Please could any one tell me about the Luftwafe?

[Salgado]

Is that right that Luftwaffe was the best air forces in the world during world war 2 ?

Could any one tell me Why luftwaffe succeded in invasion of all western europe except Britain Thanksssss s

 

[f-22fan12]

In my opinion, yes the Luftwaffe was the best air force during WWII. They were the first air force to acheive an operational jet fighter, the Me 262, which was an amazing, groundbreaking, and awesome plane. They also had some of the best trained air crews in the world. There were a couple of reasons why the Luftwaffe lost the Battle of Britain. First, due to the early sucesses against the countries of continental Europe, the Luftwaffe put development of jet fighters on hold, therefore jet fighters weren't there for the Battle of Britain. Second, many of the Luftwaffe's figheters lacked sufficient range to allow them enough combat time over Britain. And third, the British had radar.

This should be the last post on this thread so it doesn't turn into a this vs. that argument. Just wanted to answer his question.
Thanks

 

[windscorpion]

The main problem with jet development was a certain gentleman you may have heard of called A.Hitler. He wanted the Me262 to carry bombs which delayed it for a bit. But jets in WW2 were not wonder weapons, they were expensive and short legged. Early jets also did not last long and used materials and resources the Germans had in short supply. Jets lost in some combats with top of the range Allied piston engined fighters, though a big factor behind that was that as the war went on more and more experienced crews died. By the end of WW2 you didn't have many experienced guys left in the Luftwaffe and a lot of kids.

Jets in the BoB is a strange one, far too early for them. The BoB took place a few months after the Blitzkrieg so that didn't have any effect on jet development. The first jet aircraft the He178 didn't have it's maiden flight till just before WW2 (August 1939 i think) and to get operational aircraft within a year of that (so they would be ready to use over Britain) would be tricky.

As for the BoB well there are a number of reasons the Luftwaffe "lost". The battles largely took place over Britain, so crashed aircraft and crews could not be recovered by the Germans. The British had the advantage on range too of course being the "home team" but the meddling of German high-ups in the objectives of the Luftwaffe in the battle had a big effect.

 

[ASFC]

Another reason why the Luftwaffe lost is Radar. If the RAF hadn't known that they were coming over the channel, then in all likely hood our Air Force would have been destroyed on the ground without Radar.

 

[Dr Freud]

An airforce, (in this case Luftwaffe) can not invade a country: they can support the ground troups that do the actual invasion.
Goring thought he could annihilate Englands remaining defence before that invasion, he was wrong. (as usual)

 

[winnyfield]

An airforce, (in this case Luftwaffe) can not invade a country: they can support the ground troups that do the actual invasion.
Goring thought he could annihilate Englands remaining defence before that invasion, he was wrong. (as usual)

That assumption is not that uncommon in the air combat community.

A theory that I've heard often is that the Luftwaffe lost the BoB due to a shift in priorities. They changed their efforts from attacking the UK's air warfare infrastructure (ie. bombing airfields) and thus establishing air superiority, to attack civilian targets (ie. bombing cities) on behalf of Hitler. How correct is that? I think the Luftwaffe would've still 'lost' - numerous factors.

The Luftwaffe sufferred a similar fate to the Japanese. Excellent aircraft at the beginning but, un-able/willing to invest further and so quickly overtaken by the Allies.

 

[Dr Freud]

I think most agree that using tactical aircraft for strategic bombing, and engaging in a2a dogfighting over enemy land when you are already on reserve fuel, is poor leadership. They lost an awful lot of time, money and pilots for nothing there.

In my view they'd been better off invading emmidietly after dunkirq, fight it off over the channel, win or lose.

 

[PullerRommel]

I also think Hitlers lack of interest for long range strtegic bombers was a big mistake. It probably would of channged the war.

 

[windscorpion]

Well they couldn't invade immediately after Dunkirk as they had little amphibious warfare capability, luckily for the British as in the first few months after Dunkirk they didn't even have enough rifles for all their soldiers.

The lack of strategic bombers hindered the luftwaffe but to build them would mean something else had to go. For example if U-boat production was reduced to free up resources/manpower to build strategic bombers it probably would have been less effective in the long run considering how many bombers the RAF and USAF pounded Germany with to little real effect if any to war production.

 

[Feanor]

They could never effectively supply an army in Britain. The RN wouldn't let them. That meant an invasion was out of the question.

 

[winnyfield]

The lack of strategic bombers hindered the luftwaffe but to build them would mean something else had to go.

That's a dilemma that has historially faced most continental European nations. The biggest threat for those nations has always been (still is) land based and so priorities are given to land warfare. Compare that to the US and UK where air and naval power supremacy forms the backbone of their doctrines - Australia's "air-sea gap"

 

[Dr Freud]

Well they couldn't invade immediately after Dunkirk as they had little amphibious warfare capability, luckily for the British as in the first few months after Dunkirk they didn't even have enough rifles for all their soldiers.

This is exactly my point! i dont think even the germans were prepared for the outstanding success, had they dreamed of being this successful, they had made preparatiions for the invasion even before dunkirk was finished off.

 

[Dr Freud]

They could never effectively supply an army in Britain. The RN wouldn't let them. That meant an invasion was out of the question.

RN vs ~1500 German aircraft ? in the channel ? + a few u boats ?.

 

[Feanor]

The Luftwaffe never broke the RAF. So work in British air support. Not to mention that the German Navy was much weaker during WWII. It was never even close to being on par with the RN.

 

[windscorpion]

This is exactly my point! i dont think even the germans were prepared for the outstanding success, had they dreamed of being this successful, they had made preparatiions for the invasion even before dunkirk was finished off.

Well they wasted a lot of time, including oddly Hitler spending a few days with his WW1 army mates in the old trenches in France with strict orders not to disturb him while his Generals were frantically wanting to go for Britain.

As already said the RN would have prevented any invasion fleet, for which the Germans did consider using Rhine barges. Now that could have been a bit messy.