Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority - Air Force ...

LUFTWAFFE AGAINST POLAND
The campaign in France brings out several interesting points. The German
effort in the air and on the ground generally saw a close integration
and cooperation at all levels. The sum of that cooperative effort resulted in
a devastating military victory over Allied military power in the West. The
Luftwaffe did not gain complete air superiority over its opponents at the
outset of the campaign. However, the pressure that it placed on the opposing
air forces beginning May 10, on the ground and in the air, allowed it to
carry out its mission objectives, while generally preventing its opponents
from executing theirs. The value that general air superiority contributed to
the German victory is best represented by events along the Meuse between
May 13th and the 15th. From the outset the Luftwaffe was able to shield its
close-air-support attacks on French troops on the left bank of the Meuse
from Allied interference. The one incident, mentioned above, when five
Curtiss fighters of the French Air Force intercepted twelve Stukas and shot
down all twelve suggests what stronger Allied fighter forces might have
been able to do. The result of such Allied weakness was that the German
Stuka forces laid down a devastating pattern of support, materially contributing
to the collapse of French troops along the Meuse, especially at Sedan,
in front of Guderian's XIX Panzer Corps. Then, when the Germans had
broken through, Allied air power attempted to cut the Meuse bridges with
a sustained bombing effort. Allied fighters, inferior in numbers, were never
able to give their bombers adequate support. The result was an aerial massacre.
While Allied bombing attacks did cause the Germans severe discomfort,
they were not sustainable; there was little left after the 15th to carry
out further heavy attacks.
Once in the open, German armored forces cut a wide swath through
the rear area of northern France and forced Allied air forces to abandon
their bases. That hurried retreat resulted in the loss of spare aircraft parts,
ammunition, and fuel, all of which were in short supply on new and unpre-
'
Pa' ' -'rips. The German ground advance also thoroughly disrupted the
command and control system (which had never worked particularly well
from the point of view of air commanders). From that point on, the Allied
air effort against the Germans in France rapidly diminished.
The air battle over Dunkirk represented a different story. There the
German army had outrun its air support, and Luftwaffe efforts to dominate
the battle area faced insurmountable obstacles. Even with the forward
movement of Luftwaffe fighters behind surging army spearheads, the
Bf-109, heart of the air superiority force, remained far from the evacuation
beaches. On the other side of the channel, RAF Fighter Command, flying
from secure bases and not under the threat of ground operations, was able
to disrupt the Luftwaffe's effort to halt the evacuation. The escape of the
British army, in effect, made the strategic defense of Great Britain that
summer a viable possibility. In that sense the RAF won an important victory
by preventing unhindered use of the Luftwaffe's capability.
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