I have just written a new analysis of Luftwaffe resource distribution - it is on Michael Holm's website

[Boris Ciglic]

Dear Dan,

With all due respect for your research, I must consider your findings that "Western air power defeated the Luftwaffe and therefore enabled the USSR to survive" pure historical revisionism. Are you aware of the numbers of German & Axis allied troops engaged on the Eastern Front? Did you ever read anything about the sheer size of German casualties in the east? What was the role of the Western air power at the gates of Moscow in 1941? At Leningrad? Where was the Western air power at Stalingrad?

Boris

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Hello gents,

With my limited knowledge of the air battles in the east, I will not judge this new study nor becoming a participant in a discussion about it.

However I strongly advise that we all read the paper first, carefully check the used sources and the conclusions drawn, before we comment the value of this paper and opinions expressed.

History is a never ending discussion a famous Dutch historian once said. I do hope that several TOCH friends with expert knowledge read Dan History's paper very well and give their comments.

Urbi et orbi, Marcel

[Boris Ciglic]

Dear Marcel,

Since reading 'Samurai' at the age of eleven, nothing has preoccupied my interests so much as the aviation history. Since then, I've read many books on the subject, spent a lot of time in archives and had the privilege to speak to some of the WWII veterans.
The statement that the "Western air power defeated the Luftwaffe and therefore enabled the USSR to survive" is naive to say the least and for that I do not have to read a line from the study trying to prove it. Did RAF Circuses and Ramrods stop von Bock in front of Moscow? Did the dislocation of few fighter groups to Libya prevent von Paulus from winning at Stalingrad?

Boris

[Dan History]

Hello Marcel,

Thank you for your kind and measured words. My study was not written with an Eastern front specialist in mind, but rather for anyone interested in history. This is especially so in view of the fact that my aim was to discuss the strategic influence of the Luftwaffe on the course of the war as a whole, not just events in the East. Therefore, I invite you to read my study, or some part of it that your other preoccupations allow, and give your reaction. I shall be interested to hear what you think of it, whether you agree or disagree with my arguments.

Kind regards,

Dan

[Dan History]

Dear Boris,

You may have considered thanking me for sharing the results of my research before launching into your attack, but that is your choice. What I strongly object to is the accusation of bad faith and ignorance that you have made. The charge of "historical revisionism" may have been considered appropriate in a meeting of an Eastern block Communist party, but such an attack only invites contempt in the civilised world.

You are entitled to strongly disagree with my conclusions, but you are not entitled to adopt the Soviet position, "I have not read it, but I condemn it". You may be aware that this was the reaction of members of the Union of Soviet Writers to the publication of Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, a reaction which served only to underline the boorish ignorance of those members.

I invite you to read my study in order to see the evidence that Western air operations drew critically important Luftwaffe resources away from the Eastern front. This can be seen particularly clearly during both the battle of Moscow and the battle of Stalingrad. German flying units were withdrawn from the Eastern front and redeployed to the Mediterranean before both of these Soviet counter-offensives. I look forward to further comments from you after you have had a chance to read my study.

Kind regards,

Dan

[Nick Beale]

Dan, you've just arrived so please don't rise so readily to what you might interpret as provocation. You expressly invited criticism or comment and even if you do find some of what ensues intemperate, it's generally more effective to respond in a calmer tone than the one used by the person you're in dispute with.

And this goes for everyone else too, keep the discussion polite. We can express our differences without anger.