See, it may be a hard thing for you guys to believe too, but I've been spending months now trying to be nice and yet all I get is the same dataless constructs? And you don't understand why I'm frustrated?Walter_Warlimont wrote:And if the majority of the Luftwaffe planes are kept nearer to their bases in France because they are providing cover for the Invasion Forces in the channel, attacking the Royal Navy in the Channel & approaches to the Channel & covering the forces landing on the beaches in England, then the RAF is forced to travel farther than they normally would, because normally the Luftwaffe is battling the RAF in Southern England.
So "if the majority of the Luftwaffe planes are kept nearer to their bases in France"? I assume from that you mean they don't have as far to fly?
And "because they are providing cover for the Invasion Forces in the channel, attacking the Royal Navy in the Channel & approaches to the Channel & covering the forces landing on the beaches in England"?
You have an "if" - "so" statement that ends in " then the RAF is forced to travel farther than they normally would, because normally the Luftwaffe is battling the RAF in Southern England"?
What is generally called a hypothesis, right? You are building a theory that somehow by virtue of not having so far to fly the Luftwaffe is going to be more effective? Yes?
But you see that is actually testable - the next step after hypothesis. And we can find that when major operations were being conducted in that very area - the coast and channel during the attacks on radar, the Fighter Command bases, and the Channel convoys, Royal Navy and merchant ship losses in July were:
July 2 – British steamer AENEAS (10,058grt, Convoy Commodore), in convoy OA.177G, was sunk by German bombing at twenty miles southeast of Start Point.
3 July - British steam barge BIJOU (98grt) was sunk by German bombing at Mistley Quay, near Harwich.
July 4 - Auxiliary anti-aircraft ship FOYLE BANK (R, 5,582t, 1930), German aircraft, Portland, S England
British steamer DALLAS CITY (4952grt) was sunk by German bombing in 50 09N, 02 01W.
Dutch steamer DEUCALION (1796grt) was sunk by German bombing twenty miles south, southwest of Portland.
Dutch steamer BRITSUM (5255grt) was sunk by German bombing off Selsey, in 50-04N, 1-55W.
Estonian steamer KOLGA (3526grt) was sunk by German bombing 50 13N, 02 00W.
British tug SILVERDIAL (55grt) was sunk by German bombing in Portland Harbour.
July 10 - British tanker TASCALUSA (6499grt) was sunk by German bombing in Falmouth Harbour, alongside the Northern Arm.
Greek steamer MARI CHANDRIS (5840grt), which had been towed to Falmouth in June after a collision, was set afire by TASCALUSA. The entire crew of the Greek steamer was rescued. TASCALUSA was refloated on 29 August and beached at Mylor Flats for scrapping.
British steamer WATERLOO (1905grt) was sunk by German bombing two and a half miles NE of Smith's Knoll Bouy. The crew was rescued.
Dutch steamer BILL S. (466grt) was badly damaged by German bombing six miles 260° from Dungeness from convoy CW.3, escorted by destroyer VERSATILE. The steamer sank 6.7 miles 67° from Dungeness.
July 11 - Yacht WARRIOR II (R, 1,124t, 1904), sunk by aircraft off Portland.
July 12 – British steamer HORNCHURCH (2162grt) was sunk by German bombing off Aldeburgh Light Vessel, in 52-11-15N, 1-52-30E.
14 July - British steamer ISLAND QUEEN (779grt) of convoy CW.5 was badly damaged by German bombing four cables off A Buoy, Dover, east of Folkestone Gateway Light Vessel. ISLAND QUEEN sank in tow of British trawler KINGSTON ALALITE (412grt) later that day one half mile 350° from Folkestone Light Vessel.
Belgian trawler PROVIDENTIA (139grt) was sunk by German bombing in 49-55N, 9-12W.
15 July - British steamer HEWORTH (2855grt) in convoy FN.223 was damaged by German bombing ten miles south of Aldeburgh Light Vessel. The British steamer was taken in tow for Harwich, but was grounded three cables 267° from East Shipwash Buoy.
British steamer CITY OF LIMERICK (1359grt) was sunk by German bombing, 100 miles 270° from Ushant in 48 39N, 07 12W.
Polish steamer ZBARAZ (2088grt) in convoy FN.223 was badly damaged by German bombing ten miles south of Aldeburgh Light Vessel. The steamer was taken in tow by tug ST OLAVES, but sank near South Ship Head Buoy.
Portuguese steamer ALPHA (853grt) was sunk by German bombing in 48 51N, 06 34W.
17 July - Estonian steamer LEOLA (554grt) was sunk by German bombing in 49 00N, 07 30W, sixty miles east of the Scillies.
July 19 - Tanker/oiler WAR SEPOY (5,574t, 1919), damaged by aircraft off Dover. Constructive total loss
Trawler CRESTFLOWER (550t, 1930), foundered after damage by aircraft off Portsmouth.
July 20 - Destroyer BRAZEN (1,360t, 1931), sunk by aircraft off Dover, S England
British steamer PULBOROUGH (960grt) from convoy CW.7 was sunk by German bombing two and a half miles southeast, south of Dover Pier.
21 July - British steamer TERLINGS (2318grt) was sunk by German bombing ten miles southwest of St Catherine's Point.
July 24 - Trawler FLEMING (R, 356t, 1929), sunk by aircraft, Thames Estuary.
Trawler KINGSTON GALENA (550t, 1934), sunk by aircraft off Dover.
Trawler RODINO (R, 230t, 1913), sunk by aircraft off Dover.
July 25 – (concentrated attack on CW.8)
German air attacks sank British steamers CORHAVEN (991grt) off Dover, POLGRANGE (804grt) off Dover, LEO (1140grt) off Dover, HENRY MOON (1091grt) two miles off Folkestone, and PORTSLADE (1091grt) four to five miles northeast of Dungeness.
July 27 – (concentrated attack on Dover)
Destroyer CODRINGTON (Leader, 1,540t, 1930), bombed and sunk in Dover Harbour, S England
Destroyers WREN (Cdr F. W. G. Harker) was sunk in 52 10N, 02 06E
28 July - British steamer ORLOCK HEAD (1563grt) was badly damaged by German bombing in 58 44N, 04 21W. The steamer was hit by three bombs and was also damaged by strafing. Steamer ORLOCK HEAD sank later that day 6.7 miles 320° from Strathie Point.
July 29 - Destroyer DELIGHT (1,375t, 1933), bombed and sunk off Portland, S England
Yacht GULZAR (R, 197t, 1934), sunk in air attack, Dover Harbour.
British steamer GRONLAND (1264grt), which had been damaged on the 25th, was sunk in outer Dover Harbour by German bombing.
Total 12 naval and 28 merchant vessels.
In August although the campaign continued through the 12th when the Stuka operations were broken off, only 6 RN vessels were sunk in Channel waters.
Why, yes, it is hard to believe, since most RAF operations already extended beyond the coast, while through mid-August most Luftwaffe operations barely went inland. The Jagdwaffe endurance simply wasn't good enough even in the shorter ranged missions, gaining at most some 5 to 10 minutes. It improves Luftwaffe endurance marginally, but is hardly dramatic enough to be remarked upon.I know it's a hard thing to believe, but based on that assumption, the Luftwaffe then has more fuel to conserve for what they are doing & where thay are doing it, while the RAF has less fuel to use as they are having to fly farther to engage the Luftwaffe in combat than they normally would.