The Friday Flyby - Die Deutsche Luftwaffe im Jahr 1940

Dornier Do 17s of Kampfgruppe (KG) 2
(Source)

A glance at a map of Europe in 1938 reveals something interesting, well, at least to me it does -

Europe in 1938, before the Anschluss¹

In fairly short order, from March of 1938 to June of 1940, Nazi Germany absorbed Austria and most of Czechoslovakia. They had invaded and defeated Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. If you look at the map, with the exception of Norway (which I'll get to in a moment), none of those nations had a major water obstacle between them and Germany (and in the case of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia - between them and the Soviet Union).

When the French had surrendered in June of 1940, nothing stood between the victorious Wehrmacht² and the United Kingdom but the English Channel, which at its narrowest point (Calais to Dover) is 21 miles wide. A significant obstacle to ground forces, especially when faced by one of the most powerful navies on the planet in 1940, the British Royal Navy.

Before proceeding I should note, although Norway is separated from Germany by the Skagerrak, a strait leading from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea which separates Norway from Denmark. It is 82 miles from Hirtshals on the coast of Denmark to Kristiansand on the coast of Norway, which is wider that the English Channel but the Royal Navy wouldn't be there, just the Norwegian Navy which wasn't really a match for the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine. On the other hand it is 292 miles from Peterhead on the coast of Scotland to Egersund on the coast of Norway. So the invasion of Norway, for the Germans, was significantly less of a problem than trying to get across the English Channel against the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. Though the Kriegsmarine suffered substantial losses, Norway fell to the Nazis.

Now about that English Channel, there's a reason it's called the English Channel (according to the English anyway) and that has a lot to do with their fleet. The British consider the Channel to be their first line of defense from an attack from the continent, as long as the Royal Navy is present. Another reason why the British placed so much emphasis on their navy. After all, the United Kingdom is an island and depends on the sea for many things, not the least of which is trade. So a big, well-equipped, and well-trained navy is a major requirement.

So the Germans are on the Channel coast in the early summer of 1940, they are at war with Britain, so what's the next step? Well, they have to get the Royal Navy out of the Channel, to do that they have to establish air superiority over the Channel and the presumptive invasion beaches in southeastern England. (A problem the Allies had in 1944 going the other direction. Whilst the Kriegsmarine wasn't considered to be a big enough threat to stop the invasion, the Luftwaffe was considered to be a big threat. Hence the emphasis on destroying the German air force as the prime aim of the Allied air forces prior to D-Day.)

Whereas the Allies in 1944 were superbly equipped with long range bombers, able to carry a very decent bomb load, and the fighters which could escort those bombers deep into Germany, the Germans had nothing to compare in 1940. Although their Air Force was very good, and very professional, they were essentially a tactical air force, designed to support the German army in their wars of aggression.

So what did the Germans have in the way of aircraft in the summer of 1940? What was available to sweep the Tommies from the air and the Channel? (Note that later in 1940 the Italians sent an expeditionary force from their air force to support the Germans, limited in numbers and effectiveness so I won't discuss them herein.)

The Luftwaffe, according to the Quartermaster General 6th Battalion returns on 10 August 1940, deployed 3,358 aircraft against Britain, of which 2,550 were serviceable. The force was made up by 934 single-seat fighters, 289 two-seat fighters, 1,482 medium bombers, 327 dive-bombers, 195 reconnaissance and 93 coastal aircraft, including unserviceable aircraft. The number of serviceable aircraft amounted to 805 single-seat fighters, 224 two-seat fighters, 998 medium bombers, 261 dive-bombers, 151 reconnaissance and 80 coastal aircraft. (Source - page 318)

The 1,482 medium bombers were:

• Dornier Do 17 (Shown in the opening photo)
• Heinkel He 111
• Junkers Ju 88

A Heinkel He 111H of KG 53
(Source)

A Ju 88A over France in 1942
(Source)

Before we look at the bomb loads these aircraft could carry, note that the B-17G could carry 8,000 pounds of bombs for a short mission and 4,500 pounds on a long range mission.

Internal bomb loads of the three main German level bombers:

• Do 17   - 2,205 pounds
• He 111 - 4,400 pounds
• Ju 88  - 3,100 pounds

Although all three aircraft could carry even more bombs externally, this was at an extreme detriment to the aircraft's performance and would be atypical in June of 1940.

Note also the gun positions (or lack thereof) on these three aircraft. The crews of these aircraft sat very near the front of the aircraft (in the Do 17 and Ju 88 they all sat in the nose of the aircraft). These birds absolutely required fighter escort for daylight raids into Britain.

What fighter aircraft did the Germans have available in 1940? On paper there were two but one of them was a fighter in name only and was easy meat for the Spitfire and the Hurricane.

Messerschmitt Bf 109E of the II. Gruppe (Group) of Jagdgeschwader (JG) 51
(Source)

The Bf 109E⁴ was a superb fighter aircraft, nimble and well-armed with two 7.9 mm machine guns mounted in the nose above the engine and one 20 mm cannon in each wing. This provided a lot more punch than the six .303 caliber machine guns carried by the Spitfire and the Hurricane (as you'll see in the video, soon, patience). The problem with the Bf 109E was it's rather short range. As I recall the aircraft only had about 15 minutes of combat time in the vicinity of London. Notice those blue arcs on the next map? The Bf 109 was designed as a short range interceptor, it wasn't really built for escorting bombers.

Bf 110s in flight above Budapest. 1944
(Source)

The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110, is a twin-engine Zerstörer (Destroyer, heavy fighter) and fighter-bomber (Jagdbomber or Jabo) developed in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110. It was armed with two MG FF 20 mm cannon, four 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns, and one 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine gun (later variants’ rear gunner station would be armed with the twin-barreled MG 81Z) for defense. (Source)

If Göring liked something that's one strike right there, the man was a complete disaster as head of the Luftwaffe.

RAF and Luftwaffe bases for the Battle of Britain³

One more aircraft featured prominently in the Battle of Britain in 1940 and that was the Junkers Ju 87, the famed Stuka, (which is the German acronym for dive bomber, Sturzkampfflugzeug).

Junkers Ju 87B Stukas over Poland, September/October 1939
(Source)

This aircraft was rather slow and cumbersome, it could carry one 550 pound bomb on the centerline station and four 110 pound bombs under the wings (two per wing). Though the aircraft had two forward firing 7.92 mm machine guns and a single 7.92 mm machine gun for the rear gunner, it was shot down in droves by the RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes. The aircraft was soon withdrawn from use over Britain. It did serve as a very effective ground attack aircraft for the entire war, as long as no enemy fighters were around!

So the Germans went into battle over the Channel and southeastern Britain with equipment ill-suited to the task. That we're not all speaking German indicates that they lost the Battle of Britain and Hitler turned his gaze to Russia, where the Nazis got their asses kicked, though it took quite a while to get there.

The genesis of this post can be traced to an email from one of you all, Tom to be precise, regarding an interesting video of old Nazi tanks in Bulgaria. So by now you're wondering what that has to do with the Battle of Britain. Other than both have to do with World War II, nothing at all. Oh, there was the fact that the video Tom sent me the link to was from Mark Felton Productions on YouTube, this guy.

I found it odd that I hadn't subscribed to that channel yet, so I did and found a very interesting video about a Dornier Do 17 that had crashed in Britain during the war. The video had some very good footage of the crew cabin of the Do 17, to include a very odd way (to me at least) of mounting the defensive machine guns, which you'll see in the video.

The crew of the Do 17 all sat together in the nose of the aircraft, good for morale, which was the German intent, but bad for defensive firepower, of which there wasn't much.

Dornier Do 17 Cutaway Drawing
(Source)

Seems a bit claustrophobic to me!

The Do 17 had a nickname, Der fliegende Bleistift, the Flying Pencil. With that long narrow tail, seems an apt nickname.

Happy Friday, hope you all are surviving, if not exactly thriving. This too shall pass.




¹ The Anschluss was the "union" of Nazi Germany and Austria. Allegedly supported by a popular vote.
² The Wehrmacht was the the armed forces of Nazi Germany, this included the Army (das Heer), the Navy (die Kriegsmarine), and the Air Force (die Luftwaffe).
³ Note on the map: Luftflotte = Air Fleet, see Luftwaffe organization in WW2.
⁴ You'll also see Me 109 and Me 110, the "Me" standing for Messerschmitt. The "Bf" designation stands for Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW), the Bavarian Aircraft Works, Willy Messerschmitt was the chief designer at BFW. Not even the Luftwaffe could decide how to designate the Bf/Me 109. Official Luftwaffe documents and actual manufacturer's data plates on the aircraft themselves used both. Sometimes in the same document/on the same airframe! BFW became Messerschmitt AG (Aktiengesellschaft, Corporation) in 1938. The 110 was never called the Me 110 officially as it was designed prior to BFW becoming Messerschmitt AG.