Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruy Horta
Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain are important only in as far as it didn't give Germany the quick settlement they were after in their gamble. But I think it is an illusion to think that Britain would have lasted long if she had to sustain the full pressure of the German war machine for an extended period.
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Ruy I don't necessarily disagree with you - your posts are interesting & perfectly valid. I guess I'm playing devil's advocate in any case. I'm interested in the notion that the BoB was not 'the full pressure of the German war machine'. I think this was a view also expressed most notably by Prien in the Foreword to Teil 4 of his Jagdfliegerverband series. Of the 90+ days that the BoB lasted, the Luftwaffe only appeared in British skies on 45 of them..or similar. I suppose Hitler could have used the winter of 1940-41 to build up his invasion fleet and mass-produce aircraft as well as re-equipping the Bf-109 with drop tanks for another attempt in 1941 - rather than go East. Even so 200 fighter pilots lost for nothing during the summer of 1940 seems a pretty high price to pay for a 'draw'.