Battle of Britain 'Bits Box'.

[Airframes]

As we all know, this year sees the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the greatest air battle in history, and a turning point for the future of a great chunk of the World. The Battle raged over the skies of Britain, with the heaviest concentation of engagements taking place in the South East of England, whilst attacks also continued against the South West, Wales, the Midlands and North West , the North East and Scotland. Night bombing raids continued long after the 'official' end of the Battle, not just with the 'Blitz' of London, but with heavy raids on the industrial centres and towns and cities of the Midlands and the North. In these areas, there are still numerous signs of 'battle damage' to be seen to this day.
I intend to post various 'Bits' of information (hence the thread title) to assist modellers with their choice(s), and, hopefully, provide a little background to the events of the summer of 1940.
My aim will not so much be to describe the Battle and its' course, that has been done numerous times, in various forms, by others much more qualified than I ever will be, but to provide such information as the units involved, the dates, their locations and airfields, as well as such things as unit badges, codes, perhaps some 'campaign' maps and so on.
It is not the intention or aim of this thread to provide the basis for a discussion forum, or to outline specific Orders of Battle or describe individual daily combats, but should questions arise from the information posted, which they surely will, I'll be happy to answer these, if I am able.
Although I haven't formally discussed or agreed anything with Paul (Micdrow) or Chris (Njaco), I suspect they will have some input in the form of text and pictures/profiles etc, and, hopefully, the thread will prove to be a useful, and perhaps interesting and informative source.
I don't consider myself to be an'authority' on the Battle, but it has been one of my 'pet' subjects since I was a young lad which, as many of you know, in my case was quite some time ago!!
Over the years I have had the good fortune to meet, and know, a number of people directly involved in the Battle, including some well-known pilots, and have been able to work with, and/or inspect aircraft of the period, visit some of the airfields and other locations, both in the UK and in Europe, and generally 'soak up' a fair amount of minor detail which, when all pieced together, may help to create a better understanding for those less familiar with this epic action.
Hopefully the information and 'knowledge' gained during this period can now be shared with like-minded people.
So, in the not too distant future I should be posting the first 'Bit', covering the units involved from both sides.
Cheers,
Terry.

[kgambit]

Looking forward to this Terry. Should be a great resource for the upcoming BoB GB.

[ozhawk40]

Brilliant idea Terry, I'm sure this is going to be a high quality must read thread.

Cheers

Peter

[Airframes]

Jeez, that was quick! Thanks guys, the first 'Bits' should be up fairly soon - I hope!

[lesofprimus]

Really lookin forward to this Terry....

[Lucky13]

Looking forward to the bits and bobs mate!

[imalko]

Looking forward to your input Terry. Hope there will be something about Erprobungsgruppe 210 and their actions. I find their involvement as particularly interesting aspect on Luftwaffe air operations during the battle.

Also, here's one question - which is the exact time frame of the Battle of Britain? I know that from German perspective battle lasted sometime from July 1940 until spring 1941. So they consider Kannalkampf and later night bombing operations ("Blitz") as integral part of the battle. British perspective is somewhat different I believe?

[B-17engineer]

Cool T

[Njaco]

Most historians agree that the BoB started on July 10, 1940 and went through several phases. Depends on who ya read.

Terry, on July 10 I'm gonna start a "This Day in the BoB" thread as the "This Day in the ETO" thread will be done. I have several sources and websites. Got stuff fairly done but if any odd-ball thing pops up can I add here? And if you want to add to the my thread when it starts, please do!

oh and might as well start with this....

http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/bobhome.html

http://fishponds.org.uk/luftbrim.html

http://www.battleofbritain1940.net/contents-index.html

[Airframes]

Quick answer Igor - Luftwaffe considered BoB started the day befor Adler Tag!
British sources differ on dates between July 1 to October (mid) and July to September (end) or up til end of October, and beyond!
Although I don't intend to present a 'history' of the Battle, I'll include (somewhere) the 'break-points' for the phases from the British perspective, as it was viewed after the Battle, in the official histories of the RAF.

[Airframes]

Sounds good Chris. I'm floating a bit at the moment - some ex- Regiment guys turned up,whom I haven't seen for a few years and dragged me out to the pub! So I'm going to get my head down now as i'm sure a pink Messerschmitt just flew past me and barrel rolled out of the window!
Once my gyro has stabilised (sometime tomorrow), I'll re-read your post asnd (hopefully) provide a suitable answer!

[BikerBabe]

Sounds good Chris. I'm floating a bit at the moment - some ex- Regiment guys turned up,whom I haven't seen for a few years and dragged me out to the pub! So I'm going to get my head down now as i'm sure a pink Messerschmitt just flew past me and barrel rolled out of the window!
Once my gyro has stabilised (sometime tomorrow), I'll re-read your post asnd (hopefully) provide a suitable answer!

Didn't think you'd spot me, with the state you were in.
Hope you're okay when you read this.

[Lucky13]

True Maria! As my is red, in best Red Baron style!

[vikingBerserker]

[Airframes]

Ah! So it was you Maria! That was a very smooth Chandelle you performed on the climb out! (Jeez, I hope it's a long time before my old mates turn up again, my head is still throbbing!)
Anyway Chris yep, that'll be great. The links are also very useful, and are the sort of things people can refer to for history, chrnology etc, as that is not the aim of this thread, as stated.
Just to expand slightly on the probable intended contents, the first 'bit' will list the RAF squarons, their codes and aircraft, followed by a similar listing of Luftwaffe units. (NOTE where 'RAF' is used, it includes RCAF and squadrons manned by Commonwealth and other allied personnel.)
There will also be, hopefully, a simple break-down of the markings system used by the Luftwaffe, and the evolution of unit and national markings etc, with a similar description of the changes in RAF markings and colours during the course of the Battle. Some examples (not all) of Luftwaffe unit badges will also be provided, the intention being to provide an 'at a glance' reference for the identity of units.
Maps will also be provided, showing the locations of airfields (from both sides) listed separately and, if possible, time allowing, I'm going to try to produce overlays of these on satellite imagery of the actual areas.
If there is anything specific you may want, not involving the actual combats within the Battle, then please ask, and I'll see if I can incorporate this within the posts of 'Bits'.
For ease of production (and reading) these posts will be in PDF format, and the first one should be available tomorrow, with a bit of luck!