Spitfire vs Bf 109: Battle of Britain
(Duel) by Tony Holmes
Excellent!
Churchills words, never was so much owed by so many to so few, came to
encapsulate how, in a few critical months, the entire fate of the British
Empire, if not the war, hung in the balance, to be determined not by world
leaders or armies of millions, but by a handful of pilots fighting tirelessly in
the skies over Britain.
Tony Holmes describes the key conflict of the Battle of Britain, the clash
between the Spitfire and the Bf 109 - detailing not only the key elements of
both aircraft types - the airframe, engine, armament and flying
characteristics, but also the pilots training and both British and German
tactics. The growing influence of radar and the efforts of British coastal
defences are also examined, as are real-life engagements - from both
German and British perspectives. With a wealth of previously unpublished

material including first-hand accounts from the veterans who strapped
themselves into these now legendary machines as well as lavish
illustrations and cockpit-view artwork, this book puts the reader in the midst
of a dogfight. This is a unique insight into one of the greatest duels of
history in the worlds first major aerial battle.
Personal Review: Spitfire vs Bf 109: Battle of Britain (Duel) by
Tony Holmes
Osprey's Duel No. 5, Spitfire vs. Bf 109, is a well-put together package that
combines both a high graphic quality and a penetrating level of research
that underpins the author's narrative. The author, Tony Holmes, is an
aviation expert well familiar with this topic and some of the pilots involved
and thus succeeds in providing a great deal of credibility to this effort. The
duel for supremacy between the British Royal Air Force Spitfire fighters
versus the Luftwaffe's Bf 109 fighters over England in the summer of 1940
is one of the classic air campaigns in military history and this volume puts it
in sharp perspective. Overall, this is an excellent volume, well worth adding
even if you already have a book or two on the Battle of Britain.
This volume begins with a 12-page section on the design and
development of both the Spitfire and the Bf 109. A 2-page chronology that
highlights key dates in the development of both aircraft is also provided.
One interesting point that the author makes here is that neither Vickers
Supermarine or Messerschmitt had any experience building fighters, but
they both succeeded in designing and building world-class fighter planes.
The author also points out that the Spitfire was a fairly complicated aircraft
and took twice as long to build as a Bf 109. The author then moves into a
10-page section on technical specifications, which essentially lists the main
characteristics of each variant of the Bf-109E and the Spitfire I/II. This
section was good, but lacks a direct comparison between the two fighter's
main characteristics, such as maneuverability and firepower. No
information is provided about characteristics critical in a dogfight, such as
turning rate, ability to dive, etc. Straight up comparisons between the
speed of a Bf 109 and a Spitfire don't tell us much. These early sections
also have four nice color plates depicting 3-way views of both fighters, as
well as the internal layout of their weaponry.
The section entitled `Strategic Situation' consists of nine pages that
essentially lays out the conditions of the Battle of Britain. Maps depicting
both British and German fighter bases are included. The following 11-page
section, `the Combatants,' covers the British and German fighter pilots who
fought in the Battle of Britain. A full-page profile of Flying Officer Brian
Carbury (15 Bf 109 kills) and Hauptmann Herbert Ihlefeld (15 Spitfires
killed) is provided, as well as discussions of British and German pilot
training. Between previous combat experience in Spain, Poland and
France and better pre-war flight training, the Luftwaffe fighter pilots appear
to have had an edge over their RAF opponents in 1940. This section also
has color plates with the interior of both plane's cockpits.

The 16-page section on combat is well-written but a bit short and
focuses on tactics rather than first-person accounts. As the author notes,
British pre-war fighter tactics were too focused on defeating massed
bomber formations. Technological choices, such as the use of small-
caliber machineguns for armament, meant that the Spitfire was initially
optimized for an anti-bomber role and given faulty tactics. The British
penchant for formation flying in 3-plane vics - which the Luftwaffe pilots
dubbed `rows of idiots' - initially forced Spitfire units to fight in unwieldy
formations that were vulnerable to German slashing attacks. Amazingly,
the pre-war RAF had not considered how to deal with bombers escorted by
fighters. On the other hand, the Luftwaffe started with very flexible rotte
and schwarm tactics learned from prior combat and were very successful
at picking off `tail end charlies' in large British formations. However, as the
author sees it, the RAF gradually abandoned their cumbersome pre-war
tactics while the Germans sacrificed their superior tactics by chaining their
fighters in close escort to the bombers. Perhaps the most interesting
section of this volume is "Statistics and Analysis," which provides some
hard data to back up the author's narrative. Overall, the Bf-109 pilots
achieved a 1.2:1 kill ratio during the Battle of Britain, which was not
enough to achieve air superiority. He makes interesting points about which
units scored the most kills and how the German system was optimized for
a few elite pilots to make most of the kills while the rest were little more
than supporting players. The author provides a chart listing the top Spitfire
and Bf 109 killers for each side. This volume also has a nice color battle
scene and a number of sketch diagrams of fighter tactics.
While the author provides a fair degree of balance throughout the
volume, it is clear that he favors the British Spitfire over the Bf-109, while
admitting that technically the two fighters were evenly matched in 1940.
Given the better German fighter tactics and more experienced pilots, it
would seem that the Bf 109 squadrons probably had the edge in most
situations in the early phases of the Battle of Britain. The author only
passes lightly over the range limitation issue, but had the Germans taken
the simple step of issuing spare fuel drop tanks to their Bf 109s in August
1940, they might have gained the ability to conduct extended dogfights
over England instead of 20-minute zip over/zip back attacks. Furthermore,
the author subscribes to the cherished British notion that the Battle of
Britain was a decisive victory and a major turning point in the war, but it
was more like a goal-line stand that denied German victory, rather than
achieving any real victory for Britain. Indeed, the author deigns to mention
pin-prick British fighter raids on France in 1941 but fails to mention that the
Blitz continued to inflict large numbers of British casualties for some time.
Ultimately, the duel between the Spitfire and the Bf 109 was called on
account of Barbarossa, with the first round (Dunkirk) going to Germany
and the second (August-October 1940) going to Britain.
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