The Air War

The Air War• Level of warfare

– Tactical = local

– Strategic = whole front/whole war

• Role of an air force– Fighters: intercept enemy attacks

(t), protect own bombers (t)

– Bombers: disrupt enemy production (s), reduce civilian morale (s), disrupt enemy supply & communications (t & s), break up enemy defences & attacks (t).

The Air War• Start of war

– Germany: modern planes, tested in Spain

– France, GB, USSR: rearming, many old designs, new planes starting to reach frontline units.

• Bomber forces– Germany: support blitzkrieg– Allies: support ground

attacks AND (others to carry out) strategic bombing

Battle of Britain• Why – scare British into surrender.

• Operation Sealion – German plan to invade Britain. Kriegsmarine & Royal Navy both experienced heavy losses in Scandinavian Campaign. German success depended on control of the air.

• Goering promised Hitler he could win control of the air. Initially, the Luftwaffe had a two stage plan.

1. Destroy coastal radar & disrupt Channel convoys.

2. Gain command of the air through attacks on airfields & by shooting down RAF planes.

Battle of Britain• Stage 1 - had limited success.

• Stage 2 - became a war of attrition.

- Germans had more planes

• Stage 3 - unplanned.

- German plane bombed London by accident, RAF bombed Berlin

- Hitler ordered retaliation: the Blitz, giving RAF chance to regroup

- eventually turned to Russia

Significance of the outcome of

the Battle of Britain (1)• End of Operation Sealion

– the debate: was it realistic?

• Britain’s survival– Churchill’s survival

– galvanised opposition

• British morale

• International impact– the USA & Roosevelt

Significance of the outcome of

the Battle of Britain (2)• Richard Overy’s argument

– revisionist, but…

– a calamity avoided

• Strategic significance– two-front war

– ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’

– promoting resistance

– D Day & after

Russia

• Huge initial German successes in 1941/2 – against obsolete planes

• New Russian designs proved more of a challenge

• However, by late 1942/early 1943… - RAF/USAAF bombing of Germany leads to withdrawal of

Luftflotte (air fleet/air wing) for homeland defence - Russian numbers slowly gained local then front-wide superiority

Bombing Germany• 1939 – 41: limited, mostly night attacks on Germany & occupied

Europe, superficial damage.

• Failure to knock Britain out of war creates ‘an unsinkable aircraft carrier’ – a base for attacking Nazi-occupied Europe.

• Bomber Command slowly builds up its heavy (4-engine) bombers (Lancasters, Wellingtons, etc) – concentrates on massed night attacks.

Bombing Germany• USAAF begins to be based in Britain from mid-1942. Concentrates on

daylight raids in big numbers (mostly 4-engined B17s, B24s).

• Luftwaffe now concentrates on fighters. Germany on the defensive.

• German designs which began the war as modern & superior have now been surpassed (eg. Me109 fighter, He111 & Ju88 bombers). Most new designs do not live up to expectations (exceptions: Fw190 fighter & Me 262 jet fighter).

Bombing Germany• Allied bombing – esp. ‘1000 bomber’ raids, fire-bombing

seemingly destroy German cities. However, German production rises in 1943, peaks in 1944.

• Why? Germany doesn’t go to total war until 1943. Allied nations had done so from the start or almost so.

Bombing Germany• However - infrastructure is heavily damaged (by late 1944), oil

supplies are dramatically reduced (mid/late 1944), civilian morale begins to crumble (late 1944).

• Allied control of the air is crucial. Why?– Allows unhindered movement of supplies– No disruption of home front– Germans must react– Destruction of Wehrmacht