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Luftwaffe was more than just single engined fighters..
Yes but from 1943 onwards the objective,particularly of the USAAF,was to gain air superiority. To this end it concentrated on the destruction of the Luftwaffe's fighter force.
Luftwaffe multi engined bombers were hardly relevant as such on the Western front.
German production in 1943/4 was predominantly of single engined fighters.You can only shoot down what the enemy puts up.
When one of the Germans' top echelon was interviewed, by the Russians, post-war, he was asked what he considered to be their most telling defeat, thinking he would say Stalingrad. They were somewhat shattered, when he said that they never recovered from the damage inflicted in the Battle of Britain.
they never recovered from the damage inflicted in the Battle of Britain.
It was the USAAF objective only however.. you want to judge other's performance by applying USAAF goals and tactics to measure their success, but IMO its flawed thought. Soviet did not want to shoot down German fighters. They wanted to escort Shturmoviks, and shoot down Germans fighter and bomber when needed. British did not want to shoot down German fighter either. They wanted to minimize losses of their night bomber so they can keep up operation.
The USAAF objectives were threefold: First was to crush German Industry and restrict supply of war materials critical to The German prosecution of the war. Second was to enable air superiority over Allied land forces. Third was to provide Tactical interdiction of men and material to the front.
Destruction of Luftwaffe over Germany was a complimentary objective. The Soviets were more focused on 2.) and 3.) and not at all on 1.)
They were however very relevant on the other fronts. Western front was hardly the only relevant thing in the war. German bombers played a vital role in the Eastern Front, supporting German land army, and that is where the war was decided.
The war was decided when a.) The Wermacht was prevented from holding Soviet Oil production, b.) the Wermacht was prevented from capturing the Suez Canal, c.) when the German submarine force failed to prevent the flow of material, supplies an men from the US to USSR and Britain, d.) when the Soviet army defeated the German army in the East, e.) when the Allied armies defeated the Wermacht in the West, f.) when the USAAF and RAF destroyed German industrial capability, specifically oil and chemicals, g.) when the Luftwaffe was destroyed - enabling f.) and e.)
Very true. But I still do not get how shooting down many German fighters is the same as shooting down many German fighters, bombers, attack, recon and transport, ie. the Luftwaffe.
The key is killing German fighter pilots, thereby stripping German bombers, attack, recon and transport operations of effective capability against Allied fighters. In addition, daylight strategic bombing was effectively stopped (RAF in 1941, USAAF in fall 1943) by the Luftwaffe. It is possible the Oil campaign could have achieved stoppage but we will never know for sure to what degree.
If shooting down fighters is a measure how the LW was defeated then we can close the thread since the German still produced a lot more than shot down and the number of their serivce fighters actually increases steady until 1945... that said, the LW was defeated, or at least certain lost ability control air by two factor IMO: sheer output of American factories (simply too many American planes to catch and shoot down) and destruction of their oil capacity by USAAF bombers.
Germany lost the war on the Eastern front,I don't think anyone would deny that
If shooting down fighters is a measure how the LW was defeated then we can close the thread since the German still produced a lot more than shot down and the number of their serivce fighters actually increases steady until 1945...
the LW was defeated, or at least certain lost ability control air by two factor IMO: sheer output of American factories (simply too many American planes to catch and shoot down) and destruction of their oil capacity by USAAF bombers.
Compare those numbers with the enormous build up of air power by the Western Allies in the same month,September 1944.
USAAF 5,490 Fighters 7,007 Bombers
RAF 7,651 Fighters 6,044 Bombers.
These numbers were mostly higher for both Air Forces by the end of the war. Only the number of RAF bombers was reduced.
Cheers
Steve
When one of the Germans' top echelon was interviewed, by the Russians, post-war, he was asked what he considered to be their most telling defeat, thinking he would say Stalingrad. They were somewhat shattered, when he said that they never recovered from the damage inflicted in the Battle of Britain.
According to Stephen Bungay - it was Field-Marshall Gerd von Runstedt.