Re: Hilter's downfall - when did it start?

Dave Smith wrote:
I have looked at a number of sources, and each one seems to report a
different number.

This happens, due to not all sources choosing the same dates or
counting the same thing.

However, the general picture that serious sources paint is generally
the same: RAF strength was maintained, Luftwaffe strength was not. So
much for Britain being on the verge of collapse during the BoB..

" The following weeks were filled with intense air combat, and while the
Spitfires and Hurricanes were shooting down more than they lost, the damage
to Fighter Command's airfields, and the steady loss of experienced pilots
meant that the struggle could not continue for much longer. Unless
something drastic happened the RAF would soon be exhausted, and perhaps an
invasion would take place."

http://www.brooksart.com/BoB.html

This is misleading.

It is quite true that the RAF was losing skilled pilots faster than it
could replace them, so it underwent a quality crisis.

Therefore, it is quite true that the RAF was not going to be able to
cope for very long with the level of attacks that it was facing in
early September.

However, the Luftwaffe was taking even higher losses and could not
maintain that level of pressure, so it doesn't matter that the RAF
couldn't have coped with it indefinitely since German strength was
waning even faster.

Regarding your other numbers, you're comparing apples and oranges,
aircraft produced during all of 1939 and 1940 with aircraft available
at a given time. In July 1940, half of the year's production was yet
to come, and previous losses plus aircraft under repairs would have to
be deducted to the RAF stock.

Again, the important thing is not how the RAF fared in the absolute,
but how it fared in relation to the Luftwaffe. It started the year
weaker than the Luftwaffe, it ended it with a slightly superior
fighter strength. If that's being on its knees, then I suppose that
the Luftwaffe would have begged to be "on its knees" in 1944.


LC

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