[Crumpp]

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding had been the driving force behind the development of Britain’s air defences in the immediate pre war period. He had organised and overseen the the integration of radar within the RAF command structure and had championed the development of both the Hurricane and the Spitfire. When war came he had warned Churchill not to lose valuable fighter resources in the defence of France. During the Battle of Britain itself he had carefully managed the fighter Squadrons available and had worked tirelessly to respond to the various changing threats from the Luftwaffe. He had the strategic oversight to see the need for always keeping a proportion of fighters in reserve and the necessity of rotating Squadrons so that some could be ‘rested’ and fresh pilots brought into the battle successively. It was his supreme organisational abilities that put the RAF in the best possible position to combat the Germans.

http://ww2today.com/24th-november-19...d-from-the-raf

It was part of Dowding's strategy to keep all his groups intact as far as possible, rarely committing more than a minority of his force, rotating squadrons regularly but never denuding any one group.

http://www.battleofbritain1940.net/document-21.html

Although squadrons were being rotated around the country, with battered units being withdrawn to the North to rest and the fresher squadrons moving from north to south, the pilots were becoming increasingly worn out.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/thebattleofbritain.cfm

Altogether 16 squadrons were withdrawn from 11 Group in the one month between August 8 and September 8, 1940.

http://helena-schrader.com/bob.html