[Von Paulus]

Ahhh, School Holidays...

Anyhow, In my last "Von P's WW2 Fact of the Day", I focused on the Suicidal Canadian Invasion of Dieppe, And realised I quite enjoyed typing out timelines...So I thought, Hey, I am quite interested in The Battle of Britain, so tommorrow's WW2 Fact will be all about that battle.

Today though, I thought I'd talk about some of the Aircraft involved..


German Aircraft


Messerschmitt 109E

Known to the Luftwaffe pilots as the 'Emil', the 109E was at least as fast as the Supermarine Spitfire (see below), but was found to be less manouverable, though more so than the Hawker Hurricane (see below)

Always handicapped by it's short range was further restricted by a bomb load later in the battle, when pressed into service in a fighter/bomber role.

Armament: Two 7.9mm machine guns and two 20mm cannons.

Max speed: 357mph


Junkers 87

The famous gull-winged Stuka was the main weapon which Goring turned against the RAF fighter bases. But the easy victories of past campaigns had been won in the absence of adequate fighter opposition, and the RAF pilots found the Stuka an easy prey. Severe losses in the operations throughout August destroyed it's reputation as the all-conquering weapon of the Luftwaffe, and the Ju-87 was withdrawn from the spearhead of the attack.

Bomb load: One 1,102lb, four 110lb bombs.

Max speed: 217mph

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British Aircraft

Supermarine Spitfire

The Spitfire fighter was the most agile machine in the battle - it could out-manouvere
even the Me-109E. Another vital superiority was it's firepower: eight wing-mounted Brownings which, though out-ranged by the German cannon, held a decisive concentration of rounds per second. In the Battle of Britain the Spitfire also had the advantage of fighting on home ground, unfettered by rhe range handicap of the 109E.

Armament: Eight .303inch machine-guns.


Hawker Hurricane

Britains first monoplane fighter was the numerical mainstay of RAF Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain. The Hurricane's ideal role was that of bomber-interceptor; as a rule, only the Spitfire could tackle the Me-109 on level terms, though the Hurricane scored ntable successes against bombers such as the Stuka and the Me-110. During the battle the Hurricane was already being replaced by the Spitfire as the standard RAF fighter.

Armament: Eight .303inch machine-guns.

Max speed: 328mph

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Tommorrow: The Battle of Britain

Note: If anyone has pictures,URLS regarding the planes discussed please post them.

Suggestions: Does anyone have any suggestions that could be used in upcoming Von P's WW2 facts of the day ?, If so please post your suggestions...

Thanks for reading..