Fonthill Media are to publish a book in October as a first in a series of books on the Battle Of Britain, starting with the Battle for the Channel, that saw the Luftwaffe targeting merchant shipping, before switching to airfields.

The Thin Blue Line
Part 1: Battle for the Channel 19 July-11 August 1940

Publication: 27 October 2016
Price: £20.00/$34.95
ISBN: 978-1-78155-517-0
Size: 234 x 156 mm
Binding: Hardback
Extent: 248 pages
Illustrations: 50 mono

An account of the Battle of Britain as it was viewed in 1940 by the aircrews of both sides, by the press (often for propaganda purposes) and public
Many personal accounts and memories of the battle
With tabulations of aircrews and aircraft lost by both the RAF and Luftwaffe, and with known combat claims made by both sides in this titanic struggle that changed the course of history
Illustrated with new and rarely seen photographs

10 July, the official first day of the Battle of Britain, witnessed increased aerial activity over the English Channel and along eastern and southern seaboards of the British coastline. The main assaults by ever-increasing formations of Luftwaffe bombers, escorted by Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters, were initially aimed at British merchant shipping convoys plying their trade of coal and other materials from the north of England to the southern ports. These attacks often met with increasing success although RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes endeavoured to repel the Heinkel He 111s, Dornier Do 17s and Junkers Ju 88s, frequently with ill-afforded loss in pilots and aircraft.
Within a month, the English Channel was effectively closed to British shipping. Only a change in the Luftwaffe’s tactics in mid-August, when the main attack changed to the attempted destruction of the RAF’s southern airfields, allowed convoys to resume sneaking through without too greater hindrance.

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