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That is your assertion , not mineThat anecdote is your main datapoint on the freezing issue?
To be absolutely clear. If the combat records for the BoB are examined, you are saying there should be zero (or a statistically similar number) kills/damaged aircraft/aircrew casualties from Spitfires -above 15000- recorded by either the RAF or the LW? That's the assertion?
Edited for omission
no you can't quantify it because you have not read the oil production report. That's okay, I can wait whilst you guess...
Who needs a database, try any book with "Battle of Britain" in the title, any book written by a BoB pilot or person involved in the battle. The Battle of Britain was observed by civilians, they could see the vapour trails. The records from the battle are very extensive.That is your assertion , not mine
show me your database for interceptions in the Battle of Britain tabulated by intercept altititudes and I shall be greatly impressed if such records even exist.
you telling me what you think I am saying is yet another polemic employed in your strawman attacks:
..In which you completely refute or defeat a fictitious proposition which I never uttered, only one which you accuse me of
You are attacking your own assertion.
so again I doubt that your record of BoB interceptions tabulated by altitudes which you alluded to ever existed. You have no database to inform you what altitudes attacks took place at, otherwise please produce it.
To be honest, I don't see how the Luftwaffe having 4 engine heavy bombers changes the outcome of the war. The Battle of Britain wasn't lost because there weren't enough bombers. It was lost because the LW didn't have a long range fighter that could be used to establish air dominance.
Assuming that this thread respects contemporaneous technologies, the long range fighter didn't exist in 1940 that could have carried out such a mission.
It also doesn't affect the outcome in the Soviet Union either. As was stated earlier, the USSR can relocate their factories as far away from the front as needed to be kept out of range from any bomber force. Assuming a critical 1941-1943 timeline, there is still no long range fighter escort in existence that would be able to mitigate mission losses. Respecting the timeline of the war, 1942 also means that Germany is at war with an enemy that is significantly larger in area, population, natural resources, and production capacity. Mathematically, victory is out of reach regardless of whether they can field a meaningful strategic bombing force or not.
But you did utter it? You are absolute in your assertion the guns didn't work above 15000 are you not?That is your assertion , not mine
show me your database for interceptions in the Battle of Britain tabulated by intercept altititudes and I shall be greatly impressed if such records even exist.
you telling me what you think I am saying is yet another polemic employed in your strawman attacks:
..In which you completely refute or defeat a fictitious proposition which I never uttered, only one which you accuse me of
You are attacking your own assertion.
so again I doubt that your record of BoB interceptions tabulated by altitudes which you alluded to ever existed. You have no database to inform you what altitudes attacks took place at, otherwise please produce it.
Should the US and British bomber offensives have unequivocally concentrated on the hydrogenation plants?
No, they should have bombed the German Tetraethyl-Lead plant, of which there was only TWO until the end of the war (one of which was much more significant), and was so specialised it would have been immensely difficult to replace, without which you could have ANY amount of oil or aviation fuel base stock and been totally unable to do anything sensible with it for high performance fighters - thus basically ending the luftwaffe. However the intelligence necessary to pinpoint the production flow of fuels and blending wasnt really solidified until near the end of the war. However strategists afterwards considered it to have been a very serious tactical mistake to have not tried to destroy. So being fair - its maybe a "with hindsight" mistake, the Allies had very good intel on German fuels but didnt really understand the manufacturing processes and sites for a long time. The US intel people thought the Germans were blending fuels at many remote locations, the British thought the Germans were making finished fuels at each refinery.
(the Americans were right)
I'm trusting my memory here, but I believe that post war analysis by the 8th Air Force discovered that the weak link in German strategic materials was actually coal and that the Americans incorrectly believed that Germany was on an oil infrastructure hence why they targeted oil production targets so heavily. The destruction of coal reserves had a far greater influence on the entire industrial complex and war effort than any other target.
here (my bold) from this thread in this forum This Day in the Battle of Britain >>>> At 1100 hours the first wave of German bombers - hundreds of Ju 88s and Do 17s - flew across the Channel and up the Thames towards London. Just as the first Fighter Command squadrons approached the southern coast of Kent, the leaders of the German formation still had a few miles to go before they crossed the tall cliffs of the British coastline. The German bombers consisted of practically the whole of I./KG 76 flying Dornier Do 17s. These had met up with the Do 17s of III./KG 76 and KG 3 behind Calais and now the combined force, escorted by Bf 109 formed a vast armada almost two miles wide crossing the coast. All the Luftwaffe aircraft departed from bases in the Brussels and Antwerp areas. The heights of the German formations were between 15,000 and 26,000 feet and the Observer Corps reported that they were crossing the coast just north of Dungeness, to the south of Dover and at Ramsgate.That is your assertion , not mine
show me your database
.
Same thread further along. My bold.here (my bold) from this thread in this forum This Day in the Battle of Britain >>>> At 1100 hours the first wave of German bombers - hundreds of Ju 88s and Do 17s - flew across the Channel and up the Thames towards London. Just as the first Fighter Command squadrons approached the southern coast of Kent, the leaders of the German formation still had a few miles to go before they crossed the tall cliffs of the British coastline. The German bombers consisted of practically the whole of I./KG 76 flying Dornier Do 17s. These had met up with the Do 17s of III./KG 76 and KG 3 behind Calais and now the combined force, escorted by Bf 109 formed a vast armada almost two miles wide crossing the coast. All the Luftwaffe aircraft departed from bases in the Brussels and Antwerp areas. The heights of the German formations were between 15,000 and 26,000 feet and the Observer Corps reported that they were crossing the coast just north of Dungeness, to the south of Dover and at Ramsgate.
The theory that British aircraft guns didn't work above 15,000ft until 1942 has to be placed in the "special" category.Same thread further along. My bold.
were stepped between 25,000 and 26,000 feet. As the 'Big Wing' closed in, they were joined by RAF No.41 Sqd (Spitfires), RAF No.46 Sqd (Hurricanes), RAF No.504 Sqd (Hurricanes) and RAF No.609 Sqd (Spitfires). The Bombers were confronted by British fighters on all sides, and one of the biggest combat actions ever seen over London developed.
Perfectly positioned, with the bombers 3,000 feet below them they were about to make their attack, when a formation of Bf 109s came out of the sun. Bader immediately ordered the Spitfires of RAF No.19 and RAF No.611 Sqds to take on the German fighters, which they did, scattering them by a surprise attack so effectively that they left the bomber formation and flew off to the south-east. While the 'Big Wing
it goes on. Controversially(?) Indicating a the Spitfires were there for more than moral support.
The theory that British aircraft guns didn't work above 15,000ft until 1942 has to be placed in the "special" category.
If they were so hot all of the time why didn't they open a window? Or just whitewash the glass inside, my dad did that with his tomatoes and it worked well.Please, no one bring up the P-38 cockpit heat issue...
You need to work on improving your reading comprehension skills. The original quesion posed was:"
If Germany had the allies heavy bombers would they have won the war?
Clearly, self evident Germany had that option in 1937 of entering the war with 4 engined bombers, so we are not discusssing URAL bombers pitted against Spitfire Mk. XIV WITH 20mm cannon in 1940 , or 1941.
Logically,
We are only discussing the JU89 v Spitfire Mk l, or Mk ll with 8 browning guns.
Actually Biggles would have used his Webley-Fosbery revolver.If you cant deal with logical development of an argument please go and debate this with your own fevered imagination. So opposing the Ju89 flying missions over England pilot officer Biggles roars up to 23,000ft , but because, his guns are frozen he has no option other than to slide back his canopy and throw his shoe at the mighty Junkers bomber: Reality, deal with it.
On On 4 June 1938, the Junkers Ju89 achieved a new Payload/Altitude World Record using the second prototype D-ALAT with 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) payload at an altitude of 30,500 ft.
Deal with it.
this is not a strawman hypothesis debate about how fast or high a Hurricane could fly
You may have hit on something there. It is often said that the Spitfire wing was hard to produce, it had to be produced with wings that could hold guns that could fire at altitude.K5053. The sixty-first mki to roll off the line had exhaust heating to the guns. This modification was applied to all subsequent mki and mkii Spitfires. Dope over the muzzle holes ensured any chance of freezing would have to wait until they had been fired at least once. Only then could moisture possibly condense on the open bolt of the guns. Please see my supporting documents.
Per Alfred Price (first), and Jeff Webb (second)
Please, no one bring up the P-38 cockpit heat issue...