"6 Battle of Britain myths" Topic

See here…

link

Amicalement
Armand

"Myth 1: the Luftwaffe commander Göring was incompetent"

He was and he told lies. So that 'myth' is true.

"Myth 2: Hermann Göring ruined the German possibilities to win the battle by turning the attention against London"

Well I always thought it was Hitler who ordered the attacks on London.

"Myth 4: the twin-engined Messerschmitt Bf 110 was worthless as a fighter"

Yep that one seems true, if the 'myth' stated that it was useless as a day fighter. At night (against bombers) it did very well.

"Myth 6: the German Bf 109 pilots were absolutely superior to the RAF's fighter pilots"

Yep they were. Because they had better tactics and experience – which counts.

But the myth I had expected was that the Spitfire won the battle of Britain

"According to the Air Ministry's own figures, for every two Luftwaffe planes brought down by the Spitfires, three were shot down by Hurricanes."

Not sure if this is a good example, but many years ago while playing the video game Battle of Britain 1940, by Lucas Arts, I flew an ME110 quite successfully.
The 20mm forward firing cannon were deadly, while the rear gunner protected the rear.
I was much more successful with this aircraft then the 109.

ME-110?
Recall from my reading and the movies, when attacked they would fly in a circle so they could cover each other?

I think most people would agree it wasn't up to the standard of the Mosquito…

Interesting to read the rest of Churchill's "Few" speech. Yet another example of how Bomber Command were pushed out of sight after the war. My dad was a Lancaster navigator in 1944, on his 1st raid on 3/4 May more men were lost than Fighter Command lost throughout the Battle of Britain.

As for better quality German pilots than British ones, multiple fights by British crews were more due to them fighting over their home territory than superior attitudes. The German pilots towards the end of the war did exactly the same.