# Tower of London In WWII **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tower-of-london-in-wwii/596043 "2011-09-12T12:28:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tower-of-london-in-wwii/596043/21 "2011-09-13T17:10:34Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Yes, I asked if the the Tower was part of the defenses against a German invasion. Invasion doesn’t end at the beach. Or ten miles inland. It ends with the defeat of either the attacker or the defender. The Brits were prepared to fight to the end and defend every square inch. They were prepared to fight all the way from the beaches to London and further north. Even farther than that: [QUOTE=The inimitable Winston Churchill] We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tower-of-london-in-wwii/596043/22 "2011-09-13T17:31:56Z")
A great book on the extensive British plans to resist the Germans even if His Majesty’s Government fell: [http://www.amazon.com/Last-Ditch-Britains-Resistance-Against/dp/1853677302/ref=sr\_1\_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315935065&sr=1-2](http://www.amazon.com/Last-Ditch-Britains-Resistance-Against/dp/1853677302/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315935065&sr=1-2) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tower-of-london-in-wwii/596043/23 "2011-09-14T20:50:01Z")
During WWII on the Eastern Front there were many epic battles involving “castles” and other old time fortifications. The lengthy ones involved structures that post-dated the introduction of cannons in warfare and had been improved over the years. Some examples: The battle of [Brest Fortress](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Brest_Fortress). Buda Castle held out to the end of the [Battle of Budapest](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Budapest). Basically, the battles ended in one of two ways: 1. The defenders ran out of food and/or ammunition. 2. The attackers threw an insane number of bodies in and didn’t care about the casualties. When you can’t kill 'em fast enough and more keep coming, you lose. However, the ToL was pre-cannon warfare design. It would have been torn apart in a few rounds of modern artillery fire. It was worse than useless defensively. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tower-of-london-in-wwii/596043/24 "2011-09-14T22:26:16Z")
If nothing else, you could put antiaircraft batteries on it (as you could with the roof of any sufficiently sturdy building) if things were getting particularly bad. Fun trivia: The HMS _Victory_ was damaged badly enough during the Battle of Britain, causing her to need to be kept in drydock ever since. No doubt one more nail in the coffin of the thought that ships could stand up to airpower without friendly aviation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tower-of-london-in-wwii/596043/25 "2011-09-14T22:34:54Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Fun trivia: The HMS _Victory_ was damaged badly enough during the Battle of Britain, causing her to need to be kept in drydock ever since. No doubt one more nail in the coffin of the thought that ships could stand up to airpower without friendly aviation. 😃 - Victory\* needed dry-dock before the Battle of Britain, and looking it up, it was 1922. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tower-of-london-in-wwii/596043/26 "2011-09-14T22:38:05Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > - > > Victory\* needed dry-dock before the Battle of Britain, and looking it up, it was 1922. \*TIME TRAVELING STUKAS! \*:eek: Or I could have just gotten my dates mixed up. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tower-of-london-in-wwii/596043/27 "2011-09-14T22:39:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A great book on the extensive British plans to resist the Germans even if His Majesty’s Government fell: [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Last-Ditch-Britains-Resistance-Against/dp/1853677302/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315935065&sr=1-2) [Something a bit lighter](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0915463/): _Jackboots on Whitehall_, in Marionation nonetheless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tower-of-london-in-wwii/596043.md?page=1)