To Defeat the Few: The Luftwaffe?s campaign to destroy RAF FighterCommand, August-September 1940

Product Description

Over the past 77 years, histories of the Battle of Britain have consistently portrayed the feats of 'The Few' (as they were immortalized in Churchill's famous speech) as being responsible for the RAF's victory in the epic battle. However, this is only part of the story. The results of an air campaign cannot be measured in terms of territory captured, cities occupied or armies defeated, routed or annihilated. Successful air campaigns are those that achieve their intended aims or stated objectives. Victory in the Battle of Britain was determined by whether the Luftwaffe achieved its objectives.
The Luftwaffe, of course, did not, and this detailed and rigorous study explains why. Analysing the battle in its entirety in the context of what it was o history's first independent offensive counter-air campaign against the world's first integrated air defence system o Douglas C. Dildy and Paul F. Crickmore set out to re-examine this remarkable conflict. Presenting the events of the Battle of Britain in the context of the Luftwaffe's campaign and RAF Fighter Command's battles against it, this title is a new and innovative history of the battle that kept alive the Allies' chances of defeating Nazi Germany.Over the past 77 years, histories of the Battle of Britain have consistently portrayed the feats of 'The Few' (as they were immortalized in Churchill's famous speech) as being responsible for the RAF's victory in the epic battle. However, this is only part of the story. The results of an air campaign cannot be measured in terms of territory captured, cities occupied or armies defeated, routed or annihilated. Successful air campaigns are those that achieve their intended aims or stated objectives. Victory in the Battle of Britain was determined by whether the Luftwaffe achieved its objectives.
The Luftwaffe, of course, did not, and this detailed and rigorous study explains why. Analysing the battle in its entirety in the context of what it was o history's first independent offensive counter-air campaign against the world's first integrated air defence system o Douglas C. Dildy and Paul F. Crickmore set out to re-examine this remarkable conflict. Presenting the events of the Battle of Britain in the context of the Luftwaffe's campaign and RAF Fighter Command's battles against it, this title is a new and innovative history of the battle that kept alive the Allies' chances of defeating Nazi Germany.
Douglas C. Dildy is a retired US Air Force colonel who spent nine years of his 26-year career in Western Europe. He is also a USAF Academy graduate with a degree in history. He attended the US Armed Forces Staff College and USAF Air War College and holds a Master's Degree in Political Science. Doug has authored several campaign studies and is a regular contributor to the amateur modelling magazine Small Air Forces Observer.
Paul F. Crickmore is the author both of the first detailed book to be published on the SR-71 Blackbird, and of the standard reference work on the subject o the much-acclaimed Lockheed SR-71- The Secret Missions Exposed. He is an honorary member of several A-12 and SR-71 veterans' associations. Paul is also the author of the first detailed book about the F-117, written in partnership with his wife Alison and published in 1999.