Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary

[sea_eagle]

The RAF website has posted a comprehensive report of all aspects of The Battle of Britain.

These pages catalogue the official reports of the most important event in Royal Air Force history; the Battle fought over Britain between the 10th July and 31st October 1940. The complete Fighter Command Operational Diaries for the period have been published in full, day by day over the whole period of the Battle.

Supporting this official text is a series of pages detailing such facets of the Battle as the Commanders, the Aircraft and the changes in Tactics on both sides as the situation developed.

Although some of the Fighter Command claims of the time (i.e. numbers of German aircraft shot down etc.) have since been proved to be greatly exaggerated on some days, it nevertheless does give a unique insight into the RAF's perspective of the Battle of Britain.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/battleofb ... ersary.cfm

It includes:
Commanders of the battle - Newall, Dowding, Keith Park, Leigh Mallory, Brand & Saul
Daily campaign diaries From 10 July to 31 October 1940
Battle of Britain in Detail - 6 parts
Stations of the Battle of Britain - 10, 11, 12 & 13 Group detailing all airfields and squadrons stationed
Battle of Britain Squadrons - searchable
Aircraft used by both sides - including Gloster Gladiator!

At the start of the campaign the RAF reported 655 serviceable aircraft (17 Jul). What is amazing was the ability to repair/replace aircraft losses over the period. Serviceable aircraft reported:
Mth Lowest Highest Losses
Jul 599 675 46 (only partial figures)
Aug 631 740 327
Sep 654 723 335
Oct 655 723 129

The largest number of serviceable Spitfires was 257 (08 Aug) compared to the Hurricane 423 (08 Oct).

[arfah]

-<>-<>-<>-

[sea_eagle]

Reading through the RAF website I was surprised to learn about losses in the battles over France and Dunkirk prior to the Battle of Britain.

..the losses incurred during the fighting in France and over Dunkirk were heavy, amounting to nearly 400 Hurricanes and 67 Spitfires; 280 pilots were killed and 60 wounded.

The loss of so many trained pilots explains why stories of pilots were sent up after only a few hours of training into combat.

At the start of the battle Fighter Command had a total of 50 squadrons - 42 Hurricane & Spitfire, 6 Blenheims and 2 Defiants.

These fifty squadrons had 656 serviceable aircraft available at 9 o’clock on the morning of 10 July 1940, the date on which Dowding considered that the Battle of Britain began. Of these, 226 were Spitfires and 344 Hurricanes.

The Hurricane & Spitfire squadrons were distributed across the 4 Groups:
10 Group - West had 4 squadrons
11 Group - South had 18 squadrons
12 Group - North East had 10 squadrons
13 Group - Scotland had 10 squadrons