Battle Of Britain, 70 Years Ago - Stunning Pics

http://gigapica.geenstijl.nl/2010/07/the_battle_of_britain.html ^ | July 19, 2010

[Ayn And Milton]

So, not much text necessary... enjoy, think, and remember!

[bmwcyle]

Nice Pictures

[skr]

bfl

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

The Battle of Britian was a major setback for Germany and the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe was doing a good job of rolling up the RAF in the south of England, prepatory to a channel crossing. Hitler was outraged by a few pinprick raids by the RAF against German cities and demanded that the Luftwaffe switch targets to British cities. This was the decision that cost the battle. An ME-109 operating out of France only had enough fuel to fly to London and operate for five minutes. Many Luftwaffe fighter pilots were lost because they ditched in the channel on the way home. The Luftwaffe never recovered. Towards the end of the war, many German fighter pilots were flying into combat with too few hours to be allowed to solo in the U.S. Army Air Force.

BTW, German radar was (far) technically superior to the Chain Home system, contrary to popular belief. Where the British had an advantage was in better incorporating radar data into an overall real time picture of the battle, giving their commanders better situational awareness.

[Ayn And Milton]

Thanks, nice addition!

[caver]

Great. All I see are little red x’s.

[samtheman]

The Battle of Britian was a major setback for Germany and the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe was doing a good job of rolling up the RAF in the south of England, prepatory to a channel crossing. Hitler was outraged by a few pinprick raids by the RAF against German cities and demanded that the Luftwaffe switch targets to British cities. This was the decision that cost the battle. An ME-109 operating out of France only had enough fuel to fly to London and operate for five minutes. Many Luftwaffe fighter pilots were lost because they ditched in the channel on the way home. The Luftwaffe never recovered. Towards the end of the war, many German fighter pilots were flying into combat with too few hours to be allowed to solo in the U.S. Army Air Force.

BTW, German radar was (far) technically superior to the Chain Home system, contrary to popular belief. Where the British had an advantage was in better incorporating radar data into an overall real time picture of the battle, giving their commanders better situational awareness.

Thanks, Lonesome. Your excellent little summary goes great with these amazing photos.

[School of Rational Thought]

The plane going of Lord Nelson statue in Trafalgar Square demonstrates the stark closeness of the battle over London.

I attended an air show near Oxford at the American Air Museum nearby complete with mock dogfight.

Area looks very much like it did during the war. It was very eerie.

[Ayn And Milton]

I’m sorry! Others, and I myself can see them, obviously. Can’t think of any reason why you can’t.

[caver]

It’s not your fault. Must be something on my end. I’m a WWII buff and would like to see them.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Battle of Britain pilot: 'You were thankful to be alive'

[ClearCase_guy]

Men like this are hard to find in England today. The place has largely surrendered to the Muslims.

[Calusa]

*

[Berlin_Freeper]

The Battle of Britain: a chronology in pictures

[Berlin_Freeper]

If before Sunday's match parts of the media represented it as a re-run of the Battle of Britain, it is hardly surprising that some people should have responded as though our country had lost a major battle, when, in fact, England has simply been beaten by Germany in a football game.

[Ayn And Milton]

Very interesting. The author raises some important points, and highlights a few paradoxes that are worth thinking about.

Is it good or bad that so much emotion went into that match?

I myself, being 51 years of age, see younger people being almost frighteningly emotional about a mere game of soccer. But that is my perception. I need to remind myself that someone aged 20 nowadays may not even have grandparents anymore that can relate stories on their experience of the War.

Whereas my own mom and dad, both luckily still alive, were children during wartime. They know what hearing bomber planes is, what being relocated to an entirely different part of the country is (because the Nazi’s confiscated their parental homes), and what hunger is - they were obliged to eat tulip ‘balls’ (sorry, don’t know the word for the onion-shaped thing here...), because there was no real food at all. The word ‘hongerwinter’ still installs fearful memories in many, many old Dutch folks.

I think the behaviour and feelings of young soccer fans reflects their (relative) lack of direct experience with a real war.

Is that good? Well, bad it ain’t, because you don’t wish war on anyone innocent, of course.

Moot point.

[agere_contra]

Good post. The word you’re looking for is Tulip bulbs.

[Tainan]

Battle of Britain photos you might enjoy ping.

[RayChuang88]

I think the British were very lucky they had enough quantities of the Supermarine Spitfire to defend their country during the Battle of Britain. If the Brits were only dependent on the Hurricane they would have been slaughtered, since the Hurricane--while an excellent gun platform that proved viable against bombers--was eventually no match against the 30-40 mph faster Bf-109E's that opposed them

[Non-Sequitur]

Anyone who wants a perspective on what the air campaign cost Great Britain need only look at the photo below. It's a picture of Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his crew just before his 'dambuster' raid in 1943. They were a picked crew and were broken up shortly after the mission and sent to other squadrons. Every single one of them was killed in action.