Quote Originally Posted by Philistine View Post
The "threadbare defenses in England after Dunkirk" would have more than sufficed to wreck any attempted landing by Nazi Germany.

Probably the dirtiest little secret of the Battle of Britain is that the Germans never had the capability to mount a cross-Channel invasion; even if they'd driven the RAF out of the coastal bases, the fighters would simply have relocated north of London - far enough that they'd have been safe from Luftwaffe attack, but still close enough to interfere with any attempted amphibious assault. Or more likely, they'd have been close enough to interfere with the Luftwaffe's attempts to protect their invasion fleet from the Royal Navy, because the Kriegsmarine certainly didn't have the force to stand up to Home Fleet. Worse yet, even if the Germans had been able to get their landing force across unmolested, said force would have been all-infantry, with only the equipment and supplies they could carry on their backs. No chance of artillery or armor support, and no chance of reinforcement or even resupply for at least three days... Truly, there was no part of the Seelowe plan which was not disastrously bad.
So once again, we all learn a lesson: Don't mess with Britain.