You hear stories of the first Battle of Britain and Kursk but I can’t imagine they were as concentrated or as intense as this one was. It seemed that both sides decided to pull out all the stops and go for it. Units from Groups 10 and 12, even 13 wanted to strap on tanks and make the trip. The Reds were in perfect position for this fight and they knew it. In hindsight they may had lured out our scattered forces and had us committing them piecemeal. They were coming in dribs and drabs as well, but they now had us out numbered 10 to one by all accounts strategically. It was to be our last hurrah or our greatest victory. Instead of a death by a thousand cuts the pilots wanted to put it all in. We were tired of playing “sardine” where one of us found a safe haven and others tried to join in. I guess that’s what makes a good fighter pilot. The chance to win it all. Cooler heads tried to prevail but with the Reds attacking our Chain Home towers we needed to do something. Fighter Command blinked first which probably saved many lives that day but would have lost the battle if the Yanks hadn’t started their operations elsewhere.
I mean we only had 200 serviceable fighters in all of 10-13 group and they were all on their way to the Battle over London when cooler heads prevailed. Faced with 1000 commie fighters and twin engine attack planes vectoring in from all over the British Isles it was probably a good call. I wasn’t involved in that end of the operation and was trying to fend for myself. Somehow I got back safely and had two kills for my days work. I was about to go up again when my squadrons hiding place was uncovered. Swain was trailing smoke from his Spit that could be seen for miles trailing behind him and that led them straight to us. You can’t blame him. He claims he couldn’t even see it from his viewpoint and I believe him. The light was such that he probably couldn’t see it, but Ivan could and hit us hard.
All our serviceable planes were gone in 10 minutes. This kind of thing was happening all over. There were just too many of them. They were tenacious as well. Never quitting combat always attacking. This made them easier to shoot down at times but when there are so many of them and they are always boring in on you it gets to be quite bothersome and eventually deadly. We could have beat them that day if we had even a hundred more planes. As it was we returned home with our tails between our legs and many of us got hammered when we landed. It really is hell to be so outnumbered and the truth of it is that we had plenty of pilots, good pilots. Just no bloody planes for them to fly. It was beer and skittles for us from now on.
Those initial raids on our Maintenance Units really did the trick. Not only did they destroy hundreds of surplus planes but they shot up the mechanics pretty well. A real cock up by the top brass. I can’t say as I would have thought those old planes as valuable either. Bloody Reds seem to be one step ahead of us on this one. I would have protected the factories, petrol tanks, munitions and radar myself before even giving a second thought to old Spitfires.
But just like the Japs and Krauts their luck has to run out sooner or later. At least that’s what keeps us going. Even near the end of the last war Jerry almost caught us in the Ardennes. I mean we had complete and I mean utterly complete air superiority and yet he managed to sneak 10 divisions under our very noses while being bombed day and night.
In this business you can never let your guard down, never.
Colonel — General Konstantin Virshinin, Commander of the 4th Air Army, seems totally relaxed as he downs a small glass of vodka and lights up a cigarette and sits on the edge of the large desk of his superior. It is late and he has stayed behind after a staff meeting, much to the annoyance of Chief Marshal of Aviation, Alexander Novikov.
“Time to blind RAF Fighter Command Comrade Novikov.”
Marshal Novikov is not pleased with his subordinate’s familiarity and it shows in his body language, which Virshinin seems to ignore.
“I agree comrade Vershinin, but we must not relent on the pressure of attacking the airfields and keeping them non-functional.”
“We can do both comrade.”
“I am transferring a hundred fighter squadrons to the South at the end of the month so we must finish and be done with the English soon. You will follow them there and take command. Your old stomping grounds I believe.”
Virshinin takes on the persona of a teacher and proceeds to pontificate.
“I suggest that reducing the British radar capabilities will severely weaken their resolve comrade Marshal. We can track and triangulate their radar positions quite well now and the Germans from the GEMA factory,[42] those two Yankee spies comrade Beria keeps hidden, and the captured Amerikosi and British radar sets we sent back from Germany and France have been put to good use. They may be able to see our planes positions with their superior radar, but we can now see where their radar is and attack it. I have arranged for special radar hunting units to be assembled and they are ready for your orders comrade. I suggest that we need to blind the RAF now and be done with it.”
Novikov looks straight at Virshinin and slowly replies.
“Bold words Konstantin. Do you have the balls to carry it through?”
Virshinin seems not to notice the warning in Novikov’s tone and continues to relax and talk in the familiar as equal to equal.
“The time is right comrade. With the NKVD’s information, and knowledge we have gained from captured radar sets, it is time to pluck out the eyes of the British once and for all. That would bring them to their knees I am certain. They are a stubborn people, as the Nazi war criminals discovered to their dismay. Losing their eyes just might prove to be the deciding factor.”
Novikov drops his menacing tone for the moment, and seems interested in listening to what Virshinin has to say.
“How many squadrons are needed for your project?”
Once again Virshinin starts to pontificate and walks around Novikov’s office like he belongs there.
“There are close to 100 Chain Home stations operating now. Each squadron should be able to bring down the stations at a rate of two a day. We will attack the towers at their base unlike the Germans. The bases of the towers will be obliterated at our leisure thanks to the excellent plan you devised comrade which has devastated their air operations. You have swept the skies clean by taking away their nests comrade. My pilots will enjoy the bombing practice unmolested by either birds of prey or pesky fly swatters shooting at them from the ground.
The Chain Home Low stations are somewhat mobile. We will have to hunt them down and that will take time. They have a very limited range and only look at low altitudes. If they turn them on then we will catch them. If they leave them off then they are of no use. Many of the stations are on the coast and even our old Pe2s can reach them with ease. It will give the old planes one more chance at glory.”
Vershinin starts to relax even more.
“I once flew the Pe2 in combat comrade.”
Novikov turns away obviously showing distain for what is to follow and starts to light a cigar.
“Yes, I have heard the story many times Colonel-General Vershinin.”
Somewhat taken aback Vershinin replies.
“Then I will not bore you again comrade Marshal.”
“Good!”
Vershinin quickly recovers his composure.
“If you give me 20 squadrons of ground attack aircraft I will create large gaps in their vision in two weeks and pluck out their eyes in three.”
Novikov once again pauses and speaks very slowly and with much emphasis to drive home the point.
“You will have 30 squadrons and two weeks to completely destroy the British radar network.”