Greetings fellow quacksalver....you are back,
but at North Africa the LW could take air superiority with relative less effort with the JG 27 (till September 1940 only the half of the Squadron and only Bf109 E's).
I assume you mean September 1941
Over malta, it was pretty dire, however LW claims just dont reconcile to the numbers of Hurricanes actually delivered. The LW claim 42 Hurricanes shot over Malta Jan to May, more than half credited to the JG26 leader (muncheberg???) However, that number greatly exceeds the actual number of Hurricanes deployed to the island. Beginning in November 1940, 12 were flown off Argus, however only 4 arrived at the island. After the arrival of the LW, a further reinforcement was flown in from Ark Royal. 12 flown off, 11 arriving at malta.
In March the RAF records that 5 Hurricanes were also lost in operational accidents. I dont have the figures for the other months, at least in a compllete form. On the 27 March a further 24 Hurricanes were despatched to Malta from Ark Royal, 1 was lost enroute. There was no further reinforcement of the island until after June.
At the end of May, the RAF has on strength either 16 or 19 Hurricanes on the island.
Net total reinfoircements of hurricanes to the island November 1940-June 1941 was 48 hurricanes, 15 known losses to noncombat related causes but more very likley. There were 19 left available at the end, so the maximum possible number of shoot downs by the LW in that time is 14 aircraft. If we assume non combat losses for April and May to be about 4 a/c for each month, then the LW may have shot down a maximum of 6-9 Hurricanes in that 6 month period.
Polmar says that Me 109Es were the initial SE fighters for FKX, arriving at the end of January. There were already 26 Me 110s at that time. Between January and June 1941 Berg records that the following fighter German fighter reinforcements were delivered to the TO
March 32 Bf110
April: 40 Bf109
May: 42Bf109, 18Bf110
The whole reason for the germans attacking Malta was to suppress the island and render it inneffective as a forward allied base. In order to do that they needed to stop the flow of supplies getting to the island. In that period, November'40 to June 1941, there are 7 convoys arriving Malta. Despite the clear superiority of the LW over the RAF in both numbers and quality, their advantage is not achieving much at all. Italian shipping continues to be lost at a steady rate, and LW activity does not prevent Force K and the Subs coninuing operations effectively from the island through to the end of May
In the same period, the MTO receives the following Tomahawk and Hurricanes (not including the Hurricane Is - not IIs that ive mentioned)
Jan 22 Hurri I
Feb 18 Hurri I
Mar 6 Hurri I
April:46 Hurri I, 25 Tomahawks
May: 65 Hurri I 21 Tomahawak, 16 Beafighter I
I dont know a lot about the Hurricane operations in the western Desrt at this time, but I do know a little about the Tomahawk operations. In June, AFAIK there were two squadrons equipped 250 sqn (RAF) and 3 Squadron (RAAF). These two squadrons lost 6 Tomahawks to enemy fighters June to Septemeber and claimed 17 aircraft shot down. I dont call that winning air superiority, on the basis of numbers. And from June through to November, Rommel was unable to make any significant gains on the ground, so strategically the Germans failed to capitalize at all on the claimed air superiority you are suggesting. far from it. it that period there were several failed attempts to take Tobruk, and the British felt strong enough to mount their own offensive (albeit it was unsuccessful). Thats hardly the stuff that axis air superiority should lead to. If they did have it, which I refurte that they did, they did nothing useful with it.
The Bf 109 F-4 was clearly superior to the Hurricane II and the pilots didn't fear or had much respect neither to the Hurricane II nor to the P40
.
Hmm, that too doesnt add up completely. I agree that the F-4 was superior in performance, but I dont think that total losses per sortie for either side were that significantly different. Caldwells combat experiences belie your claims
"On 26 June 1941, while escorting bombers attacking Gazala, Libya, Caldwell destroyed an aircraft in air-to-air combat for the first time, during his 30th sortie. He downed a German Messerschmitt Bf 109E, piloted by Leutnant Heinz Schmidt of I gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27), over Capuzzo, he followed this claim with a 'half share' of a Bf 110 on III./ZG 26 and 2 Ju-87s of II./Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 (StG 2—Dive Bomber Wing 2) on 30 June.
While flying to his base alone, over north west Egypt on 29 August 1941, Caldwell was attacked by two Bf 109s, in a simultaneous approach at right angles. His attackers included one of Germany's most famous Experte ("expert", or ace), Leutnant Werner Schröer, also of JG 27, in a Bf 109E-7. Caldwell sustained three separate wounds from ammunition fragments and or shrapnel; his Tomahawk was hit by more than 100 7.9 mm bullets and five 20 mm cannon shells, but he shot down Schröer's wingman, and heavily damaged Schröer's "Black 8", causing Schröer to disengage. On 23 November, Caldwell shot down an Experte, Hauptmann Wolfgang Lippert, Gruppenkommandeur (Group Commander) of II./JG 27, who bailed out. Lippert had struck the stabiliser and following capture had his legs amputated but ten days later a gangrene infection set in and he died on 3 December.For this action Caldwell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Caldwell shot down five Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) dive bombers in a matter of minutes on 5 December. For this he was awarded a Bar to his DFC.
Caldwell scored another striking victory in February 1942, while leading a formation of 11 Kittyhawks from 112 Sqn (Pole) and 3 Sqn (RAAF). Over Gazala, he sighted a schwarm of Bf 109Fs flying some 2,000 ft higher. Caldwell immediately nosed into a shallow dive, applied maximum power and boost, then pulled his Kittyhawk up into a vertical climb. With his P-40 "hanging from its propeller," he fired a burst at a 109 flown by Leutnant Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt of I./JG 27, who was lagging behind the others. Stahlschmidt's fighter "shuddered like a carpet being whacked with a beater" before spinning out of control. Although the Kittyhawk pilots thought that the 109 had crashed inside Allied lines, Stahlschmidt was able to crash-land in friendly territory."
When flown by a good pilot, the Kittyhawk, and the earlier Tomahawak was not "intimiidated" at all by the german aircraft. Caldwell
From pilot statements, they had some kind of respect, but they found both types easy to fight with the Friedrich.
Also that only one Geschwader was able to take air superiority don't speak for the Hurricanes.
Well the above actions disprove the claim. If air superiority had been achieved, the allies would not be able to patrol, and would not have been able to inflict such heavy air defeats on the Germans. I fear just another Quacksalving effort here
It was much much harder for the LW and the JG27 after the arriving of Spit's in numbers summer/autumn 1942 and the germans lost air superiority.
THe kill ratio of the Friedrich was 4:1 or better against both types (Hurricanes and P40)
.
Over Malta the Germans might have shot down 6 Hurricanes in air combat January to June 1941. Over the western desert, June to the end of August the two P-40 squadrons lost 6 aircraft to enemy fighters, with just one man very nearly eaqualling that loss rate single handed. More than a little quackslaving going on here isnt there....