← Back to the front page

40 Fascinating But Lesser Known Facts About WWII

Khalid Elhassan January 5, 2019 25 min

World War II - European theatre of World War II — Raising the Red Banner over the Reichstag. Anarkismo

British beach defense in 1940. Imperial War Museum

36. Britain in 1940 Was Nowhere Near As Vulnerable to Invasion as Is Widely Thought

After the fall of France in 1940, Britain stood alone against the Germans, who dominated continental Europe. Most figured it was all over for the British, who had no choice but to sue for peace. Instead, led by the plucky Winston Churchill, Britain chose to fight on. That led Hitler to order plans for an invasion of Britain, Operation Sea Lion. While most Britons feared a German invasion at any moment, their leaders were confident that any German invasion, if attempted, was bound to fail.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.