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Congratulations. An excellent simple explanation.
I had been trying to write something that described the operation as simply and clearly and just could not do it.
Really? I would not have thought there would be enough room.
The US developed a new, UHF, much more sophisticated IFF, the BC-645, that had all kinds of features including the ability of aircraft to interrogate each other. But the British refused to change and you can't very well have two different IFF systems. As a result the BC-645 became a common surplus item offered to radio amateurs for about the next 40 years.
Actually I don't think there is much that Dowding should change. Of all the prewar thinkers in any field he foresaw the future better than any of them. In fact he didn't just foresee the future, he created it!If you could have sent Dowding and Park back from 1941 to 1935 they would have changed many things. By that time in 1941 they knew the war started in 1939 and France fell in 1940.
I agree, but if you apply 20/20 hindsight and give Dowding Park and those concerned 5 years notice they would obviously have done better. Forget the Defiant, get the Beaufighter (or similar) in service for mid 1940. Have all factories concerned breaking ground 2 years earlier so Castle Bromwich is in full production at start 1940 making Mk IIs then Mk IIIs. Increase all production AND pilot training so that even losses in France leave you with 1000 S/E fighters. Pour more resources into Chain Home and GCI so they are all operational at start 1940. Put proper funding into Whittles jet engine and have a squadron operational in 1940, however rudimentary. If you are allowed such hindsight, the Battle of Britain probably wouldnt have started and if it did would have been over very quickly, same for any night time "Blitz". The story of when things arrived in service was in many/ most cases dependent on when work started and how many reesources they were given.Actually I don't think there is much that Dowding should change. Of all the prewar thinkers in any field he foresaw the future better than any of them. In fact he didn't just foresee the future, he created it!
Dowding never wanted the Defiant in the first place. He wasn't responsible for building factories or pilot training. He wasn't in charge of The Ministry of Aircraft Production. You're giving him responsibilities he never had. He did fund chain home. I don't what more you could expect one man to do.I agree, but if you apply 20/20 hindsight and give Dowding Park and those concerned 5 years notice they would obviously have done better. Forget the Defiant, get the Beaufighter (or similar) in service for mid 1940. Have all factories concerned breaking ground 2 years earlier so Castle Bromwich is in full production at start 1940 making Mk IIs then Mk IIIs. Increase all production AND pilot training so that even losses in France leave you with 1000 S/E fighters. Pour more resources into Chain Home and GCI so they are all operational at start 1940. Put proper funding into Whittles jet engine and have a squadron operational in 1940, however rudimentary. If you are allowed such hindsight, the Battle of Britain probably wouldnt have started and if it did would have been over very quickly, same for any night time "Blitz". The story of when things arrived in service was in many/ most cases dependent on when work started and how many reesources they were given.
It is purely a hind sight discussion, if you can give Dowding 20/20 hindsight and transport him to 1935 you can do it with everyone else. Dowding didnt make a RADAR system or a teleprinter or a telephone line or anything else in what is known as the "Dowding System" he did turn off the Hurricane tap though, and that wasnt in his remit.Dowding never wanted the Defiant in the first place. He wasn't responsible for building factories or pilot training. He wasn't in charge of The Ministry of Aircraft Production. You're giving him responsibilities he never had. He did fund chain home. I don't what more you could expect one man to do.
Wanting "early warning" is as old as military conflict, castles were built on hills and observation towers put on top. Dowding, from what I have read, was not your normal genius if he was a genius at all Chain Home RADAR (RDF) wasnt state of the art even at the time, nothing in the Dowding system was unknown AFAIK. Maybe the use of colour to represent time was a clever innovation. BUT he realised he needed a system for a pi$$ing competition. He didnt want titanium and gold pots, he didnt want complicated pots, he wanted lots of pots and thousands of people trained in the correct way to pee so they could do it 24/7, with all information handled in such a way they the section commander could have the correct people peeing in the correct place at the correct altitude.You don't know what you need until you do but Chain Home was prescient.
The discussion is about what Dowding should have done differently not how Britain should have rearmed. I can't think of anything he should have done differently. Also, please explain the Hurricane tap comment.It is purely a hind sight discussion, if you can give Dowding 20/20 hindsight and transport him to 1935 you can do it with everyone else. Dowding didnt make a RADAR system or a teleprinter or a telephone line or anything else in what is known as the "Dowding System" he did turn off the Hurricane tap though, and that wasnt in his remit.
His letter halting the sending more Hurricanes to be lost in France often referred to as "the Hurricane Tap", this left Dowding with 500 Hurricanes and Spitfires when France fell . The discussion started about what we can think up in 2024 with 20/20 hindsight about how things were done wrong or could have been done better 90 years ago. If you give Dowding any 100% certain 20/20 hindsight knowledge he would certainly have shared it with those above him. Yes, I agree it is a nonsense discussion, as is criticising people long gone, not here to defend themselves, when we know much more about what the enemy was doing and how things panned out than they did or could. We still have clowns and their number increases by the year lambasting Chamberlain for his "peace in our time" speech and piece of paper when everything Churchill used in 1940 was ordered by Chamberlain as either Prime Minister (from 1937) or Chancellor (from 1931).The discussion is about what Dowding should have done differently not how Britain should have rearmed. I can't think of anything he should have done differently. Also, please explain the Hurricane tap comment.
I agree, but if you apply 20/20 hindsight and give Dowding Park and those concerned 5 years notice they would obviously have done better. Forget the Defiant, get the Beaufighter (or similar) in service for mid 1940. Have all factories concerned breaking ground 2 years earlier so Castle Bromwich is in full production at start 1940 making Mk IIs then Mk IIIs. Increase all production AND pilot training so that even losses in France leave you with 1000 S/E fighters. Pour more resources into Chain Home and GCI so they are all operational at start 1940. Put proper funding into Whittles jet engine and have a squadron operational in 1940, however rudimentary. If you are allowed such hindsight, the Battle of Britain probably wouldnt have started and if it did would have been over very quickly, same for any night time "Blitz". The story of when things arrived in service was in many/ most cases dependent on when work started and how many reesources they were given.