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

[Al Schlageter]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

uhmm I dunno, personally I would have avoided the invasion by sea initially, I would have used Fallschirmjaeger units with gliders and Me321s to transport troops and tanks. They could have poured in thousands of men in a day, establishing bridgeheads and carried on the invasion.

It would still have been necessary to gain air superiority though, and concentrate attacks on RAF bases and aircraft factories.

But before all this, the introduction of external fuel tanks for the fighters would have been of paramount importance.

So, the technological needs were:

1) droptanks for the Luftwaffe
2) development of gliders and glider systems

strategy:

1) converge bombers on airfields and aircraft factories
2) establish air superiority
3) arrange massive para-drops
4) capture airfields and/or prepare improvised land strips
5) combined attacks of bombers and u-boote towards the RN
6) mine channel
7) ask for support from the Italian Navy


all in all it would have been too much of a logistic strain and effort in 1940/41, but still feasible, had they decided to avoid the invasion of Russia.

The 321 glider didn't make its first flight til Feb 1941 so would be hard for them to be used in Sept 1940.

The 7th Flieger Division and the German 22nd Air Landing Division had taken losses during the preceding campaign battle of France), and were now understrength.

Do you know how much supplies are required by a Division when in combat? I don't think so.

The Channel was already mined by the Germans and the British.

[MD_Titus]

You.

Shall.

NOT.

Die.

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by MD_Titus

You.

Shall.

NOT.

Die.

Hehe,heh. Top bump mate.

[Al Schlageter]

Originally Posted by MD_Titus

You.

Shall.

NOT.

Die.

Must try to get to 100 pages.

[MD_Titus]

Originally Posted by Al Schlageter

Must try to get to 100 pages.

it's close

[MD_Titus]

how about if they had conducted their air assault using the smaller low level raids that gave a better cost/benefit than the massed raids? hitting multiple targets at as little interval as possible would've played havoc with plotting intercepts, and could have allowed fighters sweeping shortly after to catch the RAF in the air or landing after scrambling in response to the first wave of attacks.

was always one of the problems with fighter sweeps, radar could usually pick out what was bombers and what was a trap. rarely afforded the the luftwaffe the chance to get the required 5-1 k/d ratio that would've been needed to destroy the RAF as a fighting force, and using 109s as close escorts just shackled them. better to use the bf110 and ju88 as the low level raiders unescorted, and rely on not getting picked up by radar, only the less efficient observer corps.

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by Al Schlageter

The 321 glider didn't make its first flight til Feb 1941 so would be hard for them to be used in Sept 1940.

well I suppose it was developed because of the logistic needs of Barbarossa, if we're going by speculation I'd say that, had an airborne invasion planned before, they might have been able to deliver the 321 earlier.

The 7th Flieger Division and the German 22nd Air Landing Division had taken losses during the preceding campaign battle of France), and were now understrength.

same as above, despite the losses, if they knew they needed more paras, they would have concentrated on that.

Do you know how much supplies are required by a Division when in combat? I don't think so.

I think I might have a faint idea, I was only 18 when I served in the Army initially, but I've seen enough divisions to know what the logistic needs are
You can appreciate that massive drops from the Ju52s and capturing strategic enemy facilities/vehicles etc.. could have been part of the invasion. Paras are renown for improvising with what they find available.

The Channel was already mined by the Germans and the British.

well, not enough to cause a complete blockade afaik.

[Al Schlageter]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

well I suppose it was developed because of the logistic needs of Barbarossa, if we're going by speculation I'd say that, had an airborne invasion planned before, they might have been able to deliver the 321 earlier.

During the preparations for a possible invasion of Britain during World War II (Operation Sea Lion) it became obvious to the Luftwaffe's Transport Command that there was a need for a larger capacity cargo- and troop-carrying aircraft than its mainstay, the Junkers Ju 52.

In December 1939, the German Army issued its own study paper (designated Nordwest) and solicited opinions and input from both the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. The paper outlined an assault on England's eastern coast between The Wash and the River Thames by troops crossing the North Sea from Low Country ports.

same as above, despite the losses, if they knew they needed more paras, they would have concentrated on that.

see the above

I think I might have a faint idea, I was only 18 when I served in the Army initially, but I've seen enough divisions to know what the logistic needs are
You can appreciate that massive drops from the Ju52s and capturing strategic enemy facilities/vehicles etc.. could have been part of the invasion. Paras are renown for improvising with what they find available.

German Infantry divisions required 80 tons per day when inactive and 1,100 tons a day in heavy fighting. (in Russia) (Source: "German Tanks at War" by Bob Carruthers).

Junkers Ju 52 had a lift capacity of ~2 tons. How many Ju52s were there. Then there is losses due to enemy, crashes, mechanical failures, ......

well, not enough to cause a complete blockade afaik.

see bold text