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

further afield. The Luftwaffe’s repair network was certainly nothing like as
efficient as that of the RAF. As Siegfried Bethke points out, losses were
regularly higher than those official figures for aircraft lost in action. ‘Sea
rescue incidents were not counted as losses in our statistics,’ he says,
‘although the loss of the plane was total.’ One pilot from his squadron
returned with eighty-eight bullet holes in his machine, but not one had hit a
vital part of the aircraft. ‘But the plane had to be taken apart and transported
back home to be repaired,’ he adds. ‘Very often the wool was pulled over
the public’s eyes in the communiqués of the High Command. Almost
always!’
An important difference between British and German attitudes was that
the Luftwaffe commanders believed the bilge Schmid produced, whereas
Dowding remained more concerned with his own losses rather than those
imposed on the enemy. When Sinclair asked him about the wild divergence
between the claims of the two sides, Dowding replied that the truth would
become apparent soon enough. If the Germans’ figures were accurate, he
told him, the enemy would be in London in a week. ‘Otherwise they would
not.’ From the point of view of the conduct of the battle, Dowding’s
approach was definitely the more sensible one.
The Luftwaffe would never again fly so many sorties over Britain in one
day, but a pattern had already developed of persistent and heavy attacks by
massed raiders primarily targeting airfields, and accompanied by large
formations of fighters. For the pilots a hectic, utterly exhausting period of
intense flying had begun. Any kind of flying required considerable
concentration, which was in itself tiring, but combat flying required
considerably more. Pilots had to remain alert at all times, watching all parts
of the sky, listening to instructions, making sure they were in the right
position. At the moment of contact, a surge of adrenalin would see even the
most exhausted pilot through, but as soon as the tension was released,
fatigue would sweep over them. Three, four, or even five sorties a day was a
lot, especially as pilots were usually expected to be up before dawn.
For the German pilots, flying over water was an added strain. ‘Our
conversations now revolve almost solely on the Channel and all that water,’
scribbled Siegfried Bethke on 16 August. ‘It is so terribly disagreeable to us
all.’ It was disorientating but no-one wanted to end up in the water and then
not be found. The trouble was the shortage of fuel. Air fighting used up a