HARIN COUNTY FREE LIBRARY HOUGH AND i 31111014643702 I RICHARDS THE I i I • I I THE GREATEST AIR BATTLE OF WORLD WAR H « FPT ISBN D-3T3-D27! >$ET.T5 THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN The victory ofthe Battle ofBritain ranks with Marathon and the Marne as a decisive point inhistory. At the end of June 1940, w^ithWestern Europe overrun bythe Germans, the Nazi wsltleaders knewthat RAF Fighter Command had to be subdued before the invasion of Britain couldtake place. They set about this destruction earlyinJulywith a magnificent and experiencedbomber force, and afighter arm superiorin numbers, and at least equal in quality, to Air ChiefMarshal SirHugh Dowding's fightersquadrons. Twelveweeks later the heart had gone out ofthe German air assault. In anotherfourweeks the Battle ofBritain was officially over, and Western civilization still retained its toehold in Europe. Denis Richards, coauthor ofthe official history ofRAF operations inWorldWarII, and Richard Hough, the historian and biographer, have collaborated to write this magnificentnew account ofthe battle. As well as offering vivid descriptions ofthe airfighting, it explains with great authorityhowboth sides developed their airforces in the interwaryears, anecessaryprelude to a true understanding ofthe battle itself. It provides fresh insights into the controversies ofthe time and makes use oforiginal material derived from interviews and correspondencewith overthree hundred surviving aircrew and ground staff. High above thewarm summerfields, Churchill's "few" fought with unsurpassed courage and skill. The air crews, including the priceless element of pilots from the Commonwealth and the United States as well as vengeful young men from the overrun nations of Europe, suffered inevitable and dreadful losses. But this prolonged battle in the skies could only have been won with the unremitting support ofthousands of continuedon backflap i/fviuutNitK ^vs^^i I'l^u 3 1111 01464'3762 r^^^OoFas^Jr^^ch t -'*'M*(»sr: The Battle of Britain The Greatest Air Battle of World War II Richard Hough AND Denis Richards W. W. NORTON & COMPANY New York London © Copyright 1989 by Richard Hough and Denis Richards First American Edition, 1989. Ail rights reserved. ISBN D-3T3-a57bb-X W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY10110 W. W. Norton & Company, Ltd., 37 Great Russell Street, London wciB 3NU First pubhshed in Great Britain 1989 by Hodder and Stoughton, London Designed by Behram Kapadia Printed in Great Britain 1234567890 Contents List ofIllustrations vii Abbreviations and Code-Names Used in Text xiii Preface xv Carnage at Noon i Part One: Before the Battle 1 No Longer an Island 7 2 Groundwork 17 3 The Bomber Won't Always Get Through 31 4 Late Spurt 52 5 Bonus of Time 66 6 Surviving the Storm 81 7 Battle Order loi Part Two: The Battle 8 British Day One: 10 July 1940 121 9 Channel Fight: 11 July-11 August 129 ID Clearing the Way: 12 August 140 11 Eagle Day - and After: 13-14 August 154 12 Enter - and Exit - Luftflotte 5:15 August 167 CONTENTS 13 The Assault Continues: 16 August 186 14 Respite and Re-engagement: 17-18 August 197 15 Desperate Days: 19 August-6 September 219 16 Strategic Turning-Point 242 17 The New Target: 7 September 252 18 'Ominous Quiet!': 8-14 September 267 19 'The odds were great; our margins small; the stakes infinite': 15 September 274 20 The Scent ofVictory: 16-30 September 284 21 The Battle Fades: October 298 Part Three: After the Battle 22 Retrospect 307 23 Scrambles 335 Appendices I Chronology of the Battle 357 II Basic Statistics of Fighter Command and Luftwaffe Aircraft Engaged in the Battle of Britain 371 III Higher Command, Summer 1940 372 IV Air Defence Higher Formations, July-September 1940 373 V Operational Chain of Command in the Luftwaffe 374 VI Equivalent Commissioned Ranks: RAF and Luftwaffe 375 VII Fighter Command Order of Battle, 8 August 1940 376 VIII Luftwaffe Order of Battle against Britain, 13 August 1940 379 IX Anti-Aircraft Defences: Number and Location of Heavy Guns, 21 August 1940 380 X The Balloon Defences, 31 August 1940 382 XI Fighter Command Order of Battle, 7 September 1940 384 XII 100 Octane Fuel 387 Source References 388 Acknowledgments 395 Index 399 VI