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

full weight of the Luftwaffe was reserved for the skies of Holland, Belgium
and north-west France. Quite deliberately, as part of the German deception
measures, the mass of bombers and dive-bombers – as well as airborne
landings – took place in the north in support of Army Group B. Luftwaffe
activity over the Ardennes was left primarily to the fighters, whose task it
was to pounce on any unsuspecting Allied reconnaissance aircraft that
dared to show its face.
Thus the beginning of the campaign was primarily the task of Luftflotte
2, under the command of Generaloberst Albert Kesselring. ‘Smiling
Albert’, as he was known because of his even temper and willingness to
break into a wide grin, was popular amongst both his superiors and
subordinates, lacking as he did the patrician hauteur of many of the leading
commanders in the Wehrmacht. There was certainly nothing particularly
striking about him: his was a slightly bulky, rather bland, almost forgettable
face. Yet underneath lay an iron will and a ruthless determination. Both
efficient and pragmatic – as well as an unrepentant optimist – Kesselring
was a cool-headed and intelligent man; precisely the kind of person a more
flamboyant character like Göring needed to command one of his primary air
fleets.
After the 1914–18 war, Kesselring had remained in the post-war army,
demonstrating his aptitude as a staff officer, and where he steadily rose to
the rank of Colonel with the command of a division. With the birth of the
clandestine Luftwaffe in 1933, Kesselring was one of those drawn from the
army by Göring to help build the new air force. Given a necessarily civilian
post he set to work running the administration and airfield development of
the Luftwaffe. He also taught himself to fly and worked hard to develop the
Luftwaffe strategically and tactically. By 1936, he was back in uniform,
both as a general and as the Luftwaffe Chief of Staff.
At the onset of war, Kesselring was in charge of the 1st Air Fleet that
helped launch the blitzkrieg on Poland with such devastating results, and
then had taken over as Chief of the Berlin Air Command. In January, the
Mechelen incident had taken place, with Göring subjected to a considerable
torrent of rage from Hitler as a result. He in turn called his senior
commanders together to give them a severe dressing down. First the
commander and Chief of Staff of Luftflotte 2 were sacked, and then the rest
of his senior commanders were called in. After rollocking them all, he