Who was commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain?
"Operations Room, The Battle of Britain Bunker was one of the key parts of the world's first integrated air defence system. Often known as the ""Dowding system"" (after Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Commander-in-Chief Fighter Command at the time of installation), the system linked Fighter Command with Anti-Aircraft Command, Barrage Balloon Command, the Observer Corps, Chain Home Radio Direction Finding (radar), and the intelligence services. Under the system, these organisations worked together for the first time in order to achieve one goal: the successful defence of the UK's airspace. No.11 Group was an important part of the system for"
"RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned great fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940, when the Few held off the Luftwaffe attack on Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when it was disbanded and the RAF fighter force was split into two categories; defence and attack. The defensive force became Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) and the offensive force became the RAF Second Tactical"
"Command (renamed back in October 1944) in the war occurred against the V-1 flying bomb during Operation Crossbow. RAF fighters also supported the strategic bombing of Operation Crossbow, such as with long-range intruder operations that attacked German airfields and aircraft (e.g., at take-off/landing) at the time the Luftwaffe fighters would be scrambled against RAF Bomber Command (see Operation Hydra). During 1939–45, RAF Fighter Command lost 3,690 killed, 1,215 wounded and 601 POW. 4,790 aircraft were lost. As a direct result of their efforts during the Battle of Britain the Observer Corps was granted the title Royal by King George VI"
"entities. Consequently, in 1968, Fighter Command and Bomber Command were joined together to form Strike Command, both becoming groups within the new command. Coastal Command was disbanded and subsumed into the new Strike Command in November 1969. RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned great fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940, when the Few held off the Luftwaffe attack on Britain. The Command continued until 17 November"
"Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, who led RAF Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain, later recalled: I must confess that I had been a little doubtful of the effect which their experience in their own countries and in France might have had upon the Polish and Czech pilots, but my doubts were soon laid to rest, because all three squadrons swung in the fight with a dash and enthusiasm which is beyond praise. They were inspired by a burning hatred for the Germans which made them very deadly opponents. From 1940 until 1942, 311 Squadron was part of a Bomber"
"RAF Strike Command The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007 when it merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air Command. It latterly consisted of two formations – No. 1 Group RAF and No. 2 Group RAF. The last Commander-in-Chief was Air Chief Marshal Sir Joe French. Strike Command was formed on 30 April 1968 by the merger of Bomber Command and Fighter Command, which became No. 1 Group and No. 11 Group respectively. Signals Command was absorbed"
"Hugh Dowding Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, (24 April 1882 – 15 February 1970) was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He served as a fighter pilot and then as commanding officer of No. 16 Squadron during the First World War. During the inter-war years he became Air Officer Commanding Fighting Area, Air Defence of Great Britain and then joined the Air Council as Air Member for Supply and Research. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's"
"draw RAF Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation. Adolf Hitler and ""Reichsmarschall"" Hermann Göring, commander-in-chief of the ""Luftwaffe"", ordered the new policy on 6 September 1940. From 7 September 1940, London was systematically bombed by the ""Luftwaffe"" for 56 out of the following 57 days and nights. Most notable was a large daylight attack against London on 15 September. The ""Luftwaffe"" gradually decreased daylight operations in favour of night attacks to evade attack by the RAF, and the Blitz became a night bombing campaign after October 1940. The ""Luftwaffe"" attacked the main Atlantic sea port of Liverpool in the"
"the Battle of Britain. Three pilots born in Southern Rhodesia took part in the Battle of Britain: Squadron Leader Caesar Hull, Pilot Officer John Chomley, and Flight Lieutenant John Holderness. Of these, Hull and Chomley lost their lives. Hull, the highest-scoring RAF ace of the Norwegian Campaign earlier in the year, was killed in a dogfight over south London on 7 September 1940, a week after taking command of No. 43 Squadron RAF. Chomley went missing in action over the Channel on 12 August 1940 and was never found. The RAF recognises seven aircrew personnel who were from the United"
"611 Squadron RAF. No. 242 Squadron RAF’s leader, Wing Commander Douglas Bader led the assault with the 56 fighters. They were airborne at 11:22. The Dorniers were supported by German fighter aircraft that had been sent out in advance of the main strike. ""Jagdgeschwader 27"" (JG 27) and I./""Jagdgeschwader 52"" (JG 52) Bf 109s flew in toward London at , while ""Jagdgeschwader 53"" (JG 53) flew top cover over the bombers. Some 30 ""Jagdgeschwader 3"" (JG 3) flew close escort. The bombers were travelling slowly, forcing the fighters to lower their flaps to stay with the bombers, which made them"
"RAF, who claimed 14 kills before his death in September 1940. No. 10 Squadron RAAF, a flying boat squadron was also based in Britain at the time, as part of Coastal Command. At the start of the war, the small Caribbean island of Barbados was a British crown colony. Aubrey ""Sinbad"" de Lisle Inniss (1916-2003) was the sole Barbadian to serve as a pilot during the Battle of Britain. Inniss was born in Barbados to a British family and joined the RAF in 1939. During the Battle, he flew a Bristol Blenheim IF night fighter with No. 236 Squadron RAF"
"Adolph Malan Adolph Gysbert Malan, (24 March 1910 – 17 September 1963), better known as Sailor Malan, was a South African World War 2 fighter pilot and flying ace in the Royal Air Force who led No. 74 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain. He finished his fighter career in 1941 with 27 kills destroyed, 7 shared destroyed and 2 unconfirmed, 3 probables and 16 damaged, at the time the RAF's leading ace, and one of the highest scoring pilots to have served wholly with Fighter Command during World War II. Malan was born in 24 March 1910 to"
"half of British and Commonwealth aircrews, some 167,000 men in all. It was the second largest in Europe. The RAF also integrated Polish and other airmen who had escaped from Hitler's Europe. In Europe, the RAF was in operational control of Commonwealth aircrews and Commonwealth squadrons although these retained some degree of independence (such as the formation of No. 6 Group RCAF to put Canadian squadrons together in a nationally identifiable unit). The RAF had three major combat commands based in the United Kingdom: RAF Fighter Command charged with defence of the UK, RAF Bomber Command (formed 1936) which operated"
"pilots such as the first RAF ace of WW2, Flying Officer Cobber Kain, Alan Deere, whose ""Nine Lives"" was one of the first post war accounts of combat, and leaders such as World War I ace, Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, who commanded 11 Group, responsible for the defence of London in the Battle of Britain, the air defence of Malta and in the closing stages of the war, the RAF in South East Asia. Through accident or design, several RAF units came to be mostly manned by RNZAF pilots (for example No. 243 Squadron RAF in Singapore, No."
"Joyce in the Churchyard"". Robert Stanford Tuck Wing Commander Robert Roland Stanford Tuck, (1 July 1916 – 5 May 1987) was a British fighter pilot, flying ace and test pilot. Tuck joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1935 and first engaged in combat during the Battle of France, over Dunkirk, claiming his first victories. In September 1940 he was promoted to squadron leader and commanded a Hawker Hurricane squadron. In 1941–1942, Tuck participated in fighter sweeps over northern France. On 28 January 1942, he was hit by anti-aircraft fire, was forced to land in France, and was taken prisoner."
"the Royal Indian Air Force, Pilot Officer C P Khosla and Pilot Officer R N Dastur. The majority of RAF Bomber Command aircrew were aged 19 through to their mid-twenties although younger and considerably older airmen have been identified. The average age is stated to have been 21. One ""Rear Gunner"" of a Vickers Wellington killed flying operationally with No. 37 Squadron RAF on 31 May 1940 during the Battle of France was Pilot Officer Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson, KCIE, CSI, CMG, DSO, MP a 56 year old former lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army who had joined the Royal"
"(80%) of the total of 2,927 flyers involved, with 407 Britons killed from a total of 510 losses. The remainder were not British, many coming from parts of the British Empire (particularly New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and South Africa), as well as exiles from many conquered European nations, particularly from Poland and Czechoslovakia. Other countries supplying smaller numbers included Belgium, France, Ireland, and the US. Winston Churchill summed up the effect of the battle and the contribution of RAF Fighter Command, RAF Bomber Command, RAF Coastal Command and the Fleet Air Arm with the words, ""Never in the field of"
"Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain (, literally ""The Air Battle for England"") was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It has been described as the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. The British officially recognise the battle's duration as being from 10 July until 31 October 1940, which overlaps the period of large-scale night attacks known as the Blitz, that lasted from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941. German historians"
"Aircraft of the Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain (German: ""Luftschlacht um England"") was an effort by the German Air Force (""Luftwaffe"") during the summer and autumn of 1940 to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom in preparation for the planned amphibious and airborne forces invasion of Britain by Operation Sea Lion. Neither the German leader Adolf Hitler nor his High Command of the Armed Forces (""Oberkommando der Wehrmacht"", or OKW) believed it was possible to carry out a successful amphibious assault on Britain until the RAF had been neutralised. Secondary objectives"
"Sir Keith Park, who commanded No. 11 Group RAF in the Battle of Britain and went on to the air defence of Malta and, in the closing stages of the war, Commonwealth air units under South East Asia Command, and Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham Air Tactical Commander of D-Day. Three RNZAF pilots were awarded the Victoria Cross while serving with the RAF. James Allen Ward, a Sergeant Pilot with 75 Squadron, was first, when he climbed out onto the wing of his Vickers Wellington bomber to smother an engine fire in flight on 7 July 1941. In 1943 then"
"defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe. In what is perhaps the most prolonged and complicated air campaign in history, the Battle of Britain contributed significantly to the delay and subsequent indefinite postponement of Hitler's plans for an invasion of the United Kingdom (Operation Sea Lion). In the House of Commons on 20 August, prompted by the ongoing efforts of the RAF, Prime Minister Winston Churchill eloquently made a speech to the nation, where he said ""Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"". The largest RAF"
"RAF Hucknall. During World War II this group was the second most important group of Fighter Command, and as such, it received its share of attacks from the German Luftwaffe throughout the war. The commander of 12 Group during the Battle of Britain was Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, who was a rather ambitious man. Despite his length of service in the RAF, he was passed over for being named the Air Officer Commanding of the more vital 11 Group in favour of Air Vice Marshal Keith Park. Leigh-Mallory felt himself slighted over this and his relations with Park were"
"Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet, (13 April 1892 – 5 April 1984), commonly known as ""Bomber"" Harris by the press and often within the RAF as ""Butcher"" Harris, was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) RAF Bomber Command during the height of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany in the Second World War. In 1942, the British Cabinet agreed to the ""area bombing"" of German cities. Harris was given the task of implementing Churchill's policy and supported the development of tactics and technology to perform the task more"
"of 30 Vickers Wellington bombers. These aircraft, and crews, were offered back to the United Kingdom, and became No. 75 Squadron RAF. New Zealand became a major source of aircrew for the RAF, forming part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. The RNZAF itself expanded dramatically, to over thirty squadrons, many of which saw operational service in the Pacific. A number of New Zealanders enjoyed successful RAF careers. Keith Park commanded the key No. 11 Group during the Battle of Britain. Aces during the Battle of Britain included Edgar Kain, Colin Gray and Alan Deere. Arthur Coningham commanded the Desert"
"Piper distributors. All were built by Piper. There was a Flitfire named for each of the 48 states in the union at that time. These airplanes were colloquially known as ""The Flitfire Brigade."" During the Battle of Britain (10 July - 31 October 1940) the Royal Air Force (RAF) suffered heavy casualties, losing 1,420 members: 520 in Fighter Command, 700 in Bomber Command and 200 in Coastal Command. The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund (RAFBF), an independent charity established post World War I to support RAF casualties and their families, worked to provide welfare to the RAF and families who"
"command of Air Marshal Sir Roderic Hill. Under Hill's command in January 1944 were 10 and No. 11 Group RAF under the respective commands of Air Vice Marshals Charles Steele and Hugh Saunders. They were responsible for the defence of southern England and the Ground-controlled interception (GCI) operations in these areas. Specifically for night defence, Fighter Command possessed sixteen squadrons of de Havilland Mosquito and Bristol Beaufighter night fighters equipped with airborne interception aids (radar). The majority of the fighter squadrons were equipped with Mosquito Mk. XIIIs or Beaufighter Mk. VIfs, all of them equipped with airborne interception radar. Both"
"Fighter Command were either seconded individually to RAF fighter squadrons or entire as with 804 and 808 Naval Air Squadrons. The former provided dockyard defence during the Battle of Britain with Sea Gladiators. In British home waters and out into the Atlantic Ocean, operations against Axis shipping and submarines in support of the RN were mounted by RAF Coastal Command with large patrol bombers, flying boats and land-based fighter-bombers. The aircraft carrier had replaced the battleship as the capital ship of the RN and its aircraft were now its principal offensive weapons. The top scoring fighter ace with 17 victories"
"at sea during the battle. No proper air-sea rescue service was formed until 1941. In the late 1930s, Fighter Command expected to face only bombers over Britain, not single-engined fighters. A series of ""Fighting Area Tactics"" were formulated and rigidly adhered to, involving a series of manoeuvres designed to concentrate a squadron's firepower to bring down bombers. RAF fighters flew in tight, v-shaped sections (""vics"") of three aircraft, with four such ""sections"" in tight formation. Only the squadron leader at the front was free to watch for the enemy; the other pilots had to concentrate on keeping station. Training also"
"cancelled. Books General Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain (, literally ""The Air Battle for England"") was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It has been described as the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. The British officially recognise the battle's duration as being from 10 July until 31 October 1940, which overlaps the period of large-scale night attacks known as the Blitz, that lasted from 7 September 1940 to 11 May"
"British Air Forces in France British Air Forces in France was a Royal Air Force (RAF) Command set up on 15 January 1940 under the command of Air Marshal Arthur Barratt to provide unified control of RAF units based in France. It had two subordinate formations with differing tasks. The AASF consisted of RAF light bomber squadrons closer to Germany based around Rheims in France, should the political decision to do so be taken to begin strategic bombing. No decision had been taken before the German offensive in the west began on 10 May 1940 and thereafter the AASF bomber"
"who disagreed with such views was Hugh Dowding, who led RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. Others included American Major Claire Chennault, who argued against the so-called ""Bomber Mafia"" at the Air Corps Tactical School, and Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey, Fighter Projects Officer for the United States Army Air Corps, responsible for specifying American fighters that were capable of downing bombers. Post-war analysis of the strategic bombing during World War II indicated that Baldwin's statement was essentially correct in that bombers would get through, but at a cost in aircrew and aircraft. Using the Dowding system, fighters directed"
"the average rate for other RAF squadrons, despite the squadron having been the highest-scoring Allied squadron during the Battle. The Polish War Memorial on the outskirts of RAF Northolt was dedicated in 1948 as a commemoration of the Polish contribution to Allied arms. One of the RAF's leading aces, and one of the highest scoring pilots during the Battle of Britain was Adolph ""Sailor"" Malan DFC, an RAF pilot since 1936, who led No. 74 Squadron RAF at the height of the Battle of Britain. Under his leadership No. 74 became one of the RAF's best units. Malan claimed his"
"RAF Fighter Command group to be formed, with responsibility for the air-defence of southern England, including London. No.11 Group was organised using the Dowding System of fighter control. Group Headquarters was at Hillingdon House, located at RAF Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The Group operations room was underground in what is now known as the Battle of Britain Bunker. Commands were passed to the sector airfields, each of which was in charge of several airfields and fighter squadrons. The sector airfields were: Sector A: Sector B: Sector C: Sector D: Sector E: Sector F: Sector Y: Sector Z:"