If this proved not to be the case, the Luftwaffe would then support the army and prevent the Royal Navy interdicting German sea traffic. Goring named the offensive against the RAF as Operation Eagle Attack (Adlerangriff).