military@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker) (10/28/89)
From: brspyr1.brs.com!miket (Mike Trout) In sci.military Digest Wednesday, 25 October, 1989 Volume 3 : Issue 26 Amos Shapira <amoss%BATATA.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> writes: > Question: does anyone have access to the _claim_ and _credit_lists of > both sides? Every book I have access to states that the German PUBLIC claims > were high (for propaganda purposes), but the actual credits were extremely > accurate. On the other hand, the British, French and (especially) Italians > overclaimed both publicly and in the lists. The Brits in the Battle for > Britain overclaimed actual German losses by 100%. While I can't supply all the information you request, some very interesting statistics can be found in Murray Rubenstein's _Fighter_Combat_Comparison_ (1973), an extremely well-researched work. This particular issue compares the Bf 109E-3 and the Spitfire F. Mk. IA, and contrasts their performance within the context of their classic confrontation at the Battle of Britain. All loss statistics also include those few Bf 109E-4s and Spitfire F. Mk. IBs which were available during the pertinent time periods. As an introduction to the battle, Rubenstein claims total Bf 109 losses as follows during the Denmark/Norway and Benelux/France campaigns, during which more than 1000 Bf 109s were in service: May 1940: 147 Bf 109s lost June 1940: 88 Bf 109s lost May saw most of the heaviest fighting in both campaigns, and by June things were winding down, with most of the Armee de L'Air gone. It is unclear whether the above losses are strictly air-to-air (I suspect so) or whether they include losses to flak and such. Also in June, the Bf 109 and the Spitfire met for the first time over Dunkerque; Rubenstein says "Both sides took losses, but the results were inconclusive." Now, for Rubenstein's analysis of Battle of Britain losses. Here is his introduction: "...In order to draw fair comparisons of these aircraft, one must remove one important factor--that of operating over friendly territory. Many a shot-up Spitfire and Hurricane made forced landings, were repaired and entered battle again. The Messerschmitt Bf 109, on the other hand, operated over enemy territory. A German fighter forced to make an emergency landing was a lost fighter. As a result, figures released over the years have been lopsided in favor of the defending British aircraft. The only way to be fair in evaluating the aircraft is to eliminate this built-in advantage." "To this end, we have re-analyzed the rather conflicting figures of losses published over the following years. Firstly, it was assumed that any Bf 109 which returned to base was obviously not a victory for the RAF, irrespective of battle damage. If a Spitfire or Hurricane returned to base UNDER POWER, it was not considered lost, even if the aircraft, because of battle damage, was a write-off in landing. On the other hand, if a Spitfire or Hurricane made it back to base with a glycol leak or ploughed into a field and was repaired, it was treated as a loss, since the damage would have resulted in the aircraft's loss if the fighter had been first damaged in battle over the English Channel or over neutral territory." Using the above criteria, Rubenstein comes up with the following figures. I've added brief descriptions of what the RAF fighters were doing during the particular phases; it's pertinent as the Bf 109's superiority was at its best at low altitude--a superiority which dropped off rapidly with increasingly high altitudes. In fact, above 20,000 feet or so, the Spitfire was probably the superior airplane. Spitfire vs. Bf 109, Battle of Britain, 1 July to 31 July 1940 (low altitude convoy protection): 27 Spitfires shot down by Bf 109s 11 Bf 109s shot down by Spitfires Spitfire vs. Bf 109, Battle of Britain, 1 Aug to 12 Aug 1940 (low altitude shore and radar installation protection): 15 Spitfires shot down by Bf 109s 16 Bf 109s shot down by Spitfires Hurricane vs. Bf 109, Battle of Britain, 1 July to 12 Aug 1940: 52 Hurricanes shot down by Bf 109s 26 Bf 109s shot down by Hurricanes Spitfire vs. Bf 109, Battle of Britain, 13 Aug to 31 Aug 1940 (medium altitude bomber interception and low altitude airfield protection): 59 Spitfires shot down by Bf 109s 53 Bf 109s shot down by Spitfires Spitfire vs. Bf 109, Battle of Britain, 1 Sept to 6 Sept 1940 (medium altitude bomber interception and low altitude airfield protection): 34 Spitfires shot down by Bf 109s 15 Bf 109s shot down by Spitfires Hurricane vs. Bf 109, Battle of Britain, 13 Aug to 6 Sept 1940: 150 Hurricanes shot down by Bf 109s 83 Bf 109s shot down by Hurricanes Spitfire vs. Bf 109, Battle of Britain, 7 Sept to 30 Oct 1940 (medium altitude bomber interception; restricted Bf 109 tactics): 107 Spitfires shot down by Bf 109s 73 Bf 109s shot down by Spitfires Hurricane vs. Bf 109, Battle of Britain, 7 Sept to 30 Oct 1940: 136 Hurricanes shot down by Bf 109s 31 Bf 109s shot down by Hurricanes TOTALS, Battle of Britain, 1 July to 30 Oct 1940: 242 Spitfires shot down by Bf 109s 168 Bf 109s shot down by Spitfires 338 Hurricanes shot down by Bf 109s 142 Bf 109s shot down by Hurricanes 580 Spitfires and Hurricanes shot down by Bf 109s 310 Bf 109s shot down by Spitfires and Hurricanes -- NSA food: Iran sells Nicaraguan drugs to White House through CIA, SOD & NRO. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Michael Trout (miket@brspyr1)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BRS Information Technologies, 1200 Rt. 7, Latham, N.Y. 12110 (518) 783-1161 "Who watches the watchmen?" --Epigraph of the Tower Commission Report, 1987