Without the radar network and with biplanes against Messerschmitt Bf109's Britain would have lost the Battle of Britain.
Without the radar network and with biplanes against Messerschmitt Bf109's Britain would have lost the Battle of Britain.
The Brits had more Hurricanes than the Germans had Bf109Bs and Ds. Which weren't nearly as good as the E models. Radar coverage wasn't complete, but there was enough. Since there would have been no Czech tanks (the best ones the Germans had), there would have been no breakthrough using Pz Is and the rare Pz IIs alone.
OTOH the early model Heinkel-111s and Dornier-17s were too fast for most biplanes to effectively intercept. Gladiators, Furies etc could, but that's about it.
And the 1938 Bf109's ability to loiter with drop tanks or to act as a fighter-bomber was - nil, so they remain an ineffective air defence escort which are, without the Wehrmacht delivering airfields in the Pas de Calais to allow them to operate over SE England, completely irrelevant to a 1938 BoB. As shown in Spain, Norway and the Balkans (in 1937-40) 'modern' German bombers were quite vulnerable to biplane fighters like the Gladiator, or to reverse the role the CR42.
The quality of tanks available to the Wehrmacht was irrelevant to the breakthrough at Sedan, which I assume is what you're alluding to. The breakthrough was the work of infantry and assault pioneers, and the exploitation (apart from the attritiional battle at Stonne, which was a flank securing action anyway) was facilitated by logistics, pillaging and 'flying artillery' in the guise of CAS provided by Ju87s.
Last edited by Baldrick62; 01-11-2012 at 14:27. Reason: sp
Which was part of the 1938 pact with Banes, which was logistically unachievable as, even if French bombers had been based in Czechoslovakia, they still lacked the range to hit (in 1938 neutral) oilfields in Romania, even if the Armee de l'Air could have found the trained aircrew to conduct the missions. 1938 was a pipe-dream for all sides; with no credibility for what became the Allies and too much of a stretch for the command economy of Nazi Germany which was still rearming. The great 'what if' is whether politically the western allies (and the 'Little Entente') could have called Hilter's bluff; the Soviet Union was the wild card for both sides as neither liked the communist ideology, but both needed the Soviets as a foil for their potential enemy.
Last edited by Baldrick62; 01-11-2012 at 14:30. Reason: sp, clarification
This thread has very good ideas and planes.
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