Christer Bergstrom BOB book

[Juha]

BoB as it was was an attrition campaign, and so one must look the situation on both sides, Jagdwaffen had also lost many experienced leaders from May 40 onwards and was badly under establishment in pilots, so it also had bad problems in replacing its losses.

Airborne attack alone would have been madness, airborne troops didn't have firepower and staying power of normal troops. Even on Crete Germans needed seaborne troops to complete the conquest of the island. And seaborne invasion to England would probably have been a failure. Germans would have lost some of its best troops. Of course also RN would have suffered significant losses and KM, too. What effects that would have had to the war at sea is anyone's guess.

[mars]

Originally Posted by Juha

BoB as it was was an attrition campaign, and so one must look the situation on both sides, Jagdwaffen had also lost many experienced leaders from May 40 onwards and was badly under establishment in pilots, so it also had bad problems in replacing its losses.

Airborne attack alone would have been madness, airborne troops didn't have firepower and staying power of normal troops. Even on Crete Germans needed seaborne troops to complete the conquest of the island. And seaborne invasion to England would probably have been a failure. Germans would have lost some of its best troops. Of course also RN would have suffered significant losses and KM, too. What effects that would have had to the war at sea is anyone's guess.

Yes, it is true, the purpose of BoB from German perspective was NOT about an airborn attack, it was about to destroy RAF so that in the case Hilter decided to launch operation Sea lion, the German convoy would not need to air attack from RAF and Luftwaffe could concentrated to provide air cover for German ships

[bearoutwest]

I think you misunderstand my comment. Perhaps I should have used the phrase "initial invasion phase" rather than specifying the airborne landings. Local air superiority would need to be achieved by the Luftwaffe before any invasion operations could be initiated.

In any case, all this is now moving away from the discussion of Mr Bergstrom's book, so I shall return to my cave and allow you all to continue discussing the semantics to your wholehearted contentment.

Genuine regards,
...geoff

[Fanair]

But what do you think of the book ?

Thank you

Alain