and No. 10 Group, 228, 251
and No. 11 Group, 79, 93, 129, 132, 144, 148, 169, 175, 177–78, 196, 200, 213, 221, 227, 236, 242, 252, 254, 255, 259, 265, 280
objections to big wing, 179, 182, 236, 242, 252, 290
and October meeting, 290, 291–92
operations room of, 213
as pilot, 243
political enemies of, 266, 290, 294, 296
and rescue, 128
strategies of, 221, 222, 227, 228, 236, 266, 276, 289
Pearl Harbor, 282
Percy, Hugh, 194
Philip II, king of Spain, 163–64
Phillipart, J., 196–97
Piece of Cake (BBC-TV), 6–7
Pile, Sir Frederick, 143
Poland:
air war over, 76
German bombing of Warsaw, 166, 246, 247
German invasion of, 5, 13
Holocaust in, 121
Portal, Sir Charles, 297
Portes, Hélène de, 98
Queensberry, marquess of, 150
radar:
airborne interceptor (AI), 265–66, 294
and altitude estimates, 127, 142, 259–60
and “big wing” formation, 179
“Chain Home” network, 16n, 31, 34, 41, 42, 142
early development of, 110
effectiveness of, 190, 218–19, 276
German attacks on, 159, 160, 169, 171, 174, 197, 207, 228, 230
importance of, 125, 128, 129, 157, 163, 168, 171, 175, 288
limitations of, 127, 142, 156, 217, 221
production of, 17
removed from German target list, 202
towers of, 41, 42, 43, 159, 167
use of term, 16n
widespread use of, 42–43
Raeder, Erich, 256
RAF (Royal Air Force):
Advance Air Striking Force, 12, 101
and air combat, 84–88
airfields of, 141–42, 159, 167, 168, 171–72, 218–19, 241, 251, 254, 288; see also specific airfields
and altitude, 259–60
and armaments, 73n, 83–84, 150–51, 169–70
Bomber Command of, see Bomber
Command
class differences in, 59–62, 65
Component of, 101, 102
and cone of fire, 83
and confusion of battle, 82–83
death in the air, 87–88
duct tape used by, 84n
exhilarating experience of, 89–90
as “the Few,” 207–8, 281
Fighter Command of, see Fighter
Command
in France, 12, 100–108
funding of, 4, 10, 28, 40
handling controls gently, 84–85
losses of, 93, 104–5, 115, 122, 127, 145, 157, 169, 172–73, 175, 201, 208, 230, 243, 250, 251, 253, 255, 272
political infighting in, 111–12
poor marksmanship in, 83
as prisoners of war, 60
rearmament of, 31–32
rescues of, 88, 128, 148
survival of, 86–89
“vic” formation, 81, 82
in the years between the wars, 4, 31
RAF Andover, 172
RAF Biggin Hill, 197, 205, 212, 213, 217, 218, 221, 222, 224, 226, 228, 251, 253, 254
RAF Croydon, 197–98, 199, 212, 224, 230, 232
RAF Detling, 171–72
RAF Driffield, 191
RAF Ford, 227–29, 230
RAF Gravesend, 212
RAF Kenley, 197, 212, 213, 218–20, 221–26, 229, 232, 251
RAF Manston, 159, 193, 196, 212, 230, 239, 241
RAF Martlesham Heath, 56, 193
RAF Middle Wallop, 172, 196
RAF Reserve, 61
RAF Tangmere, 61, 206–7, 222, 227, 228
RAF Voluntary Reserve, 62
RAF West Malling, 197, 225
Reston, James, 263
Reynaud, Paul, 96n, 97, 98, 109, 114
Ribbentrop, Joachim von, 5–6, 78, 249–50, 262, 268
Richards, Denis, 133
Richtofen, Manfred von, 143, 186, 187
Richtofen, Wolfram von, 227
Riefenstahl, Leni, 71
Robinson, Derek, 6–7
Rolls-Royce aero engines, 51
Goshawk, 53, 54
Kestrel, 70
Merlin, 34, 57, 70, 72n, 74, 82–83, 134, 287
PV XII, 54, 70
Rommel, Erwin, 250n, 285
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 109, 123, 134, 296
Rose, Nigel, 206
Roth, Joachim, 222–23, 224, 225
Rothermere, Lord, 24–25
Rotterdam, bombing of, 108–9, 166, 246, 247
Royal Artillery, 224
Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 61
Royal Flying Corps, 15
Royal Navy:
and Dunkirk evacuation, 77
and English Channel, 7, 126
Fleet Air Arm, 144, 209
and German attacks, 121, 126
shipboard discipline in, 60
shore bases of, 227
in World War I, 29
Rubensdörffer, Walter, 197, 199
Sackville-West, Vita, 233
Salmond, Sir John, 293
Schmidt, Josef “Beppo”:
failure to follow up, 169
inaccurate estimates of RAF capability, 173, 189, 210, 222, 272
as Luftwaffe chief of intelligence, 166
poor intelligence reports from, 166, 168, 222, 227, 288
Schneider, Jacques, 50
Schneider Trophy races, 50–52, 54
Scots Guards, 224
Seeckt, Hans von, 62
Shakespeare, William, 56n, 160
Sholto Douglas, Sir William:
and Dowding, 39, 150, 151, 183, 192, 211, 238, 257, 290, 291, 293–94, 295, 296
and fighters vs. bombers debate, 39
and October meeting, 290, 291, 292
personal traits of, 151
Short aircraft factory, bombing of, 171, 196
Short Stirling bombers, 196
Simpson, Wallis Warfield, 21–22
Sinclair, Sir Archibald, 105, 111, 201, 210, 295, 296
Slessor, Sir John, 297
Smith, Roddick Lee, 169
Somerville, Sir James, 153
Sopwith planes, 79
Soviet Union:
German invasion of, 250n, 281, 282, 285
in World War I, 19
Spain, German attacks on, 13
Spanish Armada, 163–64, 274
Spanish Civil War, 73, 81
Sperrle, Hugo:
and bombing capacity, 183
and bombing of London, 199–200, 245, 246, 247
and Eagle Day, 158, 183, 187
and Göring, 187, 199–200
and Luftflotte 3, 122, 158, 227, 245
Stuka planes, see Junkers Stukas
Stumpff, H.-J., 122, 129, 183
Summers, “Mutt,” 55
Summersby, Kay, 263n
Supermarine Aviation Works, 50–52
shadow factory of, 167–68, 242
Supermarine Spitfire:
capabilities of, 46, 56, 81, 174, 183, 260, 267–68
design of, 52-56, 58, 69, 70, 72n, 83, 88
production of, 17, 26, 32, 38, 42, 52, 55–56, 68, 168, 171
seaplanes, 51–53
Type 224 monoplanes, 53–54
“There’ll Always Be an England” (song), 234
Things to Come (film), 20, 24, 44, 188
Thorney Island airfield (HMS Peregrine), 227, 228, 230
Tobin, “Red,” 145, 194
Treaty of Versailles, 10, 19, 62
Udet, Ernst, 40, 71–72, 75, 80, 96
United Kingdom, see Britain
United States:
admiration of British in, 232
aircraft produced by, 268, 269, 296–97
aviation fuel imported from, 74–75
British requests for help from, 109, 123
<
br /> Great Depression in, 19
Lend-Lease supplies from, 285
neutrality of, 123
and Pearl Harbor, 282
Vickers (Aviation), 52–53, 55, 167–68, 171
Volkswagen, 69
war, as chance, 7
War Cabinet, May 13 meeting, 106, 107, 109–18, 138
Warsaw, bombing of, 166, 246, 247
Watson-Watt, Robert, 16n, 34
Waugh, Evelyn, 130, 263n
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, duke of, 208
Wells, H. G., 23, 28, 42, 107, 235
The Shape of Things to Come, 20, 188
Wellum, Geoffrey, 90–93
Wilhelmina, queen of the Netherlands, 109
Windsor, Edward, duke of, 5, 249
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF):
air attack described by, 225
as the “Beauty Chorus,” 44
casualties among, 159, 286
courage under fire, 75n, 159, 174–75, 193, 226, 230, 254–55
and death in the air, 87, 286
tasks of, 39, 44–45, 182, 214
as unsung heroes, 75n
Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens), 226, 230
Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS), 207, 210
Wood, Sir Kingsley, 101n
World War I:
air combat in, 86
armament in, 29, 39, 79
balloons in, 220
Britain in, 15, 18, 20, 22, 29, 95, 105, 232, 292
France in, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98
Germany in, 18, 22, 143
Royal Flying Corps in, 15
World War II:
and fog of war, 76
Japanese surrender in, 269
as new kind of war, 44
Soviet Union in, 250n, 281, 282, 285
subsequent events in, 284–85
U.S. entry into, 282
what-ifs, 288
Young, G. M., 21, 30
zeppelins, 18, 43, 50
About the Author
MICHAEL KORDA is the author of Ulysses s. Grant, ike, and Charmed Lives. educated at le rosey in switzerland and at Magdalen College, oxford, he served in the royal air force. he took part in the hungarian revolution of 1956 and on its fiftieth anniversary was awarded the order of Merit of the republic of hungary. he and his wife, Margaret, make their home in Dutchess County, new York.
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ALSO BY
MICHAEL KORDA
Ike
Journey to a Revolution
Ulysses S. Grant
Marking Time
Horse People
Making the List
Country Matters
Another Life
Man to Man
The Immortals
Curtain
The Fortune
Queenie
Worldly Goods
Charmed Lives
Success
Power
Male Chauvinism
BY MARGARET AND MICHAEL KORDA
Horse Housekeeping
Cat People
Copyright
WITH WINGS LIKE EAGLES. Copyright © 2009 by Michael Korda. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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*Except for its Empire and Commonwealth, which were very distant and even less well prepared for war than “the mother country.”
*In his speech in the House of Commons on June 18, 1940, on the fall of France, Churchill said, “What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”
*The author’s uncle, Sir Alexander Korda, was on the Gestapo’s list. In his case they had his correct business and home address.
*Others remember this as “…when we are lying on the ground choking on our blood,” but either way Churchill’s view of the situation was dramatically different from that of his foreign minister, Lord Halifax.
*Robinson, Invasion 1940, Carroll and Graf, New York, 2005.
*Göring exaggerated his powers in this instance. In the end Milch, whose father was Jewish, was obliged to persuade his mother to swear that he was actually the child of an Aryan with whom she had had an extramarital affair.
*The term “radar” was coined later, in the United States, and became universally used. Its birth in the United Kingdom came about in 1935, when the Air Ministry, informed erroneously that the Germans were developing a radio beam “death ray” that could destroy airplanes in midair, asked scientist Robert Watson-Watt to look into the matter. Watson-Watt dismissed the notion of the death ray, but suggested the use of radio beams to locate aircraft. He first tested such beams successfully at Daventry on February 26, 1935. Although Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin has been accused of lacking interest in defense and technology, he was kept fully informed of Watson-Watt’s progress, in which he showed great interest. He understood at once the vital importance of radar, and pushed hard for the development of the “Chain Home” radar network along Britain’s southern coast. It became operational in 1937, and it enabled Fighter Command to detect the number, height, and course of enemy aircraft at ranges of up to 100 miles.
With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain Page 31
