Eagle Days: Life and Death for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain

[John Vasco]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

By the way, I think that treating the German air campaign from the fall of France to Barbarossa as one subject is legitimate but what we have come to think of as the Battle of Britain does mean finding a new name for the longer period perhaps.

I believe extending it to the start of Barbarossa is a post-war German construct. Churchill's famous speech clearly outlines what the 'Battle of Britain' was, and given the extensive preparations for a possible invasion in the second half of 1940, to claim, as some do (not you, Nick) that the title extends up to the point of Barbarossa is at best disingenuous, and at worst, a downright lie.

In 'Eagle Days', from start to finish, the author has, IMO, not so much moved the goalposts as moved to a different pitch in a different location!

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by John Vasco

I believe extending it to the start of Barbarossa is a post-war German construct. Churchill's famous speech clearly outlines what the 'Battle of Britain' was, and given the extensive preparations for a possible invasion in the second half of 1940, to claim, as some do (not you, Nick) that the title extends up to the point of Barbarossa is at best disingenuous, and at worst, a downright lie.

I agree that it is a construct but there would be logic in considering as a whole the period during which the bulk of the Luftwaffe’s resources were turned against Britain. The failure of the daylight campaign led to the night Blitz (nobody ever switched to night bombing because things had been going really well by day). As Stephen Bungay put it, they turned from trying to force a decision to siege warfare. For the Kampfflieger especially it must have been one long slog.

P.S. I’m wary of viewing history through ‘Churchill goggles’, or ‘Galland googles’ for that matter, although the Battle of Britain is a good enough description for me.