With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain
Page 29
3. Ibid., 173.
4. Ibid., 164.
5. Collier, Eagle Day, 83.
6. Hough and Richards, The Battle of Britain, 184.
7. Hillary, The Last Enemy, 101–2.
8. Gilbert, The Churchill War Papers, Vol. II, Never Surrender, 700–1.
9. Gilbert, Finest Hour, 824.
10. Ibid., 673–74.
CHAPTER 9
1. Nigel Rose’s letters quoted in Addison and Crang, The Burning Blue, 145.
2. Ibid.
3. Ismay, Memoirs, 181–82.
4. Gilbert, The Churchill War Papers, Vol. II, Never Surrender, 235.
5. Gilbert, Finest Hour, 658.
6. The best account of this meeting is in Jones, Most Secret War, 109–8.
7. Hough and Richards, The Battle of Britain, 316.
8. Ibid., 237.
9. James Reston, “Can Britain Hold Out?” New York Times, September 8, 1940.
10. Galland, The First and the Last, 59.
11. Churchill, Into Battle, 273.
12. Churchill, The Second World War, Vol. II, Their Finest Hour, 294–97.
13. Ibid., 296.
14. Ibid., 297.
15. Hough and Richards, The Battle of Britain, 293.
CHAPTER 10
1. Hough and Richards, The Battle of Britain, 322.
2. Gilbert, Finest Hour, 1040.
Searchable Terms
Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.
Aéro-Club de France, 50
Air Council:
and aircraft design, 52, 84
and aircraft production, 131
and aircraft speed, 49–50
and air defense strategy, 117
and aviation fuel, 74–75
bombers vs. fighters debate, 48–49
Dowding’s opponents on, 33–34, 38, 39–40, 47, 159
and French demands for help, 102, 103
and German war preparation, 55
Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB), 15
Air Ministry:
and air defense, 48, 117, 208–9, 210–12
and big wing controversy, 253
and bomber production, 26, 35, 49, 132, 133
on deterrence, 27
doubts of, 3, 125
and fighter plane production, 49, 53–56, 57–58, 68, 151
and night bombing, 238
and pilot training, 210–12
and political infighting, 138, 151, 178, 253, 257, 287, 290–92
and rearmament, 30, 34
Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), 133
Aitken, Max, 132
American Revolutionary War, 84
Auden, W. H., 232–33
Avro Lancaster, 25
Bader, Douglas, 179–82
and big wing formation, 182, 236, 252–53, 257, 262, 265, 276, 290
and Dowding, 192, 291
and Duxford Wing, 262, 265, 276
injury of, 180–81
and Leigh-Mallory, 181–82, 236, 265, 291
movie about, 180
personal traits of, 179, 180
as POW, 185–86
Baels, Lillian, 109n
Baldwin, Stanley:
and abdication crisis, 21–22, 31
on bombers vs. fighters, 3, 18, 20, 22, 27–29, 42
career of, 30, 31
and Churchill, 23–24, 26, 29, 31
political traits of, 21–23, 30
and radar, 16n
and rearmament, 23-24, 28-31, 41, 56, 168n
reputation of, 21, 48, 287
in the years between the wars, 3, 21–23, 26–31, 42
Barratt, A. S., 101, 102, 104, 115
Battle of Britain:
August 15, 187–203, 240
August 16-17, 205–12, 240
August 18, 212–36, 240
August 19-23, 239–41
August 24-27, 241–53, 256
August 30-31, 253–55
Blitz, 75, 166, 232, 240, 281, 283, 284
and British morale, 207–8, 232–35, 249, 262–64, 272, 274
British victory in, 281–82, 286
changing tide of, 256–58, 275
civilian deaths in, 199, 239–41, 243, 258, 270, 283
fighters vs. bombers in, 4, 125
first skirmishes in, 77–82, 125–28
name of, 1–2
official history of, 298
paintings of, 188–89
revisionary history on, 3, 145, 146, 286–87
in September, 255–66, 272–82
spectators of, 231–33
unsung heroes of, 75n
weather delays of, 164–66
Battle of Britain Day, 2, 282
Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, 67, 68
and Messerschmitt merger, 66; see also Messerschmitt
name of, 72n
Beaverbrook, William Aitken, Lord, 27, 130–34, 136, 147–48, 168, 209, 211, 231
Belgium:
air war over, 76
German invasion of, 13
German occupation of, 121
Luftwaffe bases in, 77, 94, 129
pleas for help from, 105
surrender of, 106, 108
Bell, Gertrude, 110
Betjeman, John, 234
Biggles tradition, 35
Blake, Mindy, 194
Blavatsky, Madame, 298
Boelcke, Oswald, 186
Boitel-Gill, Derek, 194
Bomber Command:
aircraft of, 25, 26, 90
fighters vs. bombers debate, 4, 19, 26–29, 34, 40, 287
and French demands for help, 101–2
and strategic bombing, 101–2, 106–7, 108, 113, 166, 245–47, 256, 284
in the years between the wars, 4
Boulton Paul design, 79–80, 150–51
Bracken, Brendan, 130, 131, 238n
Brand, Sir Christopher, 228
Brauchitsch, Walter von, 8
Brickhill, Paul, Reach for the Sky, 180
Bristol Blenheim bombers, 25, 101, 239
Britain:
abdication crisis in, 21–22, 23, 31
aircraft speed in, 49–52, 55
air defense of, 27, 31–32, 38–39, 40, 44–48, 94, 95, 102–4, 105, 114–19, 124–26, 128–30, 208–9, 210–12, 255
appeasement policy in, 4, 42, 287
class differences in, 59–62
conscription in, 19
economic impoverishment of, 285
fighters vs. bombers debate in, 3, 4, 18, 19–20, 22, 24, 26–29, 34, 39, 40, 42, 48–49, 106–7, 125, 287
French alliance with, 94, 95–96, 99–107
German plans for invasion of, 4, 5, 8–9, 122, 134–36, 231
grouse-shooting season in, 158
industrial production in, 124, 130, 131–34, 146, 151, 167–68, 211, 231, 287
materiel needed by, 109, 123–24, 285
Ordnance Survey maps of, 167
and peace at any price, 5–6, 78, 135, 136, 152, 198, 246
preparations for invasion of, 22, 122, 141–44, 264
pride and morale in, 126, 207–8, 232–35, 272
rearmament of, 23-24, 28-32, 41, 56, 168n
rumors of war in, 122–23, 261, 271, 276
seaplane racing in, 50–53
will to survive, 18, 154
in World War I, 15, 18, 20, 22, 29, 95, 105, 232, 292
in the years between the wars, 19–24, 27–29
British Expeditionary Force (BEF), in France, 12, 77–78, 95, 100–102
Broke, Lord Willoughby de, 214
Bryson, Johnny, 194
Bulman, P. W. S., 57
Camm, Sydney, 56-58, 66, 70n, 73
Campbell, Sir Malcolm, 49
Challenge du Tourisme Internationale, 67, 68
Chamberlain, Neville, 6, 22n, 23–
24, 131
and air battles, 201
and appeasement, 42, 287
personal traits of, 48
as prime minister, 31, 41, 154
and war preparations, 56, 168n
Churchill, Winston:
and abdication crisis, 21, 23
and air battles, 200–201, 207–8, 243, 277–80, 281
and Baldwin, 23–24, 26, 29, 31
battles viewed by, 189
and bombing of London, 245
and Dowding, 17, 103, 110-12, 114-18, 138-39, 149, 151, 179n, 192, 201, 291, 292, 293, 294–95, 296, 297
and Dunkirk, 79
and evacuations of children, 122n
and France, 93–94, 97–100, 103, 105–7, 110, 113–18, 136, 138, 153–54, 296
memoirs of, 99–100, 105–7, 115, 117, 118, 138, 192, 292
and night bombing, 237, 239, 293
and peace negotiation, 78, 136
political traits of, 112, 154, 290, 292–93
as prime minister, 6, 154, 198, 249
reputation of, 21, 23, 105, 111, 112
and retaliation, 245
and Roosevelt, 109
secret weapons favored by, 219–20
speeches of, 1–2, 22–23, 107, 153–54, 207–8, 273–74
and strategic bombing, 106–7, 245–47
visits to No. 11 Group HQ, 206, 277–80
and War Cabinet meeting, 107, 110–18, 138
in World War I, 105, 292
in the years between the wars, 22–23, 24, 42
Civilian Repair Depots, 147–48
Clausewitz, Carl von, 76
Collier, Basil, 298
Collier, Richard, 194
Colville, John, 201
Cunningham, John “Cat’s Eyes,” 238n, 284
Curtis dive-bombers, 75
Czechoslovakia, German invasion of, 136
Daimler-Benz engines, 70, 72, 74, 81
Daladier, Édouard, 98
D-day, 135, 152, 155, 244n
Defiant, design of, 79–80
de Gaulle, Charles, 96n, 109n
Deighton, Len, 59
Dornier bombers, 25, 90–91, 165, 218
Douglas, Lord Alfred, 150
Douhet, Giulio, 3, 18
Dowding, Sir Hugh:
and aircraft design, 73–74, 84
air defense strategy of, 44–48, 102–3, 108, 114–19, 124–26, 128–30, 145–46, 156–57, 171, 190, 202, 244, 257, 266, 269–70, 271–72, 281
and bombing of London, 264–65
career of, 15–16, 33, 118, 289–96
and Churchill, 17, 103, 110-12, 114-18, 138-39, 149, 151, 179n, 192, 201, 291, 292, 293, 294–95, 296, 297
as Fighter Command Chief, 15, 32, 33–35, 37–39, 44, 106, 111, 128, 136, 174–75, 289
and French demands for aircraft, 93, 94, 95, 99, 100, 101–8, 113–18, 137, 151, 296
and Geneva Conventions, 148–49
and “my chicks” (pilots), 17, 124, 232, 282
and night bombing, 237–38, 243, 265, 283, 293–94
and October 17 meeting, 290–92
office of, 36–37
personal traits of, 16–17, 33–34, 35, 37, 38, 71, 111, 113, 116, 132, 151–52
political enemies of, 33–36, 38, 39–40, 47, 111, 118, 125, 137–39, 149–52, 159, 178–79, 182–83, 211, 257, 265, 266, 290–92, 293–97, 298
political grievances of, 111–12, 294
preparations for war, 15–16, 37–39, 44–49, 58, 156
as prophet, 298–99
and retirement, 111, 137–39, 295–96, 297–98
victories of, 15, 118–19, 182, 192, 202, 266, 281, 295
in War Cabinet meeting, 106, 107, 109–18, 138
Drake, Sir Francis, 274
Dunkirk:
air fight over, 77–82, 93
British Expeditionary Force at, 12, 77–78, 95
evacuation from, 77, 78, 93, 96, 104, 121, 123, 134, 152
Eddy, Mary Baker, 298
Eden, Anthony, 131, 200, 233
Edward VIII, abdication of, 21–22, 23
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 151, 153, 155, 244n, 256, 289
Elizabeth, HRH Princess, 143
Elizabeth I, queen of England, 163, 244
English Channel:
air supremacy sought over, 9, 126, 135, 136, 146, 148, 255, 281
and Dunkirk, see Dunkirk
and expected German invasion, 9, 152, 283–84
Kanalkampf in, 126–28, 135
narrowness of, 7
Spanish Armada in, 163–64
weather in, 8, 155, 163–65, 175, 187, 220–21, 243–44, 275
Farman “Shorthorn,” 53
Fields, Gracie, 78
Fighter Command:
aircraft for, 31–32, 39, 42, 55–56, 79–80, 124, 131–34, 189, 210, 236, 250, 272; see also specific types
and aircraft speed, 49–50
Bentley Priory HQ of, 36–39, 44–47, 128, 167, 174, 213–14
Biggles tradition in, 35
“big wing” formation of, 178–79, 182, 236, 242, 252–53, 257, 265, 266, 276, 290, 292
communication in, 34-35, 38, 41n, 46, 75n, 103, 157, 159, 161, 182, 213–14, 288, 294
day in the life, 214–17
discipline in, 150, 177, 230
and Dowding, see Dowding, Sir Hugh
at Dunkirk, 12, 93
fighter groups of, 129–30, 144, 182, 212–13, 257
fighters vs. bombers debate, 4, 19, 26–29, 34, 40, 49, 287
Filter Room of, 44–45
formation of, 15, 287
international pilots in, 144–45, 169, 210
morale of, 194, 207–8
No. 10 Group, 129, 144, 150, 196, 228, 251, 257, 271