The Battle of Britain Was The First Defeat For The German Luftwaffe.

[ATAG_Dutch]

The British overestimated the strength of the Luftwaffe and its ability to replace losses and geared up accordingly.

The Germans underestimated the strength of Fighter Command, its defensive command and control systems, and Britain's ability to replace both aircraft and pilots.

The Luftwaffe's mass raids were partly designed to draw up the RAF in large numbers to be shot down.

Keith Park's insistence on sending up small numbers of fighters in relays prevented this happening. It's perhaps as well that Leigh-Mallory and Bader with their so called 'Big Wing' didn't get their way until after the Battle.

All of the factors leading to the outcome of the Battle would fill a book, in fact several as people keep writing them with a 'new' perspective.

As to 'how did they cope?' - they turned to night raids in smaller numbers, whilst they rebuilt their numerical strength in preparation for Barbarossa the following summer.

But as has already been said, a great deal of the skill and experience base was never regained and suffered greater attrition as the war continued.

It's my opinion that the biggest factor in the outcome of the Battle was the existence of a stretch of water called the 'English Channel'. Were it not for this, Blitzkrieg would have overrun Britain just as it had the largest military power in Europe, which at the time was France.