Microsoft Close Combat manual 127

One of the non-combat heroes of the Battle of Britain is Lord Maxwell Beaverbrook, named Minister of Aircraft Production by Churchill. By simplifying fighter production and through sheer force of will, Beaverbrook keeps British fighter production ahead of losses during the critical summer months. Between May 1 and early August, more than 1,200 fighters roll off British assembly lines.

Chapter 7 The Big Picture: A Short History of World War II 127

eventual invasion of Great Britain an operation dubbed Sealion. The Luftwaffe’s orders are to destroy the RAF.

In preparing for the expected German air attacks, the British develop an effective network of radar stations, observation posts, and radio listening stations tied into an equally efficient communications and command structure. This system, the first modern integrated air defense and command network, proves devastatingly effective against the Luftwaffe.

The Luftwaffe is also hampered by several internal factors. The primary German fighter, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, lacks the range necessary to escort bombers over England, allowing British Spitfires and Hurricanes to attack German bomber formations with impunity. The Luftwaffe also lacks bombers capable of carrying effective payloads; this problem is compounded when bombers and crew lost over England cannot be replaced rapidly enough. The Luftwaffe underestimates the effectiveness of British radar, and make a further mistake in believing they have destroyed most of the British radar installations before launching the major offensive in August.

The Germans start the battle in early July 1940 with numerical superiority in both fighters and bombers. On July 4, German Stuka dive bombers attack a column of nine British ships in the English Channel, sinking five. Between July 10 and July 24, the Luftwaffe’s effort is aimed at shipping in the Channel. Both sides suffer losses: 48 RAF and 93 Luftwaffe planes are blown from the sky. The Germans do not aggressively push their numerical superiority, which gives the British vital time to build up their forces.

From mid-July through the early days of August, the Germans lose more planes than the British, but because the Luftwaffe has numerical superiority a war of attrition in the sky favors the Germans. However, by the time Reichsmarshal Hermann Goering can get the Luftwaffe’s air offensive off the ground, the British enjoy an advantage in fighter planes an advantage that increases as the battle wears on.

Finally, Adlertag (Eagle Day) arrives on August 13. The Luftwaffe launches its twice-delayed all-out air offensive

against England. The German goal is to drive the RAF out of the skies over southern England in four days and destroy the RAF completely in four weeks. The British recognize that they must maximize the effectiveness of their resources. Air Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding decides that the most

“Never in the field of human endeavor was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Winston Churchill on the RAF’s performance during the Battle of Britain