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The Battle Of Britain: Dowding and the First Victory, 1940 (Cassell Military Paperbacks)
 
 
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The Battle Of Britain: Dowding and the First Victory, 1940 (Cassell Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

by John Ray (Author) "The campaign to replace Dowding was well under way even before the opening of the Battle of Britain ..." (more)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Phoenix; New edition edition (3 Aug 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0304356778
  • ISBN-13: 978-0304356775
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 441,735 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #54 in  Books > History > Military History > Battles & Campaigns > Battle of Britain

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Product Description

Product Description
Based on over a decade of new resarch into the Battle of Britain, this book examines Dowding's tactics in detail, relating how everyday he was under personal attack from rivals who wanted different ideas and air defences.

About the Author
Dr John Ray has taught history for forty years. In 1988 he retired from a large secondary school in Kent to undertake postgraduate research on Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding and the Battle of Britain. His subsequent book The Battle of Britain: New Perspectives, published in 1994, sought to re-examine the complicated political and military background to that most important struggle. He is author of more than thirty earlier books, mostly for secondary school students preparing for examinations.
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The campaign to replace Dowding was well under way even before the opening of the Battle of Britain. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A masterful peeling away of the myths to explain the facts, 12 Aug 2008
By Siriam (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
The Battle of Britain will always be an emotive event in UK history given it represented the tipping point for Churchill and the UK in surviving to fight on and for Hitler in attacking Russia after failing to extract a negotiated peace out of the UK.

This well researched book is not about the battle per se but instead its leading figure Hugh Dowding, C in C of Fighter Command and the issue of command and leadership in the RAF that saw the personal style of the architect of the fighter strategy that had won the battle by September 1940 also lead to his dismissal in November 1940 for failing to respond to changed circumstances.

The book's approach is chronological taking the key events from July to November 1940 but because of the sheer volumes of data and records to be covered, which can make for pretty dense reading at times, follows within each chapter an approach of interlocking sub chapters on the key issues and events in play in that specific period. Details of the actual fighting become largely peripheral with the emphasis being on how the RAF command structure including the Air Ministry and the War Cabinet under Churchill interacted.

What makes the book so effective is its explanation and understanding of the different forces at play. As Dowding entered the Summer of 1940 he was facing constant attempts because of his age and period in position to be moved on, plus a reputation for being aloof as shown by his nickname "Stuffy". Yet despite this personal pressure together with his loyal No 2 Keith Park, in charge of No. 11 Group that took the main brunt of the battle, he was following a strategy he had developed and implemented over many years of the defensive use of limited fighter resources and an emphasis on stopping the bombers getting through. This caused unacceptable losses on a poorly executed German air offensive where the disconnection with ground forces that had existed under the prior successful blitzkriegs proved fatal. However this also replayed a long standing internal RAF conflict on differing views over bombers that had existed since pre-WWII, when Dowding had developed his views.

This leads into the much debated Big Wing theory proposed in the summer by Douglas Bader and his No. 12 Group commander Leigh Mallory and never accepted as practically feasible at the time by Dowding or Park. The author shows how it has been both misunderstood and misinterpreted (plus relied on questionable data as to its potential success) but had in fact become largely irrelevant by Autumn 1940 with the move towards night bombing by the Luftwaffe. Alongside this Dowding's lack of effective leadership over the tension between Park and Leigh Mallory (who felt his resources were not being adequately used during the summer conflict) simply prepared the ground for others to attack his subsequent failure to understand and react in a convincing and pragmatic way as the levels of night bombing and high civilian casualties across the UK increased as the Blitz commenced. The simple fact that at the time most German bombers could only carry a light tonnage of bombs can now be seen as an unappreciated blessing.

It seems clear that the long held Air Ministry view that Dowding would never listen to alternative viewpoints was fully reinforced as they with older RAF leadership who actively worked to remove Dowding, took ownership of this issue and under the ambitious but very able Douglas isolated Dowding as he lost the support by the end of October of his two biggest supporters Churchill and Beaverbrook, but only after his intransigent approach had been seen firsthand by Churchill.

However what transforms this book from being good to great is that its detailed analysis of why certain actions were needed, in turn demystifies the various conspiracy theories that have developed since 1940. Dowding's subsequent incorrect recollection of events and a defensive biography on him written by Robert Wright a former PA to Dowding, plus Len Deighton's popular book and the late 1960s UK movie on the subject offset by the official subsequent treatment of Dowding until after his death, are all shown to have been accepted uncritically by too many.

If this book goes to a reprint one simple plea is that a simple chart of the RAF command structure so that the relative positions of the characters can be better understood by a non-RAF reader would assist greatly what is despite that a very thoughtful and provoking read!
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