It's a fascinating piece, FreeRanger...I lifted out this quote, especially appreciated; "It’s amazing history hangs on so fine a thread."
Over a period of time a while back, I actually assembled a list of apparent turning points in WWII, where the war could so easily have been lost...one of those the Battle of Britain.
Recently, I also came upon the possibility that Hitler still could have pressed an early advantage somehow but instead dallied a bit from the Battle of Britain; that he did not want to conquer the British, he wanted to rule with them, as fellow Aryans and racial cousins.
A couple of other turning points...the work the Polish started with cracking the invincible German Enigma code, followed up by the genius of Alan Turing and Bletchley Park with the Bombe machines (co-inventor Gordon Welchman). Also, the courage of the French Resistance, as when after D-Day landings they blew up the railroad tracks carrying a crack German Panzer Division, giving the Allies time to establish a foothold that could not be dislodged.