The French Air Force (French: Armée de l'air [aʀme də lɛʀ], literally "air army")

[jpatrick62]

As an American who has read much on the 30's and 40's I always wondered about the fall of France. It was if the horrors of WW1 and the political climate of the 1930's in France infected the army like a disease. Of course, we can't dismiss the absolute devastation inflicted upon the north east portion of the country due to the fighting in WW1 and the shock this inflicted on the populace. Interestingly, if the French AF had found Guderian's long tank columns in the narrow Ardennes road before crossing the Somme, we might be talking about one of the greatest victory in French military history. Guderian's force was vulnerable until it emerged, and could have been devastated if France had earlier warning of it's predicament.
I knew the Dewoitine 520 was a formidable foe for the BF109, but I wonder how closely matched they were?

 

[Vincenzo]

From a old JoeB post
"In the Battle of France period, as given case by case in "Battle of France Then and Now" by Cornwell:
Spitfires downed 24 Bf109E's for 32 Spitfires shot down by Bf109E's, .75:1
Hurricane: 74:151, .49:1
Hawk 75: 23:38, .61:1
D.520: 14:30, .47:1"

Nikademus write this in an other psot
"MS-406:109D 4:3
MS-406:109E 24:10"