Quote:
Originally Posted by Sephiroth
No. The officers flew the Spitfires and the flight sergeants flew the Hurricanes.
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No surprise, really when the legendary ME109 pilot, Adolf Galland, when asked by Goering what he needed, said "Herr Reichsmarschall, a squadron of Spitfires!".
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...d-1318925.html
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Common misconception, but not an accurate one.
https://www.spitfireassociation.com/...Harold-Charles
https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/CookH.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Kingaby
https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/WilkinsonKA.htm
Here's a picture of a Spitfire Sergeant Pilot with some officers
https://battleofbritain.rafa.org.uk/...s-fowlmere.jpg
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre
None of that is hidden, if you’re curious about history and especially WWII TV there is lots of literature and other material you can research if you want to, I also disagree the above shows our country in a bad light.
War is always depicted in a glossy format for the masses as the truth is probably too much for most to take.
I recommend anyone interested in WWI to listen to the excellent Dan Carlin series Blueprint for Armageddon and for the Pacific theatre of WWII Supernova in the East. You get the full picture.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh View Post
Yes, but that’s not what is seen as ‘history" - the Spitfire is seen as the main reason we won the BoB, rather than the reality.
Who Shot Liberty Valance - "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend".
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Which itself is incorrect, the main reason we won BoB is that the Luftwaffe underestimated the number of planes we had and overestimated their advantage. We were also replacing our losses at a much greater rate than they were. The ME109 also had a short range and a very limited flight time over the UK and channel.
To say that the main reason we won the BoB was Hurricanes and working class pilots is also as simplistic and incorrect as saying it was Spitfires and toffee nosed fops |
And it would be, if it had been said...
What was said was
Quote:
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Also, Hurricanes shot down more German planes than the Spitfire.
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I was refuting the common myth that Spitfires won the Battle of Britain, not replacing it with another incorrect myth.
I didn't say the Spitfire was the main reason we won the BoB (in fact, my entire post was refuting that point), I said it was seen as the main reason - myth over actuality.
I didn't mention the
Chain Radar either, but that didn't mean it wasn't an equally valuable contribution.