With Wings Like Eagles (41 page)
Read With Wings Like Eagles Online
Authors: Michael Korda
Tags: #History, #Europe, #England, #Military, #Aviation, #World War II
*Oddly enough for a seafaring nation like Britain, the
Luftwaffe
was better organized and equipped for picking their pilots up from “the drink.” German aircraft had self-inflating life rafts, and their airmen were provided with a bag of bright lime-green dye attached to their life vests to mark their position in the water and help the rescue seaplanes spot them.
Luftwaffe
was better organized and equipped for picking their pilots up from “the drink.” German aircraft had self-inflating life rafts, and their airmen were provided with a bag of bright lime-green dye attached to their life vests to mark their position in the water and help the rescue seaplanes spot them.
†The canopy of the Bf 109 had been made even heavier and more coffin-like by the addition of a piece of armor plate attached to it behind the pilot’s head, which also restricted the pilot’s ability to see what was behind him.
*“Angels one five,” means 15,000 feet.
*Some 338, 000 troops, more than two-thirds of them British, were brought off the beaches of Dunkirk.
*One exception occurred when General Charles de Gaulle, newly promoted to command the French Fourth Armored Division near Laon, on May 28, 1940, carried out a bold, sustained, and successful counterattack against much larger German forces, demonstrating what might have been done had the French used their own armored forces aggressively. The success was unusual enough that he was shortly afterward made undersecretary of state for national defense by Paul Reynaud.
*It is instructive, of course, to read French accounts of these events for balance, particularly the memoirs of De Gaulle and Reynaud.
†
In Command of History
, by David Reynolds, Allen Lane/Penguin, London, 2004.
In Command of History
, by David Reynolds, Allen Lane/Penguin, London, 2004.
*Indeed the whole French plan of attack was named
le Plan D
, after the Dyle River, though French officers often joked that the name stood for
le plan Débrouillard
, best translated as “trying to sort out a hopeless mess,” as in
débrouillez-vous,
“sort it out yourself.”
le Plan D
, after the Dyle River, though French officers often joked that the name stood for
le plan Débrouillard
, best translated as “trying to sort out a hopeless mess,” as in
débrouillez-vous,
“sort it out yourself.”
*In fact, at this point in the war, Bomber Command had neither the equipment nor the expertise to do much serious damage to the German war effort; and prior to May 10, 1940, it had in any case been more or less restricted to dropping bundles of propaganda leaflets over Germany, since the French government feared reprisals by the
Luftwaffe
if Germany was bombed, and the British government was equally determined not to provoke Hitler. When the RAF suggested bombing ammunition dumps in the Black Forest the then Secretary of State of State for Air, Sir Kingsley Wood, remarked indignantly, “Are you aware that is private property? Why, you will be asking me to bomb Essen next!” (Essen was the home of the Krupp steel works.)
Luftwaffe
if Germany was bombed, and the British government was equally determined not to provoke Hitler. When the RAF suggested bombing ammunition dumps in the Black Forest the then Secretary of State of State for Air, Sir Kingsley Wood, remarked indignantly, “Are you aware that is private property? Why, you will be asking me to bomb Essen next!” (Essen was the home of the Krupp steel works.)
*It was the right and patriotic decision—Wilhemina’s fellow sovereign Leopold III would be widely criticized, and forced to abdicate after the war, for remaining in Belgium under German occupation, together with his mistress Lillian Baels, later the princess de Réthy. Among the other sovereigns who fled to London to keep their freedom of action were the kings of Norway, Yugoslavia, and Greece; among the other governments in exile in London were those of Poland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and France (in the shape of Charles De Gaulle’s Free France).
†President Roosevelt had initiated what Churchill called this “intimate, private” correspondence in September 1939, when Churchill was still First Lord of the Admiralty in Chamberlain’s War Cabinet. The letters between them fill three very substantial volumes—
Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence
, edited by Warren F. Kimball, Princeton University Press, 1984.
Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence
, edited by Warren F. Kimball, Princeton University Press, 1984.
*The equivalent in the United States would have been a full (or four-star) general.
*These are the words used by General Ismay in his
Memoirs
.
Memoirs
.
†A mixed force of about 100 twin-engine RAF bombers attacked the Ruhr on the night of May 15–16; sixteen were unable to locate their target, and the remainder inflicted little serious damage.
*The author was evacuated to Canada (in the early autumn of 1940 ) at the age of seven, as were his friends the distinguished historians Sir Alistair Horne and Sir Martin Gilbert. Churchill deplored this vast upheaval of children, which was a relict of the Baldwin/Chamberlain era, when it was believed that major urban areas would be destroyed overnight by bombers. He finally managed to put a stop to the evacuations after the
City of Benares
, carrying hundreds of evacuees, was torpedoed by a German U-boat hundreds of miles from shore.
City of Benares
, carrying hundreds of evacuees, was torpedoed by a German U-boat hundreds of miles from shore.
*Kennedy’s dislike of the British was deeply reciprocated by them. He made no secret of his belief that they were beaten, or of his lack of confidence in the RAF. His fear of being bombed made him leave London every night he could, prompting one Foreign Office wit, according to the historian Andrew Roberts, to remark, “I thought my daffodils were yellow until I met Joe Kennedy.”
*Throughout this book I have tried to use the actual number of aircraft shot down on both sides, as confirmed in German and British postwar records. Very few of Fighter Command’s aircraft were then equipped with a “ciné camera” to record “kills” during the Battle of Britain, and in the confusion of an air fight many pilots naturally claimed the same plane. The Germans also exaggerated the number of British aircraft they shot down. In both countries confusion was abetted by propaganda.
*The author met Lord Beaverbrook several times—he was a friend of Alexander Korda’s, and like Korda he enjoyed spending time on the Côte d’Azur, where he had a luxurious villa. Brendan Bracken (later the Viscount Bracken, PC) was another family friend, and also a self-appointed adviser and godfather figure to the author as a young person. Both Beaverbrook and Bracken were larger-than-life personalities, brash, acerbic, witty, tough-minded, and self-confident, whose only allegiance, apart from self-interest, was to Churchill.
*The Air Transport Auxiliary was formed in 1940 and included 166 women pilots, who delivered everything from Spitfires to bombers.
*The German parachute attack on Crete in 1941 was a success, but also a classic Pyrrhic victory—losses were so high that henceforth the German parachutists fought as an elite light infantry division. The American parachute landing in Sicily in 1943 was disastrous, and the full-scale attack on Arnhem in the autumn of 1944 by British parachute forces was a heroic and bloody defeat, brilliantly described in the book and the film
A Bridge Too Far
.
A Bridge Too Far
.
*Although about two-thirds of Dowding’s fighters were Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain, the glamour of the Spitfire was such that German aircrews invariably claimed to have been shot down by
Spitfeuren
even when the fighters in question were Hurricanes.
Spitfeuren
even when the fighters in question were Hurricanes.
*A few of the Canadians were, in fact, Americans who had crossed the border and joined the RCAF to get in the war, to the consternation of U.S. ambassador Joseph Kennedy in the UK, who was anxious to keep American citizens from joining the RAF.
*The official numbers of aircraft in both air forces were separated into three distinct categories—“establishment,” meaning the number of aircraft a unit was supposed to have, on paper; “strength,” meaning the number of aircraft it actually had on a given date; and “serviceability,” meaning the number of aircraft in full repair and ready for operational service on a given date. These numbers are frequently mixed up, carelessly, by historians, as if they meant the same thing, but it is only the last category that matters. Aircraft being serviced or repaired, or standing idle because a part is missing, do not fly on operations. Thus, to take an example at random, on August 10, the three German
Luftflotten
assigned to attack Britain were supposed to have 1,011 Bf 109 s, but in fact had 934, of which 805 were serviceable.
Luftflotten
assigned to attack Britain were supposed to have 1,011 Bf 109 s, but in fact had 934, of which 805 were serviceable.
*Under German racial laws, those of “mixed” blood, i.e.,
Mischlinge
of the first degree, with one or two Jewish grandparents, were on the one hand obligated to serve in the armed forces, but on the other could not rise above the rank of sergeant or serve in such elite units as aircrew or submarine crews. They were also constantly threatened by the Gestapo’s determination to treat the
Mischlinge
as if they were full Jews, which the German army resisted, not out of an interest in racial justice, needless to say, but because such a policy would reduce its manpower pool.
Mischlinge
of the first degree, with one or two Jewish grandparents, were on the one hand obligated to serve in the armed forces, but on the other could not rise above the rank of sergeant or serve in such elite units as aircrew or submarine crews. They were also constantly threatened by the Gestapo’s determination to treat the
Mischlinge
as if they were full Jews, which the German army resisted, not out of an interest in racial justice, needless to say, but because such a policy would reduce its manpower pool.
*For the day-by-day details of the Battle of Britain, I have relied on two principal sources:
The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Campaign Diary
, which is very accurate about weather, British fighter losses, and RAF and civilian casualties, as well as the exact damage inflicted by
Luftwaffe
raids, but is not necessarily accurate about German losses; and
The Narrow Margin
, by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster, Pen and Sword Military Classics, Barnsley, U.K., 1961, which is almost equally detailed and gives revised, accurate numbers for German losses, based on an analysis of postwar German records.
The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Campaign Diary
, which is very accurate about weather, British fighter losses, and RAF and civilian casualties, as well as the exact damage inflicted by
Luftwaffe
raids, but is not necessarily accurate about German losses; and
The Narrow Margin
, by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster, Pen and Sword Military Classics, Barnsley, U.K., 1961, which is almost equally detailed and gives revised, accurate numbers for German losses, based on an analysis of postwar German records.
*“Bounce” was RAF slang for a surprise attack. You bounced or got bounced by the enemy. The origin is social-sexual—an overenthusiastic, or unexpected and unwelcome, sudden embrace, as in “She got bounced in the taxi on the way home.”
*He would be placed on the list October 16th by Churchill personally (Martin Gilbert,
Finest Hour
, page 849).
Finest Hour
, page 849).
*Sir Roger Williams is thought by many to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Captain Fluellen in
Henry V
.
Henry V
.
*A
Geschwader
was (very) approximately the equivalent of a British Group, and should contain a strength (on paper) of about 120 aircraft of the same or similar type, though by this time few had anything like that number in fact. A
Kampfgeschwader
consisted of bombers, a
Jagdgeschwader
of Bf 109 fighters, a
Zerstörergeschwader
of twin-engine Bf 110 fighters, and a
Stukageschwader
of Ju 87 dive-bombers.
Geschwader
was (very) approximately the equivalent of a British Group, and should contain a strength (on paper) of about 120 aircraft of the same or similar type, though by this time few had anything like that number in fact. A
Kampfgeschwader
consisted of bombers, a
Jagdgeschwader
of Bf 109 fighters, a
Zerstörergeschwader
of twin-engine Bf 110 fighters, and a
Stukageschwader
of Ju 87 dive-bombers.
*This was one of the fruits of an immensely ambitious nationwide industrial program going back to the days of Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain, in which a second “shadow” factory was set up for each of the most critical weapons of the three services, so as to be able to increase production swiftly in the event of war and to ensure an alternative and fully functioning manufacturing site in case the original one was bombed. Once again, the “appeasers” were more foresighted than their critics (or the Germans) guessed.
*Emphasis is Malan’s. Rule number ten was “Go in quickly—Punch hard—Get out!” The poster is reprinted on page 170.
*“Only” is, of course, a relative term, and is used here in the full knowledge that every death in war is a tragedy. Still, on a day when the RAF put up “192 patrols involving 916 aircraft,” the loss of three fighter pilots in combat was remarkably low, and only one-fourth of the total RAF deaths of the day.
*Although Dowding’s eventual dismissal from his post as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Fighter Command is not unrelated to “the big wing controversy,” as well as to Churchill’s resentment over Dowding’s objections to sending more Hurricanes to France, the most important reason, as we shall see, would be his failure to come up with an effective night fighter defense once the
Luftwaffe
took to large-scale bombing by night.
Luftwaffe
took to large-scale bombing by night.
*A.1.B was the category for those medically fit for flying.
*In the German army of World War I, a
Rittmeister
was the cavalry equivalent of a
Hauptmann
, i.e., a captain. The distinctive rank eventually vanished along with the horses.
Rittmeister
was the cavalry equivalent of a
Hauptmann
, i.e., a captain. The distinctive rank eventually vanished along with the horses.
*A contrail is a white vapor trail usually left by each wingtip of an aircraft flying at high altitudes.
*As bird shooters know, you don’t aim at a bird in flight; you aim
ahead
of it, so that it will fly into your shot. The same is true of fighter marksmanship, but at vastly greater speeds and distances. In deflection shooting, a pilot aims not at the enemy plane but rather at the spot where he expects it to be when his “stream” of bullets converges there. Judging the lead or deflection is an essential skill for a fighter pilot or an air gunner. Note also that a “four-second burst” is about twice as long as that which a more experienced fighter pilot would consider necessary, or even prudent, considering how quickly a fighter plane’s ammunition is expended, and how easy it is to overheat the gun barrels.
ahead
of it, so that it will fly into your shot. The same is true of fighter marksmanship, but at vastly greater speeds and distances. In deflection shooting, a pilot aims not at the enemy plane but rather at the spot where he expects it to be when his “stream” of bullets converges there. Judging the lead or deflection is an essential skill for a fighter pilot or an air gunner. Note also that a “four-second burst” is about twice as long as that which a more experienced fighter pilot would consider necessary, or even prudent, considering how quickly a fighter plane’s ammunition is expended, and how easy it is to overheat the gun barrels.
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