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

[John Vasco]

Not looking through anything with 'Churchill goggles' at all.

Just this part of his speech from 18th June 1940: 'What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war.'
And as you say, Nick, that is a good enough description for me.

Once they started night bombing against various cities, the Battle of Britain, as a term used to indicate the subjugation of the RAF day fighter force and lead to invasion in whatever manner, was over. The Germans can dress it up any way they wish. They failed. They lost. And it didn't trickle on into June 1941.

By the way, that's a great link in your post #188.

[John Vasco]

I have just posted this review up on Amazon:

'The title of this book alludes to Adler Tag, the phrase given by the Germans to the attacks on mainland England on 13th August 1940, and subsequent days/weeks, notwithstanding the fact that some mainland targets had already been attacked on 12th August.

'The sub-title specifically refers to the ‘Battle of Britain’. The period of the Battle of Britain has been generally accepted in books, magazines, and various documentaries as that provided by Dowding: 10th July 1940 to 31st October 1940, which dates he set as being the period for the award of the ‘Battle of Britain clasp’ to identified participants. The Germans, however, saw the aerial fight against Britain as extending beyond 31st October 1940.

'The publicity blurb from the publisher on Amazon states: ‘…uniquely never-before-translated primary source material of other contemporary eyewitnesses, (Luftwaffe's paratroopers, anti-aircraft gunners and air signalmen). Eagle Days will offer all fans of this period a refreshing, comprehensive and exciting new account of the Luftwaffe's real experiences during the Battle of Britain…’ This is where the first red flag is raised. With regard to the actual aerial battle over southern and eastern England between July and October 1940, I am at a loss to understand where German paratroopers, anti-aircraft gunners, and air signalmen were eye witnesses to the aerial battle over England, given they were at best based in France. The publisher lays claim that their views are ‘primary source material’. No, they are not! They are views of those on the sidelines, not involved in the daily combat. They are not ‘primary source’.

'The first seven chapters range from the mid-1930s Third Reich up to the first days of July 1940. In Chapter 7, page 111, the author states that: ‘The initial phase of the Battle of Britain has long been characterized by the British as not commencing until 10th July 1940. This date was set by Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding, the commander-in-chief of Fighter Command, due to intensified Luftwaffe attacks along the Channel coast’. What? The start and end dates of the Battle, 10th July to 31st October 1940, were set by Dowding as being the period for the award of the ‘Battle of Britain clasp’ to identified participants. This is not the only glaring mistake to be made by the author. Chapter 7 ends on page 121, and at best there are only a few general lines about the Battle. In my opinion, sheer ‘padding-out’ of a work that runs to 343 pages.

'Chapter 8 includes brief details of the formation of the German night fighter force and a night interception by Streib on 20th July. Quotes from the 'Baruther Anzieger' newspaper of 18th July; from the Swiss 'Zürcher Illustrierte' magazine about 'Threatened England'. And a quote from a Gefreiter in Flak Regiment 231. All 100% off-topic. Chapter 9 continues in a similar off-topic vein.

'In Chapter 10 the author surpasses herself with regard to incorrect content. In the footnote on page 164 reference is made to the RAF combat against Luftflotte 5 in the early afternoon of 15 August, and states ‘at no cost to the defenders’. She has obviously not done sufficient research into the Luftflotte 5 incursion, because the following was recorded by: 605 Squadron. Hurricane P2717. P/O K Schadtler-Law – wounded. Hit by return fire. Force-landed near Hart railway station and admitted to Hartlepool hospital with suspected crushed vertebrae, laceration of scalp and concussion. P/O Schadtler-Law did not fly again operationally. Also: 605 Squadron. Hurricane P3827. F/O C Passy – safe. Hit by return fire off Newcastle. Force-landed and wrecked one mile from Usworth. In the footnote she also says the Luftwaffe lost between 15 and 20 aircraft on that raid. Pure guesswork! She can’t be bothered to research what actually happened. The actual figure was 21 – 15 bombers and 6 fighters. This information has been available since 2017 in ‘Battle of Britain Combat Archive’, Volume 4, by Simon Parry, and the fighter losses have been available for decades! No excuse for not referencing the correct research works. In fact, there are other works that she does not reference, which leads to further errors, as will be seen. The publisher lays claim to the book being ‘a refreshing, comprehensive and exciting new account’.

'And so the chapters go on with off-topic subjects like the RAF Intelligence Service listening in to PoWs conversations.

'On page 251 she states: ‘Technically, the first significant attack by Jagdbomber (or ‘Jabos’) in the Battle of Britain had already come as early as 12 August 1940 when fighter-bombers of the test wing Erprobungsgruppe 210 were instructed to take out five Chain Home radar (sic) sites mostly dotted along the Kent and Sussex coastlines. The bombs had been accurately placed by the eight Jabos…’ Last time I looked, Dover, Rye, Pevensey and Dunkirk equals four. And where did she get the figure that a total of eight fighter-bombers took part? Is she thinking of the 3. Staffel of Erprobungsgruppe 210’s Bf 109 E fighter-bombers only? She references the book ‘Battle of Britain 1940’ by Douglas Dildy, in the ‘Further Notes and References’ section, citing pages 100-1. Now in my first edition of that book, it only goes to page 96, so good luck with finding that page! The actual page where Dildy references the attack on the RDF sites by Erprobungsgruppe 210 is page 47 in a ‘call-out’ section regarding ‘Attacking the Chain Home radar sites’. He mentions the eight Bf 109 Es of 3. Staffel, and Victoria Taylor attributes that number to the whole of Erprobungsgruppe 210. Words fail me…

'The remaining chapters are basically off-topic(post the accepted date of the end of the Battle of Britain period, 31st October 1940), but I must mention this sentence on page 293: ‘…Thus by 6 December 1941 – two days before the United States of America entered the war – the Luftwaffe had a mere 468 serviceable bombers…’. What has that got to do with the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940!?

'A book therefore, that has as its title ‘Eagle Days’ and a sub-title of ‘Life and death for the Lufwaffe in the Battle of Britain’. In my opinion, the title and sub-titles are complete misnomers. ‘Eagle Day’, and the subsequent days, weeks, and months, is hardly covered. As for ‘life and death’, again details of the intense combats for several months are hardly mentioned, apart from small extracts from the works of famous pilots like Galland, Rall, and Baumbach.

'My opinion is that this work is simply trading on the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. As someone who has researched the Battle of Britain since 1980 from both sides, by way of sourcing original documents here in England and in Germany; interviewed and corresponded with the participants of both sides; had several books and magazine articles published; given talks to many aviation societies; was ‘Specialist Editor’ of the 12-volume ‘Luftwaffe Crash Archive’ by Red Kite, and am ‘Specialist Contributor(Luftwaffe) to the book series ‘Battle of Britain Combat Archive’ (presently up to Volume 18) by Red Kite, as well as contributing to works such as ‘The most dangerous enemy’ by Stephen Bungay, this book adds NOTHING to the history of the Battle of Britain, unless you want to read about the views of newspapers, paratroopers, AA crews, and the like. I DO NOT recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the Battle of Britain, for all of the points raised in previous paragraphs.