German infantry landing boats moored in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, in 1940 in preparation for a possible amphibious landing in the United Kingdom. The shortcomings of these boats played a role in the Nazi decision not to follow through on the invasion plan. (German Federal Archives)

In 1940, Adolf Hitler Canceled His Invasion of the UK. What If He Hadn’t?

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A 1974 wargame hosted by Sandhurst Military Academy suggested that a Nazi invasion of the United Kingdom in the fall of 1940 would have been a disaster for Germany.

One of modern history’s greatest “what ifs” is whether Nazi Germany could have successfully invaded the island of Great Britain in 1940.

The summer of 1940 was a dark time in world history. After the fall of France, Nazi armies had conquered Europe, holding sway from the coasts of Normandy to the new German-Soviet border in what had once been Poland. At that time, Germany and the Soviet Union were allies; the Nazis’ betrayal would not take place for a full year. And while the United States was clearly sympathetic to the Allied cause, isolationist sentiment remained strong, preventing it from entering the war. The last holdout against Hitler was the United Kingdom, which newly-inaugurated prime minister Winston Churchill declared would “never surrender.”

To end the war, Germany proposed an amphibious invasion of southern England, known as Operation Sea Lion, in the fall of 1940. In order to make the invasion work, the Nazi high command agreed that it would need to suppress British control of the air. Accordingly, the Luftwaffe sent waves of aircraft to attack RAF positions on the island, leading to the months-long Battle of Britain. After the RAF fended off those attacks, the Nazis determined that Operation Sea Lion........

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