Luftwaffe

  

 Stuka.

The Royal Navy was great because Britain was 

a seafaring nation overseeing a global empire.

German perspective was of a country squeezed 

between the Russian colossus and Napoleonic

France.  They revered their army.

It was only natural the German air force, 

the Luftwaffe, was designed to serve the 

army in its moment of need. 

 Bombers support the Army.

Twin engine bombers fly short distances to their target:

enemy front lines and nearby airbases.  So the Heinkel

here can carry 2.200 pounds of bombs up to 600 miles

to their destination, drop their payload and return home.

Their objectives are all military - with tactical goals.

Compare this with an American B-17 - a four engine

bomber that carries 6,000 pounds of bombs over a

thousand miles to destroy factories and urban 

infrastructure.  These are civilian targets that

give vital support to the opposing military.

The objective is strategic.

 Defense was an afterthought.

German gunners don't scare anyone using 

these contraptions for protection.  Look at this guy.

He's crunched in a space that barely allows him

to move his elbows.  His thirty caliber machine gun

has little clout and his field of fire is small.  On top

of this he will probably never see you coming anyway

because his vision is so obstructed and, more likely,

the fighter has chosen to attack at a point where 

you are not.  These bombers desperately

needed fighter escort.

 Unacceptable losses.

The British tactic was to break through German 

fighter protection to get to the lumbering bombers.

The fighter action between RAF Spitfires and 

German Messerschmitt's was pretty much fought

to a draw.  It was the steady loss of bomber crews

that proved truly unacceptable.

Short range.

The Messerschmitt Me 109 was the world's best

fighter plane in 1940.  It had a slim advantage over

the Spitfire plus German pilots used better tactics

when dogfighting.  The price for this superior 

performance was the plane's woefully short range.

If your bombing mission took you very far into the

English countryside, good luck.

Your fighter escort is headed home

or else they run out of fuel.

 Blinded by vengeance .

Despite these Luftwaffe weaknesses the German's

still held the advantage.  They had the numbers to

eventually overwhelm British resources.

Britain's back was against the wall.  But then,

once again, a decision made by Hitler gave 

Churchill a reprieve.  The Fuhrer wanted to 

terrorize London into submission and, instead

threw the RAF a lifeline. 

* * * * * 

©  Tom Taylor

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Dunkirk

  

The miracle of Dunkirk was that Hitler passed

on the opportunity to destroy the British army.

He wanted Britain off the continent but he didn't 

need Yankee imperialists and Japanese warlords

inheriting for free the sprawling British Empire.

The dagger at Britain's throat.

After the humiliating drubbing Nazi forces delivered 

to the Brits, Hitler believed London would quickly

agree to his offer for peace demands.

First, he'd take control of the western Mediterranean

with England giving him Gibraltar.  A present of

British oilfields in Iran and Iraq would give Germany

much needed energy independence.

This, too, would be part of any deal guaranteeing

Britain's safety.

Churchill calls Hitler's bluff.

With his troops from Dunkirk home safely

Churchill drew his line in the sand:

There will be no negotiations with Hitler.

If he wants anything from us he's going

to have to come and get it himself.

The Few.

An invasion of Britain requires the German 

Luftwaffe to have control of the air.  

Transporting ten German divisions across 

the channel to England's shores requires

an air force that can hold off the mighty 

Royal Navy.  The Royal Air Force, though,

must first be destroyed.

Air Minister Dowding

Churchill wants more fighters sent to France.

Dowding say, No.  It's a losing cause.

The Royal Navy wants the RAF to defend 

shipping in the English Channel.

Once again, Dowding says no.  

Take the train.

 

Luftwaffe bombers headed for England.

England's survival depends upon fighters fending off

an overwhelming number of Nazi warplanes

with precious few pilots of their own.

This is the challenge that takes up all of 

Air Minister Hugh Dowding's time.

And he thinks he has it figured out.

* * * * *

©  Tom Taylor

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Junkers Ju 52

Junkers Ju 52 in airborne role

The Junkers Ju 52 began in 1931 as a single engine commercial plane for Germany’s Lufthansa airlines but quickly became a three engine military transport and Wehrmacht workhorse by 1934.  Besides its logistical duties is was used briefly as a bomber in the Spanish civil war, taking part in the bombing of Guernica, and again over Poland in 1939 where it was used to bomb Warsaw.   Its role as a bomber was merely a stopgap measure and by 1939 there were true bombers available to the Nazi regime to take its place.

With the invasion of Poland by Germany on September 1 1939 there were over 500 Ju 52s available to transport troops and supplies.  The aircraft was rugged, made of a corrugated duralumin metal skin and four pairs of circular duralumin cross sections that stiffened the structure.  Still, over 50 of the aircraft were shot down or lost to accidents during the 30 day campaign.  Later in the year during the invasion of Norway an additional 150 Ju 52 Junkers were lost in the operation.  By the time of the Battle of France in 1940 there were less than 500 of these transports available for use.  In an attempt to conserve these aircraft for a possible follow-up invasion of Britain it was decided that the Ju 52’s participation would be limited mostly to airborne attacks on bridges in the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the airport in Rotterdam.  After just five days of action more than 160 transports were lost – mostly to anti-aircraft fire.  The problem was the slow speed of the Ju 52.  At maximum effort it could reach maybe 165 miles an hour.  It was an easy target for gunners and a sitting duck for enemy fighters patrolling the area. 

The losses continued to mount in operations where the Junkers transport was needed.  The airborne invasion of Crete in 1941 saw over 170 aircraft lost – some of these due to collisions on the ground because of blinding dust kicked up by the prop wash.   By June 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union there were less than 250 Ju 52s available on the opening day of Operation Barbarossa.  Russia’s scorched earth policy, leaving nothing of use to the invading Germans, meant the Wehrmacht became ever more dependent on air supply.  Consequently 500 new Ju 52s were built in 1941 and again in 1942.  Nearly 900 Junkers transports were assembled in 1943.  They were needed just to make up for operational loses.  At Demyansk, in 1942, 100,000 German troops were trapped for three months and relied on men and supplies being airlifted in and casualties being evacuated out by air.  Junkers Ju 52s provided the lifeline until the siege was lifted but at a cost of over 260 aircraft being lost.  The attempt to supply the doomed German 6^th Army at Stalingrad also took a tremendous toll.  Given the barbarity of the warfare on the Eastern Front there was probably no consolation for surviving a crash landing behind enemy lines.

Hitler’s refusal to evacuate German troops from North Africa resulted in another disastrous surrender for Axis forces in Tunisia in 1943 and a loss of 430 Ju 52s over just three weeks in a desperate attempt to supply the trapped forces from Italy. 

The Junkers Ju 52 was the reliable logistical workhorse for the German army in World War II but any air transport is easy prey for fast and nimble fighter aircraft prowling the area.  The crews of these stolid birds were frequently sacrificed because the Nazi leadership too often gave little regard for the lives of even their own men.

Junkers Ju 52 / 3m

Spitfire

Spitfire Mk

Supermarine

                                                                  

Spitfire

The bubble canopy seen here was introduced near the end of 1942 with the Spitfire Mk VIII.  The 20 mm wing-mounted cannon had been added earlier to counter the increased use of protective armor used in fighters such as the Focke-Wulf 190.  Cannon use was attempted on the Spitfire Mk I but the natural flex of its thin wing in g force maneuver caused the cannon to often misfeed and jam.   




Crew:                    1

Power:                   Rolls Royce 1478 hp Merlin 45 liquid cooled V-12 engine

Max. Speed:          594 kph / 369 mph
Ceiling:                 11,125 m / 36,500 ft
Range:                  1827 km / 1135 miles
Climb:                    6100 m / 20,000 ft in 7 minutes, 30 seconds

Weight -
Empty:                  2267 kg / 4998 lb
Max. Take Off:     2911 kg / 6417 lb

Size -
Wingspan:            11.23 m / 36 ft 10 in
Wing Area:           22.48 sq m / 242 sq ft
Length:                 9.12 m / 29 ft 11 in
Height:                  3.02 m / 9 ft 11 in

Armament:
                            8 - 7.7 mm / 0.303 in machine-guns

V I D E O

Elliptical wings optimize lift

20 mm cannon became available with the Mk V in 1941 but it wasn't until the introduction of the Mk IX in June, 1942 that the Spitfire gained parity with Germany's FW 190.  The Spitfire became more powerful but the cost was less agility.  

Battle of Britain Map

Not appreciating the significance of radar the Luftwaffe erred early on in not taking out these early warning stations situated along the English coast.  This enabled the RAF to better coordinate their air defense and helped compensate for their 4 to 1 numerical disadvantage in aircraft.  

Dogfight

By September, 1940 the Luftwaffe's focus on targeting RAF airfields was close to attaining Germany's goal of establishing air superiority over the English Channel, enabling Hitler's planned invasion of Britain.  Fate stepped in, though, when a German bomber accidentally bombed London.  Churchill responded with an RAF night raid on Berlin.  Hitler, incensed, redirected Luftwaffe resources to daily targeting of the English capitol.  The tragic attack on the civilian population allowed the RAF the time it needed to regroup and recover.  Hitler's terror tactic was a strategic failure and, with winter setting in, the planned invasion was indefinitely postponed.  

Legendary Aircraft

Spitfires began their epic engagement with Luftwaffe aircraft just over a year following their introduction to the RAF.  They were one of the factors, along with radar and the shrewd decision-making of RAF Air Marshall Dowding, that enabled Britain to end Hitler's string of victories at the shore of the English Channel.  

A V I A T I O N

Related Topics

Messerschmitt Bf 109

P-51 Mustang

Mitsubishi Zero

Boeing B-17

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