RAF Fighters vs Luftwaffe Bombers: Battle of Britain

Osprey Duel #68

by Andy Saunders, Jim Laurier (Illustrator)

A fully illustrated analysis of the desperate aerial combats between defending RAF fighters and attacking Luftwaffe bombers during the Battle of Britain, ideal for any enthusiast of aerial warfare during World War II.

The Battle of Britain was a fight for survival against a seemingly unstoppable foe. With the German army poised to invade, only the fighters of the Royal Air Force stood between Hitler and the conquest of Britain. Losses were high on both sides, but the Spitfires, Hurricanes, Havocs, and Defiants of the RAF began to take their toll on the overextended, under-protected Kampfgruppen of Heinkel He 111s, Junkers Ju 87s and 88s, and Dornier Do 17s.

Both sides learned and adapted as the campaign went on. As the advantage began to shift from the Luftwaffe to the RAF, the Germans were forced to switch from round-the-clock bombing to only launching night-raids, often hitting civilian targets in the dreaded Blitz. This beautifully illustrated study dissects the tactics and technology of the duels in this new kind of war, bringing the reader into the cockpits of the RAF fighters and Luftwaffe bombers to show precisely where the Battle of Britain was won and lost.

80 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2015

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where this book shines is in the diagrams showing tactical RAF fighter attack approaches and German defensive bomber formations. It was also nice to see attention given to the Boulton Paul Defiant, an odd duck of a fighter usually given short shrift in other accounts of the Battle of Britain. Would've been nice to see at least a mention of the twin-engined Blenheim fighters even though most had been relegated to night fighter duty.