[Six Nifty .50s]

I have read that a greater application of air power by Germany might make a difference. But it doesn't quite ring true. I did not know that some German pilots implied that the Battle of Britain was a minor skirmish. So I must ask, how many more planes needed to crash before it became a real shooting war?

I have yet to see it proven that flying more missions will compensate for a bad strategy or lack of one. I have seen it proven that such an approach will lead to higher losses.

The number of German aircraft and trained air crew that failed to return does not suggest their losses were sustainable without accepting a crippling decline in quality, quantity, or both. Had the Germans mounted combat flying sorties at a significantly higher rate, and for a longer period, the consequences would have been disastrous for the Luftwaffe and their plans on other battle fronts. They were about to be stretched thin, and a battering ram approach over England would only accelerate that process.

Revisiting the real or imagined intentions of Hitler and his gang is fascinating for the sake of argument, but it does not change that the Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority over the United Kingdom in 1940.