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

[bongodriver]

why, because it's in a movie DVD? It's witting testimony, direct accounts from the 60s there for you, not a book written by someone, but audio/video reference.

testimony of a very few people, and it may have even been edited deliberately to give the impression, who can say they didn't interview as many if not more people who knew all about it? they just never got put into the final cut.

Go out on the steets of America and ask where France is (theres even a funny video about it)....it doesn't mean the US as a whole is ignorant of geography.

[bongodriver]

I always get the impression that there's a weird conception of Victory here: take the Schneider Cup, did you win that one too? I'd be embarrassed to say yes to that.

By the rules of the competition at the time....yes we did.

Just out of interest, what exactly is the agenda here with trying to discredit every achievent Britain ever made?

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by bongodriver

By the rules of the competition at the time....yes we did.

Just out of interest, what exactly is the agenda here with trying to discredit every achievent Britain ever made?

Yeah, racing alone while others deliberately didn't sounds like a great challenge uh?

No, I've listed before the successes and achievements of Britain.

[Sammi79]

The Battle of Britain was a defensive victory, Britain was attacked - and Britain defended herself - successfully. I call that victory. The Luftwaffe could not continue with the attack on Britain effectively after that point, for many reasons, particularly with the British technological advances in radar and communications, the poor decisions of the Nazi leadership up until then and after, the heavy losses of experienced German aircrews, the failure of the Nazi war machine to produce an effective heavy bomber etc... Most importantly psychologically the RAF now had the edge - after winning the Battle of Britain.

It has been mentioned here that Churchill did not perceive this as a victory which is wrong, - 'Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few' - was specifically describing the victory. Yes he later made a statement to remind people that this had been a battle, and although it had been won the war would continue.

Ok so losses of men and machines on both sides were comparable,(although with inferior machines and fewer numbers the RAF still managed to attrit the Luftwaffe to the point of defeat - not destruction but defeat) this does not negate the fact that, the attack was fought off, so therefore it was victory for the defenders. Tactical, maybe. Insignificant to anyone else other than the British, maybe, but a victory none the less. Many historians and academics regard it as a pivotal victory, pertaining significance to the eventual outcome of the war, I don't like to speculate. But in terms of the battle itself, it was won by the RAF and lost by the Luftwaffe.