BOXART STORY

#8209

Like dogs on chains

The Battle of Britain is one of a long list of

legendary milestones that defined World War

Two, though it’s the only one that played out

exclusively in the air. Between August 8 and

October 31, 1940, the Luftwaffe paid for the

Battle of Britain with the loss of 221 Bf 110s,

either destroyed outright or heavily damaged.

Approximately four hundred of their airmen

were either killed in action, captured, or

seriously injured. German airmen including

Bf 110 and bomber crews claimed 2,169

victories.

The RAF experienced Bf 110 crews created

a defensive circle (Abwehrkreis), but this was

not always a strictly defensive manoeuvre.

Bf 110 airmen often used it as a decoy to

attract the attention of the enemy and allow

their bomber colleagues to escape.

However, if a Bf 110 crew had the freedom to

choose the tactical situation, the advantages

of their aircraft could be used with great

success against Spitfires and Hurricanes,

such as concentrated firepower, long range,

better initial acceleration in a dive, better rate

of climb and a higher operational altitude.

But when Bf 110 crews were forced to provide

direct escort to the bombers, they could get

into trouble because of the lower speed of

bombers. If they wished to retain their speed

advantage, the German fighters were forced

to manoeuvre around the bomber formation.

In a way, they were like dogs on a chain.

This was the situation that RAF fighters

observed when defending against the air raid

of September 3, 1940, re-created in artwork

38

INFO Eduard

by Piotr Forkasiewicz. The Luftwaffe sent 73

bombers escorted by nearly 500 fighters to

the targets near London. The bombers were

divided into several groups. A formation of

thirty Do 17s from II./KG 2 hit the North Weald

airfield, escorted by Bf 110s from I./ZG 2 and

III./ZG 26 and Bf 109s from JG 26.

On departure, the Germans got into a dogfight

with Hurricanes from No. 17 Sqn RAF and

Czechoslovak No. 310 Sq as well as Spitfires

from No. 19, 54 and 222 Sqn RAF. A total of

five Bf 110s from I./ZG 2 went down. Off the

English coast, I./ZG 26 joined the defence.

One Bf 110 was lost by I./ZG 26 another one by

II./ZG 26 (plus one damaged) and two had to

be written off by III./ZG 26.

Al Deere of No. 54 Sqn RAF was trying to

get into a firing position behind one Bf 110

of ZG 26 when his target was unexpectedly

attacked by Colin Gray in a vertical dive.

To Deere's surprise and considerable

displeasure, the enemy aircraft burst into

flames under the fire of his colleague. He had

to admit, however, that Gray had performed

an incredible feat of marksmanship. But to

boost the artillery men's morale the victory

was eventually credited to the AA unit, to the

chagrin of all the airmen.

The Germans lost only one Dornier 17. The

Bf 110s crews scored some 20 victories and,

according to British records, can be credited

with about nine RAF fighters shot down and

seven damaged. Five RAF pilots were killed

and six suffered injuries. Although the Bf 110

were chained to the bombers like dogs, they

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

could bite to death. The machine “3U+GT”,

which is depicted in Piotr’s artwork, belonged

to 9./ZG 26 that emerged successfully from

the battle. Two Spitfires were claimed by

Ofhr. Lugger, one Spitfire and one Hurricane

were claimed by Lt. Sidow while Lt. Grisslich

and Ofw. Hott each shot down a Spitfire. The

crew of the badly damaged “3U+GT” made an

emergency landing at Wissant without injury,

but their machine had to be written off.

How successful was the Bf 110 in the role of

fighter in the Battle of Britain? There are well

documented victories and losses of Spitfire,

Hurricane and Bf 109 units, giving their kill/

loss ratios as 1.7, 1.2 and 1.5 respectively. The

Bf 110 units are a bit enigmatic due to missing

detailed records about their victories. Only

216 aerial victories are documented in detail

between August 8 and October 31, 1940.

However, this figure is based on records of

only three Zerstörergruppen, while details of

four others are completely missing!

However, from the data of the higher

Luftwaffe command, it is known that during

the abovementioned period, Bf 110 and

bomber crews claimed almost 600 victories.

If we accept the estimate that 75 % of this

figure was achieved by Bf 110 airmen, then we

get an unexpected champion of the Battle of

Britain. The kill/loss ratio for the Bf 110 would

be 2! Despite this achievement, the battle

ended with the first German failure since the

beginning of the war.

April 2023