Sorry, George

In his “Notes on Nationalism” (Polemic magazine, October 1945) George Orwell states that:

Within the intelligentsia, a derisive and mildly hostile attitude towards Britain is more or less compulsory, but it is an un-faked emotion in many cases.

He cites as evidence for this that there was

a remarkable unwillingness to believe in good news, e.g. El Alamein, or the number of German planes shot down in the Battle of Britain.

During the Battle of Britain (i.e. from July to late October 1940) the Germans lost 1,733 aircraft, not the 2,698 claimed by the British. The RAF lost 915 fighters, not the 3,058 claimed by the Germans. Both sides over estimated enemy losses. The British overestimated German losses by just over fifty percent. The Germans overestimated our losses by more than three hundred percent.

It was common on both sides in the air war for more than one pilot or anti-aircraft gunner to claim a kill. As the Battle of Britain was mainly fought over British soil the British authorities could usually check such claims. The Germans could not do so; and in Nazi Germany sceptics kept their views to themselves.

As for the scepticism about El Alamein there had been two previous desert victories. In December 1940/January 1941 Lieutenant General Sir Richard Nugent O’Connor’s Western Desert Force had driven the Italians out of Egypt and Cyrenaica; taken Benghazi; and captured more than a hundred and twenty thousand prisoners. In April 1941 Rommel’s German Africa Corps recaptured Benghazi, laid siege to Tobruk and drove the main British forces back into Egypt.

In November 1941 the 8th Army, then under General Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham, launched Operation Crusader, a tactless name for an operation in Muslim North Africa. After heavy casualties on both sides by January 1942 8th Army had relieved Tobruk, retaken Benghazi and liberated Cyrenaica. In January/February 1942, however, Rommel’s forces drove the 8th Army out of western Cyrenaica, retook Benghazi and advanced to the Gazala Line. Continuing, in May/June 1942 Rommel  occupied Tobruk, drove the 8th Army out of Libya, and advanced to the El Alamein Line. It was there in October and November 1942 that Montgomery’s forces fought back.

Prisoners of War after the Battle of El Alamein

This second Battle of El Alamein was a great victory but it was not as decisive as has been claimed. Despite beginning with the word “victory”, in his November 10th Mansion House speech, Winston Churchill quickly warned “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” There were more than six months of hard fighting from after that victory to the final allied victory in North Africa. There were some very awkward moments, especially in Tunisia in February/March 1943. Only internal divisions within the German High Command and government prevented an Allied debacle as had followed the two previous desert victories.

For the accuracy of my information I refer to Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart’s History of the Second World War published in 1971. I am sorry, George, but the intellectuals were right to disbelieve claims of the number of German planes shot down in the Battle of Britain; and their scepticism about El Alamein had some justification. There is a proverb do not count your chickens until they hatch.

Personally I gave up totally believing military communiques during the 1967 Six Days War when I was seven. This was not long after I realised that Santa Claus was a myth and that it was my parents who bought in my presents when I was asleep. Only Good-Thinkers take military communiques at face value.

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