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Battle for France
Photo Details
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Pete Hill
Two-seater Pilot
Registered: January 2006
Location: Murtoa Vic. Australia
Posts: 147
users gallery
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This shows the aerial battle over France in May 1940 as the aircraft of the British RAF and AAF, alongside those of the French and Belgian air-forces, engaged the might of the German Luftwaffe.
Although the Allied bomber units suffered disastrous losses for little return, the fighter squadrons actually acquitted themselves well. The French air-force were fatally crippled by poor organisation and leadership but their pilots, when allowed to get to grips with the enemy, showed they could inflict some severe blows. On one occasion, French Curtiss Hawk 75s wiped out an entire unit of Junkers 87s. The 14 squadrons of RAF Hurricanes that saw action in the Battle for France did particularly well, being credited with the destruction of 300 German aircraft. In return they lost 74 pilots killed or POW and nearly 400 Hurricanes were either shot down or abandoned on airfields for lack of spares or time to repair them.
The campaign was a disastrous defeat for the Allies but it left the German Luftwaffe weary and under-strength, their under-mobilised industry already falling behind in replacing losses. In July, the Luftwaffe's strength was still 25% less than it had been at the start of May, an important factor not often considered by many historians when examining the reasons for the German defeat in the Battle of Britain.
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| · Date: Mon - 4 February 2008 · Views: 1034 · Filesize: 31.7kb · Dimensions: 520 x 358 ·
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Additional Info
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Keywords: Battle for France
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Author
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Thomas Trauner
Observer
Registered: May 2007
Location: Nuernberg, Germany
Posts: 62
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Wed - 16 July 2008 3:57am
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Sneaking in a non WWI comment on a sneaked-in Non WWI picture:
Very well done, looks really good. Only a comment to the markings of the Bf109 and the Hurricane:
In your picture Lt Ian Gleed in his Hurricane is after Lt von Werra in his 109. Both are from "Battle of Britain"-fame. If they met - I dunno. But certainly not over France in this Sept/Okt 1940 marked planes.
But again - the picture is great. Only the title....
Yours
Thomas
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