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    American Pilots In The Battle Of Britain
    American Pilots In The Battle Of Britain
    American Pilots In The Battle Of Britain
    Ebook81 pages55 minutes

    American Pilots In The Battle Of Britain

    By Major John D. Lauher

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    This study determines the extent of American pilot participation as members of the Royal Air Force, flying in the Battle of Britain. It also examines the recruiting mechanism by which the Americans became involved in the war and documents their contributions as combat pilots during the battle itself.
    Research reveals that, while many American citizens were recruited to fly for Britain during the summer of 1940, only six Americans are known to have actually participated in the Battle of Britain, fought between 12 August and 15 September 1940. These men not only demonstrated America’s determination to support her allies, but materially contributed to Britain’s cause by destroying two and one half enemy aircraft, probably destroying five others, and damaging two more during their brief RAF careers.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLucknow Books
    Release dateAug 15, 2014
    ISBN9781782895213
    American Pilots In The Battle Of Britain

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      Book preview

      American Pilots In The Battle Of Britain - Major John D. Lauher

       This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1980 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2013, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      AMERICAN PILOTS IN THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

      by Major John D. Lauher

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      ABSTRACT

      AMERICAN PILOTS IN THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN, by Major John D. Lauher, USAF.

      This study determines the extent of American pilot participation as members of the Royal Air Force, flying in the Battle of Britain. It also examines the recruiting mechanism by which the Americans became involved in the war and documents their contributions as combat pilots during the battle itself.

      Research reveals that, while many American citizens were recruited to fly for Britain during the summer of 1940, only six Americans are known to have actually participated in the Battle of Britain, fought between 12 August and 15 September 1940. These men not only demonstrated America’s determination to support her allies, but materially contributed to Britain’s cause by destroying two and one half enemy aircraft, probably destroying five others, and damaging two more during their brief RAF careers.

      LIST OF FIGURES

      Theater of Operations

      Disposition of British Fighter Forces

      London’s Defensive Array

      CHAPTER I — INTRODUCTION

      BACKGROUND

      The Battle of Britain, although small in scale compared with subsequent fighting, was nevertheless one of the decisive battles of the Second World War. It was not until victory was gained that Churchill received the wholehearted support of the British public and the option of petitioning for a compromise peace with Hitler was rejected. Equally important was the conversion of American opinion to the belief that the British, given help, might win the war. While there is little new here for anyone familiar with the events of August and September 1940, what is less widely known is that a handful of neutral Americans were already providing assistance to Britain while serving as pilots in the Royal Air Force (RAF). These same men were later to form the nucleus of the more well-known American Eagle Squadrons.

      While it is generally accepted that the Battle of Britain was the turning point of World War II for the British, the battle’s well documented history noticeably lacks information concerning American participation. An analysis of this support would be valuable as a source of national pride, and might also provide the background necessary to understand why American fighter tactics were influenced by British aviators.

      PURPOSE

      The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of American pilot participation during the Battle of Britain, to examine the recruiting mechanism by which the Americans became involved in the war, and to document their contributions as Royal Air Force pilots during the battle itself. This information will serve others interested in the Battle of Britain by expanding current knowledge in an area that until now has been largely overlooked.

      CONSTRAINTS

      Data for this study was primarily from secondary sources since none of the Americans known to have flown in the Battle of Britain survived past 11 September 1942.

      During the research process, newspaper reports had to be correlated with published data and discrepancies identified had to be resolved. One individual was; particularly helpful in resolving documentary conflict. Major General Chesley G. Peterson, USAF (Retired), arrived in England shortly after the conclusion of the Battle of Britain, and was one of the founding members of No. 71 Eagle Squadron, the first ail-American squadron in the RAF during World War II. General Peterson personally knew five of the six Americans known to have flown during the battle and his recent recollections proved invaluable in documenting and confirming published data.

      The geographical problem associated with the storage of Battle of Britain squadron records in England, and the fact that some of that

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