Invasion postponed

14th September 1940: Operation Sealion is only five days away - if the Germans can just get a spell of good weather and seize control of the skies

A formation of Heinkel He 111 bombers, 1940.

If Churchill thought that the German invasion of Britain was imminent, so too did Hitler. On 14th September, he convened another conference to discuss the Luftwaffe's attack on Britain and decide whether to proceed with the invasion. According to the German perspective, the RAF was badly damaged and almost - but not quite yet - fully broken.

Adolf Hitler with Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the Army High Command, during an undated military conference.

Hitler’s thought processes were summarised by General Halder¹, his Army Chief of Staff:

the prerequisite conditions to be created by the Navy have been achieved... The arming of the coast [with heavy artillery] has been completed.

...

the operations of the Luftwaffe are above all praise. Four to five days of good weather are required to achieve decisive results . . .