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

was grossly incompetent. Nor did they look after their most precious asset
of all: the men. Finally, they suffered from what in modern military
parlance is known as mission creep. Their primary stated aim was to
destroy the RAF, yet the constant switching of tactics, the differing uses of
aircraft, and the move from targeting airfields to London were all indicative
of a high command that had no real strategic idea of how it was to achieve
its goals. Only for around two weeks, towards the end of August and at the
beginning of September, did it really make any attempt to do this. Sending
over a multitude of small and medium-sized raids stretched Fighter
Command to its limits, but these raids were unable to make a big enough
impact. Massed raids could deliver that impact, but with increased scale the
quantity of raids had to be sacrificed, and suddenly Fighter Command could
anticipate the attacks more effectively and consequently bring more fighters
to bear. Had the Luftwaffe had many more aircraft, it would have been a
different matter. But it did not.
Luftwaffe failings, however, should not detract from the achievement of
the RAF in the summer of 1940. Had it not had such a superb defensive
system, and had it not had such inspired and brilliant leaders, the Luftwaffe
would still have prevailed, no matter how valiant or skilful the pilots. The
Luftwaffe’s shortcomings were only revealed because the RAF was handled
so much better. ‘The Few’ have rightly been considered heroes – they were
to a man – and as the first line of defence their stand against the Luftwaffe
was every bit as magnificent as the myth would have it. Yet it is a mistake
to view the Battle of Britain in isolation as RAF Fighter Command versus
the Luftwaffe. It was a far more collective effort that saved Britain in 1940.
The fledgling performance of Bomber Command, for example, has
traditionally been viewed as being so ineffective to have been almost
risible, yet it played a crucial part in the battle, taking the fight into
Germany, showing the world that German invincibility was a sham, and
contributing to the battle to grind down the Luftwaffe. The relentless attacks
on German airfields wore down Luftwaffe crews far more than has ever
been appreciated.
But everyone played their part: the navy, the army, the auxiliary
services, the Home Guard, the groundcrews, the Observer Corps, the
civilian repair units – Britain’s defiance in the summer of 1940 was a
collective effort. The pilots of Fighter Command may have been the first