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In 1941 most of the fighter units of the Luftwaffe were sent east to the Eastern Front, or south to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, thus leaving JG 26 and Jagdgeschwader 2 Richthofen as the sole single-engine fighter Geschwader in France. For the next two years these two Geschwader were the main adversaries to the Royal Air Force's (RAF) day offensives over Occupied Europe. The two Jagdgeschwader maintained around 120 serviceable Bf 109 E and F's to face the increasing number of aggressive RAF Fighter Command sweeps conducted to wear down the Luftwaffe in a war of attrition and so relieve pressure on the Eastern Front.
Let's say the choice to go for a daylight campaign means they adopt the long range Spitfire variant for service as a escort.
This is the key.
No escort = LW racks up the score. Escorts = yes, RAF will get bloody nose sometimes, but will grind down what LW has in the West. LW can/will call back fighter units from Soviet union or/and MTO, but that worsens the situation on those fronts.
Bombers will have easier time to navigate to their targets and to hit something other than field, or meadow, or wrong part of Europe. However, the heavy Flak will have had an easier task during the day than during the night, especially in 1941 with so few fire-control radars.
A determined 'push' towards escorted daylight campaign should also mean more internal fuel in up-coming fighters, like Spitfires with 2-stage engines and Typhoon. Another interesting thing might be a greater emphasis on the Mustang to get wing racks ASAP, shortly followed by a better engine (not yet a 2-stage Merlin, though).
The answer to this is already well known and you only need to look at Sholto Douglas' 'Leaning into France' to witness RAF losses over the continent at that time. It was a roundly criticised campaign with high losses for Fighter Command at the hands of mainly Bf 109Fs, which were superior to Spitfire Vs. The appearance of the Fw 190 compunded the problem. Night bombing offered protection against German fighters, until the Nacht Jagd became numerous and effective enough.
Bombers such as the Stirling were vulnerable to flak at night in daylight I doubt Germany would need much in the way of fighter defence, they flew very low and slow.
You have to have enough escorts to get that idea to work.
I agree on every point, Stirling pilots were happy that they could out turn a Ju88 (presumably without bombs). Short Sunderlands made many heroic actions and took out many twin engined fighters being free to maneuver, however a formation of bombers gives up that possibility. You cannot start taking violent evasive action in a formation. I think the Stirling bombed within reach of 20mm fire?True, in that time period however, German night fighter arm was not as effective as it was to become, so switching to night bombing was the only real option for keeping losses at acceptable levels. Also, German industrial targets were not as heavily defended in 1941 as they were to become later. Comparatively, Stirlings weren't all that 'slow' compared to other bombers of the era, but of course against fighters its another story. They did have a reputation of being surviveable and also able to withstand violent manoeuvres in order to evade fighter attacks. Again, however, you have to ask what option the RAF had and what is going to minimise losses using the equipment at hand. Defensive armament wise, British bombers were better off than anyone else's (apart from the Hampden). Look at the guns of the He 111, Do 17, Ju 88, SM-79, G4M etc. They were no more surviveable against fighter attack than British bombers. Only the British had power operated turrets on their principal heavy bombers in 1941 (although the Do 217E had one); a far superior means of tracking and accurately shooting at enemy fighters than free mounted guns at that time and from 1942 on, turrets were mandatory on heavy bombers.
{quote]You cannot start taking violent evasive action in a formation.
Generally not adviseable, but night formations were looser than during the day.
Generally not adviseable, but night formations were looser than during the day.