BoB & Spitfire vs Hurricane (vs 109-ish) - an interesting viewpoint

[Letum]

I don't thin "Win","Draw" or "Loose" are appropriate terms. The Axis did not meet any of their major objectives. The British did not have any major objective other than a long term goal of gaining aerial superiority which they failed to do tactically, but gained anyway on account of German strategic decisions.

If your playing chess and one side does not have any real short term objectives other than surviving and being in a position to succeed in futures games and the other player gets up and goes off to Russia half way through, it's not really a "Draw" so much as a 'non-result'.

[bw_wolverine]

Originally Posted by Letum

I don't thin "Win","Draw" or "Loose" are appropriate terms. The Axis did not meet any of their major objectives. The British did not have any major objective other than a long term goal of gaining aerial superiority which they failed to do tactically, but gained anyway on account of German strategic decisions.

If your playing chess and one side does not have any real short term objectives other than surviving and being in a position to succeed in futures games and the other player gets up and goes off to Russia half way through, it's not really a "Draw" so much as a 'non-result'.

I would disagree that they didn't have any short term objectives, they're just not as easy to quantify. Preventing something from happening, whether by the enemy's inability to do so or by their deciding not to for whatever reason, seems to be a pretty clearly met objective - namely preventing Germany from launching any kind of channel crossing invasion. Based on when they were considering launching such a thing, I think maybe that could be a pretty short term goal met.

But I do agree that 'win', 'lose' 'draw' terms aren't entirely adequate for the result. Britain could claim victory based on achieving the result of defense. If you're playing american football, and the other team fails to score during their downs that is a pretty clear victory for the defensive side. However, Germany basically did reappropriate their resources and 'give up' the attack so in another way, you definitely can argue that the battle resulted in a 'to be continued' that never really got continued.



It seems pretty clear to me that EVERYONE won as a result of Germany not defeating England, though.

[csharry1]

I am not reading this in German, so that's a win in my book.

[seaeye]

Originally Posted by csharry1

I am not reading this in German, so that's a win in my book.

I think this has been discussed before.. lol

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthr...ghlight=defeat

[JG5_emil]

Originally Posted by csharry1

I am not reading this in German, so that's a win in my book.

Did the Germans force people of the occupied countries to speak German instead of their own language?

[Osprey]

They didn't get that far

[Letum]

Hitler said himself that he did not want to "infringe on their individuality" of native languages, but did want German the be the language of the highest authority of government.


However saying "I'm not writing this in German" isn't really about that.

[phoenix1963]

Perhaps the really interesting question is, if the Luftwaffe had continued to attack airfields and radar stations, could they have achieved good enough air superiority for an invasion (I know they didn't really have enough barges in the right places and so on, but that's not my question)?

Personally, I suspect they would have struggled. In some sense the effective loss to Fighter Command of Manston as a forward base is a partial indication of what would have happened - Fighter Command would have withdrawn to bases further inland, which would have meant some loss of air superiority over the coast, but a fair degree of invulnerability.

I wonder though if the Blenheims attacking landing craft and a beachhead would have survived though!

56RAF_phoenix

[SEE]

Just finished reading 'Hurricane - Victor of the Battle of Britain' by Leo McKinstry. Excellent read too with lots of pilot accounts, why the Hurricane was important during this phase of the war, etc.

The Hurricanes finest hour was the BoB, by 1941 it was considered obsolete by many pilots who openly loathed flying it in campaigns such as the defence of Malta.

[ATAG_Snapper]

Originally Posted by Letum

Hitler said himself that he did not want to "infringe on their individuality" of native languages, but did want German the be the language of the highest authority of government.

Yeah, but we all know ol' Adolf could be quite a kidder in his day. On occasion, he WAS known to change his mind a bit on some things......