Kevin J
Banned
In the BoB the Germans more often than not claimed it was Spitfires that they had shot down. Unfortunately, their total claims by the end of the BoB exceeded total production to date.
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In the BoB the Germans more often than not claimed it was Spitfires that they had shot down. Unfortunately, their total claims by the end of the BoB exceeded total production to date.I voted Spitfire - simply because that in British and Scandinavian literature one ALWAYS gets the impression that the Spitfire won the war alone.
Seems to me that many writers, journalists and laymen simply don't know the names of any other fighters - or they are just unaware that other airplanes existed.
That looks a lot more plausible. I assume it excludes 2nd Tactical Air Force and ADGB figures. That would give 2250 Spitfire victories although we would still have 3713 Hurricane victories. I could certainly get to that figure as follows: 2500, UK & France; 500, Malta; 750, mainly Italian in the Western Desert on the assumption that with 50% more Hurricanes there, they scored 50% more victories. Also would be the assumption that those Fighter Command victories include the victories of FC units posted to the Med.This is from the book "Fighter Command 1936-1968: An Operational and Historical Record" by Ken Delve 2007....
When in 1941 did it become Middle East Command, is that after the Tomahawk and Spitfire replaced the Hurricane as the war out there started in June 1940.In the Mediterranean it was called the Middle East Command from 1941-43 so its doubtful.
That may well explain everything as its the point at which the Tomahawk has taken over as the main air superiority fighter, followed by the Kittyhawk then Spitfire. So those 12000 Fighter Command claims probably include the Med, Greece and Western Desert where most of the claims would have been by Hurricanes.Dec. '41-Dec. '43. Prior to that it was called RAF Middle East
Agreed, but the first casualty of war is the truth.And never part of Fighter Command
Someone has posted in the internet on one of the forums
You voted Spitfire because of peer pressure?
In the BoB the Germans more often than not claimed it was Spitfires that they had shot down. Unfortunately, their total claims by the end of the BoB exceeded total production to date.
Wait? The Germans over-claimed? Can't be. The British must have lied about Spitfire production.
No, it wasn't that at all, the Americans were telling the Germans what our battle plans were.Same thing happened in the desert the Germans regularly shot down more aircraft than the allies had. Obviously the main reason Rommel won.
haha, maybe that
I know it was a fantastic plane all the way. But I don't like the 'symbol' it has become in Europe. Nobody in my country even knows about the Hurricane, Hellcat, P-47, P-51, FW190, Bf109 etc - and IF they saw one, they would probably think it was a Spitfire anyway!
In many cases it was impossible to tell the difference. It was in no way significant that German claims exceeded UK production, what was significant was that UK production after May 1940 was in excess of German production and by a large margin. The crux of the battle was what the commanders believed, close to the end Goering believed the RAF was down to its last 50 S/E fighters, in fact over the course of the battle RAF front line strength increased from about 500 to about 700, the quality of the pilots had been greatly reduced however.In the BoB the Germans more often than not claimed it was Spitfires that they had shot down. Unfortunately, their total claims by the end of the BoB exceeded total production to date.
The lucky ones were shot down by Spitfires, their guns had a shotgun effect, so you might survive the encounter. Hurricanes simply made mincemeat of them.Even during WW2 the Germans would shout Actung Spifure even if the a/c wasn't a Spitfire. They even claimed they shot down/were shot down by a Spitfire even if they weren't.
We won because we had more 'bloody foreigners' than they did, even Phil the Greek was really a Kraut. Our insidious plan to 'make the World English' had been going on for centuries, the approved methods being the 'boy on girl' one, or 'she stoops to conquer' one.In many cases it was impossible to tell the difference. It was in no way significant that German claims exceeded UK production, what was significant was that UK production after May 1940 was in excess of German production and by a large margin. The crux of the battle was what the commanders believed, close to the end Goering believed the RAF was down to its last 50 S/E fighters, in fact over the course of the battle RAF front line strength increased from about 500 to about 700, the quality of the pilots had been greatly reduced however.