Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

Hey all,

Just made my account after discovering this site and I found it quite interesting and informative so thought I'd give it a shot in seeing if you guys would be able to help with a little research project I'm undertaking.

I'm currently do a research paper on the Battle of Britain and the accompanying variables which ultimately lead to the British victory.

I've analyzed and come up with most points on the Allied side of things, namely, the dynamics which factored into Britain's victory (i.e. leadership, radar, etc). Although, from my research so far, I've found that Germany, and the Luftwaffe as a whole, cannot be disregarded as having an integral part in Britain's victory.

Essentially, I'm looking at the ways in which Britain both helped herself to victory, but just as much, the ways in which Germany helped Britain due to miscalculations and overall costly decisions.

I've searched the web inside and out (boy is it difficult), and have really found a hard time falling upon a primary source from the German side which can explain clearly the role of the Luftwaffe, or the general German strategy in regards to the Battle of Britain.

Does anyone have an reputable links in terms of primary sources (revolving around the Battle of Britain on the Axis end of things, mainly the Luftwaffe) or scholarly articles published in the last 20-30 years or so which can contribute to my paper?

Also, any input on the matter would be extremely helpful as well seeing as I really have no idea the extent to which Germany really facilitated her own defeat, just that she did have some cause in it.

I'd also like to add that I wouldn't be able to officially cite your responses, not that anyone's opinion is wrong, irrelevant, or meaningless, it's just that university professors just don't take random knowledge off the internet as "evidence" or "scholarly content" :)

Thanks in advance!

Re: Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

An interesting book is "Luftwaffe: Strategy for Defeat" by Williamson Murray.
It explains a lot of things regarding the BoB seen from the German point of view.

Williamson Murray, Ph.D. in military history and Professor Emeritus of the Ohio State University.
I think you can cite him...

Re: Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

And "The Most Dangerous Enemy" by Stephen Bungay which devotes a lot of space to Germany's lack of any coherent strategy in the Battle.

Re: Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

I would add to your required reading list The Breaking Wave by Telford Taylor (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1967) and, if you can get hold of a copy, The Rise & Fall of the German Air Force (1933 to 1945) a restricted Air Ministry 'Pamphlet' issued by Air Vice-Marshal Sir T.W. Elmhirst KBE, CB, AFC, the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence) in 1948.

Re: Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

That one's available as a free pdf download, if you look hard enough.

Re: Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

..how are your foreign language skills...? Bungay et al present entirely 'conventional' views of the BoB - a number of recent works from German/continental authors argue that the Battle of Britain wasn't a 'real' battle at all -the Germans had no intention of invading England, not that they had the means- so the Germans certainly didn't lose it....(Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe Teil 4/I Einsatz am Kanal und über England, Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike). I have to say the authors do a great job of highlighting some of the more misleading 'primary' sources, such as Galland's memoir.....

Re: Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

So Germany had no intention of invading Britain.
Why then did they disrupt vital movement of goods on most inland waterways of Europe in order to assemble the large invasion fleet of barges???. Some were converted to carry tanks and a large amount of stores were assembled on the docksides of the Channel ports.
What was Operation Seelowe all about ???

Re: Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

Politucal pressure first and foremost IMHO.

Re: Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

Online @ http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/aul/aup...Murray_B12.htm

Re: Need assistance: Role of the Luftwaffe/Germany in the Battle of Britain?
 

First, I think Bungay makes a number of points about command and control you won't find elsewhere, also about the absence of a coherent German strategy.

To say the Germans didn't lose implies that they attained some definable objective. What then was that objective and in what sense was it attained? What did Germany achieve by fighting the battle? What was gained for the expenditure of about 2000 aircraft and their crews?