Home > Military history of Britain during World War II
The United Kingdom, along with France, declared war on Nazi Germany in 1939. Japan entered the war by attacking Britain's colonies in Asia. The axis powers were defeated with the aid of the United States in 1945.1 The Beginning of WWII
On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany, 24 hours after Britain had issued an ultimatum to Germany to withdraw from Poland.
The Army immediately began despatching the British Expeditionary Force to help defend France. At first only regular troops from the pre-war Army made up its numbers. In 1940, however, men of the Territorial Army divisions being mobilised in the UK were sent. In the end, the BEF had I, II and III Corps under its command, controlling some 14 divisions. The RAF also sent significant forces to France at the start of hostilities. Some were Army cooperation squadrons to help with matters like reconnaissance for the Army. Others were Hawker Hurricane squadrons from Fighter Command. Separately, Bomber Command sent the Advanced Air Striking Force, comprised of squadrons flying the Fairey Battle and other machines that did not have the range to reach Germany.
During the Phony WarThe Phony War or in Winston Churchill's words the Twilight War was the phase of World War II marked by no military operations in Continental Europe, that followed the collapse of Poland. Although the great powers of Europe had declared war on one another,, the Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF is the air force of the United Kingdom. History Formation and Early History The Royal Flying Corps was formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912 superseding the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. The Royal Na carried out small bombing raids and the Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. It operates a number of aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, fifteen nuclear submarines, and various other ships, as well as aircraft and Britain's amphibious forces, the Royal Marines. The Royal Navy imposed a blockade on Germany.
2 Western Europe, 1940
2.1 The Battle of France
On 10 May the Phony War ended with a sweeping German invasion of BelgiumFor alternate meanings, see Belgium (disambiguation). Belgian redirects here. For the horse breed commonly used as a draft horse, see Belgian. The Kingdom of Belgium ( Dutch: Belgi French: Belgique German: Belgien is a country in Western Europe, bordered, the NetherlandsDutch redirects here. For other uses, see Dutch (disambiguation). The Netherlands ( Dutch: Nederland is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a constitutional monarchy. It is located in northwestern Europe and borders the North Sea, Belgium and LuxembourgThe Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (also Luxemburg is a landlocked state in the north-west of the continental European Union, bordered by France, Germany and Belgium. Grand-Duche de LuxembourgGrossherzogtum LuxemburgGroussherzogtum (Grand-Duche) Letzebuerg ( I. German troops entered France through the ArdennesThe Ardennes is a region of extensive forests and rolling hill country (its highest point is under 700 m), primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France (lending its name to the Ardennes departement and the Champagne-Ardenne region and G on 13 May. Most Allied forces were in Flanders, anticipating a re-run of the World War I Schlieffen Plan, and were cut off from the French heartland. As a result of this and superior German communications, the Battle of France was shorter than virtually all prewar Allied thought could have conceived, with France surrendering after six weeks. Britain and its Empire were left to stand alone.
During the Battle of France, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned, to be replaced by Winston Churchill, who had opposed negotiation with Hitler all along.
