The British resistance
On August 25, 1940, in response to the accidental bombing of London the day before by German aviation, 81 RAF bombers attacked Berlin. The fact astonished the Berliners, the German high command, and Hitler himself.
Technical sheet of the involved fighters
Messerschmitt Bf 109 hunt (Nazi Germany) Model: Me109F-3Wing Span: 9.92 mLength: 8.85 mHeight: 2.59 mWeight: 1 964 kg (empty) and 2 746 kg (loaded)Engine: Daimler-Benz DB601E (1 600 hp)Maximum Speed: 628 km/hMaximum ceiling: 11 600 mNormal Range: 1 600 kmWeapons: 2 MG 151 15 mm machine guns (over engine) and 1 MG FF 20 mm cannon (propeller shaft) Supermarine Spitfire Hunting (United Kingdom) Model: Mk VA (During the Battle of England the English only used Spitfire models I and II. Mk VA was later. They also used the Hawker Hurricane)Wing Span: 11.23 mLength: 9,12 mHeight: 3.02 mWeight: 2 267 kg (empty) and 2 911 kg (loaded)Engine: Rolls Royce Merlin 45, V12 (1 487 hp)Maximum Speed: 594 km/hMaximum ceiling: 11 125 mNormal Range: 675 kmWeapons: 8 Browning machine guns 7.7 mm (0.303 in.)
Airborne Blitz
The German command’s determination to fight back the air attack on Berlin played a decisive role in the battle. This was because for the first week of September, the British air fighter command was on the verge of collapse. Having so far concentrated its attacks on RAF airfields and radar stations, the Luftwaffe’s goal of obtaining air superiority to prepare an invasion (according to the original plan of Operation Sea Lion) had been achieved. However, such superiority could not be maintained indefinitely, without a continuation of the original plan. Thus, in practice, the German command’s determination to “punish” the British, trying to coerce them into a peace agreement through a campaign of air terror, sealed the fate of the battle. The Germans changed their targets: besides London they started attacking other cities, with similar results: a lot of destruction, but nothing to cool the British spirit of resistance, giving time for the RAF to pull itself together, to the point of causing losses among the Read More …