British military airfields in World War II. About the fatal pause. British air raids on Germany

Great Britain took part in the Second World War from September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945, i.e. almost from the first to last day. Although the country avoided war on its territory and occupation, in the end, participation in the conflict deprived it of its status as a superpower.

After the victory in the First World War, the British Empire was in fact the strongest European and world power. Her colonial interests spread throughout the world. To maintain its position, Great Britain alternately helped various continental countries, maintaining their parity with each other. However, the coming to power of the Nazis in Germany destroyed the coherent system of the British foreign policy.

In the second half of the 30s of the 20th century, Great Britain actively made concessions to Germany, believing that the Germans could serve as a counterbalance to the ever-increasing "Soviet threat", while remaining under the control of the Western allies. The result of this policy was the signing of the Munich Agreement of 1938, which concerned the transfer of the Sudetenland by Czechoslovakia to Germany. However, Hitler was already playing his games and was not limited to the Sudetenland. In March 1939, Czechoslovakia was divided and captured by him, and in August of the same year, the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the USSR was signed. Britain was rapidly losing control of the situation. On September 3, 1939, after the attack on Poland, Great Britain declared war on Germany. In many ways, the declaration of war was made under pressure from the United States, which demanded that Britain fulfill the promised agreements.

The power of Britain was built on a powerful navy, in wars on the continent, she used to rely on allies with a land army. By the beginning of the war, British troops numbered about 900 thousand people, excluding colonies, or 1260 thousand with colonial troops. In the metropolis there were 9 regular divisions, 16 territorial, 6 infantry, 2 cavalry and 9 tank brigades. The Anglo-Indian army of 7 regular divisions and a large number of separate brigades served as a strategic reserve.

Since 1938, special attention has been paid to the development of aviation, which should solve the problems of defending the island from the air. In a little over a year, the number of squadrons was increased to 78. The number of combat aircraft was 1456 units, of which 536 were bombers. For the most part, these were new and modern machines. The basis of the navy was the battleships of the First World War, as well as more modern battleships of later projects. but new war showed from the positions of the main strike force of the fleet. In addition to battleships, Great Britain had a significant aircraft carrier fleet.

During the Second World War, Britain took part in the battles on many fronts of the war:

• strange war- indecisive actions of the Anglo-French troops against Nazi Germany during the capture of Poland.
• Battle of the Atlantic- protecting its international trade and supporting the import of necessary resources.
• Battle for Scandinavia- the defeat of the allied forces during the capture of Denmark and Norway by Germany.
• - heavy defeat of the Anglo-French forces in 1940 in France.
• Battle of Britain- air battle during the defense of the island, when the British managed to prevent the landing German troops to Britain.
• War in the Middle East- protection of their possessions in Africa and the Mediterranean Sea.
• Battle of the Indian Ocean- protection from the Japanese invasion, in this region the British fleet suffered serious losses.
• The landing of Anglo-American troops in Italy.
• Liberation of France- the long-awaited second front.

The results of the Second World War for Great Britain turned out to be ambiguous. On the one hand, the independence of the country was preserved and, in fact, a victory was won over the enemy. On the other hand, Britain lost the status of a superpower in favor of a growing power. The country's economy suffered huge losses due to the loss of trade markets. Most of colonies gained independence, although many of them retained ties with the Center. Production was restored to pre-war levels only in 1948. A card system was introduced inside the country, which was maintained until 1953. However, the development of high-tech production allowed the country to regain some positions in the world.

Abstract on the topic:
"Great Britain in World War II"

CONTENT:

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….3
1. Prerequisites ………………………………………………………………………….4
2. War…………………………………………………………………………………...5
3. Break in the war ………………………………………………………………. .….10
4. Victory over Germany…………………………………………………………….…12
5. Victory over Japan …………………………………………………………… ….14
6. Results of the war………………………………………………………………. ……….fourteen
7. Losses…………………………………………………………………………………15
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………… 16

Introduction
Many years have passed since the beginning of World War II. The political, socio-economic and military background of this war, it would seem, has been comprehensively studied by historians. However, interest in this topic has not waned. A number of fundamental studies have appeared on the basis of new documents from Russian and foreign archives being introduced into scientific circulation.
This is a natural process. The mechanism of the emergence of global wars must be thoroughly studied in order not to repeat world catastrophes that claimed tens of millions of human lives. By the way, as the official British historians (Woodworth, Namier, Medlicott), who once published the collections "Documents of British Foreign Policy", point out, they themselves allegedly deliberately "exposed" the Munich policy of the British Prime Minister N. Chamberlain to "appease" the aggressor, to avoid future repetition of such a policy.
In this paper, we will focus on the participation of Great Britain in the Second World War. Great Britain was one of the countries - the creators of the international political system afterWorld War I. At the same time, as the strongest European "great power", Great Britain has traditionally sought to maintain parity of forces on the continent, alternately supporting one or another country. A new full-scale war on the European continent was extremely undesirable for Great Britain, both from an economic and political point of view.

1. Background

After the First World War, Germany restored its military power and, together with other countries of the fascist regime (Italy, Austria and Spain), began to attack weak European countries.
In May 1937, the conservative government of Great Britain was headed by Chamberlain, who saw his task in counteracting the further radicalization of the social movement in Europe: in Spain there was Civil War leftist forces against fascism, in France the government of the Popular Front came to power. He was well aware that Soviet Union provides not only political support within the framework of the League of Nations to anti-fascists in Spain and national anti-Japanese forces in China, but also all possible military assistance.
Under these conditions, Chamberlain saw the only way out for maintaining British political dominance in Europe in establishing effective cooperation with the extreme right, fascist, regimes in Germany and Italy. At some stage it worked. Even before he came to power, on June 18, 1935, Great Britain signed a naval agreement with Germany, which authorized, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, a significant increase in the German navy.
In 1938, Chamberlain and Hitler signed a declaration of non-aggression and a peaceful settlement of disputes between Britain and Germany. An agreement was also concluded under which the territories of Czechoslovakia, recently captured by Great Britain, were recognized as German.
In March 1938 Germany freely attaches Austria . In October 1938, as a resultMunich AgreementGermany annexes owned Czechoslovakia Sudetenland. England and France give consent to this act, and the opinion of Czechoslovakia itself is not taken into account. March 15th 1939 Germany, in violation of the agreement, occupies Czech Republic . On the Czech territory, a GermanProtectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Hungary and Poland participate in the division of Czechoslovakia. Slovakia declared an independent pro-Nazi state.
Until now, the aggressive actions of Germany have not met with serious resistance from Great Britain and France, who do not dare to start a war and are trying to save the system.Treaty of Versaillesreasonable, from their point of view, concessions (the so-called "appeasement policy"). However, after the violation of the Munich Treaty by Hitler in both countries, the need for a tougher policy is increasingly being realized, and in the event of further German aggression, Great Britain and France givemilitary guarantees to Poland.

Invasion of Poland

May 23, 1939 A meeting was held in Hitler's office in the presence of a number of senior officers. It was noted that “the Polish problem is closely connected with the inevitable conflict with England and France, a quick victory over which is problematic. At the same time, Poland is unlikely to be able to play the role of a barrier against Bolshevism. At present, the task of German foreign policy is to expand living space to the East, ensure a guaranteed supply of food and eliminate the threat from the East. Poland must be captured at the first opportunity."

"Strange War"

In September 1939, Germany attacked Poland. . On the same day the government N. Chamberlain sent a note of protest to Germany, September 3 it was followed by an ultimatum, then a declaration of war on Germany. The British fought for democracy, and believed that they were protecting weak countries from strong ones.
However, all the time while the German troops were busy in the East, in actions against Poland, the allied Anglo-French troops did not undertake any active combat operations on land and in the air. And the rapid defeat of Poland made the time period during which Germany could be forced to fight on two fronts very short.
As a result, transferred to France from September 1939 to February 1940, the British Expeditionary Force, consisting of 10 divisions, was inactive. In the American press, this period was called "The Strange War".

2. War

War at sea

The fighting at sea began immediately after the declaration of war. Already September 3 was torpedoed and sank an English passenger steamer " Athenia ". On September 5 and 6, the ships Bosnia, Royal Setr and Rio Claro were sunk off the coast of Spain. Great Britain had to introduce escort ships.
October 14 1939, a German submarine sank an English battleship Royal Oak ”, which was parked in a naval base Scapa Flow . Soon, the actions of the German fleet and air force threatened international trade and the very existence of Great Britain.

Battle for Scandinavia

Great Britain and France, which established an economic blockade of Germany, were interested in attracting the maximum number of countries to this blockade. However, the small countries of Europe, including the Scandinavian ones, were in no hurry to get closer to the warring parties. Since the beginning of the war in Europe, the Scandinavian countries have proclaimed neutrality . Attempts at diplomatic pressure did not yield results, and the naval commands of the warring countries began to think about preparing operations in northern Europe. The Anglo-French allies were interested in cutting off the supply of Swedish iron ore to Germany. For its part, the command of the German navy began to study the possibility of occupying strongholds in Norway and Northern Denmark. However, due to indecision and inconsistency of actions, the allied Anglo-French-Polish-Norwegian troops were defeated and June 8 1940 were evacuated from Norway.
Invasion of France
The failures of the foreign policy course led to a change of government in England. May 10, 1940 became the new Prime Minister W. Churchill . On the same day the invasion began German troops to France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Breakthrough of the German armored wedge through Ardennes to Boulogne put the allied Anglo-French forces in a difficult position. May 25 Commander of the British Expeditionary Force General J. Gort decided to retreat to the sea and evacuate to England. May 27 British troops began to evacuate from Dunkirk bridgehead, and by June 4 the evacuation of the troops was completed. The British troops remaining in France were led by General A. Brook . He concluded that the situation was hopeless. The newly arrived forces were put back on the ships, and June 15 The British Expeditionary Force was withdrawn from the control of the French 10th Army, and its evacuation began.
June 16 new french prime minister marshal petin sent Hitler a request for a truce.

Battle of Britain

After the capitulation of France, Germany offers Britain to make peace, but is refused. July 16, 1940 Hitler issues a directive for the invasion of Great Britain (Operation Sea Lion). However, command German Navy and ground forces, referring to the power of the British fleet and the lack of Wehrmacht experience in landing operations, requires the Air Force to first ensure air supremacy. Since August, the Germans have been bombing Great Britain in order to undermine its military and economic potential, demoralize the population, prepare for an invasion, and ultimately force it to surrender. German Air Force and the Navy make systematic attacks on British ships and convoys in La Manche. From September 4 German aviation begins massive bombardment of English cities in the south of the country: London, Rochester, Birmingham, Manchester .
Despite the fact that the British suffered heavy losses among the civilian population during the bombing, they essentially manage to win the Battle of Britain - Germany is forced to abandon the landing operation. Since December, the activity of the German Air Force has been significantly reduced due to deteriorating weather conditions. The Germans failed to achieve their main goal - to withdraw Great Britain from the war.
North African campaign
June 10, 1940 Italy declared war on Britain. The main activities were carried out onmediterranean sea and in Africa . By this time, at the disposal of the general A. Wavell in Egypt there were 50 thousand people. The Italian colonial troops numbered about 500 thousand people.
In early July 1940, Italian troops launched an offensive in East Africa, in August 1940 they capturedBritish Somalia, moved deeper Kenya and went to the distant approaches to the capital Sudan to Khartoum .
The transfer of British troops to Africa . July 9, 1940 on the way from Malta to Alexandria the first clash between the English and Italian fleets occurred, but on the whole the Italian fleet did little to prevent the British from concentrating forces in Africa.
September 13 Italian troopsinvaded Egyptand began to move along the Mediterranean coast. British troops, without offering resistance, withdrew to the line at Mersa Matruh . In the meantime when October 28, 1940 Italy attacked Greece, British troops took control of the island Crete.
11th of November British aircraft attacked the Italian fleet in Taranto and sank 3 Italian battleship.
9th December 1940, the British offensive began in the Desert at Sidi Barrani . Italian troops suffered a heavy defeat and were expelled from Egypt. In January 1941 the English troops occupied Eritrea and continued to advance Ethiopia.
However, in February-March 1941, the German expeditionary force of General E. Rommel . In addition, part of the British forces was diverted to an operation in the Balkans. All this shifted the scales in North Africa to the side of the Axis powers. March 31 In 1941, the German-Italian troops went on the offensive, defeated the British at El Agheila and pushed them back to Egypt.
April 1 1941, an uprising began in Iraq under the direction of Gailani. May 31 only the British managed to regain control over the country, and a new government loyal to Great Britain came to power.
Battle for the Balkans
The British command decided to transfer most of the Nile Army with aviation to Greece; March 7 The first British troops arrived in Greece.
March 28 1941 in the naval battle at the cape Matapan with the Italian fleet, the dominance of the English fleet was strengthened, making the transfer of troops unhindered.
The activity of Great Britain in the Balkans largely contributed to the shift in the vector of Germany's aggression. March 1 1941 German troops entered Bulgaria ; they began to take their starting positions for an attack on Greece. 4 March Yugoslav Prince Pavel under pressure from Germany agreed to follow the example of Bulgaria, and March 25 The Yugoslav government joined Steel pact. However, March 27 as a result of a military coup, the government was overthrown, Prince Paul was removed from his post regent , the union of Yugoslavia with Germany was terminated.
Then April 6 German troops attacked Yugoslavia and Greece . Yugoslav and Greek troops were defeated, April 17 Yugoslavia capitulated April 24 followed her Greece . British troops were forced to evacuate to Egypt and Crete . The Greek fleet went to Alexandria and came under the control of the British.
May 20 1941 beganGerman operation to capture the island of Crete. The British troops suffered a heavy defeat, their remnants were forced to evacuate, while the English Mediterranean Fleet suffered heavy losses.
Military alliance with the USSR and the USA
May 10 1941 deputy Hitler according to the party of R. Hess landed by parachute in the UK. On behalf of the Fuhrer, he offered to make peace between Britain and Germany. The plight of Great Britain, however, did not force her to make concessions to Germany and admit her own defeat.
Fierce fighting continued around the world.
May 19 Italian troops surrendered Ethiopia.
May 27 the English fleet managed to sink the German " Bismarck "- a thunderstorm of English sea lanes.
June 8 the combined forces of the British and free french» entered into Syria , by July 12, Syria was under the control of the UK and troops "Free France».
However, the offensive launched by the British in June 1941 in North Africa ended in failure.
Only two countries could really help England in her struggle: USA and USSR .
The US government supported England, but tried with all its might to avoid participation in the war.
March 11th 1941 US President F. D. Roosevelt signed into law the Congress on lend-lease. April 18th The United States announced the expansion of its security zone in the Atlantic, thus, remaining a non-belligerent party, began to patrol the waters of the Western Atlantic. The construction of American bases began in Greenland, July 7 1941 was included in the US area of ​​​​responsibility Iceland , while the American garrison replaced the British troops.
The USSR until the last did not interfere in the war between Germany and Great Britain.
German attack on the USSR June 22, 1941 contributed to easing pressure on the UK. As early as May, the air attack on England ceased, the threat of German invasion of the British Isles disappeared, and the situation in the Mediterranean eased.

British aid to the USSR
July 12, 1941 in Moscow A Soviet-British agreement was signed on joint actions against Germany. August 16 Great Britain gave the USSR a military loan. August 31 to Arkhangelsk the first British convoy arrived, and in September the first British aircraft took part in the hostilities on the Soviet-German front. However, their own needs, as well as the fear that in the event of the defeat of the USSR in the war with Germany, all the materials delivered would fall into the hands of the enemy, at first reduced the effectiveness of assistance.
Controversy with the USA
The weakening of the position of Great Britain led to a natural strengthening of the position of the United States in the international arena. Considerable tension was caused by the desire of American circles to use Lend-Lease supplies to limit British world trade. The British government was forced to make a statement that the materials received from the United States would not be used for the production of goods for export. However, circumstances called for joint action by the United Kingdom and the United States. August 14 1941 US President F. D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister of England W. Churchill published a joint statement on the aims of the war and the principles of the post-war organization - the so-calledAtlantic charter.
An occupation Iran . Iranian operation .
To ensure control over the Iranian oil fields, as well as to create a direct connection between British possessions and the USSR August 17, 1941 Great Britain and the USSR submitted a note to the Iranian government regarding the expulsion of German agents from the country. After the refusal of the Iranian government, British troops in the south and in the center of the country and Soviet troops in the north, on August 25, they invaded Iran. Tehran was occupied on September 17 ; the day before Shah of Iran abdicated in favor of his son and fled the country. October 11 1941, a similar Soviet-English note was received by the government Afghanistan.
North African campaign
The British continued to successfully conduct caravans on Malta and to North Africa, while the air force and navy, based in Malta, significantly disrupted the communications of the German-Italian troops in North Africa. November 18, 1941 year, British troops went on the offensive in North Africa and captured the entire Cyrenaica.
Since this was largely a consequence of the dominance of the British over communications in the Mediterranean, Germany transferred submarines to the Mediterranean. the 13th of November 1941 was torpedoed and sank the next day near Gibraltar aircraft carrier Ark Royal ". Ahead were new losses, which led to the loss of the dominance of the English fleet in the Mediterranean.
To support the actions of the German-Italian troops in early December 1941, additional aviation forces and headquarters were transferred to the Mediterranean.2nd Air Fleetfield marshal general A. Kesselring . Aviation subjected a massive attack to Malta.
The restoration of normal supplies contributed to the strengthening of the German-Italian troops in North Africa. January 21 1942, they struck back and by February 7 they had regained almost all of Cyrenaica, but they could not capture Tobruk is an important strategic point.
May 27 In 1942, a new offensive of the German-Italian troops began. The British 8th Army was pushed back into Egypt to El Alamein; 21st of June fell Tobruk. The British fleet left Alexandria Red Sea, in Cairo began to burn military archives.
On the Far East. Malay operation .
Interests clash in the Far East Japan who wanted to untie her hands in China , and Western powers: the USA, Great Britain and the Netherlands, which prevented this in every possible way. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the influential British dominionsAustralian Union and New Zealand wary of Japanese expansionist foreign policy. After the USA July 26, 1941 imposed sanctions against Japan, and Great Britain and the Netherlands joined them, Japan decided to direct the vector of its aggression to the south, against the United States, British possessions in Southeast Asia and the Dutch Indies.
In order to strengthen its positions in the Far East, Great Britain reinforced its Eastern Fleet with the battleship " Prince of Wales "and the battlecruiser" Repulse ", who arrived in Singapore December 2nd.
December 7, 1941 Japan strikes an American naval base Pearl Harbor . The next day, she declared war on the US and Britain. The Japanese invasion began Malaya. December 10 off the coast of Malaya, Japanese aircraft sank both arriving British ships, killing the commander-in-chief of the British Eastern Fleet, Admiral T. Phillips.
Hong Kong fell on December 25, Singapore fell on February 15.
As a result of the captureDutch Indiathere is an immediate threat australia . At this time, the main forces of the Australian army were part of the 8th British Army in Egypt. At the end of February 1942, serious disagreements arose between the British government and the Australian government regarding further actions. Australia increasingly fell under the influence of the United States, American troops were sent here; On March 17, the American commander-in-chief, General D. MacArthur.
Anglo-American military alliance
Considering that Germany and Italy have announced December 14 1941, the US war, two camps of the warring parties finally took shape: the USSR, the USA, Great Britain with dominions and some other countries, on the one hand, and Germany, Italy and Japan, on the other (an important exception: Japan did not declare war on the USSR).
December 22 In 1941, a conference began in Washington with the participation of representatives of the United States and Great Britain (the Arcadia conference) on the issue of joint warfare. A joint Anglo-American headquarters was created; led the British mission Field Marshal D. Dill.
April 4, 1942 the areas of responsibility of the United States and Great Britain were divided, while the Near and Middle East, as well as Indian Ocean , to the US area of ​​\u200b\u200bresponsibility - Pacific Ocean, China, Australia, New Zealand and Japan; Europe and Atlantic formed an area of ​​joint responsibility.
India And Indian Ocean
etc.................

Until the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War there is less and less time left, just some 2 and a half months. But the war for history did not start yesterday or today, it goes on all the time. More and more attempts are being made to denigrate the heroism of the Red Army in this global conflict in order to take away this Victory from us.

The measures taken by the Putin authorities to restore historical objectivity are suffering (and in fact have already suffered) a complete collapse. Under these conditions, we have only one chance: to respond with a similar blow of "historical retribution" through the glorification of the defeats of our "allies" and the exclusive role of the USSR for its contribution to the defeat of Western aggression. The first step towards this was taken in the material devoted to Operation Overlord, which was reinterpreted not as the liberation of France from Nazism, but as a planned act of Anglo-American aggression. Indeed, as the further course of history will show, it was Britain and the United States that became the main aggressors of the Second World War, which Hitler joined in the 41st. In fact, they have always been. After all, what unites the history of both Great Britain and the "history" of the United States is that both sides have been waging constant wars since their formation. Great Britain set the tone, in 1776 the Americans picked it up. Both sides acted at first one by one, and during the Second World War they were already a single entity. It is generally accepted that the war in Europe ended on May 9, 1945, but few people know that for Great Britain, which did not withdraw from the war until this day, it ended much earlier than this date. Our veterans must have forgotten that Britain never considered the USSR as an ally; for them, Russia was an auxiliary tool with which it was possible to drag chestnuts out of the fire. Great Britain itself (and somewhere - thanks to the diplomatic efforts of the Soviet side, led by Stalin and Molotov) dragged itself into the war on 3 fronts at once, which turned out to be beyond its power, and as a result was forced to capitulate shamefully long before the end of the war in Europe .

To some extent, this material is my personal response to Mr. Cameron, when, shortly before the referendum on the status of Scotland, he reminded the Scots that they (the British and Scots) defeated Nazism together, although they themselves never knew that it was England (and not Scotland or other regions of the UK) that became the instigators of world fires, including the Nazi one.

Numerous possessions administered by the British Empire were located around the world, in particular, the strongest British influence was in India, the "pearl of the Empire" and in South Africa. Britain emerged victorious from the First World War, but the Britons' joy was short-lived. In 1919, a local conflict broke out between London and Dublin, which resulted in a two-year armed confrontation, as a result of which Dublin emerged victorious. The entire territory of the Irish island except Ulster was proclaimed free from the British. So the independent Republic of Ireland appeared on the map. Ulster is still preparing a plan to secede from the UK. The declaration of independence of the Republic of Ireland was the first blow to the integrity of the Empire.

Great Britain was one of the countries - the creators of the international political system after the First World War. At the same time, as the strongest European "great power", Great Britain has traditionally sought to maintain parity of forces on the continent, alternately supporting one or another country. A new full-scale war on the European continent was extremely undesirable for Great Britain, both economically and political points vision.

But one way or another, everything rolled precisely to the worst scenario for the British. And in many ways, Britain itself created the ground for this, together with the United States directly supporting the Nazis. As a result, on January 30, 1933, after the Nazis came to power in Germany, Hitler set a course to remilitarize the country and prepare for a new war. Even the German communist Ernst Thalmann warned: "If Hitler is war." Telman looked into the water and was not mistaken in his forecast. 1933 passed relatively quietly for Europe, and from 1934 it slowly began to smell of fried.

Austria, which Hitler disliked so much, fearing that the country might turn into a completely Slavic state, became the first political theater in Europe after the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. The bloody drama broke out on July 25, 1934, when, as a result of a pro-Nazi coup, Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was killed - a man who, on the one hand, was a puppet of the Duce, concentrated all power in his hands and began to play his own game. Of course, Hitler in every possible way dissociated himself from his involvement in the putsch, although there was still a trace of him. The Fuhrer limited himself to an act of regret about what had happened, but the worst was yet to come.

October 3, 1935: After 13 years of peaceful rule in Italy, Mussolini decides to take revenge in the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1897-98. At 5 o'clock in the morning, without declaring war, Italian troops invade Ethiopia, the bombing of the city of Adua begins. Land units of Marshal Emilio De Bono begin their offensive from Eritrea and Somalia.

The Italian invasion army was divided into three operational formations advancing in three directions [:
northern front(10 divisions) - was supposed to deliver the main blow in the direction of Dessie and further - to Addis Ababa;
central front(1 division) - had the main task of ensuring the internal flanks and protecting the communications of the Northern and Southern fronts, was supposed to advance from Aseb through the Danakil desert to Ausa and further, in the direction of Dessie;
southern front(4 divisions, commander - General Rodolfo Graziani) - had the task of advancing from the territory of Italian Somalia, diverting and tying up as many Ethiopian troops as possible, supporting the offensive of the Northern Front units with a blow in the direction of Korrahe - Harer, and then joining the Northern Front in area of ​​Addis Ababa.

For Mussolini, this was the first serious military campaign. In January, for some time, the Ethiopians seized the initiative, but the Italians, who had superiority in manpower and technology, nevertheless took their toll. The Duce even had to replace Marshal De Bono with Pietro Badoglio. Failure infuriated the dictator. On May 5, 1936, motorized units of the Italian army entered Addis Ababa, and on May 9, the Italian monarch Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed Emperor. The emergence of a competitor in Africa threatened British colonial possessions. Emperor Haile Selassie flees the country for British Djibouti.

This was another blow to British reputation and the integrity of the Empire. On March 7, 1936, Hitler returned the Rhine demilitarized zone to Germany without a fight. He later confessed:

"The 48 hours after the march into the Rhineland were the most exhausting of my life. If the French had entered the Rhineland, we would have had to retire with our tails between our legs. The military resources at our disposal were inadequate for even moderate resistance." But nevertheless, the armed French units did not engage in battle with the Wehrmacht units.

July 1936: The Spanish Civil War begins with a Francoist mutiny. On July 17, a stronghold of the Franco regime is formed in Burgos. Civil armed conflict in Spain lasts 3 years. At the very beginning of 1938, Hitler, during a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg, put forward an ultimatum on the voluntary surrender of Austria. On March 11, Schuschnigg resigns. The Nazi Seiss-Inquart becomes the President of Austria, with the consent of which parts of the Wehrmacht cross the border of the country on March 12, the Anschluss is officially recognized on March 13, and on March 15 Hitler solemnly announces the fulfillment of his great mission on Heldenplatz. And all this, as well as the Munich agreement that followed in the same year, with the tacit consent of the British.

On April 1, 1939, the Spanish Civil War ended, and on the 4th, General Franco was already hosting the victory parade. The emergence of a third fascist state in Europe dramatically shook Britain's position in Europe and in the world. In the British colonies, anti-British riots began and anti-British sentiment grew. In South Africa, the fascist movement "Ossevabrandvag" was formed, which opposed entry into the war on the side of the British. The Ossevabrandvag included the paramilitary formation Stormjaers (African. Stormjaers - "stormtroopers"), reminiscent of the Nazi SA units, on account of its sabotage against the government of Jan Smuts. Each Stormyars recruit swore an oath, “If I retreat, kill me. If I die, avenge me. If I advance, follow me." During the war, many members of the Ossevabrandvag were arrested for participating in acts of sabotage against the South African government and supporting the Nazis. Among them was the future Prime Minister of South Africa, John Forster, who was imprisoned in a camp in Koffifontein along with 800 other South African fascists, as well as captured Italians and Germans. Stormyars and "Ossevabrandvag" became the first symbols of resistance to the British occupation oppression.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was absolutely not included in the plans of the Anglo-Saxons, which is why they began to worry about their safety. The conclusion of this pact actually lowered the barrier for British invasion to Europe. The secret protocols of the treaty provided for the division of Eastern Europe between the USSR and Germany, including Poland, which Britain had previously guaranteed security. This meant the collapse of all British foreign policy in Europe and put the empire in an extremely difficult position.

The decisive role in England's declaration of war on Germany was played by the United States, exercising pressure on England that if England refused to fulfill its obligations towards Poland, the USA would renounce its obligations in relation to support for England. The conflict between Great Britain and Germany meant the exposure of British interests in Asia to Japanese aggression, which was hardly possible to cope with without the help of the United States (there were Anglo-American obligations for joint defense against Japan). Joseph P. Kennedy, U.S. ambassador to England 1938-1940, later recalled, "Neither the French nor the British would have ever made Poland the cause of war if it had not been for constant incitement from Washington." Faced with the fact of the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, being under pressure from the United States, which threatened to deprive her of her support if England refused to fulfill her obligations towards Poland, England went to declare war on Germany.

However, England did not take concrete actions for a long time. From September 1939 to May 1940, all of Europe was practically in the hands of Hitler. The defeat of the British troops near Dunkirk forced the British to evacuate home, and on June 22, 1940, the surrender of France was signed in the Peten car. And England had a hand in this, now and then attacking French ships.

"Our goal has been and will be to bring England to its knees"

This is exactly what Hitler said after France was defeated. June 10, 1940 Mussolini declared war on England. Hitler supported his ally. A long North African campaign began, stretching for 3 years, which began to wear down the British forces. The war in North Africa was the high point of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who brilliantly proved himself as a military leader. For his resourcefulness, fearlessness and military cunning, he was nicknamed the "Desert Fox" (Wüstenfuchs).

Unser Rommel - Das Lied der Afrika Korps:

The British had a system of bases guarding the shipping route to India and the oil-bearing regions of the Middle East. And the Italians, thanks to the fact that this sea route passed here, could already cut it at any moment, and not in one, but in several places. The fighting in North Africa unfolded in September 1940. The British armed units in Africa were too dispersed, which the Italians decided to take advantage of. The Egyptian operation became the first chord of the North African theater of operations.

On the night of September 12-13, a large number of special bombs were dropped by Italian aircraft on the section of the road between Sidi Barrani and Mersa Matruh, which acted like mines, on which soldiers of the 11th Hussars were blown up early in the morning. On the same morning, Italian artillery bombarded the Musaid area and the airfield and the empty Es-Sallum barracks. After artillery preparation, the troops of the 10th Army went on the offensive and crossed the Egyptian border. According to the English descriptions, this Italian offensive was more like the passage of troops in a parade than fighting. Parts of the 1st Libyan Division soon occupied Es-Sallum. The 1st Blackshirt Division "March 23" retook Fort Capuzo, occupied by British troops earlier in the course of border skirmishes.

The small British force holding back the Italians, who were advancing towards the passage of Halfaya, was forced to retreat east under pressure from tanks and artillery. By evening, two large columns of Italian troops joined at the Halfaya Pass: the 2nd Libyan, 63rd Infantry Divisions and the Maletti Group, advancing from the Musaid area, and the 62nd Infantry Division from the Sidi Omar area. Further advance of the Italians through the passage towards the coastal road began the next morning.

In the afternoon of 14 September, the British troops in the coastal region retreated to previously prepared positions east of Buk Buk, where they were reinforced the next day. The Italian units reached the British positions by the middle of the day on September 15, where they were fired upon by horse artillery. Due to lack of ammunition, the British were forced to retreat and by the end of the day the Italians occupied Buk-Buk. On the morning of September 16, the British guards occupied positions near Alam-Hamid, in the afternoon, due to tank fire, they were forced to retreat to Alam el-Dab. The column of advancing Italian tanks and trucks turned north towards the plateau. Under the threat of encirclement, the British left Sidi Barrani and took up positions at Maaten Mohammed. In the evening, the advance units of the 1st Blackshirt Division entered Sidi Barrani. At this, having passed a total of about 50 miles, the offensive of the Italian troops stopped. In many ways, the slowness of the Italian generals became an obstacle to the development of success, which the British naturally took advantage of.

The serious failures of Italy in the war she had undertaken against Greece could not but be reflected in her position in Africa. The situation in the Mediterranean has also changed for Italy. The German military leader Friedrich Ruge remarked:

“... It took only a few months to expose to the whole world the military weakness and political instability of Italy. The negative consequences of this for the conduct of the war by the Axis powers were not long in coming."

Italy's failures allowed the British command to take more effective measures to secure the Suez Canal. Wavell decided on an attack, which he called in his order "a raid by large forces with a limited purpose." The British units were tasked with pushing the Italo-fascist troops out of Egypt and, if successful, pursuing them to Es-Sallum. Wavell's headquarters did not plan any further advance.

Shortly before the first British offensive in North Africa, the Luftwaffe made a famous raid on Coventry, practically leveling the city to the ground. Coventry was an important economic hub in England. The bombing of Coventry dealt an irreparable blow to the British economy and British military power. On land, England tended to be inferior, and therefore relied more heavily on its navy. The struggle in North Africa went on with varying degrees of success.

Bomben auf Engeland:

In China, the Japanese captured the southeastern part of the country in 1939-1941. China, due to the difficult domestic political situation in the country, could not put up a serious rebuff. After the surrender of France, the administration of French Indochina recognized the Vichy government. Thailand, taking advantage of the weakening of France, made territorial claims to part of French Indochina. In October 1940, Thai troops invaded French Indochina. Thailand managed to inflict a number of defeats on the Vichy army. On May 9, 1941, under pressure from Japan, the Vichy regime was forced to sign a peace treaty, according to which Laos and part of Cambodia were ceded to Thailand. After the loss of a number of colonies in Africa by the Vichy regime, there was also a threat of the capture of Indochina by the British and de Gaulle. To prevent this, in June 1941 the Nazi government agreed to the entry of Japanese troops into the colony.

The British Empire was crumbling right before our eyes. Churchill's government was in complete disarray. It became obvious that the world was tired of enduring British violence. Europe is completely in the hands of Hitler, the struggle in North Africa does not produce results for a long time, and the Japanese machine is gaining momentum in the Pacific. The Soviet government does not sleep either. The Stalinist elite, shortly before Hitler's invasion, concludes a neutrality pact with Japan, which causes distrust among all other warring parties, especially the British and the Americans, who are in no hurry to enter into a conflict. The USSR thwarts the Kantokuen plan and puts another nail in the coffin of the British Empire, effectively bringing England head-to-head with Hitler. The bombing of British cities continues until 1944, until the final turning point comes in favor of the USSR, and not the entire anti-Hitler coalition.

The victory of the USSR in the Battle of Moscow on December 6, 1941 also destroys the plans of the Japanese to start a war against the Soviet Union, which both Hitler and the British and Americans so desired. The Japanese Empire declares war on the United States and on December 7, 1941 bombs Pearl Harbor, drawing America into yet another military adventure. Here is how events unfold until mid-1942 in the Far East in the Pacific:

In addition to the United States, the next day the United Kingdom, the Netherlands (government-in-exile), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela also declare war on Japan. December 11 Germany and Italy, and December 13 - Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria - declare war on the United States.

On December 8, the Japanese blockade the British military base in Hong Kong and begin an invasion of Thailand, British Malaya and the American Philippines. The British squadron that came out to intercept is subjected to air strikes, and 2 battleships - the striking force of the British in this region of the Pacific Ocean - go to the bottom.

Thailand, after a short resistance, agrees to conclude a military alliance with Japan and declares war on the United States and Great Britain. Japanese aviation from the territory of Thailand begins the bombing of Burma.

On December 10, the Japanese capture the American base on the island of Guam, on December 23 - on Wake Island, on December 25, Hong Kong fell. On December 8, the Japanese break through the British defenses in Malaya and, advancing rapidly, push the British troops back to Singapore. Singapore, which until then the British considered an "impregnable fortress", fell on February 15, 1942, after a 6-day siege. About 100 thousand British and Australian soldiers are captured.

The British, who capitulated near Singapore, are marching with a white flag about the surrender of their fortress.

Japanese military march "Gunkan":

Liberation of Malaya and Singapore from the British:

The Japanese army is fighting on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

In the Philippines, at the end of December 1941, the Japanese captured the islands of Mindanao and Luzon. The remnants of American troops manage to gain a foothold on the Bataan Peninsula and the island of Corregidor.

January 11, 1942 Japanese troops invade the Dutch East Indies and soon capture the islands of Borneo and Celebs. On January 28, the Japanese fleet defeats the Anglo-Dutch squadron in the Java Sea. The allies are trying to create a powerful defense on the island of Java, but by March 2 they capitulate.

On January 23, 1942, the Japanese capture the Bismarck Archipelago, including the island of New Britain, and then take possession of the northwestern part of the Solomon Islands, in February the Gilbert Islands, and in early March invade New Guinea.

March 8, advancing in Burma, the Japanese capture Rangoon, at the end of April - Mandalay, and by May they have captured almost all of Burma, defeating British and Chinese troops and cutting off southern China from India. However, the beginning of the rainy season and the lack of forces do not allow the Japanese to build on their success and invade India.

On May 6, the last grouping of American and Philippine troops in the Philippines surrenders. By the end of May 1942, Japan managed to establish control over Southeast Asia and Northwestern Oceania at the cost of minor losses. American, British, Australian and Dutch troops are crushingly defeated, having lost all their main forces in this region. Australia and New Zealand, under attack by the Japanese, began to realize that Britain was powerless to defend its entire empire.

Thanks to such stunning successes, the Japanese have a springboard to capture Australia, New Zealand and the remaining islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese victories caused a chain reaction in India, where anti-British sentiment also began to grow rapidly. In August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi launched a campaign of civil disobedience demanding the immediate withdrawal of all British. Along with other Congress leaders, Gandhi was immediately imprisoned and the country exploded with riots, first student and then village riots, especially in the United Provinces, Bihar and West Bengal. The presence in India of numerous wartime troops made it possible to suppress the riots in 6 weeks, but some of their participants formed an underground interim government on the border with Nepal. In other parts of India, riots broke out sporadically in the summer of 1943.

Due to the arrest of almost all the leaders of the Congress significant influence passed to Subhas Bose, who left Congress in 1939 due to disagreements. Bose began to cooperate with the Axis, seeking to free India from the British by force. With the support of the Japanese, he formed the so-called Indian National Army, recruited mainly from Indian prisoners of war captured during the fall of Singapore. The Japanese established a number of puppet governments in the occupied countries, in particular, making Bose the leader of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind ("Free India"). Indian national army capitulated during the liberation of Singapore from the Japanese, and Bos himself soon died in a plane crash. At the end of 1945, trials of INA soldiers took place, which, however, caused riots in India.

In North Africa, from May 26 to 27, 1942, Rommel went on the offensive, attacking British positions on the "Gazala Line" west of Tobruk, and broke through the British defenses. From May 26 to June 11, the troops of the Fighting France successfully defended the fort of Bir Hakeim south of Tobruk from superior enemy troops. On June 11, the French units, like the entire British 8th Army, were ordered to retreat to Egypt. On June 20, German-Italian troops captured Tobruk. By June 22, 1942, England is deprived of absolutely all of its colonial possessions and from that moment it becomes not only an ally, but also a direct accomplice of the United States, which, after the aggression at Midway, begin to implement their plans of conquest. The Soviet Union receives a unique historical opportunity to become a superpower in opposition to the United States, which it successfully uses.

Great Britain undertakes further major operations only with the help of the United States, because it is unable to resist the Nazi evil on its own. In reality, Britain is no longer at war, but is fighting back in the hope of regaining lost positions, but even then it became clear that the British lion had finally suffered a global collapse. The war cost the lives of 1.5 million Britons, which is eloquent evidence that Britain, like Hitler, received a well-deserved punishment not only for its colonialism, but also for war crimes throughout its history.

The results of Britain's involvement in World War II were mixed. The country retained its independence and made a significant contribution to the victory over fascism, at the same time it lost its role as a world leader and came close to losing its colonial status.

Political games

British military historiography often likes to point out that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 effectively untied the hands of the German war machine. At the same time, foggy Albion bypasses the Munich Agreement, signed by England together with France, Italy and Germany a year earlier. The result of this conspiracy was the division of Czechoslovakia, which, according to many researchers, was the prelude to World War II.

September 30, 1938 in Munich, Britain and Germany signed another agreement - a declaration of mutual non-aggression - which was the culmination of the British "appeasement policy". Hitler succeeded quite easily in persuading British Prime Minister Arthur Chamberlain that the Munich Accords would be a guarantee of security in Europe.

Historians believe that Britain had high hopes for diplomacy, with the help of which it hoped to rebuild the Versailles system, which was in crisis, although already in 1938 many politicians warned the peacekeepers: "Concessions from Germany will only spur the aggressor!"

Chamberlain, returning to London, said at the gangway of the plane: “I brought peace to our generation,” to which Winston Churchill, then a parliamentarian, prophetically remarked: “England was offered a choice between war and dishonor. She has chosen dishonor and will get war."

"Strange War"

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. On the same day, the Chamberlain government sent a note of protest to Berlin, and on September 3, Great Britain, as the guarantor of Poland's independence, declared war on Germany. Over the next ten days, the entire British Commonwealth joins.

By mid-October, the British had moved four divisions to the Continent and taken up positions along the Franco-Belgian border. However, the section between the cities of Mold and Bayel, which is a continuation of the Maginot Line, was far from the epicenter of hostilities. Here, the allies created more than 40 airfields, but instead of bombing German positions, British aviation began to scatter propaganda leaflets appealing to the morality of the Germans.

In the following months, six more British divisions arrive in France, but by action neither the British nor the French are in a hurry to start. So the "strange war" was waged. The head of the British General Staff, Edmund Ironside, described the situation as follows: "Passive waiting with all the excitement and anxiety that follows from this."

The French writer Roland Dorgelès recalled how the Allies calmly watched the movement of German ammunition trains: "Obviously, the main concern of the high command was not to disturb the enemy."

Historians have no doubt that the "strange war" is due to the wait-and-see attitude of the Allies. Both Great Britain and France had to understand where German aggression would turn after the capture of Poland. It is possible that if the Wehrmacht had immediately launched an invasion of the USSR after the Polish campaign, the Allies could have supported Hitler.

Miracle at Dunkirk

On May 10, 1940, according to the Gelb plan, Germany launched an invasion of Holland, Belgium and France. The political games are over. Churchill, who took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, soberly assessed the strength of the enemy. As soon as the German troops took control of Boulogne and Calais, he decided to evacuate the parts of the British Expeditionary Force that were in the pocket near Dunkirk, and with them the remnants of the French and Belgian divisions. 693 British and about 250 French ships under the command of the English Rear Admiral Bertram Ramsey planned to transport about 350,000 coalition soldiers across the English Channel.

Military experts had little faith in the success of the operation under the sonorous name "Dynamo". The advance detachment of the 19th Panzer Corps under the command of Colonel-General of the German troops Heinz Guderian was located a few kilometers from Dunkirk and, if desired, could easily defeat the demoralized allies. But a miracle happened: 337,131 soldiers, most of whom were British, reached the opposite shore with little or no interference.

Hitler unexpectedly stopped the advance of the German troops. Guderian called this decision purely political. Historians differed in their assessment of the controversial episode of the war. Someone believes that the Fuhrer wanted to save strength, but someone is sure of a secret agreement between the British and German governments.

One way or another, after the Dunkirk disaster, Britain remained the only country that had avoided complete defeat and was able to resist the seemingly invincible German machine. On June 10, 1940, the position of England became threatening when fascist Italy entered the war on the side of Nazi Germany.

Battle for England

Germany's plans to force Britain to surrender have not been canceled. In July 1940, British coastal convoys and naval bases were subjected to a massive bombardment by the German Air Force. In August, the Luftwaffe switched to airfields and aircraft factories.

On August 24, German aircraft launched the first bombing attack on central London. Some say it's wrong. The retaliatory attack was not long in coming. A day later, 81 RAF bombers flew to Berlin. No more than a dozen made it to the target, but that was enough to infuriate Hitler. At a meeting of the German command in Holland, it was decided to bring down the entire power of the Luftwaffe on the British Isles.

Within a few weeks, the sky over British cities turned into a boiling cauldron. Got Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Belfast. For the whole of August, at least a thousand British citizens died. However, from mid-September, the intensity of the bombing began to decline due to the effective opposition of British fighter aircraft.

The Battle of England is better characterized by numbers. In total, 2913 aircraft of the British Air Force and 4549 Luftwaffe aircraft were involved in air battles. The losses of the parties by historians are estimated at 1547 downed fighters of the Royal Air Force and 1887 German aircraft.

mistress of the seas

It is known that after the successful bombing of England, Hitler intended to launch Operation Sea Lion to invade the British Isles. However, the desired air superiority was not achieved. In turn, the military command of the Reich was skeptical about the landing operation. According to the German generals, the strength of the German army was precisely on land, and not at sea.

Military experts were sure that the British land army was no stronger than the broken French Armed Forces and that Germany had every chance to prevail over the troops of the United Kingdom in a ground operation. The English military historian Liddell Hart noted that England managed to hold on only due to the water barrier.

In Berlin, they realized that the German fleet was noticeably inferior to the English. For example, by the beginning of the war, the British Navy had seven active aircraft carriers and six more on the slipway, while Germany was never able to equip at least one of its aircraft carriers. In the open sea, the presence of carrier-based aircraft could predetermine the outcome of any battle.

The German submarine fleet was only able to inflict serious damage on British merchant ships. However, by sinking 783 German submarines with US support, the British Navy won the Battle of the Atlantic. Until February 1942, the Fuhrer hoped to conquer England from the sea, until the commander of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy), Admiral Erich Raeder, finally convinced him to abandon this venture.

Colonial interests

Back in early 1939, the British Chiefs of Staff Committee recognized the defense of Egypt with its Suez Canal as one of the most important strategic tasks. Hence the special attention of the Armed Forces of the Kingdom to the Mediterranean theater of operations.

Unfortunately, the British had to fight not at sea, but in the desert. May-June 1942 turned out for England, according to historians, a "shameful defeat" near Tobruk from the African corps of Erwin Rommel. And this is with a twofold superiority of the British in strength and technology!

The British managed to turn the tide of the North African campaign only in October 1942 at the Battle of El Alamein. Again having a significant advantage (for example, in aviation 1200:120), the British Expeditionary Force of General Montgomery managed to defeat a group of 4 German and 8 Italian divisions under the command of Rommel.

Churchill remarked about this battle: “Before El Alamein, we did not win a single victory. Since El Alamein, we haven't suffered a single defeat." By May 1943, British and American troops forced the 250,000th Italo-German grouping in Tunisia to capitulate, which opened the way for the Allies to Italy. In North Africa, the British lost about 220 thousand soldiers and officers.

And again Europe

On June 6, 1944, with the opening of the Second Front, British troops had the opportunity to redeem themselves for their shameful flight from the Continent four years earlier. The overall leadership of the allied ground forces was entrusted to the experienced Montgomery. The total superiority of the allies by the end of August crushed the resistance of the Germans in France.

In a different vein, events unfolded in December 1944 near the Ardennes, when a German armored group literally pushed through the lines of American troops. In the Ardennes meat grinder, the US army lost over 19 thousand soldiers, the British - no more than two hundred.

This ratio of losses led to disagreements in the camp of the allies. American Generals Bradley and Patton threatened to resign if Montgomery did not relinquish leadership of the army. Montgomery's self-confident statement at a press conference on January 7, 1945, that it was British troops who had saved the Americans from the prospect of encirclement, jeopardized the conduct of a further joint operation. Only through the intervention of the commander-in-chief allied forces Dwight Eisenhower, the conflict was settled.

By the end of 1944, the Soviet Union had liberated a significant part of the Balkan Peninsula, which caused serious concern in Britain. Churchill, who did not want to lose control over the important Mediterranean region, proposed to Stalin the division of the sphere of influence, as a result of which Moscow got Romania, London got Greece.

In fact, with the tacit consent of the USSR and the USA, Great Britain crushed the resistance of the Greek communist forces and on January 11, 1945, established full control over Attica. It was then that a new enemy clearly loomed on the horizon of British foreign policy. “In my eyes, the Soviet threat has already replaced the Nazi enemy,” Churchill recalled in his memoirs.

According to the 12-volume History of the Second World War, Great Britain, along with the colonies, lost 450,000 people in World War II. Britain's war expenses accounted for more than half of foreign investment, and the Kingdom's external debt reached £3 billion by the end of the war. The United Kingdom paid off all its debts only by 2006.

All connoisseurs of the history of the Second World War know the story of the English cruiser Edinburgh, which transported approximately 5.5 tons of gold in 1942. Now it is very often written that it was a payment for Lend-Lease supplies for which the USSR allegedly paid in gold.

Any unbiased specialist dealing with this issue knows that only pre-lend-lease deliveries of 1941 were paid in gold, and deliveries were not subject to payment for other years.

The USSR paid in gold for supplies before the conclusion of the Lend-Lease agreement, as well as for goods and materials purchased from the Allies other than Lend-Lease.

There were 465 gold bars on Edinburgh with a total weight of 5536 kilograms, loaded in Murmansk in April 1942, and they were the payment of the Soviet Union to England for weapons supplied in excess of the list stipulated by the lend-lease agreement.

But, and this gold did not reach England. The cruiser Edinburgh was damaged and scuttled. And, the Soviet Union, even during the war years, received insurance in the amount of 32.32% of the value of gold, paid by the British War Risk Insurance Bureau. By the way, all the transported gold, the notorious 5.5 tons, at the prices of that time cost a little more than 100 million dollars. For comparison, the total cost of Lend-Lease delivered to the USSR is $11.3 billion.

However, the story of Edinburgh's gold did not end there. In 1981, the British treasure-hunting company Jesson Marine Recoveries entered into an agreement with the authorities of the USSR and Great Britain on the search and recovery of gold. "Edinburgh" lay at a depth of 250 meters. In the most difficult conditions, divers managed to lift 5129 kg. According to the agreement, 2/3 of the gold was received by the USSR. Thus, not only was the gold transported by Edinburgh not a payment for lend-lease and that this gold never reached the allies, but a third of its value was reimbursed by the USSR during the war years so, forty years later, when this gold was raised, most of it was returned to the USSR.

We repeat once again that the USSR did not pay with gold for Lend-Lease supplies in 1942, since the Lend-Lease agreement assumed that logistical assistance would be supplied to the Soviet side with a deferred payment or even free of charge.

The USSR was subject to the US Lend-Lease Act based on the following principles:
- all payments for the delivered materials are made after the end of the war
- materials that will be destroyed are not subject to any payment
- materials that will remain suitable for civilian needs,
paid no earlier than 5 years after the end of the war, in the order
providing long-term loans
- the US share in Lend-Lease was - 96.4%.

Deliveries from the USA to the USSR can be divided into the following stages:
Pre-Lend-Lease - from June 22, 1941 to September 30, 1941 (paid in gold)
First protocol - from October 1, 1941 to June 30, 1942 (signed on October 1, 1941)
Second protocol - from July 1, 1942 to June 30, 1943 (signed on October 6, 1942)
Third protocol - from July 1, 1943 to June 30, 1944 (signed on October 19, 1943)
Fourth protocol - from July 1, 1944, (signed on April 17, 1944), formally
ended 12 May 1945, but deliveries were extended until the end of the war
with Japan, which the USSR undertook to join 90 days after the end of
war in Europe (ie August 8, 1945).

Many people know the history of Edinburgh, but few people know the history of another British cruiser Emerald. But this cruiser had to carry gold in comparable volumes than the Edinburgh. Only on its first voyage to Canada in 1939, the Emerald transported a cargo of $ 650 million in gold and securities, and he had several such flights.

The beginning of the Second World War for England was extremely unsuccessful, and after the evacuation of troops from the Continent, the fate of the island depended on the fleet and aviation, since only they could prevent the possible landing of the Germans. At the same time, in the event of the fall of England, the Churchill government planned to move to Canada and from there continue the fight against Germany. For this, the English gold reserves were sent to Canada, in total about 1,500 tons of gold and about 300 billion dollars in securities and currencies in modern prices.

Among this gold was also part of the gold of the former Russian Empire. Few people know how this gold got to England, and then to Canada.

Before the First World War, Russia's gold reserves were the largest in the world and amounted to 1 billion 695 million rubles (1311 tons of gold). At the beginning of the First World War, significant amounts of gold were sent to England as a guarantee of war loans. In 1914, 75 million gold rubles (8 million pounds) were sent via Arkhangelsk to London. On the way, the ships of the convoy (cruiser Drake and transport Mantois) were damaged by mines and this route was considered dangerous. In 1915-1916, 375 million gold rubles (40 million pounds) were sent by railway to Vladivostok, and then on Japanese warships transported to Canada and placed in the vaults of the Bank of England in Ottawa. In February 1917, another 187 million gold rubles (20 million pounds) were sent via the same route through Vladivostok. These gold sums became a guarantee of British loans to Russia for the purchase of military equipment in the amount of 300 and 150 million pounds, respectively. It is known that from the beginning of the war until October 1917, Russia transferred a total of 498 tons of gold to the Bank of England; 58 tons were soon sold, and the remaining 440 tons lay in the vaults of the Bank of England as collateral for loans.

In addition, part of the gold paid by the Bolsheviks to the Germans, after the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918, also came to England. Representatives of Soviet Russia undertook to send 250 tons of gold to Germany as an indemnity and managed to send two echelons with 98 tons of gold. After the capitulation of Germany, all this gold went as an indemnity to the victorious countries of France, England and the USA.

With the outbreak of World War II, already in September 1939, the British government decided that depositors holding securities in UK banks must declare them to the Royal Treasury. In addition, all deposits of individuals and legal entities from the countries of the opponents of Great Britain and the countries occupied by Germany and its allies were frozen.

Even before the operation of transporting the Bank of England's valuables to Canada, millions of pounds in gold and securities were transferred to buy weapons from the Americans.

One of the first ships to carry these valuables was the cruiser Emerald under the command of Augustus Willington Shelton Agar. On October 3, 1939, HMS Emerald anchored at Plymouth, England, where Agar was ordered to proceed to Halifax in Canada.

On October 7, 1939, the cruiser sailed from Plymouth with gold bars from the Bank of England bound for Montreal. As this voyage was a closely guarded secret, the crew wore tropical white uniforms to confuse German agents. As an escort, Emerald was escorted by the battleships HMS Revenge and HMS Resolution and, and the cruisers HMS Enterprise, HMS Caradoc.

Fearing a German landing in England, Churchill's government devised a plan to allow Britain to continue the war even if the island was captured. To do this, all the gold reserves and securities were transferred to Canada. Using its powers in wartime, the Churchill government confiscated all securities held in the banks of England and moved them under the cloak of secrecy to the port of Greenock in Scotland.

Within ten days, one of the participants in this operation recalled, all the deposits in the banks of the United Kingdom selected for transfer were collected, stacked in thousands of boxes the size of boxes of oranges and taken to regional collection centers. All these were riches brought to Great Britain by generations of its merchants and seafarers. Now, together with the accumulated tons of gold of the British Empire, they had to cross the ocean.

The cruiser Emerald, now commanded by Captain Francis Cyril Flynn, was again chosen to transport the first batch of secret cargo, and was supposed to leave Greenock Harbor in Scotland on June 24.

On June 23, four of the best financial experts from the Bank of England left London by train for Glasgow, with Alexander Craig at their head. Meanwhile, a heavily guarded special train brought the last batch of gold and securities to Greenock to be loaded onto a cruiser stationed in the Clyde Bay. During the night, the destroyer Kossak arrived to join the Emeralda's escort.

By six o'clock in the evening of the 24th, the cruiser was loaded with valuables like no other ship before it. His artillery cellars were filled with 2229 heavy boxes, each containing four gold bars. (The cargo of gold turned out to be so heavy that at the end of the voyage, the corners of the floors of these cellars were found bent.) There were also boxes of securities, there were 488 of them totaling more than 400 million dollars.

Thus, already in the first transportation there were valuables worth more than half a billion dollars. The ship left port on 24 June 1940 and, escorted by several destroyers, sailed for Canada.

The weather was not very conducive to swimming. As the storm intensified, the speed of the escorting destroyers began to drop, and Captain Vaillant, in command of the escort, signaled to Captain Flynn to go in an anti-submarine zigzag so that the Emerald would maintain its higher and, therefore, safer speed. But the ocean raged harder and harder, and in the end the destroyers fell behind so that Captain Flynn decided to continue sailing alone. On the fourth day, the weather improved, and soon, on July 1, somewhere after 5 o'clock in the morning, the coast of Nova Scotia appeared on the horizon. Now, on calm water, the Emerald was sailing towards Halifax, making 28 knots, and at 7.35 on July 1, she safely docked.

In Halifax, the cargo was transferred to a special train, which was already waiting and on the railway line approaching the dock. There were also representatives of the Bank of Canada and the Canadian National Express railway company. Prior to unloading, extraordinary precautions were taken, the berth was carefully blocked. Each crate, when taken out of the cruiser, was registered as handed over, after which it was entered into the list when loaded onto the wagon, and all this happened at an accelerated pace. At seven o'clock in the evening the train with gold left.

On July 2, 1940, at 5 pm, the train arrived at Bonaventure station in Montreal. In Montreal, the securities wagons were uncoupled, and the gold moved on to Ottawa. David Mansour, acting Governor of the Bank of Canada, and Sidney Perkins, from the Foreign Exchange Department, met the cargo on the platform. Both of these people were aware that the train was carrying a secret cargo codenamed "Fish". But only Mansour knew that they were about to take part in the largest financial transaction ever carried out by states in peacetime or wartime.
As soon as the train stopped, armed guards got out of the cars and cordoned it off. Mansur and Perkins were ushered into one of the carriages, where a thin man was waiting for them. short man bespectacled - Alexander Craig of the Bank of England, accompanied by three assistants.

Now the valuables passed under their responsibility, and they had to put these thousands of packages somewhere. David Mansour has already figured out where.
The 24-story granite building of the Sun Life insurance company, which occupied an entire block in Montreal, was the most convenient for these purposes. It had three underground floors, and the lowest of them in wartime was supposed to be taken away just as a storehouse of valuables such as this "Valuable Deposit". papers of the United Kingdom," as it was called.

Shortly after 1:00 a.m., when the traffic on the streets of Montreal had died down, the police cordoned off several blocks between the marshalling yard and Sun Life. After that, trucks began to ply between the cars and the rear entrance to the building, accompanied by armed guards from the Canadian National Express. When the last box rested in its place - which was duly registered - Craig, responsible for the deposit, on behalf of the Bank of England, took from David Mansour a receipt on behalf of the Canada Bank.

Now it was necessary to quickly equip a reliable storage. But making a chamber 60 feet long and wide and 11 feet high required an enormous amount of steel. Where can I get it in wartime? Someone remembered an unused, abandoned railway line, two miles of track with 870 rails. It was from these that the walls and ceiling were made, three feet thick. Ultra-sensitive microphones of sound pickup devices were installed in the ceiling, fixing even the faintest clicks of drawers pulled out of the iron cabinet. In order to open the doors of the vault, it was necessary to dial two different number combinations on the locking device. Two bank employees were told one combination, two others - the second. “The other combination was unknown to me,” one of them recalled, “and every time it was required to enter the cell, we had to gather in pairs.”

The campaign "Emeralda" was only the first in a series of "golden" transatlantic crossings of British ships. On July 8, five ships left UK ports carrying the largest combined cargo of valuables ever transported by water or land. At midnight, the battleship Ravenge and the cruiser Bonaventure left the Clyde. At dawn in the North Strait, they were joined by three former liners Monarch Bermuda, Sobieski and Bathory (the last two were Free Poland ships). The escort consisted of four destroyers. This convoy, commanded by Admiral Sir Ernest Russell Archer, was carrying approximately $773 million worth of gold bars and 229 boxes of securities, with a total value of approximately $1,750,000,000.

Throughout the passage across the Atlantic, eight 15-inch and twelve 6-inch guns and batteries of 4-inch anti-aircraft guns were in constant combat readiness. On July 13, the first three ships entered Halifax harbor. Shortly thereafter, the Bonaventure appeared, and then the Bathory. It took five special trains to transport the gold bars to Ottawa. The load was so heavy that no more than 200 boxes were stacked in each car to support the floor. Each train carried from 10 to 14 such freight cars. Two guards were locked in each car, who replaced each other every four hours.

All this gold was transported without insurance. Who could or even wanted to insure hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bullion, especially in wartime? The gold cargo delivered by the Ravenge convoy led to another record: the costs of the Canadian National Express for its transportation turned out to be the highest in its history - something like a million dollars.

In Ottawa, the Canadian National Railroad arranged for special trains to be unloaded and transported to the Canada Bank on Wellington Street at night. Who would have thought until very recently that this five-story building that housed the bank, only 140 feet high, would become like Fort Knox, the largest vault of valuables in the world? For three days, the cargo of the Ravenge convoy flowed like gold into the bank vault, which measured 60 feet by 100 feet. The trucks were unloaded, and the 27-pound pigs, like large bars of yellow soap in wire wraps, were neatly stacked in the vault, row by row, layer by layer, into a huge, ceiling-high pile of tens of thousands of bars of heavy gold.
During the three summer months, three dozen shipments of securities arrived by rail in Montreal.

It took almost 900 four-door cabinets to accommodate all the certificates. The valuables hidden underground were guarded around the clock by 24 police officers who ate and slept there.

A spacious high room next to a vault full of securities was equipped as an office for working with deposits. Mansour invited 120 people to the state - former bank employees, specialists from brokerage firms and stenographers from investment banks - who took an oath of secrecy.

The office, of course, was exceptional. Only one elevator descended to the third floor, and each employee had to present a special pass (which changed every month) - first before entering it, and then downstairs - to the guards from the Mounted Police and sign daily in his arrival and departure. The desks of the guards had buttons that turned on the alarm right in the departments of the Montreal and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as in the Dominion Electrical Protection Service. Throughout the summer, during which the total number of boxes of securities reached almost two thousand, Craig's employees worked ten hours a day with one day off a week. All these securities, owned by thousands of different owners, had to be unpacked, sorted and sorted. As a result, it was found that there were approximately two thousand different types of stocks and bonds, including all listed shares of companies that pay high dividends. By September, Craig, who was responsible for the deposit, who knew everything he was supposed to have, knew that he really had it all. Each certificate was taken into account and entered into a file cabinet.

Gold, as well as securities, arrived continuously. According to documents available at the Admiralty, between June and August, British ships (together with several Canadian and Polish ships) transported more than $2,556,000,000 worth of gold to Canada and the United States.

In total, over 1,500 tons of gold were transported during the Fish operation, and considering the gold received by England from Russia during the First World War, every third gold bar stored in Ottawa was of Russian origin.
In today's gold prices, the treasure shipped is about $230 billion, and the value of the securities held in the Sun Life Building is estimated at over $300 billion in today's prices.

Despite the fact that thousands of people were involved in the transfer, the Axis intelligence agencies never learned about this operation. This is evidenced by the absolutely incredible fact that during these three months during which transportation was carried out, 134 allied and neutral ships were sunk in the North Atlantic - and not a single one of them was carrying a cargo of gold.

Their gold was stored in Canada by such countries as occupied by Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, Norway and Poland.

According to information published by the Central Bank of Canada on November 27, 1997, during the Second World War, between 1938 and 1945, 2586 tons of gold were sent to Canada for storage by various states and individuals.

It is interesting that at present, Canada has generally sold off all of its gold reserves, and not at all because of an urgent need for money.

For many decades, Canada has been in the top ten countries with the highest standard of living, and even once was in first place. The government explained this step by the fact that the liquidity of securities is much higher than gold and gold has long been no longer a guarantee of the stability of the national currency, since volumes gold reserves, in terms of money, even the most significant ones account for only an insignificant share in the total volume of circulating money supply in the commodity turnover of developed countries.