Civilian precautions the search for allies economic precautions

The British Army in 1939 was a small, professional force. It was supported by the Territorial Army. At the outbreak of war the British Expeditionary Force dispatched to France was 12 divisions in size. This was from a total force of 50 full and part-time divisions. In addition to the forces of the British Army, also consider the size of the forces that the British army could draw on from the dominions and British colonies. These included a number of divisions from Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand along with a large armed force of approximately 200,000 stationed on the Indian sub-continent. In terms of immediate preparedness this force was relatively small compared with the forces of other major combatants. The fully trained professional army was limited in size and it would take some time for troops from the dominions to reach Europe.

The size of the army is only one indicator of military readiness for war, however. The machinery used by these forces also needs to be considered. The British forces had the advantage of having a fully motorised system of troop movement. This enabled relatively fast deployment of forces (The Wehrmacht were not entirely motorised at this stage). British artillery pieces were of high quality, a British 25 pound artillery piece was particularly accurate and successful in destroying enemy tanks, for example. However the armed vehicles of the British army at the time do not compare particularly favourably with those of their opponents. Tanks such as the 'Matilda' were difficult to destroy but lacked the manoeuvrability to engage in rapid attacks. Other armed vehicles, such as the tanks initially deployed into Northern Africa, had insufficient armour and suffered at the hands of an experienced Panzer commander. Other equipment included the Lee Enfield 303 rifle, the 'Tommy gun' which was a semi automatic sub-machine gun and the Sten gun. There were some problems with the reliability of some of these weapons, the Mark 2 Sten gun has been noted as being susceptible to jamming. However this gun could be easily dismantled and concealed which made it an ideal weapon to provide to resistance forces throughout Europe. The rifles and semi automatic weapons were supported by use of the 40lb Vickers 303 heavy machine gun which was extremely accurate and fired over 400 rounds per minute.

The RAF in 1939 consisted of 135 squadrons. This comprised 74 bomber and 24 fighter squadrons. In addition to the 'fighting' wing of the RAF there were a number of army support squadrons, reconnaissance squadrons and torpedo bombers. These were assisted by an Auxiliary airforce of some 19 squadrons. Throughout 1939 preparations were made for a possible air war. This included large exercises in Southern France and practice blackouts in parts of England. By the outbreak of war, radar had been fitted to a number of Bleinheim bombers. This increased the chances of the bombers finding their target and provided early warning of enemy attacks.

The on plane radar was supported by two systems of Radar detection. Chain Home and Chain Home Low were two networks of Radar station built along the south coast of England in the mid to late 1930's. Chain Home could detect formations of aircraft flying over the coast of France. This enabled the RAF to scramble fighter squadrons to intercept bomber formations and would allow the RAF to counter any Luftwaffe movements in the event of an attack on Northern France, the Low Countries or Britain. Chain Home Low provided radar coverage against low flying aircraft. The development of this system of Radar (there were 21 Chain Home stations and 30 Chain Home Low stations operational in 1940) meant that defensive sorties against the Luftwaffe could be easily coordinated. This was of paramount importance during the Battle of Britain.

The Royal Navy was, in 1939, the largest naval force in the world. The fleet contained 15 Battleships, 7 Aircraft carriers, 66 cruisers, 184 Destroyers, 60 submarines and a number of support vessels. The main Naval base at Scapa Flow was considered to be impregnable and dominated the passage between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally there were navies controlled by British Dominions. Though impressive in terms of size, the Royal Navy in 1939 had several weaknesses. Many of the capital ships were old, only 2 post dated the First World War. The air power of the Royal navy was limited to short range reconnaissance. Many ships of the Fleet were fitted with ASDIC, a radar system that could detect submarines. Again, this suffered from having a short range and was not effective when the submarines had surfaced. This combines to leave the fleet open to attack from German U Boats, with only Depth Charges available as effective means of attacking enemy submarines from onboard the ships - air cover was provided by the Coastal Command and British submarines patrolled the North Sea and Northern approaches.

Concern about rearmament began with the Manchurian Crisis. In March 1932 a survey of defence needs was commissioned. Churchill's earliest references to rearmament in May and November 1932 were ill received, but the collapse of the Disarmament Conference in October 1933 combined with reports of German rearmament to influence the government. Defence estimates of £102m in 1932‑33 were the low point, and in 1934 they provided for only four new air squadrons. Churchill criticised Britain's position as fifth air power, and Baldwin said the government "will see to it that in air strength and air power this country shall no longer be in a position inferior to any country within striking distance of our shores."

In July 1934 the cabinet accepted the defence survey and it was agreed to revise the air estimates to increase the RAF from 42 to 75 squadrons. Baldwin was strongly criticised, and replied by stating that the Rhine was now our defensive frontier. By November, Churchill claimed this programme was being surpassed by Germany, and Baldwin replied, "It is not the case that Germany is rapidly approaching equality with us ... our estimate is that we shall still have a margin in Europe alone of nearly 50 per cent." Not until March 1935, with a `Statement Relating to Defence, was rearmament stated to be necessary.

 

Locust Years: The White Paper of March 1936

Rearmament began in a very muddled fashion. When Hitler announced his rearmament in March 1935 he told Simon and Eden that Germany had reached air parity. This was false, but gave rise to much alarm and reluctance to provoke Germany.

Churchill claimed he had been right about the German air threat, and Baldwin, ignoring Air Ministry figures which showed Churchill was incorrect, stated in May 1935, "Where I was wrong was in my estimate of the future. There I was completely wrong. We were completely misled on that subject". However, an election was likely that year, and Baldwin had no intention of losing it. He supported the League in taking sanctions against Italy, and said, "I give you my word that there will be no great armaments".  However, the government increased the air estimates and specifications for the Hurricane and Spitfire were followed by prototypes in November 1935 and May 1936.

After the election, and failure to keep Italy out of the enemy camp, rearmament became more open. In March 1936 a White Paper and the appointment of Inskip as Minister for Coordination of Defence were announced, and in July Sir Hugh Dowding took over Fighter Command, and urged the government to lessen concentration on bombers. The White Paper owed much to Chamberlain. It provided for naval rearmament (including two battleships, one aircraft carrier and 19 new cruisers) and the increase of the RAF to a front‑line strength of 1750 aeroplanes.

The Loaded Pause

In November 1936, during a debate in which Churchill accused Baldwin of sloth in rearmament, Baldwin said, "Supposing I had gone to the country and said that Germany was rearming and we must rearm? Does anyone think that this pacific democracy‑would have rallied to that cry at that moment? I cannot think of anything that would have made the loss of that election from my point of view more certain". This was said in reference to East Fulham, but later twisted to imply that Baldwin had deceived the country in the election of 1935.

It cannot be denied that, in spite of rising expenditure (1935‑36, £137m; 1936‑37, £186m), the years 1936‑38 were ones of wishful thinking, and slow rearmament. In the RAF, the Blenheim and Hampden bombers were developed, but only a few British planes could reach Germany. Development of new models was slow. The Hurricane and Spitfire did not enter service until January and August 1938 respectively. Although Sir Robert Watson Watt explained radar in 1935, it was only in 1937 that the decision to develop it was taken and 1939 before the chain was complete.

In the autumn of 1937 Chamberlain said, "I must frankly state that progress is not yet as fast as I should like".  Run‑down defence industries responded slowly, so that two aircraft carriers had to have Czechoslovak armour while the Bofors gun was bought from Sweden. Expenditure on the air force and navy hamstrung the army, and in February 1938 Inskip was unable to persuade the cabinet to alter its low priority. He admitted the army had only two divisions, and that these were gravely deficient in tanks. Thus, although defence spending rose (1937, £198m; 1938, £253m) and Britain was spending a higher proportion of the National Income than France, she was behind Germany and falling further behind, in some respects, as the years passed. In March 1938 the Defence Staff declared war with Germany would lead to ultimate defeat, and this should be borne in mind when considering Munich.