Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanir
The Luftwaffe very nearly did win the Battle of Britain and certainly it was capable of it. Even with all the blunders and poor leadership at the top, it missed out on winning that war through simple attrition by about three weeks.
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I agree with much of what you say, but this part (while commonly reported) is incorrect. In fact, it was the Luftwaffe which was suffering much more heavily from attrition during the BoB than the RAF. This was discussed on another board long ago and I kept a copy of the statistics quoted there, as follows:
Luftwaffe fighter strength (109s)
End June 1940
Established strength 1171
Actual strength 1107
Serviceable 856
End September 1940
Established strength 1132
Actual strength 920
Serviceable 712
End December 1940
Established strength 1162
Actual strength 829
Serviceable 586
Established strength is how many planes they should have had, actual strength is how many they did have, serviceable is how many were fit for use at the time.
109 Pilots fit for duty:
1st June 906
1st August 869
1st Sept 735
1st Nov 673
As you can see, Luftwaffe strength was decreasing throughout the battle. They were producing only 150 - 200 109s a month, compared to British Spitfire and Hurricane production of 400 - 500 a month.
RAF aircraft strength never fell below established strength, due to high production and substantial reserves. In fact, established and actual strength went up during the battle, from something over 500 Spits and Hurricanes at the start to over 800 towards the end.
RAF Fighter Command pilot strength,
including "reserves" (note the Luftwaffe had no pilot reserves)
30th June 1,200
27th July 1,377
17th Aug 1,379
31st Aug 1,422
14th Sept 1,492
28th Sept 1,581
19th Oct 1,752
2nd Nov 1,796
As you can see, RAF strength, both in planes and pilots, increased throughout the battle, apart from a brief period in late August/Early Sept, where it began to decline. Luftwaffe strength decreased throughout the battle.
Fighter Command OOB
1st July 1940
spitfires serviceable 198
spitfires un serviceable 95
hurricanes (total) 459
1st August 1940
spitfires serviceable 229
spitfires unserviceable 75
hurricanes (total) 466
1st September 1940
spitfires serviceable 200
spitfires unserviceable 74
hurricanes (total) 475
British Fighter output June to October 1940 by type, planned/actual
Month: Beaufighter - Defiant - Hurricane - Spitfire - Whirlwind
June: 8/2 30/30 300/309 135/103 8/2
July: 14/5 50/56 220/272 140/160 4/3
August: 21/25 65/38 270/251 155/163 6/1
September: 24/15 65/41 280/252 175/156 8/3
October: 40/21 50/48 300/250 231/149 10/1
Total British aircraft production in 1940
January 802, February 719, March 860, April 1,081, May 1,279, June 1,591, July 1,665, August 1,601, September 1,341, October 1,419, November 1,461, December 1,230.