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Ever since the first Zeppelin raids in World War 1 the vulnerability of the civilian population of the UK to attack from the air has been a major factor in shaping our armed forces.
The tile "Air Defence of Great Britain" comes from the organisation set up to meet the only air threat imagined in the 20s, from France.
By 1936 filmgoers in Britain were chilled by the bombing of a British city depicted in the movie "Things to Come". Politicians shared this fear.
In reality Germany could not mount a serious bombing campaign against Britain from its own airfields. But Baldwin and Chamberlain were both mesmerised by the idea of the Luftwaffe bombing from Day One of a war.
While it cost vital years in facing up to Hitler the government were at least prompted to create the RAF fighters backed by radar that resisted German air attacks when they came.
After 1945 the power of the Atom and then the Hydrogen bomb emphasised deterrence rather than defence. Once the Soviet Union acquired the means to bomb Britain defence of the airfields where US and then British bombers would set off was more important than trying to protect cities.
Although Polaris replaced the V force in 1969 the remaining theatre nuclear RAF and USAF aircraft still had to be defended from air attack in the opening stages of a war.
The end of the Cold War in the 90s saw a serious reduction in the RAF air defence effort which has continued until the re-emergence of Russia as a threat.
Some idea of what might be required to defend the UK can be gained from this thread:
It is still fashionable to mock Chamberlain for his genuine fear of air warfare but unlike our present politicians he might have begun to prepare for it.
The tile "Air Defence of Great Britain" comes from the organisation set up to meet the only air threat imagined in the 20s, from France.
By 1936 filmgoers in Britain were chilled by the bombing of a British city depicted in the movie "Things to Come". Politicians shared this fear.
In reality Germany could not mount a serious bombing campaign against Britain from its own airfields. But Baldwin and Chamberlain were both mesmerised by the idea of the Luftwaffe bombing from Day One of a war.
While it cost vital years in facing up to Hitler the government were at least prompted to create the RAF fighters backed by radar that resisted German air attacks when they came.
After 1945 the power of the Atom and then the Hydrogen bomb emphasised deterrence rather than defence. Once the Soviet Union acquired the means to bomb Britain defence of the airfields where US and then British bombers would set off was more important than trying to protect cities.
Although Polaris replaced the V force in 1969 the remaining theatre nuclear RAF and USAF aircraft still had to be defended from air attack in the opening stages of a war.
The end of the Cold War in the 90s saw a serious reduction in the RAF air defence effort which has continued until the re-emergence of Russia as a threat.
Some idea of what might be required to defend the UK can be gained from this thread:
It is still fashionable to mock Chamberlain for his genuine fear of air warfare but unlike our present politicians he might have begun to prepare for it.
