[Juha]

I think RAF was mixture of innovativeness and conservativeness

“…the inability within the RAF and the USAAF to accept the need for fighter escort for bombers (before it was too late)…”

Strange, I thought that they won the war. I’d say that they abandoned the idea of unescorted daytime bomber formations much too slowly but not too late. OK, too late for many of the bomber crews.

“And the Italians and Japanese (and the Soviets!) realised the need for torpedo planes earlier than most others (including the Germans).”

British had had torpedo bombers from WWI onwards; IIRC they had begun experiments with torpedo carrying a/c even before WWI. USN had torpedo bombers at least from 20s onwards. French probably were also early on this field but I cannot recall when they began. Luftwaffe was a late comer for sure, but it was an exception..

“Under Göring's and Milch's influence, the Luftwaffe was more adaptive to new ideas than probably any other air force by that time…”

I’m not so sure on that. Germany had very update offensive systems, RAF had integrated air defence system. IMHO it was a question of how to allocate limited resources. LW put most of its to offensive “tools” RAF to defensive. That said I admit that LW was very effective in that it was designed to do, especially its fighter tactics were revolutionary. British archaic fighter tactics were based on assumption that Germans were unable to launch escorted (by single engine fighters) bomber raids against HomeIslands. The collapse of France was a big surprise to British.

Juha