On 21/05/12 11:17, Mike Borgelt wrote:
At 10:11 AM 21/05/2012, you wrote:Hmm My reading of the history and analysis of the air war on the western front was that the Luftwaffe generally had better pilots (and SOP) at the start of the war and through the Battle of Britain. However, the Luftwaffe never really organised its training to efficiently produce adequate pilot numbers of reasonable quality. This is in strong contrast to the RAF, which organised the EFTS (operating in Canada and Australia as we all know). It is pretty clear that during the Battle of Britain, quality RAF pilots emerged (pilots of many nationalities flying within the RAF) as the RAF also learned many of the lessons the Luftwaffe had learned in Spain. Through the war, both sides produced many exceptional pilots, but it is the the number of pilots that are available (average ability) that will count (provided they have aircraft to fly). From my reading, I would suggest the Luftwaffe lost control of the air in the west in the months before D-Day more as a result of sheer weight of numbers than due to any lack of ability in their pilots. -- Robert Hart [email protected] +61 (0)438 385 533 http://www.hart.wattle.id.au |
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