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Fabricated Stories About World War II Still Known by Many

Khalid Elhassan November 15, 2019 35 min

British soldiers lining at the beaches of Dunkirk for evacuation. Encyclopedia Britannica

10. How Close Did The Nazis Get to Conquering Britain?

One of WWII’s greatest narratives is that of Britain teetering on a knife’s edge after the German blitzkrieg swept the Low Countries and France in 1940, at risk of invasion from Hitler’s hordes at any moment. While the summer and fall of 1940 truly were, in Winston Churchill’s memorable words, Britain’s “finest hour“, Britain was not as vulnerable to a German invasion as conventional wisdom has it.

After the humiliating evacuation from Dunkirk and the collapse of her main ally in 1940, Britain stood alone against the German juggernaut. Things were grim, and to their credit, the British, led by their indomitable prime minister, soldiered on and fought the good fight when the easier course would have been a negotiated peace that left Hitler as Europe’s colossus. However, things were not as grim as is commonly thought.

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.