The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

and Balloon Command. Each had his place on the dais in the Operations
Room with a direct line to his organization.
There were flaws in the system. Neither radar nor the Observer Corps
could accurately assess the height of an incoming raid – although they got it
right more often than not – and with the exception of Bentley Priory not a
single Operations Room was even remotely bomb-proof. Yet in all other
respects it was genius. Dowding had been given truly awesome
responsibilities, yet he had achieved what so few leaders ever properly
manage, and that was the ability to delegate – to give each person in the
chain a clearly defined role and then let them get on with it. And it was
remarkably flexible too. Because of the standardization, squadrons could be
added or removed from various sectors, sent into different Groups, and the
system remained exactly the same. This allowed Dowding to rotate his
squadrons; it also meant that if he needed to reinforce a particular Group, he
could do so easily. The system also ensured that his squadrons did not waste
time or energy with fruitless standing patrols. They were trained to be
airborne in a matter of minutes, and could now be vectored towards the
enemy as and when it arrived. Of course, it would never run 100 per cent
smoothly all the time, but it was still the most sophisticated and
comprehensive defence system in the world at the time.
By the beginning of July, Fighter Command was sufficiently ready to
face the Luftwaffe. Dowding would have liked more aircraft and more
pilots, but new machines and men were arriving with every passing day. His
defence system was established, those under his command knew what they
had to do, and his squadrons had benefited from the pause in the
Luftwaffe’s attention.
Every man was now waiting for Göring’s air fleets to attack. Whether
their preparations had been enough, however, only time would tell…