Adlertag
Adlertag ("Eagle Day") was the first day of Unternehmen Adlerangriff ("Operation Eagle Attack"), an air operation by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe (German air force) intended to destroy the British Royal Air Force (RAF). The operation came during the Battle of Britain after Britain rejected all overtures for a negotiated peace with Germany. However, Adlertag and subsequent operations failed to destroy the RAF or gain local air superiority.
| Adlertag | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Western Front of World War II | |||||||
An air battle, 1940 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United Kingdom | Nazi Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Hugh Dowding Keith Park Charles Portal |
Hermann Göring Albert Kesselring Hugo Sperrle Joseph Schmid | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
Fighter Command: 13 fighters (air) 1 fighter (ground) 3 fighter pilots killed RAF Bomber Command: 11 bombers (air) 24 aircrew killed 9 captured Other: 47 miscellaneous aircraft (ground) c. 25 civilians killed |
47–48 aircraft destroyed (air) 39 severely damaged circa 200 killed or captured including: 44 killed 23 wounded at least 45 missing | ||||||
On July 16, 1940 Hitler gave the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) a directive (Directive No. 16) that ordered provisional preparations for invasion of Britain. This operation was codenamed Operation Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelöwe). Before this could be carried out, air superiority or air supremacy (control of the air) 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. On 1 August Hitler gave the Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief, Reichsmarschall (Empire Marshal) Hermann Göring and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (High Command of the Air Force) Directive No. 17 ("or the conduct of air and sea warfare against Englandd")to launch the air assault.
The essential target was RAF Fighter Command. The service's destruction would deny the British their air superiority asset and feeling vulnerable to air attack might negotiate for peace. 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 13 August 1940. The German attacks on 13 August 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.
Göring had promised Hitler that Adlertag and Adlerangriff would achieve the results required within days, or at worst weeks. It was meant to be the beginning of the end of RAF Fighter Command, but Adlertag and the following operations failed to destroy the RAF, or gain the necessary local air superiority. As a result, Operation Sea Lion was postponed indefinitely.