THEIR FINEST HOUR: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN REFERENCE CARD AMIGA 500, 1000, 2000 This card provides startup instructions for playing Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain on an Amiga 500, 1000, or 2000 computer. You'll also find additional Mission Instructions, including a list of keyboard controls for flying all three types of aircraft in Their Finest Hour. The information on this card describes how to: load and play Their Finest Hour from floppy disks install the program on a hard disk drive save your Combat Records on floppy disk load the Mission Builder fly a quick training mission(Quick Start) use the Radio Frequency Cipher Wheel to tune your aircraft radio Before proceeding with these instructions, you should examine the READ.ME text file on Disk 1 to learn of any last minute updates to the program, the Mission Builder, or the manual. To access this file: 1. Insert Disk 1 into any disk drive. 2. Type type read.me and press RETURN. GAME CONTROLLERS You can use a mouse, a joystick, or the keyboard controls when playing Their Finest Hour. MEMORY REQUIREMENTS The more available free memory you have in your computer, the more game features you'll be able to use. Examine the READ.ME file on Disk 1 for more details. You can play Their Finest Hour on a 512K machine, but you'll hear no sound effects and certain graphic enhancements will be missing. Also, a 512K machine only allows you to run the program from floppy disks, and you'll be unable to use a hard drive. Sound effects, enhanced graphics, and the ability to run the game on a hard drive are features available only on machines with 1MB of memory or more. LOADING INSTRUCTIONS PACKAGE CONTENTS The game package contains the following items: one Game Manual two 3.5-inch disks, labeled "Disk 1" and "Disk 2" one Radio Frequency Cipher Wheel one Reference Card one Registration Card one Game Catalog 2 If you're missing any of these items, please contact Lucasfilm Games Customer Support at 1-415-662-1902. RUNNING THE PROGRAM FROM FLOPPY DISK NOTE: Running Their Finest Hour from a hard drive will greatly reduce loading and running times. To install the program on a hard drive, please refer to the Hard Drive Installation section of this Reference Card. Since Their Finest Hour is not copy-protected, we urge you to make backup copies of the two game disks by following the instructions in your Amiga manual. If you use the Duplicate function from the Workbench, you must change the name of Disk 1 to "bob1, " and Disk 2 must be renamed "bob2". COLD START If your Amiga hasn't been started up yet: 1. Turn on the computer. 2. When you're asked for the Workbench disk, insert Disk 1 into drive df0:. 3. Insert Disk 2 into any drive when prompted. WARM START If your Amiga is already up and running: 1. Take out the Workbench disk. 2. Insert Disk 1 into drive df0:. 3. Press the Ctrl key and the two Amiga keys simultaneously. 4. Insert Disk 2 into any drive when prompted. HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION To install Their Finest Hour on a hard drive: 1. Starting from the CLI, type cd, a space, the name of your hard drive and a colon. For example, if you're starting from a hard drive named "dh0, "you'd type cd dh0:/ 2. Press RETURN. 3. Type makedir bob1940 and press RETURN. 4. Insert Disk 1 into any drive. 5. Type Copy bob1: bob1940 ALL QUIET and press RETURN. 6. Insert Disk 2 into any drive. 7. Type Copy bob2: bob1940 ALL QUIET and press RETURN. 8. Type cd bob1940 and press RETURN. 9. Type copy bob1940.info / and press RETURN. 10. Type delete bob1940.info and press RETURN. The program will now be installed on your hard drive. 3 STARTING UP FROM A HARD DRIVE When playing from a Hard Drive, you can start up the program from either the Workbench or the CLI. From the Workbench: 1. Click on the hard drive icon containing the "bob1940" directory. 2. When the window opens, click on the drawer labeled "bob1940." 3. When the drawer opens, click on the icon labeled "bob." This will start up the program. To start up the program from the CLI: 1. Get to the CLI prompt, and typed cd, followed by a space, the name of your hard drive, and a colon. 2. Press RETURN. 3. Type cd bob1940 and press RETURN. 4. Type bob and press RETURN. The program will now start up. SAVING COMBAT RECORDS ON A FLOPPY DISK If you're running the program from floppy disks and wish to save pilot and crew records, Custom Missions, Campaign Missions, and combat film replays, you must format a floppy disk before you start the game. This disk must be titled "bobdata." At various times throughout the game, the program will ask you to insert this data disk. If you're running the program from a hard drive, your Combat Records will automatically be saved in the "bob1940" directory. To format a disk from the Workbench: 1. Insert a blank disk into any drive. 4 2. Select the disk icon. 3. Choose Initialize from the disk menu. 4. Choose Rename from the Workbench menu after the disk has been initialized. 5. Use the Cursor key and the Delete Key to erase the word "Empty". 6. Type bobdata and press RETURN. To format a disk from the CLI: 1. Insert a blank disk into any drive. 2. Type format drive, the name of your drive a colon, the word name, and then bobdata. For example if you're formatting a disk in drive df1, you'd type:format drive df1:name bobdata. Be sure to include the proper spaces when you're typing. 3. Press RETURN. LOADING INSTRUCTIONS: MISSION BUILDER Since the Mission Builder is a separate utility from the game program, you must use a special procedure to start it up. If you've been running Their Finest Hour from a hard disk, you can access the Mission Builder from either the Workbench or the CLI. To access the Mission Builder from the Workbench, simply click on the icon labeled "mb" that you'll find in the "bob1940" drawer. To access the Mission Builder from the CLI, you'll need to get into the "bob1940" directory: 1. Type cd bob1940 and press RETURN. 2. Type mb and press RETURN. If you're running the game from floppy disks, follow the procedure described under "Cold Start" or "Warm Start, " but insert Disk 2 when you're asked for the Workbench disk. To continue, see Using the Mission Builder in the Appendix section of the manual. QUICK START Follow these instructions if you'd like to take Their Finest Hour for a quick test flight. 1. Load and start up the program by following the Loading Instructions above. A title screen will appear, followed by the Main Menu. 2. Select FLY TRAINING FLIGHT from the Main Menu by clicking on it. An Aircraft Selection menu will appear. 3. Click on SPITFIRE. A Spitfire Training Flights menu will appear. 5 4. Click on SPITFIRE #2. You'll then be sent to Flight Briefing, which contains a large map of Southern England, the English Channel, and Continental Europe, along with a row of buttons at the bottom of the screen. 5. Click on the GO FLIGHT button. You'll soon find yourself flying in a Spitfire over the chilly waters of the English Channel. Several Luftwaffe Bf 109 fighters are flying around, but won't fire back at you. Your fighter has unlimited fuel and ammunition, and can't crash. Your mission objective is to shoot down all the German fighters. Refer to the Single Seat Fighter Cockpit Controls section in the Mission Instructions:In- Flight chapter of the manual for more information about flying your fighter and using its machine guns. If you need to pause the flight, press ALT-P. To end your mission, type Q at any time. This will first give you a post-flight evaluation, then return you to the Main Menu. You may also press esc at any time during your mission to leave the program. For more comprehensive instructions, turn to the Mission Instructions:Pre-Flight chapter of the manual. KEYBOARD REFERENCE The following keys are a summary of the controls used in Their Finest Hour. For a more detailed discussion of the cockpit controls for each of the three types of aircraft in the game(single-seat fighters, double-seat fighters and dive bombers, and medium bombers), see the Mission Instructions:In-Flight chapter of the manual. GAME CONTROLS KEY FUNCTION ALT P Pauses game; press any key to continue. ALT S Turns all game sounds off and on. ALT E Turns engine sound off and on. ALT V Gives version number of game. ALT G Changes amount of ground detail to any of three settings to speed up game if it is running sluggishly. ESC Exits the game.(If you're playing from a hard drive, you'll leave the program. If you're playing from floppy disks, you'll need to reboot the system.) 6 WEAPONS CONTROLS KEY FUNCTION KEY FUNCTION Left mouse Fire forward machine T Toggles between normal button or guns(fighter), or gunner and accelerated time SPACE BAR position machine W Gives you the location gun(all other aircraft) of your aircraft ------------ -------------------------- J Lets you and your crew Right mouse Fires 20 mm cannon if any, jump from the button or (Bf 109 and Bf 110 only) plan and parachute to period(.) key safety ------------- -------------------------- Q End mission;send you to RETURN Drops bombload postflight evaluation (except fighters) VIEW CONTROLS ------------- -------------------------- Joystick button Fire machine guns or cannon 8 Forward view (see X below) 6 View right ------------- -------------------------- 4 View left X Lets you toggle joystick 3 View straight down button between machine guns 9 Scan view and cannon (Bf 109 and Bf 110 only) S Lets you toggle between bomb- SWITCHING TO DIFFERENT POSITIONS load settings (dive bombers and medium bombers only) G Moves you to gunner A Fires gunner position machine position (except guns automatically fighters) COCKPIT CONTROLS B Moves you to bombardier KEY FUNCTION position (medium bombers + Increase throttle (shift key only) not needed) P Moves you to pilot - Decreases throttle position (except L Lowers and raises landing gear fighters (except Ju 87 Stuka) 7 Toggles you between F Lowers and raises flaps pilot and gunner D Extends and retracts dive positions (except brakes (Ju 87 Stuka and Ju 88 fighters) only) MOVING TO DIFFERENT GUN POSITIONS C Turns replay camera on and off (medium bombers only) R Sends you to Review Combat 8 Nose gunner Film to watch your replay 6 Right fuselage gunner camera movie (except Ju 88) M Sends you to In-Flight Map/ 4 Left fuselage gunner Radio (except Ju 88) A Turns on automatic pilot 5 Belly gunner (lower fuselage, rear-facing) 2 Dorsal gunner (upper fuselage, rear-facing) 7 TUNING YOUR RADIO WITH THE RADIO FREQUENCY CIPHER WHEEL Inside your game box you'll find a wheel with various German unit insignias around its perimeter. This is the Radio Frequency Cipher Wheel. You'll use it to tune the frequency of your plane's radio so you can receive vital information about your enemy aircraft sightings. These sightings will be shown on the In-Flight Map/Radio, and you'll also be given information about the number and type of enemy aircraft, their altitude, and their course. If you don't tune your radio properly, you won't be able to tune your radio properly, you won't be able to receive any enemy sighting reports, which will greatly hinder your chances of a successful mission. When you first begin a mission you'll be in the cockpit of your chosen aircraft. You'll need to tune the frequency of the cockpit radio if the light next to it is not lit. You'll also receive on-screen reminders to tune your radio. To move to the In-Flight Map/Radio screen, where you can tune your radio, press M. Once you're at the In-Flight Map/Radio: 1. Click on the TUNE RADIO button at the bottom of the screen. 2. Move the Radio Frequency Cipher Wheel around, until the notch lines up with the unit insignia on the wheel's perimeter that matches the insignia on the screen. 3. Look on the inner wheel of the Radio Frequency Cipher Wheel, and find the airfield name on the wheel, you'll see a window with three colored numbers inside. These three numbers together make up your correct radio frequency. 4. Click on the up and down arrow icons to select the correct numbers. 5. Click on the color display on the screen to select the correct colors for each number. Make sure that the three colored numbers in the window match the ones you've just selected on the screen. 6. Click on the color display on the screen to select the correct colors for each number. Make sure that the three colored numbers in the window match the ones you've just selected on the screen. 7. Click on the DONE button when you've finished setting the radio frequency. If your radio is tuned properly, the light at the top of the screen next to the frequency display will now be illuminated. 8. Click on the CONTINUE button to resume flight. For more information about the radio, turn to the In-Flight Map/Radio section of the Mission Instructions: Pre-Flight chapter of the manual. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 6 MISSION INSTRUCTIONS: IN-FLIGHT 84 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 8 Flight Controls 87 Prelude to Battle 10 Game Controls 87 Operation Sea Lion 12 Single-Seat Fighter Controls 88 The Luftwaffe: July 1940 13 Double-Seat Fighter and Dive Bomber The RAF: July 1940 16 Controls 94 The Development of Radar 13 Medium Bomber Controls 100 The Opening Phase: Kanalkampf 22 In-Flight Map/Radio 108 Adlertag: Eagle Day 26 MISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Black Thursday 31 POST-FLIGHT 110 A Change of Strategy 33 Ending Your Flight 112 The Crucial Phase 35 Mission Results 113 London:The Turning Point 40 Medals and Promotions 115 September 15: Battle of Britain Day 44 GERMAN AND BRITISH AIRCRAFT AND PILOTS' PERSPECTIVES 48 WEAPONS 118 MISSION INSTRUCTIONS: FLIGHT FUNDAMENTALS AND TACTICS 158 PRE-FLIGHT 62 Loading Instructions 64 Game Controllers 64 Main Menu 66 APPENDIX 180 Training Flights 67 Combat Flights 68 Custom Missions 68 Campaign Missions 69 Review Combat Records 75 Review Combat Film 76 Flight Briefing 79 Flight Roster 81 5 INSTRUCTIONS Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain is a World War II air combat simulation that recreates the duel between the German Luftwaffe and British Royal Air Force waged in the skies above Britain from July to September 1940. When you play Their Finest Hour, you can fly for either the offensive-minded Germans or the defensive-minded British, and you can choose from a variety of Luftwaffe fighters, dive bombers, and medium bombers, or Royal Air Force (RAF) fighters. If you're a British pilot, you're defending your home country from an onslaught of Luftwaffe bomber and fighter attacks. If you're a German pilot or crew member, you're tying to knock the RAF out of the air, as well as bomb land and sea targets, so that Operation Sea Lion - the invasion of England - can commence. Whichever side you choose - and we encourage you to play both - you'll experience a highly detailed, historically accurate recreation of those events from the summer of 1940, when the fate of the world was literally up in the air. In Their Finest Hour, you move through a series of menus to choose your missions and aircraft. You learn and practice the fundamentals of flying single-seat fighters, double-seat fighters and dive bombers, and medium bombers. Then, you can continue on to Combat Flights, where you take part in missions based on ones actually flown during the Battle of Britain. To put yourself in the role-playing mood, you create a pilot or an entire crew, and keep track of their progress in a Combat Record. If you're good enough, you'll win medals and promotions;if you're not, you'll discover the true price of glory. For an additional challenge you can fly in Campaign Missions, where you can actually change the historical outcome of the Battle of Britain. We've added a long list of extra features to make Their Finest Hour the richest most varied game of its kind. For example, in those aircraft with more than one crew member, you can man all the positions, including the bombardier, rear seat gunner, and any one of up to five medium bomber gun posts. With a special Replay Camera feature, you can "film" your combat action, then move to a special viewing room and watch your "movie" from a variety of different camera positions. Also, anytime during your mission, you can call up an In-Flight Map/Radio, which gives you detailed information about where you'll be flying and the targets you'll be attacking. And, for the ultimate challenge, you can actually create your own missions, and then see if you can survive them. We could tell you more, but you're probably eager to climb into the cockpit right away. So keep a steady hand, and good hunting! HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL Though this manual is nearly two hundred pages long, it doesn't mean that you'll be spending months learning to play the game. What you'll find between these covers is a wealth of historical background information, as well as details about the aircraft you'll be flying - and flying against. What's more, to help you master the art of piloting a plane, there's a detailed section covering flight controls for each of the three categories of aircraft in the game:single seat fighters, double seat fighters and dive bombers, and medium bombers. We recommend that you first turn to the Loading Instructions on your Reference Card, which you'll find inside the box that the game came in. This tells you how to start up the game from the floppy disks, and how to load them onto your computer's hard disk drive. Next, look at the Quick Start instructions, you'll soon be up in the air on a trial Training Flight. Now turn to Mission Instructions in your manual. This information is covered in three chapters:Pre Flight, In Flight, and Post Flight. In Pre Flight you'll learn how to select your mission, get your flight briefing, and choose your flight roster. In Flight gives you specific details about how to fly the different aircraft, drop bombs, use machine guns, and more. In Post Flight, you'll find out about your post flight review, plus how to win medals and promotions in rank. Then, when you've had some combat experience and want to know more about what happened during the Battle of Britain, read the Historical Overview and Pilots' Perspective chapters for both a historical and a personal view of the conflict. For more information about the aircraft that flew in the Battle of Britain, turn to the German and British Aircraft and Weapons chapter. Finally to become even more proficient as a pilot or crew member of a fighter, dive bomber, or medium bomber, read the Flight Fundamentals and Tactics chapter. 7 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW One of the great conflicts of the Second World War took place in the skies above Great Britain and the English Channel in the summer of 1940. This epic engagement, the Battle of Britain, pitted two nations against each other, one struggling for survival, the other striving for domination. For months the world held its breath while the British Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe dueled high above in the English sky. And when the battle was over, for the first time ever in the war, Germany had failed to gain a military objective and defeat an opponent. For the British, it was a glorious victory;for the Germans, it was a minor setback that could have had a different outcome had their leaders not changed their strategy when victory was within reach. Though there would be larger, more dramatic, and more decisive battles during the next five years, the Battle of Britain would nevertheless go down in history as one of the crucial turning point of World War II. PRELUDE TO BATTLE Adolf Hitler's election as chancelor of Germany in 1933 marked the beginning of Germany's reemergence as a world power. The war-weakened nations that had defeated Germany in World War I watched helplessly as Hitler proceeded to break the terms of the Versailles Treaty under which Germany had previously surrendered. In 1933, the German Army was organized and armed. Shortly afterward German troops reoccupied the demilitarized Rhineland, which was established as a buffer zone between Germany and France. And in 1933, the German Army invaded Austria, and incorporated it into Germany. The British government, led by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, tried to appease Germany, and in the process allowed the German Army to occupy the Sudeten area of Czechoslovakia. But when German troops invaded the rest of the nation, Britain and France decided that Germany had to be checked. Both countries signed an agreement to assist Poland if it was ever attacked by Germany. That day came on September 1, 1939, when the German Army crossed the Polish border; two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. 10 These two allied nations, reluctantly forced into war, were powerless to stop Germany's momentum. Poland fell before the British and French could help, then Denmark and Norway were invaded. After a brief lull, German tank divisions moved into the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg without warning on May 10, 1940. As the German Army pushed its way into France from the north, the British Expeditionary Force, which had been sent to help the French, was cut off and forced to retreat toward the Belgian coast. Pinned at the coastal town on Dunkirk, 338, 226 British and French troops were evacuated by 860 ships of all 11 sizes in Operation Dynamo. Although "the miracle at Dunkirk" saved the British Army from annihilation or capture, most of its tanks, guns, and heavy equipment were abandoned on the beach. With the British gone, French resistance flagged, and on June 22, the defeated French forces were granted an armistice by the Germans. Britain now stood alone against the Third Reich. OPERATION SEA LION With the fall of France, Hitler turned his attention toward Britain. At first, he believed that he could force the British to sign a peace treaty, like the French. But the new British prime minister, Winston Churchill, rejected the offer. Germany, he said, would have to relinquish all territorial gains before the British would negotiate. Otherwise, Britain would accept nothing less than total victory and the unconditional surrender of Germany. Realizing that the British were determined to fight to the end.Hitler concluded that Britain posed a grave threat as a hostile base from which landings on German occupied Europe could be launched. On June 4, Hitler signed Directive No. 16, which stated "Since England, in spite of her hopeless military situation, shows no signs of being ready to compromise, I have decided to prepare a landing operation against England, and, if necessary, to carry it out." The code name for this was Operation Sea Lion. Hitler's admirals argued that no invasion of Britain could take place until the 12 Luftwaffe had established air supremacy over the English Channel and Southern England. After all, it was British fighter cover over Dunkirk, flying in a shuttle from fighter bases in Southern England, that had blunted the Luftwaffe attacks on the British Army and allowed the evacuation to take place. If the Luftwaffe could control the air, the invasion barges could safely cross the Channel, and the German Army could land on the beaches of Southern England. Hitler agreed, and the invasion was set for September 1940;any later, and bad weather would render a Channel crossing next to impossible. Plans for knocking out the Royal Air Force (RAF) began to take shape. Airfields in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands were converted to Luftwaffe bases, then stocked with planes, fuel, ammunition, and bombs. Meanwhile, a variety of river barges were gathered, and work began on converting them to landing craft. THE LUFTWAFFE: JULY 1940 As nation after nation fell to Germany, the Luftwaffe, under Reichsmarshall Herman Goering, expanded its five areas of coverage. These areas were knows as Luftflotten, and were the largest tactical units in the Luftwaffe. Three of these Luftflotten were to launch the attack on Britain. The Luftflotte which had the most responsibility for the destruction of the RAF was Luftflotte 2, commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, a leader in the Polish conquest. With bases in Northeast France, Belgium, and the 13 Netherlands, Luftflotte 2 had the shortest distance to travel across the English Channel. Luftflotte 3 was based in Northwest and Central France, and its aircraft covered the longer distance across the Channel. Its leader was Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle, who had commanded Germany's Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War. Luftflotte 5, with bases in Norway and Denmark, was commanded by Generaloberst Hans-Juergen Stumpf. The smallest of the three units, its aircraft had the longest route to Britain across the North Sea. Between the three Luftflotten, there were 864 bombers, 248 dive bombers, 725 single-engine fighters, and 200 twin-engine fighters. Most of these aircraft had proved to be hugely successful in the Spanish Civil War and the recent conquest of Europe. But in those conflicts, they were used in combination with ground attack forces. Now they would be tested in a totally new and unfamiliar role: destroying an enemy air force single handedly. The strengths and weaknesses of these aircraft would prove to be a critical factor in the months ahead. Since Germany had failed to develop a long range four engine heavy bomber, the bombing tasks fell primarily to a pair of twin engine medium bombers, the Heinkel He 111 and the Dornier Do 17. The He 111, knows as Die Spaten, or "The Spade, "could carry a bombload of two tons, yet only manage a top speed of 273 miles per hour. The Do 17, nicknamed "The Flying Pencil" because of its thin fuselage, was slightly slower at 265 miles per hour, and could only carry about half the bombload of an He 111. These two aircraft were vulnerable to fighter attack from certain angles, and extra machine guns and armor were added. Despite their recent successes, the He 111 and the Do 17 were outmoded by 1940 standards. A newer, faster medium bomber, the Junkers Ju 88, began arriving at the airfields in France in mid 1940, but not in large enough numbers to replace the older bombers. Although the Ju 88 could also dive bomb, the main German dive bomber in 1940 was the Juners Ju 87 Sturzkampfflugzeug (dive attack aircraft). Otherwise knows as 14 the Stuka, the Ju 87 was successful in the Polish campaign, where its precise bombing ability and the scream from its landing gear mounted sirens, called the "trumpets of Jericho, " made it a favorite of the Nazi propaganda machine. But since most of the Polish air force had been destroyed on the ground, the Stuka had faced little opposition from fighters that could exploit its slow airspeed. In the area of fighters, the Luftwaffe was better prepared. The main German fighter in 1940 was the Messerschmitt Bf 109, one of the most formidable fighter aircraft in the world. Fast and highly maneuverable, the Bf 109 had proved to be nearly unstoppable in the Spanish Civil War and the European conquest. But it had a short range, which meant it could not cross the North Sea from the Luftflotte 5 bases, and if launched from France, could only stay in the skies above Britain for twenty minutes. However, Luftwaffe brass did not believe this to be a problem, for they already had a long range fighter developed primarily for escorting bombers. This was the Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer, or "Destroyer, "a twin engine aircraft heavily armed with two cannon and four machine guns in its nose. Because it was so large, however, it was not as maneuverable as smaller single engine fighters. Despite the drawbacks of its aircraft, the Luftwaffe enjoyed a numerical superiority over the RAF, with approximately two thousand bombers and fighters to the RAF's five hundred fighters. It had not yet suffered a defeat or any 15 significant losses. Its ranks were swelled with well-trained and battle-seasoned pilots and air crews. And it was facing a weakened, battered enemy struggling to regroup from its losses in France. THE RAF: JULY 1940 After the evacuation at Dunkirk, while Hitler and the Germans hesitated and debated their next move, the British quickly prepared for the invasion they felt would soon come. Barbed wire was strung along the beaches, barricades were erected, and signposts were torn down to confuse the invading German Army. Although most of the British Army was still intact, it had left scores of weapons on the beaches of France. Moreover, 25 percent of the British fighter aircraft force was destroyed on the Continent. Now, the war the British had been gradually preparing for since 1925 would be fought against a much stronger, better equipped enemy. The man most responsible for the defense of Britain from aerial attack was Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, head of Fighter Command, an organizational arm of the RAF created in 1936. Not only was Dowding in charge of the fighter aircraft defending Britain, but also the barrage balloons, which were attached to the ground by steel cables to ward off low flying aircraft, the Observer Corps, which 16 watched the skies and noted aircraft movement, and the anti aircraft guns. Since 1936, when Dowding took over as head of Fighter Command, the number of fighter aircraft, squadrons, and airfields had steadily increased. In 1940, Fighter Command divided fighter coverage over Britain into four groups:10 Group, 11 Group, 12 Group, and 13 Group. Of these, 11 Group was of the most strategic importance, since the territory it covered, Southeast England, was closest geographically to the Luftwaffe bases in France. Eleven Group was commanded by Air Vice Marshall Keith Park, a World War I veteran from New Zealand who had shot down twenty planes in that conflict. To the north of 11 Group was 12 Group, commanded by Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory. To this group fell the task of protecting the industrial midsection of Britain, as well as providing the industrial midsection of Britain, as well as providing a protective reserve of aircraft for 11 Group. North of 12 Group, and in charge of defending Northern England and Scotland, was 13 Group, headed by Air Vice Marshal Richard Saul. West of 11 Group, 10 Group protected Western England and was led by Air Vice Marshal Sir Christopher Quentin Brand. These four groups were divided into sectors, where various squadrons were based. Since the standards for RAF pilots were extremely high and the training period long, there was a near desperate shortage of fighter pilots. But Dowding refused to speed up the training process, and thus compromise the quality of future fighter pilots. Instead, "spare time flyers", pilots from the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, were added. In addition, volunteers from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United States plus exiles from the conquered nations of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France joined the RAF ranks. The refugee pilots, particularly the Czechs and Poles, possessed a burning hatred for the Nazis that would make them exceedingly daring and aggressive fighters in the weeks ahead. The two fighter planes which served as the backbone of Fighter Command were the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire, two fast monoplane fighters. The 17 Hurricane was the more abundant of the two, since it had been developed earlier. It was constructed of wood and fabric, covering a strong metal tube framework. As a result, it was less vulnerable to exploding cannon shells, and could be repaired rapidly on the ground even when it was severely damaged. The all metal Spitfire was more agile than the Hurricane, and was the only British fighter which could confront the Bf 109 on equal terms. Fast and highly maneuverable, it was based on a radical, oval wing design that was far ahead of its time. Several obsolete aircraft were also available to the RAF, including the Gloster Gladiator biplane, and the two seat Boulton Paul Defiant, with turreted machine guns that could only fire to the rear. But it was the Hurricane and the Spitfire that the hopes of the RAF rested. And the British also had one other defensive weapon of note in their possession: radar. THE DEVELOPMENT OF RADAR During the World War I, the German zeppelin and Gotha biplane bombing raids on Britain were usually spotted by observers on the ground and fighter patrols in the air. But in the period between the world wars, a specialized type of aircraft knows as the bomber was evolving in Europe. As the speed and bombload of the bomber increased, British politicians of the 1930s became increasingly worried. With Britain being so close to countries on the Continent, they envisioned a scenario where fast bombers would fly the short distance to one of Britain's major cities, and attack without being detected. With a shortage of planes and pilots, keeping round the clock fighter patrols airborne was next to impossible. Something else had to be done. In the popular fiction of the day, a weapon called the "death ray"was frequently used to kill air crews and disable aircraft. The director of Scientific Research for the Air Ministry, H. E. Wimperis, felt it was only right to investigate whether such a weapon could actually be built. He asked Robert Watson-Watt, a radio expert at the National Physical Laboratories. If the death 18 ray stories had any validity. Watson-Watt believed that building such a ray was impossible, but perhaps by using radio waves, aircraft detection, not destruction, could be achieved. At the time, a few scientists had known that radio waves reflected off metal objects, such as aircraft. Watson-Watt reasoned that a continuous transmission of these waves could be aimed in the direction of approaching aircraft. Then, the echo of the waves bouncing off of aircraft could be detected by a device located near the transmitter. This detection device had already been invented:it was the cathode ray oscillograph, which showed the transmission and reception of a radio wave with blips on a glass screen. Since the speed of radio waves is constant, by measuring the time it took for a radio wave to be sent out and reflected back, it would be possible to tell how far away the aircraft were. In February of 1935, a crude version of this detection device was successfully tested, and by May, 70 foot high radio transmission masts were being built along the British coastline. This early version of radar could not give the direction that the aircraft were coming from, but to deliberately mislead the Germans, the entire system was called "Radio Direction Finding, "short for Radio Direction Finding and Ranging, became the accepted term for this kind of system. By the time of the Battle of Britain, the RDF system was in place, and had been tested in both peacetime and wartime conditions. Though too bulky to be carried aboard planes, this early equipment proved to be a satisfactory additional pair of eyes for the RAF pilots. From reception to interception, here is a brief outline of how the RDF system worked: When enemy aircraft took off from their bases and flew toward Britain, they were detected on the cathode ray tubes at the radar stations. Next, a phone call was put in to Fighter Command Headquarters in London, giving estimates on the altitude, position, and number of aircraft. 19 In the Filter Room at Fighter Command, women plotters, wearing headphones, picked up this information relayed by the radar stations. Then, the women moved markers along a huge map using rakes. Each marker stood for a group of hostile or friendly aircraft. Officers evaluated this information, then sent it next door to the Fighter Command Operations Room. At the same time, various Group Operations Rooms and Sector Operations Rooms also received the information. Each of these rooms had their own maps, plotters, and markers, and these maps were updated with the new information. The Duty Control Officer at each Group Operations Room watched the map, and decided which sector should intercept the incoming aircraft and how many fighters should be dispatched. The Sector Controller at each sector airfield ordered squadrons of fighters to intercept. If they were on the ground, they were ordered to take off;if they were already airborne, they were given the location of the incoming enemy over the radio, and guided to an interception point. Crucial to the success of the whole system was a device aboard friendly planes that gave their location in the air. This High Frequency Direction Finding equipment, known as "Huff-Duff", consisted of a radio transmitter that automatically sent out a signal for fifteen seconds of every minute. This 20 signal was picked up by three Direction Finding Stations in each sector, and the information relayed to the Sector Controller. He determined the location of the RAF fighters, and directed them to intercept any incoming enemy aircraft. The information provided by Huff-Duff also removed the danger of the friendly aircraft being mistaken for enemy aircraft. This early RDF network, called "Chain Home, "was not without its drawbacks. Since the radio transmitters were all located near the coastline, the system could not be used once the incoming enemy planes passed by them. Instead, the Observer Corps had to make sightings from the ground and pass the information on to the various Operations Rooms. Also, the system could not detect low-flying aircraft, so a second network, called "Chain Home Low, "had to be built expressly for that purpose. Despite these limitations the RDF system gave the RAF many advantages. Luftwaffe aircraft could now be detected as they assembled in the skies over Western Europe and flew toward their targets in Britain. Instead of wasting precious time and fuel flying on patrols searching for the enemy, the RAF pilots would now know where and when to attack, and could even rest between missions. 21 The RDF system would prove to be a defensive asset that Fighter Command would desperately rely on in the weeks ahead. THE OPENING PHASE: KANALKAMPF The German plan for the aerial assault on Britain called for an all out attack by the Luftwaffe on the RAF fighter airfields. This was to be known as Adlertag, or Eagle Day, and would be launched when Hitler himself gave the order. Until Eagle Day, however, it was decided to attack domestic British convoys in the Channel, and draw out the RAF fighters who would surely come to their aid. The German name for these Channel attacks was Kanalkampf. If the strength of the RAF could be sapped in the Kanalkampf, it would make Eagle Day all the more effective. To lead the bombing attacks, Goering chose Oberst Johannes Fink, who was still flying bombing missions at the age of fifty. The fighter units were commanded by forty-eight year old Oberst Theo Osterkamp, or "Onkel Theo, "who had shot down thirty two planes in World War I, and remarkably, was fast becoming an ace in this new war. In June and early July, German bombing attacks on the convoys were sporadic. But on July 10, radar stations began detecting a larger than normal formation of German aircraft gathering above Calais. As the twenty Do 17 bombers and their Bf 109 and Bf 110 escort fighters headed toward a convoy off the narrowest part of the Channel at Dover, they were met by Hurricanes from four different British squadrons. In the ensuing battle off what was later dubbed "Hellfire Corner, " four Bf 109s and three Hurricanes were shot down, while one ship was lost from the convoy. This engagement would mark the beginning of the Battle of Britain. The next day, a small convoy was spotted by ten Ju 87 Stukas and twenty escorting Bf 109s. Harassed by three Hurricanes, the Stukas dived down on the ships, only to be attacked by six Spitfires. The attack was broken off, though two spitfires were shot down by the 109s. Later that afternoon, the coastal city of Portland was attacked by fifteen Ju 87s and forty escorting Bf 110s. Even though only six Hurricanes intercepted the attack, they swept past the slower 22 110s and shot down two of the Stukas. The intended coastal target was only slightly damaged. For the next ten days, the Channel clashes intensified. At the nighttime, the Luftwaffe would drop mines into British harbors and channels. In the daytime, German bombers, mostly Do 17s, Ju 87 Stukas, and Ju 88s, would attack convoys, along with airfields and other targets near the British coast. Despite the fact that their cargo, which was mostly coal, could have been moved across Britain by rail, the convoys continued to sail, mainly for reasons of morale. But Dowding refused to commit additional fighter protection to the convoys, since that would further weaken fighter coverage for the rest of Britain. In the skies above the Channel, RAF losses were mounting at a frightening pace, with fifty fighters shot down in the first ten days. One reason for this was 23 the tight three-plane vic formation the RAF fighters were trained to fly in. Flying in this V-shape, wing tip to wing tip, British fighter pilots were often so preoccupied with avoiding collisions with each other that they had little time to search for the enemy. Grouped so closely together, they were also easier targets. German pilots, on the other hand, flew in a much looser formation known as the Schwarm, which they had developed in the Spanish Civil War. Instead of worrying about how close together the aircraft were, each fighter could cover a wide area while still being protected by the other fighters in the group. Moreover, there was no way the RAF pilots could compensate for the years of 24 combat experience the Luftwaffe pilots possessed. In a one on one dogfight situation, the German pilots usually had the advantage, and only twenty-eight Bf 109 fighters were lost in the first ten days. During the later part of July, bad weather and poor visibility sometimes grounded the aircraft on both sides, and some convoys managed to get through the Channel unscathed. But overall, German attacks intensified, and by August 8, eighteen cargo vessels and four Royal Navy destroyers had been sunk in the Kanalkampf. In this opening phase of the Battle of Britain, each side was evaluating the other. The RAF fighter pilots were learning from their mistakes, and gradually began flying in looser, less rigid formations. Moreover, the aircraft on both sides had weaknesses which the opposition quickly learned about. For the British, the Boulton Paul Defiant fighter, armed with a three quarter ton rear firing turret, proved vulnerable to frontal attack, and many were lost in the first few weeks. For the Germans, the Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber was victimized not only by the much faster Hurricanes and Spitfires, but my anti-aircraft fire from ships as well. The twin engine Bf 110 suffered from a lack of maneuverability when confronted by the smaller RAF fighters, and many a Zerstorer was shot down. By early August, the tide of the battle had changed in favor of the RAF, even though German intelligence, which was to be faulty throughout the Battle of Britain, had reported the opposite. The Luftwaffe had actually lost 248 fighters and bombers to the RAF's 148 fighters in the Kanalkampf. The Germans also erroneously believed that all of the British fighter force had been used in the Channel conflicts. In reality, Dowding had wisely kept most of his fighters in reserve. German intelligence also reported that the Channel was closed, and the convoys had been stopped. But the British had finally decided to use rail to ship much of the cargo previously carried by convoys, which drastically reduced the number of ships needed. Restrictions were placed on those few convoys that did sail, so that they only approached Dover at night. However, the Channel was far from closed. 25 On the British side, the loss of each fighter was keenly felt by the under equipped RAF. The new minister of Aircraft Production, Lord Beaverbrook, feverishly stepped up fighter production, and nearly five hundred were produced in July alone. But replacing the aircraft was a far easier matter than replacing experienced pilots, and the high casualty rate was of crucial concern to Fighter Command throughout the course of the Battle of Britain. With winter weather arriving in a few months, the Germans decided to change their tactics. So far, the full power of the Luftwaffe had not yet been brought to bear on the RAF. Goering believed that a large scale attack on the RAF fighter force would wipe out Fighter Command in four days, and the RAF itself could be destroyed in four weeks. With the skies clear of the enemy, the invasion could still take place in September, as planned. A German military conference was held at Hitler's Eagle's Nest headquarters on July 31 to discuss this knockout blow. ADLERTAG: EAGLE DAY On August 1, Fuhrer Directive No. 17 was issued from Hitler's headquarters. It read, in part, "I intend to intensify air and sea warfare against the English homeland...The Luftwaffe is to overpower the Royal Air Force...in the shortest possible time...The intensification of the air war may begin on or after 5 August. The exact time is to be decided by the Air Force after the completion of preparations and in light of the weather." The Luftwaffe was also ordered 26 to participate in full force during the Operation Sea Lion land invasion. Hitler himself reserved the right to order terror bombing attacks on British cities. At last, after two months in limbo following the fall of France, the Nazi war machine could once again gear up for a major battle. Goering met with his three Luftflotten commanders on August 5 at his headquarters near Berlin. There they formulated a plan they hoped would destroy Fighter Command's most important airfields in a single day, to be known as "Eagle Day." This operation was to have two phases. First, an attack would be made on targets along the coast, including the radar stations. German intelligence had underestimated how much the RAF relied on these stations, but the head of the Luftwaffe Signals Service, Generaloberst Wolfgang Martini, knew about radar and insisted that these stations be knocked out. The outcome of these preliminary raids would proved or disprove the usefulness of the RDF system. The second phase of attacks would come on the following day. Eagle Day. Luftflotten 2 and 3 were to launch a large-scale bombing attack on RAF airfields, which would destroy RAF fighters on the ground. Aircraft production factories, armaments factories, cargo and naval ships, harbors, and port facilities were also to be hit on Eagle Day, and over the succeeding three days. Since the 27 two Luftflotten needed about a week to prepare for Eagle Day, Goering decided that it would take place on August 10, when a stretch of good weather was predicted. Luftflotten 2 and 3 had 929 fighters, 316 dive bombers, and 875 bombers between them. To combat all these aircraft, the RAF had a mere 675 fighters. Despite their overwhelming numbers of aircraft, the Luftwaffe was embarking on a mission that placed the burden of attack squarely on its shoulders, unlike previous encounters where it coordinated with the army. With a responsibility like this, the pressure on the men and machines would be incalculable. Attacks on the British convoys continued, much as they had in July. On August 10 bad weather forced the postponement of Eagle Day until August 13. At 8:40A.M. on August 12, phase one of the Eagle Day operation began as Experimental Group 210, a new unit of Bf 110s, took off from Calais. This group was made up of Jabos (fighter/bombers) that could drop bombs with pinpoint accuracy, then defend themselves as fighters. In a startling demonstration of just how effective the Bf 110 could be in this dual role, Experimental Group 210 attacked the radar stations at Dover, Dunkirk(Kent), Rye, and Pevensey, knocking out all but Dunkirk. With part of the RDF system gone, no RAF fighters were alerted, and Ju 87 Stukas attacked shipping off Kent without suffering any losses. One hundred Ju 88s, 120 Bf 110s, and 25 Bf 109s attacked ships in Portsmouth Harbor, and knocked the Ventnor radar stations out of action. 28 That afternoon, the Jabos of Experimental Group 210, refueled and rearmed from their morning mission, assisted eighteen Do 17s in an attack on Manston airfield and severely damaged this RAF base. It was an extremely successful day for the Luftwaffe, even though they lost thirty one aircraft, while the RAF lost twenty one. But that evening, when Do 17s were sent to attack targets near Kent, they reported that signals from the radar stations were still being transmitted. Amazingly, the British had put three of the four damaged stations back into operation;only Ventnor remained off the air. The open girder construction of the huge transmission towers made them difficult to destroy by level bombing, and their 350 foot height inhibited dive bombing. The next day, August 13, Eagle Day, got off to an uncertain start when bad weather forced the postponement of the morning raids until the afternoon. Notice of the delay failed to reach OberstFink's group of seventy four Do 17s, whose radios had been provided with the wrong crystals, and consequently could not pick up 29 the radio wavelength announcing the postponement order. Fink's bombers flew to the Thames Estuary before encountering a small squadron of Spitfires;five Flying Pencils were shot down and four others were damaged. Although the remaining bombers hit their target at Eastchurch airfield, the aircraft they destroyed on the ground were Blenheim bombers, not the Hurricanes and Spitfires they had hoped for. Another group of Bf 110s did not receive the postponement order, and took off without the bombers they were suppose to escort. Six were shot down by Hurricanes above Portland. By the afternoon of Eagle Day, even though the weather had further deteriorated, numerous attacks were launched on targets from Southampton to the Thames Estuary. In the day's most successful bombing mission, one hundred Bf 109s and eighty six Ju 87s attacked Detling airfield unopposed, destroying twenty two aircraft on the ground and killing sixty seven personnel who were in the mess hall. The Short aircraft factory at Belfast and a Spitfire factory in Birmingham were also damaged by He 111s later that night. But with the RDF system still in place and functioning, RAF fighters were intercepting the other incoming attackers. A group of Ju 87s, Ju 88s, and Bf 109s were near their target of Southampton when they were met by Spitfires;nine Stukas were shot down, though the Ju 88s damaged port facilities. Off Lyme Bay, nine Ju 87s were intercepted by Spitfires, and only three Stukas survived. 30 Although the Luftwaffe believed otherwise at the time, Eagle Day was a failure. Certainly it was not the resounding success that Goering had hoped for. The Germans had lost 46 aircraft from its 1485 sorties, while the RAF had 13 fighters shot down from its 700 sorties. Of the forty seven aircraft that the RAF lost on the ground, only one was a fighter. And while the Germans reported that eight Fighter Command bases had been destroyed, the bases that were bombed belonged to Coastal Command, and were not Fighter Command bases. Nevertheless, when the day was done, the Germans celebrated, thinking they had shot down eighty four RAF fighters and destroyed eight airfields. Believing that the RAF's 11 Group, which was in the thick of the action in Southern England, was now decimated, they reasoned that it was being reinforced with fighters from 12 Group and 13 Group to the north. To test this theory, the Luftwaffe decided to launch attacks from all three Luftflotten, including Luftflotte 5 in Norway and Denmark. If Fighter Command had, in reality, sapped the strength of the other groups to build up 11 Group, this multi-sided offensive would hit the British where they were most vulnerable-in Northern England and Scotland. BLACK THURSDAY With clouds covering most of Britain, only a few scattered Luftwaffe raids were launched on August 14. The bad weather persisted the following day, and the aircraft from all three Luftflotten were grounded with the exception of two Ju 87 groups from Luftflotte 2, which did not receive the cancellation order. These Stukas bombed the airfields at Lumpne and Hawkinge, and at least two were shot down. But by midmorning, the weather had cleared, and what was to be the largest German offensive of the Battle of Britain was launched. Generaloberst Stumpf, commander of Luftflotte 5, decided on a risky two pronged strategy. A group of twenty He 115 seaplanes from Norway would fake an attack on targets in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. This would hopefully draw any defending 13 Group fighters north, away from the main attacking force of seventy two He 111s and twenty one Bf 110s also from Norway. These aircraft were all equipped with extra fuel tanks to make the 1100 mile round trip across the North Sea, and the Bf 110s were even forced to fly without a rear gunner to save weight. 31 As they approached the coast of Scotland, the decoy seaplanes were spotted by northern RAF radar stations, and nearly forty Spitfires were sent to intercept them, just as Stumpf had planned. Unfortunately, Stumpf's deceptive tactic went awry when the main bombing force made a serious navigational error that put them in roughly the same area as the decoys. When the He 111s and Bf 110s reached land, they too were met by Spitfires. In the ensuing battle, seven Luftwaffe bombers and eight fighters were shot down, while one RAF fighter was lost. To the south, a second Luftflotte 5 attack had been launched across the North Sea from Denmark. The attack force of fifty Ju 88 bombers were unescorted, relying on their speed and their gun firepower to get them through. The bombers headed for Driffield, in Central England, which was covered by 12 Group. Trafford Leigh Mallory, the commander of 12 Group, was an advocate of the "big wing, " or a coordinated group of three to five squadrons of fighters massed together to attack the enemy. On this day, however, he reacted timidly. the big wing did not materialize, and only twelve Spitfires and six Hurricanes intercepted the German bombers. Seven Ju 88s were shot down, but ten British bombers were destroyed on the ground, along with an ammunition dump. The Luftwaffe was more successful in the southeast, where Luftflotten 2 and 3 hit and damaged numerous airfields, although few were Fighter Command bases. The Short aircraftworks at Rochester was also bombed by thirty Do 17s and the redoubtable Experimental Group 210 destroyed a Hurricane base at Martlesham Heath. Later that afternoon, Experimental Group 210 bombed the training station at Croydon, destroying thirty six training planes and killing sixty two personnel, but they themselves lost their commander and five aircraft. Despite these successes, August 15 would go down in history as another day of frustration for the Luftwaffe, as nearly every raid had been intercepted by the RAF. In all, seventy five German aircraft were lost, and 20 percent of the attacking Luftflotte 5 aircraft had been shot down, while the British lost 32 thirty five fighters in the air. These heavy losses on what the Germans were now calling "Black Thursday" proved to the Luftwaffe that the British were not depleting their northern squadrons to help the beleaguered 11 Group. A CHANGE OF STRATEGY The following day brought with it new orders from Goering to the Luftwaffe. He had decided that attacks on coastal radar stations were fruitless, and further attacks were forbidden. In addition, since bomber losses were mounting, Bf 109s were ordered to provide close support for the bombers instead of flying freely over Britain searching for RAF fighters. This order was adhered to reluctantly by the Luftwaffe fighter pilots, who had enjoyed much success in the free chasing role. August 17 saw only light fighting, but on August 8, the Luftwaffe attacked and damaged the airfields at Biggin Hill, Croydon, Kenley, Gosport, and Manston, losing seventy one aircraft, including thirty Ju 87 Stukas, to the RAF's twenty seven. Bad weather limited the action for the next few days, and both sides used the break to rest their men and evaluate the lessons learned from the weeks of furious fighting. 33 On the British side, Commander Park of 11 Group held a staff conference on August 19, where several tactical items were discussed. First, it was decided that the RAF fighters would intercept the Luftwaffe bombers as soon as possible. They could not waste time for a big wing to form;such a tactic was better suited for 12 Group, whose geographic location allowed more time for these large formations to assemble. On this issue, Park was fully supported by Dowding. Second, several squadrons would patrol the skies above airfields, instead of leaving each airfield to search for the enemy itself. Third, fighter to fighter combat was to be avoided, and fighters were to concentrate on shooting down bombers. This would draw the German fighters to the same altitude as their bombers, making them better targets. On the German side, it was decided to phase the Ju 87 dive bomber out of combat actions against Britain. Since their fighter escort planes lacked dive brakes and could not stay with them while diving, the Stukas were virtually defenseless after they pulled out of their dives. As a result, they were an easy mark for the British fighters, and Ju 87 losses had increased dramatically during the past several weeks. It was also determined that the Bf 110, while successful as a fighter/bomber, was inferior for fighter escort. In the action over England and Scotland, Bf 110s were forced to fly in a defensive circle, with one aircraft using its tremendous forward firepower to cover the vulnerable rear of another. It was hardly a tactic that could provide adequate protection for the bombers. From now on, Zerstorers themselves would be escorted by Bf 109s, thus giving rise to the paradoxical situation of fighters escorting fighters! In large groups, they would now go only as far as the limited range of the Bf 109 - which meant Southern England. Most important, however, was the decision to give top priority to a single objective:destroying the RAF's fighters. Only one aircraft in the Luftwaffe's arsenal was capable of taking on the Spitfire and Hurricane:the Bf 109. All of the Bf 109s from Sperrle's Luftflotte 3 were to be transferred to Kesselring's Luftflotte 2, and based at Pas de Calais - the closest geographic point to Britain. There their limited range would be less of a problem. And from now on, a larger number of attacks - both day and by night - were to be launched, with 34 smaller formations of bombers and escorting fighters. The bombers were to attack targets within the range of 11 Group's bases, particularly around London where the bases were more numerous and more vital. If these attacks destroyed British fighters on the ground, fine, but their main purpose was to force the fighters to take to the air. There they would be dealt with by the Bf 109s. It was this new strategy that nearly won the Battle of Britain for Germany. THE CRUCIAL PHASE By August 24, the weather had cleared, and the Luftwaffe attacks began again. This time, the Germans were also armed with an important piece of information. For the past several weeks, all RAF radio transmissions had been monitored. As a 35 result, the Luftwaffe now knew which airfields were of the most importance to Fighter Command, and gave these airfields top priority as targets. Now, as the formations of Luftwaffe bombers and fighters headed toward Britain, the RDF system was having trouble figuring out where they were going to attack. There were more and more small formations to pick up, and plotting because increasingly difficult. Moreover, several large fighter formations flew up and down the Channel, constantly threatening to move inland and attack, which further confused radar personnel. Then at 3 P.M., the real attacks began, as bombers struck the airfields at Manston, Hornchurch, and North Weald, plus ships at Portsmouth. Park's 11 Group fighters were largely unsuccessful at penetrating the thick German fighter screen. With his squadrons depleted, Park asked 12 Group to cover Hornchurch, North Weald, and Debden airfields north of London. Here was a chance for Leigh Mallory to test the big wing theory in action. But on this day, assembling the large formation and coordinating it proved to be a failure, and only a single squadron from 12 Group made it to North Weald as the Germans attacked. To make matters worse, this squadron of Spitfires was equipped with an experimental cannon which frequently jammed after only a few rounds had been fired. As a result, these Spitfires were rendered virtually useless against the incoming aircraft, and by the time the rest of 12 Group's fighters finally made 36 it to Hornchurch and North Weald, both airfields were a shambles. That evening the bombing continued, with 170 bombers attacking a variety of targets from Kent to the Scottish border. But in the early hours of August 25, an incident occurred that would have a direct impact on the Battle of Britain. A lone He 111, trying to locate oil tanks at Thameshaven by flying up the Thames Estuary, went too far west and dropped its bombload over Central London. Although parts of Greater London had been hit in earlier missions, the city center was deemed off limits by Hitler himself. Nevertheless, it had now been bombed, albeit by one misguided aircraft. Later that morning, Churchill ordered RAF Bomber Command to launch a retaliatory raid on Berlin. On the night of August 25, eighty one British Hampden bombers, on a mission of propaganda more than of military importance, headed for the German capitol. Goering himself had boasted that such a raid would never happen, once joking that "You can call me Meyer" if it ever occurred. Now, as bombs rained down on Berlin, people called Goering this very name, which was most insulting to the anti-Semitic leader. After the raid, which did little damage, Goering promised Hitler that Berlin would never again be bombed. But back in London, Churchill was ordering additional raids and waiting for a reaction from the German leaders. Both sides were quick to realize that the new Luftwaffe tactics were working extremely well. Although the newly restrained fighters were recording fewer kills, the new, tighter Luftwaffe formations were enabling the bombers to get through to their targets. Many Fighter Command airfields, especially the important ones around London, had been hard hit, and the British had no adequate defense for night bombing. The attacks continued, with up to seventeen hundred sorties a day, interrupted only by bad weather. On August 26, the RAF bases at Hornchurch and Debden were bombed when, once again Leigh Mallory's 12 Group fighters failed to cover these airfields for 11 Group. On August 28, daylight attacks were stepped up, and that night industrial targets 37 in Liverpool were blasted by 160 bombers. August 30 saw thirteen hundred Luftwaffe sorties, and when a German bomb knocked out the electricity for seven radar stations, waves of aircraft flew toward their Fighter Command targets unimpeded by RAF fighters. Kenley, Tangmere, Rochfort, and Shoreham airfields were badly damaged, and Biggin Hill was hit in two separate raids by Bf 109 fighter/ bombers and Ju 88s. The next day, there were even more Luftwaffe sorties against the airfields, including He 111s bombing Biggin Hill again, while Do 17s adopting a new tactic of bombing targets from a low altitude, hit Croydon. The Luftwaffe shot down thirty nine Fighter Command aircraft, the heaviest toll for a day since the Battle began. Meanwhile, across the Channel, preparations were well underway for the invasion of Britain. Twenty five thousand German troops were stationed at bases all along the channel coast, from the Meuse River to the Seine, awaiting the go ahead for Operation Sea Lion. Hundreds of barges and transports were scattered at various coastal ports, along with thousands of vehicles and horses. In Berlin, Hitler met with his advisors to discuss Sea Lion and possible retaliatory action for the Berlin raids. He picked September 10 as the date he would make a decision on when to launch the invasion. Obviously, that depended on establishing air superiority over Southeast England, but as of September 1, that 38 prospect was looking more and more like a certainty. As for retaliation, attacks on British cities, including London, were to begin as soon as possible. Back at Fighter Command, the situation was perilous. During the two weeks from August 24 to September 6, 466 RAF fighters were destroyed and replaced by only 269 fighters. The RAF was now losing fighters at a higher rate than they were receiving new or repaired ones, which meant that fighter command would soon be totally depleted. The high loss of pilots was an even more serious issue. Since the Battle of Britain began, 80 percent of Dowding's squadron commanders had been killed or wounded. In all, 409 pilots had been killed or wounded in the month of August, and 231 - nearly a quarter of Fighter Command's strength - were lost between August 24 and September 6 alone. To replace them, Dowding decided to allow two hundred foreign pilots, mostly Czechs and Poles, to join the fighting. Additionally, pilots from Bomber, Coastal, and Training commands were rushed through Fighter Command training, and many were sent into battle with only a few hours of experience in flying a Hurricane or a Spitfire. This proved to be disastrous and diluted the overall effectiveness of the squadrons. Those few surviving experienced pilots found themselves flying as many as seven sorties a day, and the strain on them was immeasurable. This intense fighting was also having an effect on German pilots, particularly those flying the Bf 109s. Even though Kesselring's Luftflotte 2 fighters were flying across the narrowest part of the Channel, Bf 109s were still hampered by their limited range. Many a Bf 109 was forced to splash down in the Channel, or crash land on a beach in France, out of fuel. In addition, some fighter units were flying up to five sorties a day across the Channel, and the men were pushed beyond their limit. Yet there was no arguing that the Luftwaffe was finally turning the tide of the Battle of Britain in its favor. Losses on both sides were about even, which was acceptable to the Germans because they had more planes to lose. For the first time, British losses were actually higher than theirs on some days. All the major 11 Group airfields except for Tangmere and Kenley were badly damaged and 39 some were no longer operational. And German intelligence now estimated that fewer than three hundred Fighter Command aircraft remained. On September 3, Goering ordered his Luftflotten commanders to The Hague for a conference. A timetable for Operation Sea Lion had been issued from Hitler's headquarters stating that the invasion fleet would sail on September 20, and invade Britain on September 21. Goering and his generals had little time to waste. Now, they gathered to plan the knock-out blow that would finish off Fighter Command once and for all. LONDON: THE TURNING POINT At the September 3 conference, two of Goering's Luftflotten commanders had a major difference of opinion on how to finally bring the British to their knees. Kesselring, believing both the reports of German intelligence and his pilots, stated that Fighter Command was nearly finished and could barely muster a hundred fighters in defense of Britain. The time was right to hit London hard, and force any remaining RAF fighters into the air to be destroyed by the superior numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft. Then, the British would either have to negotiate for peace, or suffer the consequences of an invasion. Sperrle, whose Luftflotte 3 aircraft were mostly flying bombing missions across the wider part of the Channel and meeting stiff resistance, disagreed. He believed that Fighter Command still had over one thousand aircraft, and that the attacks on the British airfields should continue. (In reality, the actual RAF fighter strength 40 numbered around seven hundred.) The optimistic Goering, armed with an intelligence report that put Fighter Command losses since August 8 at 1115, sided with Kesselring. Time was running out for Operation Sea Lion, and if the Luftwaffe attacked London, Goering felt that every available RAF fighter would be ordered aloft to protect the British capitol and the Bf 109s could make fast work of them. Since Hitler had lifted the ban on bombing London after the attacks on Berlin, full scale raids could begin with the Fuhrer's blessing. The next day, in a speech in Berlin, Hitler stated that "When they declare that they will increase their attacks on our cities, then we will raze their cities to the ground!" For the next few days, the Luftwaffe attacks on Fighter Command airfields continued as usual. But on the afternoon of September 7, 625 bombers and 648 fighters were sent across the Channel to bomb London. As the aircraft assembled over France, the formation was nearly 2 miles high and covered 800 square miles. 41 As it neared the English coast, the RDF plotters and Observer Corps quickly realized that something was different - the small, carefully coordinated attack formations of the past two weeks had been replaced by two hugh waves of aircraft. One formation headed for the dockyards of the Thames Estuary, while the second flew toward London itself. Bombs rained won on the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich;the Commercial Docks;the Millwall docks;paint, timber, and rum warehouses;oil storage tanks;and the impoverished residences of London's East End. The bombing continued into the night for seven hours, and over three hundred tons of bombs were dropped, leaving the London dockyard area and the East End engulfed in flames. Four hundred and forty eight Londoners were killed and nearly one thousand more were wounded in the raid. Although Hurricanes and Spitfires did manage to bring down forty one German aircraft, most of them were intercepted on their way back to the Continent, after they had dropped their bombloads. In turn, Fighter Command lost twenty eight aircraft. But Air Vice Marshal Park, circling the burning city in his Hurricane, saw a sign of deliverance in the devastation. "Though I felt very angry, " he later wrote, "I said 'Thank God, ' because I realized that the methodical Germans had at last switched their attacks from my vital aerodromes on to cities." For the first time in weeks, the Luftwaffe had left his battered airfields alone. With this respite, they could be repaired, and more Hurricanes and Spitfires could then be 42 sent aloft to engage these new enemy formations. The next night the Luftwaffe made another raid on London, and 412 people died in the bombing. But on September 9, when a large two pronged Luftwaffe formation was launched to repeat the successes of the daylight raid of September 7, 11 Group was ready for it. Park had moved several of his squadrons toward the coast, where they could better intercept the incoming formations. Ten Group and 12 Group were also called in to cover 11 Group's airfields. The first Luftwaffe formation was met by such stiff resistance that it was forced to jettison its bombs near Canterbury. The second formation was forced away from its intended target, the dockyard area of London, and in the fierce fighting, it scattered bombloads throughout London and the surrounding countryside. Fighter Command lost nineteen aircraft, while twenty eight Luftwaffe planes were shot down, several by a big wing from 12 Group. Led by legless pilot Douglas Bader, these hurricanes had disobeyed orders to cover 11 Group's airfields, and attacked the bombers over London instead. The failure of this raid disturbed the Germans. Obviously, Fighter Command was still functioning despite intelligence reports to the contrary. On September 11 a small daytime Luftwaffe raid was also rebuffed by British fighters. Although bad weather cut back on the daytime raids, the night raids continued all week. For the next sixty eight successive nights they would continue, a period later known as "The Blitz." Some two thousand Londoners were killed and ten thousand were wounded in the first week's raids. But the RAF fighters as yet had no airborne radar, and could not find the enemy aircraft in the dark to engage them. So while London was reduced to rubble, these raids did not flush out Fighter Command aircraft as the Germans had hoped. On September 14, Hitler gave Goering until September 17 to clear the skies of British fighters. With the scheduled invasion only eight days away, Goering decided to launch every available German bomber and fighter in one all out effort that would finally decide the Battle of Britain. SEPTEMBER 15: BATTLE OF BRITAIN DAY Dawn broke on a clear autumn day, with only a few patches of clouds. In the early morning hours, the RDF screens showed no enemy aircraft. Then, around 11 A.M., the radar stations picked up large formation of aircraft assembling over France at an altitude of 15, 000 to 20, 000 feet. At 11:30, the formation of four hundred fighters, protecting only one hundred Do 17 bombers, began to move toward Britain. Gone were the preliminary feint attacks designed to lure Fighter Command aircraft up into the air before the main Luftwaffe attack. This time, everything was out in the open. 44 GERMAN AIRCRAFT LOSSES JULY 10 TO AUGUST 7, 1940 *GERMAN CLAIMS 63 *GERMAN GOVERNMENT CLAIMS ANNOUNCED **ACTUAL LOSSES 192 TO THE PUBLIC. +BRITISH CLAIMS 188 **FROM GERMAN QUARTERMASTER GENERAL'S RETURNS. +BRITISH GOVERNMENT CLAIMS ANNOUNCED TO THE PUBLIC. AUGUST 8 TO 24, 1940 GERMAN CLAIMS 213 ACTUAL LOSSES 403 BRITISH CLAIMS 755 AUGUST 24 TO SEPTEMBER 6, 1940 GERMAN CLAIMS 243 ACTUAL LOSSES 378 BRITISH CLAIMS 643 SEPTEMBER 7 TO 30, 1940 GERMAN CLAIMS 243 ACTUAL LOSSES 435 BRITISH CLAIMS 846 Fighter Command was ready to fight back with nearly everything it had. Park had some two hundred fighters at his disposal, including one squadron from 10 Group, and five from 12 Group in big wing. The first interception was made above Canterbury around noon, and soon the skies above Southeast England were filled with vapor trails from dogfighters. As the Spitfire squadrons tangled with the fighters, the bombers droned on toward London unprotected. Park sent ten squadrons aloft to take on the bombers. Without the Bf 109s, the German bombers were easy marks for the Hurricanes. Their formations broken and scattered many Do 17s jettisoned their bombs well before they reached their target. The main formation made it to Greater London, Kensington, Westminster, and Clapham. Even Buckingham Palace was hit. But the main targets were only lightly damaged, and many Do 17s fell from the sky in flames. Watching the battle take shape on the giant Operations Map at the Uxbridge headquarters of 11 Group was Churchill. He watched as, one by one, the bank of 45 lights indicating the number of squadrons in reserve went out. For the first time since entering the complex, Churchill spoke to Park. "What other reserves have we?" asked Churchill. "There are none, " replied Park. At that moment, the height of the battle, 23 squadrons, totaling 370 fighters, were airborne. More than anything else, the sight of so many aircraft came as a tremendous shock to the Germans, who had been told that there were fewer than fifty Fighter Command aircraft left. As the battered Luftwaffe bombers and fighters struggled back toward the Channel, their crews were convinced that Fighter Command was far from finished as a fighting unit. Luck was on the British side that day, for the launching of a second wave of Luftwaffe aircraft was delayed until two hours after the first wave had taken off. This gave Park's squadrons time to refuel and rearm. As this second wave of bombers neared the East End, Badar's big wing of five squadrons from 12 Group arrived. This, the largest formation of British fighters ever assembled, tore into the German bombers, along with five 11 Group squadrons. Miles above the streets of London, the skies were filled with some 350 aircraft, twisting and 46 turning. Again, the bombers scattered their loads around Greater London, failing to damage their intended targets. When the day was done, and the totals were added up, the Luftwaffe had suffered a great defeat. Although the British people were told that 185 German aircraft had been shot down, the total was actually around 60, including 40 bombers. Additionally, some twenty Bf 109s had ditched in the waters off France, their fuel tanks dry. These losses were enough to convince the Luftwaffe that they had not achieved air superiority over Fighter Command, which had lost twenty eight fighters in the day's fighting. Although Goering still believed that Fighter Command could be wiped out in a couple of days, a few agreed with him. On September 16, the weather turned bad, and only a handful of Luftwaffe attacks were made. On September 17, another drizzly day, time had run out for Goering and his Luftwaffe. Hitler cancelled Operation Sea Lion and began making plans for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia. Although the Luftwaffe would continue to bomb London at night, the imminent threat of invasion was over. Thanks to the efforts of Dowding and Park, and the pilots of Fighter Command, who destroyed 1, 389 Luftwaffe aircraft while losing 790 fighters of their own, Britain survived - and won - the Battle of Britain. 47 (THIS PAGE IS BLANK) 48 PILOTS' PERSPECTIVES 49 The preceding Historical Overview chapter describes the "big picture" of the Battle of Britain. But since the final outcome was actually decided by a handful of brave men battling high in the sky, no historical record can be complete without their recollections. To those British and German pilots and crewmen who flew, fought, and witnessed many of their comrades dying during the summer of 1940, this is the real story of the Battle of Britain. JULY 11 "Even in the heat of the moment I well remember my amazement at the shattering effects of my fire. Pieces flew off his fuselage and cockpit covering, a great stream of smoke appeared from the engine and a moment later a great sheet of flame licked out from the engine cowling and he dived vertically. The flames enveloped the whole machine and he went straight down, apparently quite slowly, for about 5000 feet, till he was just a shapeless burning mass of wreckage. Absolutely fascinated by the sight, I followed him down and saw him hit the sea with a great burst of while foam. I had often wondered what would be my feelings when killing somebody like this, and especially when seeing them go down in flames. I was rather surprised to reflect afterwards that my own feeling had been one of considerable elation - and a sort of bewildered surprise because it had all be so easy." RAF Pilot Officer David Crook JULY 11 "At the English coast I counted some twenty dark spots in the distance, somewhat higher than we were. I was certain they were RAF fighters, but couldn't recognize whether they were Hurricanes or Spitfires - but knew that our twin engine machines were no match for these single engine fighters. However, it was our duty to protect the Stukas, so they could bomb unhindered. The main strength of [our] Me 110 was the two 20mm cannons and four machine guns in its nose. I pressed the firing buttons and bullets flew like water out of a watering can towards the enemy. The closing speed was high, and at the last minute both I and my attacker had to break away to avoid a head on collision. Whether I scored any hits or not, I don't know. The next moment, two fighters were on my tail and had opened fire. Almost 50 immediately both of my engines stopped and a return to the Continent was clearly impossible. The enemy saw his success and stopped shooting, but watched me from behind. I flung off my cabin roof for a quick escape, and hoped it would hit him. I ordered Helmut Scholz to do the same.He radioed that the mechanism to ditch his cabin roof would not operate as a result of bullet damage. I couldn't bail out and leave Scholz to his fate, and for the same reason, ditching in the sea seemed unwise. The only alternative was a crash landing on British soil. After we had landed I found I could not leave the cockpit - a high explosive bullet had hit my seat, causing a big hole. The torn aluminum 'fangs' around the hole had nailed themselves through my parachute pack and tunic and on to my flesh. I pulled myself forward, and suddenly was free. I left the aircraft and smashed the cabin roof of my gunner so he could get out. He was hurt only by shell splinters. The first thing to do was destroy the aircraft. We didn't have a self destruct charge, so opened the fuel caps and tried to ignite the petrol with the muzzle flash from my pistol. I fired eight shots, but had no success. In hindsight, this was just as well, otherwise the aircraft would have exploded and killed us." LUFTWAFFE OBERLEUTENANT GERHARD KADOW JULY 19 "A fantastic fireworks. Shots ring to my right and left. Somewhere in my Messerschmitt I feel a strong blow and hear a heavy rumbling but the opponent 51 has to go! I see a thin line of smoke under his fuselage, then suddenly the enemy plane is one red ball of fire rushing downward." LUFTWAFFE HAUPTMANN HANNES TRAUTLOFT JULY 27 "North of Dover we met some low flying Spitfires. I shot [one] down in flames. But now I found myself in the middle of a clump of Englishmen and they were very angry with me. They all rushed at me, and that was my good luck. As they all tried to earn cheap laurels at the expense of one German, they got in each other's way. Well, I managed to outmaneuver them and made them even more confused. Nevertheless, I couldn't avoid being hit. Bullets bespattered my aircraft. The radiator and fuel tank were shot up badly and I had to make a getaway as quickly as possible. Luckily my engine held out to the French coast, then it began to misfire. When I wanted to land the [landing gear] wouldn't work. There was nothing to do but land without it. I made a smooth belly landing." LUFTWAFFE MAJOR WERNER MOLDERS AUGUST 8 "The enemy fighters, who were painted silver, were half rolling and diving and zooming in climbing turns. I fired two five second bursts at one and saw it dive into the sea. Then I followed another up in a zoom and got him as he stalled." RAF SQUADRON LEADER J.R.A. PEEL EAGLE DAY, AUGUST 13 "We saw about twenty four Ju 88s escorted by many Me 110s and 109s. The fighters were stepped up in the sun. We flew alongside the bombers on the left until we were slightly ahead, when the leader gave the order to attack. I started to attack the bombers, but as the escort came down in a dive I made a climbing right turn into the 110s. I saw part of the roof and fuselage of one 110 break away as I fired one burst of about three seconds from almost head on. The enemy aircraft continued in a dive but I didn't see what happened to it." RAF PILOT OFFICER MAYERS "There were about twelve Me 109s diving at me from the sun and at least half of them must have been firing deflection shots at me. There was a popping noise 52 and my control column became useless. I found myself doing a vertical dive, getting faster and faster. I pulled the hood back. I got my head out of the cockpit, and the slipstream tore the rest of me clean out of the machine. My trouser leg and both shoes were torn clean off. I saw my machine crash into the sea a mile off Deal. It took me twenty minutes to come down. I had drifted eleven miles out to sea. One string of my parachute did not come undone, and I was dragged along by my left leg at ten miles an hour, with my head underneath the water. I was almost unconscious when the string came undone. I got my breath back and started swimming." RAF PILOT OFFICER STEVENSON AUGUST 15 "I began to close in on [the bomber] and found I was travelling much too fast. I throttled back and slowed up just in time. We were frighteningly close. Then I swung up, took aim, and fired my eight guns. Almost at once, I saw little flashes of light dancing along the fuselage and centre section. I closed in again, when suddenly the bomber reared up in front of me. It was all I could do to avoid crashing into him. I heaved at the controls to prevent a collision, and in doing so I lost sight of him. I dived from 30, 000 feet to 3, 000 feet at such a speed that the bottom panel of my aircraft cracked, and as my ears 53 were not used to such changes in pressure I nearly lost the use of one of the drums. But I had to get that bomber. Then as I came nearer I saw he was on fire. Little flames were flickering around his fuselage and wings. Just as I closed in again he jinked away into a steep climbing turn. When he got to the top of his climb I was almost on him. I took sight very carefully and gave the button a quick squeeze. Once more I saw little dancing lights on his fuselage, but almost instantaneously they were swallowed in a burst of flames. I saw him twist gently earthwards and there was a spurt of fire as he touched the earth. He blew up and set a copse blazing." UNIDENTIFIED RAF FIGHTER PILOT "I at once flung my [Bf 109] around and went down after [the Spitfire]. Now I was about 200 yards behind the Tommy. Steady does it - wait. The range was much too far. I crept slowly nearer till I was only a hundred yards away, and the Spit's wings filled my reflector sight. Suddenly the Tommy opened fire and the Me in front of him went into a dive. I too had pressed the firing button after previously aiming carefully. I was only in a gentle turn as I did so. The Spit at once caught fire and with a long grey plume of smoke dived down vertically into the sea." LUFTWAFFE OBERLEUTENANT HELLMUTH OSTERMANN AUGUST 17 "In the corner of my eye, I saw [a Bf 109] diving for me, pumping shells. A quick turn toward it shook it off, and it slid by below, then reared up in a wide left hand turn in front of me. It was a fatal move. My Hurricane climbed around easily inside its turn. When I fired, the 109 flicked over and a sudden spurt of while vapor from its belly turned to flame. Down came another. Again a steep turn and I was on its tail. He seemed to know I was there, but he did the wrong thing. He kept on turning. When I fired, bits flew off, the hood came away, and then the pilot bailed out. He looked incongruous hanging there, a wingless body 54 in the midst of this duel of winged machines." RAF SQUADRON LEADER PETER TOWNSHEND AUGUST 18 "Me 109s came at us just as we came out of the clouds. My plane was hit by cannon shells and I went into a spin. I managed to straighten out and finally came safely through a balloon barrage, pulled up and found myself at about 600 feet with a big hole in my right wing and the right side of my cockpit shot away. I was about to bale out when I saw Croydon airfield below. So I decided to crash land, but as I came over the road to the airfield, our anti-aircraft guns opened fire at me. They though I was a German plane and blew my tail off. Instead of crash landing, I went in head first and ended up in the hospital." RAF PILOT OFFICER DAVID LOOKER AUGUST 24 "The whole [Bf 109] became enveloped in flames, and pieces began to fly off. Finally, as it went down, more pieces came off, all burning. As it tumbled down toward the Thames Estuary it was really a bunch of blazing fragments instead of a whole aircraft. It was an amazing sight." RAF SERGEANT R.F. HAMLYN "Ran into a bunch of Huns over [Thames] Estuary. Had a bang at Me 110 but had to break away as tracer was coming over my head from another behind me. He appeared to be hitting his fellow-countryman in front of me but I didn't wait to see if he shot him down. Had a crack at another and shot his engine right out of the wing. Lovely!" RAF FLYING OFFICER B.J. LANE AUGUST 31 "Climbing away from Croydon at full boost, I saw ugly black mushrooms of smoke burgeoning to the south. Biggin Hill had bought it again, the Ops room demolished, all the toil and travail brought to nothing. I had flogged my 55 Hurricane mercilessly during that climb and was then closing in fast on the Me 110s. The squadron was somewhere behind;that was enough. I did not give them a further thought. Only get those ill-mannered bastards' who had disturbed our lunch, smashed our airfield, invaded our sky. When they saw us coming, they went into a defensive circle. 'No matter, ' I though, 'keep straight on into the middle of them.' I had pushed my hood back to watch the Me 109s better. Down they came, and a violent cut and thrust combat followed, which I vaguely felt must end badly for me. Streams of tracer, turn this way, more tracer, turn that way. Then an Me 109 passed below and turned left, climbing. My favorite shot. Belching black and white smoke, he staggered, slowed up, and rolled over. No time to see more." RAF SQUADRON LEADER PETER TOWNSHEND SEPTEMBER 7 "There several miles away was a black line in the sky. 35 Hun bombers in close formation - and I gradually began to distinguish about 70 to 100 other little dots - fighters. We sent in at the bombers. But before one could take stock of the situation the Messerschmitts were on me. I turned quickly to see if there was anything on my tail and at the same moment two 109s went past my nose. I 56 turned, diving on one and gave him a burst - nothing happened. Presumably I had missed him, but the noise of my eight guns gave me great confidence. I gave the second Me 109 a burst. A sudden flash of brilliant flame, a cloud of smoke, and a vast piece flew off it, and down he went." RAF FLYING OFFICER GEORGE BARCLAY "Something told me it was now or never. Two Dorniers were already ablaze in front of me, parachutes drifting downwards. The black mass of bombers flashed towards us as we dived to get in a glancing frontal attack before turning to take them from the rear. My leader opened fire to the left. My turn. I pressed the button. Nothing happened. S---! S---! It was too late to break off, and the tracer was flying in all directions. Suddenly I noticed the safety catch - it was still on! I wrenched the Hurricane into a tight turn, doubled up over the stick by the crushing centrifugal force. Now I was behind my group, and a Dornier sprang up ahead, growing until it filled my sights. I could see the tail gunner firing at me. At last I pressed the button and the Hurricane shuddered with the eight gun recoil. Smoke streamed out of the Dornier's port engine. I let him have another squirt and saw a banner of flame. Just like that, it all seemed easy." RAF SQUADRON LEADER JEAN ZUMBACH, FORMER POLISH AIR FORCE PILOT SEPTEMBER 9 "After a wide swing eastwards, we headed for London escorted by hundred of fighters. The targets were the docks and shipping in the Thames, and could 57 already be seen, when we were suddenly hit by a very short burst of fire from the machine guns of the RAF fighter that had evidently approached from behind, unseen by our rear gunner, Unteroffizer Diebler. Our [Ju 88] was badly damaged and the situation was grim - the control column didn't work any more, as a bullet must have severed the elevator cables, and both engines were hit, the right losing gasoline, the left oil. Then the observer, Unteroffizer Rolf, reported that Diebler was lying dead in a pool of blood, a bullet having pierced the artery of his neck. I gave the order to shed the cockpit roof in order to bail out, but then I found that I could just about control the aeroplane by the trimming wheel, which to some extent replaced the elevator. Thinking of our dead gunner, I decided to stray in the plane and make for the Channel. If our engines kept going long enough, we could get down on the water and maybe get back to France in the rubber dinghy which was carried on board. So I turned south for the shortest route and jettisoned our bombs. However, we now had no guns to defend ourselves against further attack, as these had gone with the roof, so I dived for cover in the clouds 3, 000 meters below. 58 Unfortunately, in the clouds the engines stopped and didn't want to start again. By now we were too low to bail out, so had no choice but to make a very difficult landing with no use of the control column. I couldn't even let out the flaps, because the electrical system had failed! I was very lucky to make a good landing as another problem was that of all the fields being covered in all sorts of poles and obstacles like old cars - as a defence against a possible landing by assault gliders in an invasion. However, I got us down in one piece and after we had lifted out the dead gunner, we set fire to our aeroplane and gave ourselves up to police and soldiers." LUFTWAFFE OBERLEUTENANT HANS GOLLNISCH SEPTEMBER 11 "Party over London. Sighted big bunch of Huns south of river and got in lovely head-on attack into leading He 111s. Broke them up and picked up a small batch of six with two Me 110s as escort. Found myself entirely alone with these lads so proceeded to have a bit of sport. Got one of Me 110s on fire whereupon the other left his charge and ran for home. Played with the He 11s for a bit and finally got one in both engines. Never had so much fun before!" RAF FLYING OFFICER B.J. LANE SEPTEMBER 15 "Machine-gun fire cracked on every side, and twice there was a hell of a thump quite close behind us. Two British fighters must have collided with two of our Dorniers. The aircraft went spinning down in flames, and below us several parachutes opened. We looked at each other and gave the thumbs-up. This time we had come out of the melee unscathed." LUFTWAFFE DO 17 RADIO OPERATOR HORST ZANDER "I saw a blob coming up from the south, and investigated. Boy! Oh boy! Twenty fat Dorniers, flying wing tip to wing tip, ack ack all around. I was well ahead and above them, so shoved the old throttle open, and dived at them head on. 59 I picked the chappie who appeared to be leading the bunch, settled him in my sights, and let him have it. There isn't much time to muck about in a head on attack. I gave a short burst, then slid underneath his big black belly with only feet to spare, and flashed through the rest of the formation. I hadn't meant to cut it so close, and instinctively ducked as I saw wings, engines, cockpits and black crosses go streaking past my hood. I had reached about 450 MPH in my dive, and heaved back on the stick. I blacked out completely as I went up and over in an enormous loop. My sight returned as I lost speed and the centrifugal force lessened. I was on my back, so rolled over. The speed of dive and pullout had carried me up ahead of them for another attack. I saw that my first burst had taken effect, the leader had dropped away and to one side, and was turning back. The rest of the formation were wobbling about, and didn't seem to know quite what to do. As I dived down again, two Hurricanes turned up and joined in the party. The Huns didn't wait for more, but scattered and fled pell mell, jettisoning their bombs on open country. I had helped turn twenty bombers away from London! I yelled and whistled with joy, then pounced on the one I had crippled in my first attack. The Hurricanes were 'seeing off' the others OK, so I left them to it. He appeared to be having difficulty with one engine. I fixed that by stopping it altogether for him. He looked a bit lopsided then, so I stopped the other one too, and he started a long, steep glide down. I saw the rear gunner bale out, so went up very close and had a look at the aeroplane. It was pretty well riddled. Eight machine guns certainly made a mess! I had a look at the pilot. He sat bolt upright in his seat, and was either dead or wounded, for he didn't even turn his head to look at me, or watch out for a place to land, but stared straight ahead. Suddenly, a pair of legs appeared, dangling from the underneath hatch. The other gunner was baling out. He got out as far as his waist, then the legs kicked. They became still for a moment, then wriggled again, they writhed, thrashed and 60 squirmed. Good God, he's stuck! Poor devil, he couldn't get in or out, and his legs, all I could see of them, flailed wildly as he tried to release himself. It was my fault. I suddenly felt guilty and almost physically sick, until I thought of all the people down below, wives, young mothers, kiddies, huddled in their shelters, waiting for the all clear. The legs still wriggled and thrashed, 2, 000 feet above the cool green fields, trapped in a doomed aircraft, gliding down, a dead pilot at the controls. First one boot came off, then the other, he had no socks on, his feet were quite bare:it was very pathetic. He'd better hurry, or it'd be too late. he hadn't got out before they were down to 1, 000 feet. He'd be cut in half when they hit the ground, like cheese on a grater. In spite of all he stood for, he didn't deserve a death like that. I got my sights squarely on where his body would be, and pressed the button. The legs were still. The machine went on. The pilot was dead. He made no attempt to flatten out and land, but went smack into a field, and the aeroplane exploded. I saw pieces sail past me as I flew low overhead. I didn't feel particularly jubilant." RAF PILOT OFFICER BOGGLE BODIE "I had damaged [the Hurricane] badly, and she was on fire. She ought to have been a dead loss. Yet she did not crash but glided down in gentle curves. My flight companions and I attacked her three times - without a final result. I flew close alongside the flying wreck, by now thoroughly riddled, with smoke belching from her. From a distance of a few yards I saw the dead pilot sitting in his shattered cockpit, while his aircraft spiralled slowly to the ground as though piloted by a ghostly hand." LUFTWAFFE MAJOR ADOLF GALLAND "This time, for a change, we outnumbered the Hun, and believe me, no more than eight got home from that party. At one time you could see planes going down on fire all over the place, and the sky seemed full of parachutes. It was sudden death that morning, for our fighters shot them to blazes." RAF SQUADRON LEADER DOUGLAS BADER 61 (THIS PAGE IS BLANK) 62 MISSION INSTRUCTIONS: PRE-FLIGHT 63 LOADING INSTRUCTIONS Remove the floppy disks marked Their Finest Hour. The Battle of Britain from the disk envelope inside the box, along with the Frequency Cipher Wheel. Then look at the Reference Card, also inside the box, to find the Loading Instructions. These instructions tell you how to start the game from the floppy disks, plus how to install and play it from a hard disk drive. When you've finished loading the game, see the Game Controllers section which follows. GAME CONTROLLERS (MOUSE/JOYSTICK/KEYBOARD) In this manual, the word "controller" will be used to refer to your mouse, joystick, or keyboard cursor keys (arrow keys). "Controller buttons" will refer to the buttons on the mouse or joystick. If you're playing with a keyboard, there will be corresponding keyboard keys that will serve as controller buttons. To find out which controllers the program supports on your computer, please see your Reference Card. If your computer doesn't support a mouse or a joystick, the keyboard will control all of the game functions, and the cursor keys used to pilot aircraft 64 and move machine guns around. However, if your computer does support a joystick or mouse, we urge you to use it, as controlling the game is easier than with the cursor keys. The joystick gives the best true to life control, particularly for piloting the plane and performing aerial maneuvers. The mouse gives the best fine control, which is important for precision maneuvers such as aiming guns and moving a fighter into a favorable position from which to attack. ADJUSTING YOUR JOYSTICK If you are using a joystick when you first start up the game, the program will ask you if you want to use it. Press the Y key if you're using a joystick, and the N key if you're using a different controller. If you press the Y key, the program will walk you through a three-step joystick adjustment process: 1. First, center the joystick and click any joystick button. 2. Next, while holding the joystick in the top left corner, click any joystick button. 3. Finally, while holding the joystick in the lower right corner, click any button. You can adjust your joystick anytime during the game by pressing Alt-C. USING THE CONTROLLER TO SELECT FROM THE MENUS AND SCREENS After you've loaded Their Finest Hour, you'll need to move through several menus that allow you to select missions, choose aircraft, keep track of Combat Records, and more. You'll also need to select icons on different screens throughout the program. Whenever you're at a menu or screen, you'll see a list of choices, or icons, along with a floating arrow. To make your selection, use your controller to move the arrow over the desired choice or icon, then click your controller button. NON-STANDARD MOUSE OR JOYSTICK BUTTONS If you're playing the game with a joystick or mouse that has an unusual button configuration, you may be confused when the game instructions call for pressing the "left" or "right" controller button. Here's an easy way to find out which 65 of your buttons is considered left and which is considered right. First, read the following Main Menu section, then read the Training Flights section. Select a Bf 109 from the list of aircraft shown on the Training Flight Screen. You'll soon find yourself in the cockpit of this fighter, where you'll see two numbers showing the number of ammunition rounds you have in your machine guns and cannon. Pressing one of the buttons on your joystick or mouse will make the top number decrease. This button is the one referred to as the "left" button. The other button will make the bottom number decrease. This button is the "right" button. MAIN MENU When you get to the Main Menu, you'll see a box with a list of choices, surrounded by scenes from the Battle of Britain. On the left, Spitfires soar high above the English Channel, barrage balloons, radar installations, and the white cliffs of Dover. On the right, Stukas dive-bomb ships in the Channel while medium bombers roar off toward England. Use the floating arrow to choose any of these Main Menu selections: FLY TRAINING FLIGHT: This lets you hone your flying, shooting, and bombing skills in a variety of practice situations. The results of these Training Flights will not count on your Combat Record. FLY COMBAT FLIGHT: This lets you fly an actual mission, the results of which will count on your Combat Record. FLY CUSTOM MISSION: This lets you fly in missions that you've created with the Mission Builder(see your Reference Card for more information on using the Mission Builder). PLAY CAMPAIGN: This lets you take part in various campaign missions, where you can change the historical outcome of the Battle of Britain if you're good enough. REVIEW COMBAT RECORDS: This lets you look over the records of the pilots and crews who have flown on your missions. REVIEW COMBAT FILM: This sends you to the Review Combat Film room, where you can watch the combat action you've recorded and saved from your various missions. EXIT FROM PROGRAM: This lets you leave the game and return to your computer's operating system. 66 TRAINING FLIGHTS To learn and practice the skills you'll need when flying a combat mission, we encourage you to fly as many Training Flights as you can. Since the results won't count on your Combat Record, you can experiment, take foolish chances, and make lots of mistakes. Training Flights are the best way to develop that "combat edge" you'll need in battle. When you choose FLY TRAINING FLIGHT from the Main Menu, you'll be presented with an Aircraft Selection menu. There you'll see eight German and British aircraft you can choose from. Move the arrow to either the aircraft silhouette or the name next to it, then click the controller button to make your selection. Next you'll be shown a Training Flight Selection menu. This has a list of four Training Flights specific to that type of aircraft you've selected. For example 67 the training missions you can choose for a fighter include forward gunnery practice, intercepting bombers, and escorting bombers. The first mission on each of the lists is fairly easy, but subsequent ones become increasing difficult. Once you've selected a Training Flight, you'll be sent to Flight Briefing before you begin your flight. COMBAT FLIGHTS With these missions, you'll be reliving historically authentic flights that took place during different phases of the Battle of Britain(see the Historical Overview chapter for more information). When you're flying one of these Combat Flights, you'll select from a roster of pilots you've created for the side you're flying on. Their successes and failures will be kept track of in a Combat Record. Medals and promotions will be won by those who are skillful and courageous in battle, but a far less glorious fate awaits those who are not. To select a Combat Flight, move the arrow to FLY COMBAT FLIGHT on the Main Menu, and press the controller button. Next you'll be at an Aircraft Selection menu, where you'll see eight German or British aircraft silhouettes. Click on either the silhouette of the plane you want to fly or the name next to it. You'll then move to a Flight Selection menu, where you can choose from eight historically based missions appropriate for the type of aircraft you've selected. These choices are ranked in order of difficulty, with the first choices being relatively easy, and the succeeding choices becoming increasingly difficult. You'll only see the first four mission choices when you come to the menu. To see the next four choices, press FORWARD. If you'd like to see the previous four choices again, press BACK. To make your selection, move the floating arrow to either the mission text or the number on the left side, and press your controller button. To leave the Flight Selection menu altogether, press EXIT. When you have selected a mission, you'll move to Flight Briefing. CUSTOM MISSIONS When you pick this selection from the Main Menu, you'll be shown a list of all the missions you've previously created with the Mission Builder (see your Reference Card for more information about building your own missions). If the list is a long one, move the floating arrow to the down arrow icon next to the 68 list, and hold down your controller button to view all the missions on the list. Move the arrow to the up arrow icon and hold down your controller button to move back up the list. When you've found the mission you want to fly, click the arrow on it to select it. You'll then go to Flight Briefing. CAMPAIGN MISSIONS When you play Campaign Missions, you get a chance to change the historical outcome of the Battle of Britain. You can choose to command either the British or the German side, and fly a number of consecutive missions on that side starting from July 10, 1940, the date generally recognized as the commencement of the Battle of Britain. Due to the changing weather conditions at that time of year, you'll only be flying a mission every two or three days. The success or failure of each of your individual missions is magnified, since each outcome reflects upon your entire side during the battle. Also, the effects of one mission are carried over to subsequent missions. For example, if you're playing on the German side, and you bomb certain installations, those installations will remain out of action for a given length of time. After every mission, a scoring screen will let you know how close your side is to winning or losing the campaign. If you're directing the British side, you'll win the Battle of Britain by surviving until September 16. This was the date by which the Luftwaffe needed to gain air superiority so that Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of England, could be launched. You'll also win by shooting down enough Luftwaffe aircraft to deplete their air strength to the point where they can no longer continue their aerial assault. If you're directing the German side, you'll win by destroying enough Fighter Command aircraft, either in the air or on the ground, so that the Luftwaffe gains air superiority over England and the invasion can take place. No matter which side you choose, final victory may require that you direct from fifteen to twenty five missions. (For more information about actual British and German campaign strategies you might want to experiment with, see the Historical Overview chapter.) 69 STARTING A CAMPAIGN To begin a campaign, choose PLAY CAMPAIGN from the Main Menu. You'll then see another menu, with the following choices: START NEW CAMPAIGN DIRECTING THE RAF This creates a new British campaign, with the starting date set at July 10, 1940. At the text cursor, type in the name of your campaign, and press RETURN. You'll then go to the Campaign Map. START NEW CAMPAIGN DIRECTING THE LUFTWAFFE This creates a new German campaign, which will also start on July 10, 1940. Type in the name of your campaign, press RETURN, and you'll be sent to the Campaign Map. CONTINUE CAMPAIGN IN PROGRESS Choosing this displays the list of available campaigns that have already been created and saved on disk. If this list is a long one, move the floating arrow over the down arrow icon, and hold the controller button to look down the list. To look back up the list, hold the controller button after you move the floating arrow over the up arrow icon. At the bottom of the list, you'll also see two buttons, labeled RETRY and CANCEL. If you're saving your campaigns on floppy disks, and want the program to search a particular disk for your campaign, insert that disk and press RETRY. If you don't want to direct any of the campaigns listed, and want to direct a new one instead, press CANCEL. 70 Once you've selected an available campaign, you'll move to the Campaign Map. EXIT This sends you back to the Main Menu. CAMPAIGN MAP After you've started a new campaign or chosen an existing one, you'll go to the Campaign Map. At the top of this map is the word "CAMPAIGN, " along with the name of your campaign, plus its historical date and time. From this map you'll send your forces into combat on the date shown above. You'll organize your aircraft into flight groups, give them orders, and begin that day's mission by taking the controls of one of the planes. This Campaign Map resembles the Flight Briefing Map, with the English Channel, Southern England, and the north coast of France displayed(see the Flight Briefing section for comparison). The map will contain different information for each side. If you're playing an RAF campaign, you'll see icons on the map representing all the different British ground installations and ship convoys, with a special highlight on those that are about to be attacked. These targets include airfields, radar sites, and factories. You may also see icons that represent formations of incoming Luftwaffe aircraft. If you're playing a Luftwaffe campaign, you'll see icons representing all the possible targets you can attack, including ground installations and ship convoys. You'll then have to decide which ones to send your aircraft to assault. To reveal information about the ground installations on your map, move the floating arrow over any installation icon. In the column in the lower right hand corner of the screen, you'll see the name of the installation, along with its status(whether or not it has been previously damaged or destroyed in the campaign). For both German and British campaigns, you'll see four buttons at the bottom of the screen: BRIEFING This gives you a description of the status of your campaign, and tells you how close each side is to victory or defeat. ROSTER This lets you create and select pilots and crews for that day's mission (see the Flight Roster section for more information). CANCEL This sends you back to the Main Menu. GO FLIGHT This lets you begin your mission. 71 FLIGHT GROUPS Before you begin a Campaign Mission, you'll need to assign the aircraft under your command to various flight groups. A flight group is a given number of aircraft that fly together as a unit. You determine the number and type of aircraft in each flight group, and then assign it to a specific mission objective by creating a flight plan. Next to the words "PLANES AVAILABLE" on the screen is a number indicating how many aircraft are available to be placed in your flight groups. Below these words are five buttons which you use to determine the composition of each group: FLIGHT GROUP Click your controller button to cycle through the flight groups you have on hand, plus those you have yet to create. To create a flight group, you must select a plane type(see below)and allocate at least one plane to that flight group from the pool of available planes. PLANE TYPE Click your controller button to cycle through the different types of aircraft you can allocate to a particular flight group. Each flight group must be made up of the same type of aircraft. For example, if you're flying an RAF campaign, you cannot have a flight group with both Spitfires and Hurricanes in it. However, you can create one flight group of Spitfires and a second of Hurricanes. NUMBER OF PLANES This lets you select the number of aircraft for the flight group you're creating. There must be at least one plane in a flight group 72 before that group can fly your mission. Press the left controller button to increase the number, and the right controller button to decrease it. FORMATION Click your controller button to cycle through and set the flight formation for the current flight group you're creating. ORDERS Click your controller button to cycle through and set the mission orders for your current flight group. If you're directing the RAF, you can choose to have your fighters attack enemy bombers or fighters. If you're directing the Luftwaffe, your choices vary, depending upon the type of aircraft. German fighters can fly in a bomber escort role, or a free ranging role. Jabo fighter/bombers can either fly bomber escort, drop bombs, or strafe installations. FLIGHT PLAN After you've created a flight group, you must implement a flight plan for it. To do this you'll plot a course by placing a series of navigation points on the Campaign Map for the group to follow. A flight plan is composed of up to six of these points, including a starting point (BEGIN), four rendezvous points (WAY POINTS 1-4), and an airfield at a home base point to return to (LAND). For fighter Combat Air Patrol (CAP) missions, the flight group will patrol an area by repeating the flight plan until it runs low on fuel. For fighter escort and bomber missions, the flight group follows the flight plan only once. To create a flight plan, look below the flight group buttons. There, you'll see a chart which looks like this: FLIGHT PLAN ALT ATK BEGIN WAY POINT 1 WAY POINT 2 WAY POINT 3 WAY POINT 4 LAND DELETE To choose where the flight group will begin its mission from, click on BEGIN. A star will appear to the left of the word. Move the floating arrow to the desired location on the Campaign Map, and click the controller button. A starting point icon will appear on the map. If you change your mind, move the arrow to a new location, and click the button again. RAF flight groups can only begin their missions over England or the English Channel. Luftwaffe flight groups can only begin their missions over Continental Europe or the English Channel. 73 Now look on the screen for the word "ALT" next to the words "FLIGHT PLAN". This shows the current cruising altitude for this flight group, and is given in thousands of feet. (For example, if the number reads "11, " the current cruising altitude is 11, 000 feet.) Click the left controller button to increase the altitude at which the flight group begins its mission, and the right controller button to decrease the altitude. You set the locations of the four Way Points the same way you set the BEGIN location. First, click on Way Point 1, move the arrow to the desired location on the map, and click your controller button. An icon will appear on the map to represent the location of that Way Point. Click on the number below ALT to adjust the altitude for your flight group flying toward Way Point 1. If you wish, repeat this procedure for Way Points 2, 3, and 4. You can plot a course with these different Way Points to confuse or divert the enemy. If your directing a Luftwaffe campaign, bomber or fighter/bomber flight groups will automatically bomb a target if it is located where you've placed a Way Point icon. If you don't want to attack this target, look for word "ATK"(attack) next to ALT. The word YES will appear if an attack will occur. To call off the attack, click on YES and that word will go away. To assign each flight group to a home base landing area, click on LAND, move the arrow to the desired airfield on the map, the click the controller button. After you've created a flight plan, you may want to modify it by removing one or more of the Way Points. To do so, click on the Way Point you'd like to remove, then click the DELETE button, which is located to the right of the LAND button. This will remove that Way Point icon from the map. CAMPAIGN RESULTS Although it may seem like you're fighting the Battle of Britain with just a handful of aircraft, the success of each of your missions represents the degree of success for your entire side. For example, if you successfully bomb radar installations on a Luftwaffe bombing mission, then the rest of the Luftwaffe will have been equally successful bombing similar targets elsewhere in Southern England. On the Campaign Results screen at the end of your mission, you'll see a chart outlining how your mission results affected the status of each side. It also shows the total air strength remaining for both sides. The percentage of available RAF pilots, planes, and airfields will fluctuate, as will the number 74 of available Luftwaffe planes and crews. These percentages determine how close each side is to winning or losing the Battle of Britain. REVIEW COMBAT RECORDS When you choose REVIEW COMBAT RECORDS from the Main Menu, another menu will appear listing five categories of pilots and crew whose records you can review: RAF PILOTS BF 109 PILOTS BF 110 PILOTS JU 87 STUKA CREWS BOMBER CREWS You can choose EXIT, which will return you to the Main Menu. Use the floating arrow to make your selection. The next menu you'll see will have two lists. The list on the left will show all the current pilots or crews that exist in that category. If this is a long list, move to the down arrow icon next to the list, and press and hold your controller button on the up arrow icon to move up the list. The list on the right will show the "Top 10" pilots or crews, with their names, the number of missions flown, and evaluation numbers rating their past combat experience. To look at the record of an individual pilot or crew, move the arrow to their name, and click the controller button. The 75 next screen you'll see will give you detailed information, including rank, status, number of missions flown, number of air victories, number of bombloads dropped, targets destroyed, and number of planes lost. Choosing REVIEW COMBAT RECORDS only lets you look at pilots' and crews' records. To create pilots and crews go to the Flight Roster screen, which you access from Flight Briefing (see the Flight Roster section for more information). REVIEW COMBAT FILM Whenever you're flying a mission, you can record your combat action with the replay camera. Pressing the C key turns on the cameras, which is located in the cockpit of your aircraft. A number next to the camera indicates the percentage of film you have left. You can turn off your camera by pressing C again, by waiting until the film runs out, or by pressing R, which sends you to the Review Combat Film screen. You can also get to this screen by selecting REVIEW COMBAT FILM on the Main Menu. Once you've made your film and pressed R, you'll be at a screen with the words "REVIEW COMBAT FILM" in the upper part, along with the name of the plane you were flying in when you made the film. At the bottom of the screen, you'll see a floating cursor which you can move with your controller. You'll position this cursor over the desired red buttons on the bottom of the screen, and press your controller button to activate them. 76 THE VIEW WINDOW The playback of your film will be shown in the view window in the center of the screen. To the left and right of the view window, you'll see two numeric lists, one marked CAMERA. The YOU list shows flight statistics for the aircraft you were flying, while the CAMERA list shows flight statistics from the camera's vantage point, which you can change with the view mode and vantage point controls(see below). Both of these displays show the aircraft's IAS (Indicated Air Speed), the ALTITUDE, the RATE OF CLIMB (+ or - in feet per minute), the HEADING (in number of degrees), the PITCH (the angle of the nose of the aircraft in degrees above or below the horizon), and the amount of AMMUNITION left. PLAYBACK CONTROLS The playback controls in Review Combat Film are located directly below the view window. These controls are similar to those of a VCR. To start the playback of your film, press PLAY. To stop it at any time, press STOP. To fast forward it at any time, press FWD. To rewind it, which you'll need to do when the end of the film has been reached, press REW. To leave Review Combat Film altogether press EXIT. You'll be sent back to your aircraft if you were flying a mission; otherwise, you'll be sent back to the Main Menu. BUTTON FUNCTION REW Rewinds film to start STOP Pauses the film PLAY Starts the film playback FWD Fast forwards the film EXIT Exits you from Review Combat Film screen VIEW MODES Below the playback buttons at the bottom are three additional red buttons, which control different view modes. Whenever you have selected any of these modes, the word above the button will be highlighted. In the CHASE view mode, the camera looks forward from directly behind your aircraft. This is the view mode you always start in when you first come to the Review Combat Film screen. The next button, COCKPIT, gives you the view from where the pilot is sitting. The final button, FREE, is a free floating eye in the sky. You can pan this eye in the sky around by pressing U (up), D (down), L (left), R (right). To move the camera forward 77 in the FREE mode, press and hold the square button in the middle of U, D, L, and R. To move the camera straight up or down, press either the red up arrow or the red down arrow. BUTTON FUNCTION CHASE Displays file from behind aircraft COCKPIT Displays film from cockpit or aircraft FREE Displays film from free floating position in the sky U, D, L, R Pans camera position up,down,left, or right (FREE mode only) RED SQUARE Moves camera forward (FREE mode only) RED UP ARROW Moves camera view up (FREE mode only) RED DOWN ARROW Moves camera position down (FREE mode only) SWITCHING VANTAGE POINTS The buttons on the far right allow the camera to be switched to many vantage points, including different aircraft and objects. If you press the YOU button, the camera will be positioned on or near your aircraft, depending on your view mode. If you press the AIR button, the camera will be positioned from any object that was in the air when you made your film, except for bombs. These objects can include other aircraft, barrage balloons, and even men in parachutes who have bailed out. Press the AIR button repeatedly to cycle through all the different airborne objects, and change the view mode for additional camera positions. If you press the GRND button, the camera will be positioned from targets on the ground. If any aircraft dropped bombs while you were filming, press BOMB to get a bomb's point of view. You can press YOU, AIR, GRND, or BOMB at anytime during your replay. The name of the object or aircraft that the camera is positioned on will always appear on the display at the top of the screen, next to the words "REVIEW COMBAT FILM." BUTTON FUNCTION YOU Moves vantage point to your aircraft AIR Moves vantage point to objects in air GRND Moves vantage point to land and sea targets BOMB Moves vantage point to any bombs dropped during filming 78 SAVING REPLAYS If you'd like to save the movie of your combat action, look at the lower left hand corner of the screen. There, you'll see a nameplate titled CURRENT CLIP, with a display panel below it. Move the cursor to the display panel. Press your controller button, and the arrow will be replaced by a text cursor. Type in a name for your film clip, the press RETURN. This will restore the floating arrow. Click on the SAVE button to save your film under the name you just typed in. A directory of your film clips will be created, which you can only access by coming to the Review Combat Film screen from the Main Menu. As you accumulate replays, be sure not to give the same name to more than one film, or else you will erase the older version. BUTTON FUNCTION SAVE Saves current replay clip to disk LOADING REPLAYS To look at a film clip from any previous missions, press the LOAD button. A directory of the available film clips will then appear in the center of the view window. To look down the list, move the floating arrow over the down arrow next to the list, and press and hold the controller button.To look back up the list, press and hold the controller button over the up arrow. To select one of these film clips, click the floating arrow on the one you'd like to watch. BUTTON FUNCTION LOAD Loads films you have saved(will not function if you are in the middle of a mission) FLIGHT BRIEFING After you've selected a Training Flight, Combat Flight, or Custom Mission, you'll go to Flight Briefing. This is where you'll learn about your mission in greater detail, choose the pilots or crew to fly it, and make any last minute modifications. When you first enter Flight Briefing, you'll see a map of Southern England and the west coast of France. This Flight Briefing Map is similar to the In Flight Map/Radio that you can access anytime during your mission. Above the map are the words "FLIGHT BRIEFING MAP." To the right will be the title of your mission 79 plus the name of the current pilot or crew who is assigned to your plane. On the Flight Briefing Map, you'll find various colored icons scattered around the two countries. These icons symbolize various land installations, such as RAF airfields, industrial targets, radar stations, and Luftwaffe bases. To learn more about these installations, move the floating arrow over any icon on the map. The information will then appear in the column on the right side of the screen. You'll see the name of the installation, a description of it, and its status (whether it is operational, or if it has been damaged or destroyed by any previous action). Other icons will identify the location of aircraft and ship convoys in the battle area you are about to enter, along with the ground targets that are about to be attacked by Luftwaffe bombers. On the bottom of the screen, you'll also find four buttons labeled: BRIEFING This brings up a detailed description of your mission, which will appear in place of the Flight Briefing Map. ROSTER This lets you assign pilots and crew to fly your mission(see the Flight Roster section which follows) CANCEL This aborts your mission and send you back to the Main Menu, where you can choose a different mission if you wish. GO FLIGHT This lets you begin your flight. MODIFYING YOUR MISSION Before you begin your mission, you can modify many of the combat conditions of your flight by clicking on the Mission Setting buttons in the lower right hand corner of the screen. However, once you modify a Combat Flight, Custom Mission, or Campaign Mission, the results will not count in any Combat Record. Whenever you select a mission to fly, the Mission Settings you'll see will reflect the values for that particular mission. The Mission Settings you can modify are: SETUP Use this to choose between a STANDARD or RANDOM disposition of forces. When you choose STANDARD, the aircraft on both sides will be in the same location every time you play. When you choose RANDOM, they will positioned differently every time you play. AMMO Use this to change between STANDARD or UNLIMITED amounts of ammunition. 80 In the STANDARD mode, you'll carry the same number of gun or cannon rounds that aircraft in the Battle of Britain carried. In the UNLIMITED mode, you'll have an endless supply of ammunition. DAMAGE Use this to change between STANDARD or UNLIMITED amounts of battle damage your aircraft can sustain. In the STANDARD mode, your aircraft can be damaged and even shot down by enemy gunfire. In the UNLIMITED mode, you can't be damaged, shot down, or crash. FUEL Use this to change between STANDARD or UNLIMITED fuel capacity. In the STANDARD mode, you'll carry a finite supply of fuel, and us it up at the same rate as aircraft in 1940. In the UNLIMITED mode, you'll never run out of fuel. ENEMY Use this to select the skill level of the opposing pilots or crew members. These settings range from NOVICE to TOP ACE. START This lets you choose where to start your mission from. If you choose ON GROUND, you'll begin your mission on the runway of your home airfield, and will have to takeoff and fly to the enemy or the target. If you choose IN AIR, you'll begin your mission in mid-flight, and the enemy or target will be nearby. RESET This reverts the values for the mission back to the original default settings. FLIGHT ROSTER The ROSTER button in Flight Briefing lets you create pilots and crews, and choose the ones who will fly in the mission you've selected. You can fly your mission without selecting ROSTER, but then you'll fly with an unnamed pilot or crew, and the results of your mission won't count on any Combat Records. In addition to activating a pilot or crew for the plan you're about to fly, you can select the pilot or crew for any other plan on your side. At first, you won't have a roster of pilots or crews to choose from. But as you create more and more pilots and crews, and as they gain experience in combat, you'll be able to choose those best qualified to support you in your current mission - and return victorious more often as a result. When you press the ROSTER button, you'll be sent to the Flight Roster screen. At the top of the screen, you'll see the words "FLIGHT ROSTER, " plus a list of aircraft icons. These icons represent the different planes that are flying on your side in the particular mission you've chosen. Next to each aircraft icon 81 will be the name of its assigned pilot or crew. The aircraft that you yourself are going to fly will be highlighted. The pilot and crew from your previous mission will be automatically reassigned to your aircraft if they survived. For example, let's say your last mission was in a Spitfire with a pilot named "Clive." If you are about to fly another one, you'll see the name "Spitfire" highlighted, along with a Spitfire icon, plus the name "Clive." This way you won't have to create a new pilot every time you fly a new mission. CREATING AND MANAGING PILOTS AND CREWS In the middle of the Flight Roster screen you'll see six buttons. The first five buttons are various pilot and crew categories for the different RAF and Luftwaffe aircraft. When you press one of these buttons, the roster of available pilots for that type of aircraft will appear at the bottom of the screen. A sixth button lets you create new pilots and crews to add to the roster of whichever type of aircraft you choose. The five pilot and crew category buttons are: RAF Use this to list the available Spitfire and Hurricane pilots. Bf 109 Use this to list the available Bf 109 pilots. Bf 110 Use this to list the available Bf 110 pilots. STUKA Use this to list the available Stuka crews. BOMBERS Use this to list the available He 111, Do 17z-2, and Ju 88 Crews. The last button on the list is CREATE PILOTS/CREW. Use this to create pilots and crew, and to add them to the roster of each category. To do so, first select one of the pilot or crew categories by clicking on the appropriate button. Then click on the CREATE PILOTS/CREW button. A text cursor will appear. Use your keyboard to type in the name of the pilot or crew, then press RETURN. The name of the new pilot or crew will now be added to the roster of available pilots and crews for that aircraft. Here's an example. Let's say you want to create a new crew for a Ju 88. Click on the BOMBERS button, then click on the CREATE PILOTS/CREW button. Type in the crew name, which we'll call "Blitzers, " with the keyboard, the press RETURN. You now have a Ju 88 pilot and crew named "Blitzers." 82 LOOKING OVER THE ROSTER If you've got a long list of pilots and crew on any roster, move the floating arrow to the down arrow icon the left side of the screen, and press and hold the controller button to scroll down through all the names. Press and hold the up arrow icon to move back up through the names. To the right of each pilot or crew name, you'll see their rank, the number of missions they've flown, and an evaluation number, which rates them based on their past successes and failures. ASSIGNING PILOTS AND CREWS To assign a pilot or crew to a particular plane, first select the category of aircraft you want them to fly. Then, use your arrow to select their name from the roster of available pilots or crews at the bottom of the screen. Finally, click on the aircraft icon at the top of the screen that you want to assign that pilot or crew to fly. The pilot's or crew's name will now appear next to that aircraft icon. Be sure to match the pilot or crew with a plane from the category of aircraft they're qualified to fly. For example, an He 111 crew is qualified to fly the three kinds of German medium bombers, but they cannot fly any other Luftwaffe aircraft. To deactivate a pilot or crew, click on their name when it appears next to any aircraft icon. USING THE ROSTER FOR MORE SUCCESSFUL MISSIONS Whenever you complete a mission, the Combat Records for all pilots and crews involved will be updated. The more experience each pilot or crew member gains, the better they'll perform in future missions. When you select these proven, experienced pilots or crews for your missions, they'll generally repeat their successes for you. For example, if you have a Bf 109 pilot on your roster named "Heinz" who has flown many missions and is a crack shot, you might want to assign him as your wingman if you're flying a fighter intercept mission. Chances are he'll distinguish himself in that role, and help you accomplish the goals of your mission. However, as in real life combat, there's always the possibility that he'll be shot down. To exit the Flight Roster and return to the Flight Briefing Map, press the EXIT button. 83 MISSION INSTRUCTIONS: IN FLIGHT 84 To help you learn the flight controls and instruments of the twelve aircraft in Their Finest Hour, we've divided the planes into three categories, based on their design, their role in combat, and the number of persons onboard. DOUBLE-SEAT SINGLE-SEAT FIGHTERS AND MEDIUM FIGHTERS DIVE BOMBERS BOMBERS (PILOT ONLY) (PILOT AND (PILOT, BOMBARDIER, AND THREE REAR GUNNER) TO FIVE GUNNERS) Spitfire MK I Bf 110C-4 He 111 Spitfire MK II Bf 110C-4/B Do 17z-2 Hurricane MK I Ju 87B-1 Stuka Ju 88A-1 Bf 109E-3 Ju 87B-2 Stuka Bf 109E-4/B Many of the control keys and the flight instruments are similar for all three categories. However, we want to make sure that you have all the information you need right at your fingertips at all times. To do this, we deliberately repeat some of the information in each of the category discussions below, and you'll find that there is a separate flight controls section for each category as well. Each flight controls section begins with a brief description of that category of aircraft, followed by some charts. The first chart shows you the controls you'll need to operate the aircraft's guns, while the second chart gives you a list of keys you'll use to fly and maneuver the aircraft itself. Another chart shows you how to look around outside your aircraft. If you're flying a medium bomber, there's also a discussion on how to move to the different gunner positions and man the guns, as well as how to move to the bombardier's position and drop bombs. Finally, a section on cockpit instruments describes all the different gauges and levers you'll see in the cockpit of your aircraft. One cockpit screen in each of the three plane categories is displayed, to help you master the instruments. To see a cockpit screen of every aircraft, along with additional information, see the German and British Aircraft and Weapons chapter. 86 FLIGHT CONTROLS GAME CONTROLS Your controller operates just like the The following game controls can control stick on a real plane. For more be used anytime during a information, see the Flight Fundamentals mission, regardless of whether and Tactics chapter. you're flying a fighter, dive bomber, or medium bomber. CONTROL KEYS FUNCTION DIRECTION FUNCTION Up arrow Moves the nose of the plane Alt-P Pauses game; press any Forward(away down key to continue from you) Alt-S Turns all game sounds off and on Down arrow Moves the nose of the plane Alt-E Turns engine sound off (toward you) up and on Alt-V Gives version number of game Right arrow Banks the plane to the right Alt-C Lets you adjust joystick Left arrow Banks the plane to the left Alt-G Changes the amount of ground detail to speed up game if it is running sluggishly Esc Exits the game;returns you to your computer's operating system 87 SINGLE-SEAT FIGHTER CONTROLS (SPITFIRE, HURRICANE, BF 109) As a single seat fighter pilot, you're basically a "flying gun, " armed with forward firing machine guns and, if you're flying a Bf 109, a formidable 20 mm cannon. Your fighter is faster and more maneuverable than a bomber, but it is also less durable, and won't be able to sustain as much damage. Each of the fighters you can choose from has its own individual strengths and weaknesses, but they all excel at one task: bringing down enemy aircraft. 88 Single Seat Fighter Weapons Controls Single Seat Fighter View Controls CONTROLLER BUTTON FUNCTION To look around your fighter in all Left controller Fire forward directions, you can use either the number button or machine guns keys on the top of your keyboard or, SPACE BAR if your keyboard has a keypad, use the Right controller Fires 20 mm keypad controls. On some computers, the button or cannon(Bf 109 keypad controls are labeled with arrows period(.) key only) and we recommend that you use them. For Left AND right Drops bombload a further discussion of these controls, controller (Bf 109 Jabo see cockpit instrument #10 in the Single buttons or fighter/bomber Seat Fighter Cockpit Instruments section RETURN only) below. SINGLE SEAT FIGHTER COCKPIT CONTROLS KEY FUNCTION KEY FUNCTION 8 (Up Forward view (your mission + Increase throttle (shift key arrow) starts in this direction) not needed) 6 (Right View right - Decrease throttle arrow) 4 (left View left L Lowers and raises landing gear arrow) F Lowers and raises flaps 2 (down Rearview mirror C Turns replay camera on and off to look behind you) arrow) R Sends you to Review Combat Film 3 (pgDn) View straight down (see the Mission instructions: regardless of your flight angle) Pre-Flight chapter) 9 (PgUp) Scan view (look completely M Sends you to the In-Flight around your fighter) Map/Radio J Lets you jump from your fighter and parachute to safety Q Ends mission;send you to a post flight evaluation 89 Single Seat Fighter Cockpit Instruments When you're inside the cockpit of your chosen fighter, these are the instruments you'll see in front of you: 1. Radio: This receiver has two important components. The three digit number shows what frequency your radio is turned to, while the light next to it will be lit when you've tuned into the correct frequency, which allows you to receive important mission information. To tune or use your radio, press M, which moves you to the In Flight Map/Radio. 2. Bomb Release Light (Bf 109E-4/B Jabo fighter/bombers only) This will be lit if you have a bomb to drop. The number next to the light indicates if you have one or zero bombs left. 3. Flaps Lever: This gives you the position of your fighter's flaps. If it is in the up position, the flaps are up;if it is in the down position, the flaps are down. During normal flight your flaps should be up, but for takeoffs and landings, they should be down to increase lift and lower the stalling speed. 4. Compass: This shows which direction your fighter is headed:north, south, east, or west. 5. Climb/Dive Indicator: This gauge gives you the rate your fighter is climbing or diving, in thousands of feet per minute. The + area of the gauge indicates a climb, while the - indicates a descent. 6. RPM Indicator: This gives you two readings. The dial shows the number of revolutions per minute(RPMs)your engine is delivering, in units of one hundred. The higher the RPMs, the farther to the right the dial will move. If the throttle setting is at "75" or higher, or if the dial moves into the red area, you'll be using up fuel at a higher rate. The white number at the bottom of the gauge shows the throttle or power setting of the engine. For example, if it reads "85, " your engine is set for 85 percent of the power it can produce. 7. Banking indicator: This shows the roll of your righter(see the Flight Fundamentals and Tactics chapter for more information). The large horizontal bar shows the position of your wings relative to the ground, while the small vertical bar shows the direction your tail is pointing. As you bank your 90 fighter left or right, the horizontal bar will also bank to reflect your position. 8. Ammunition Round Indicator: This show how many gun rounds you have left in your forward firing machine guns. If you're flying a Bf 109, you'll see two numbers. The top one indicates the number of machine gun rounds left, while the bottom number shows how many rounds you have left in your more powerful 20 mm cannon. 9. Gunsight: Use this to aim your forward firing machine guns and cannon at enemy aircraft. 10. View Indicator: This panel shows which direction you're looking out of from your fighter. In normal flight, the panel will be blank. When you press the 4 key, the view out of your cockpit window will be the left view, and the word "LEFT" will be displayed on the view indicator. If your computer has enough memory, the cockpit screen will be replaced by a picture of the view looking over the left wing of your aircraft. Pressing the 6 key gives you the right view in the cockpit window with the word "RIGHT" displayed, or the view looking over the right wing of your fighter. Pressing the 3 key gives you the view straight down, and the word "DOWN" will be displayed. When you press the 9 key, you'll be in the scan mode. In this mode, you can look 91 around your fighter in any direction by moving your controller, while your fighter remains on course. Two numbers will be displayed on the view indicator. The first number shows how many degrees up or down you're looking starting at 0 (level flight), and ranging from -90 (straight down) to +90 (straight up). The second number shows how many degrees you're looking around, beginning with 0 (straight ahead, your flight path). If you're looking toward the right, the number ranges from 0 to +90 (directly right) to +180 (behind you). If you're looking left, the number ranges from 0 to -90 (directly left) to -179 (just about straight behind you). 11. Nameplate: This gives the name and model number of your fighter. 12. Altimeter: This gives your distance above sea level in feet. The digital number indicates thousands of feet, the big hand on the dial indicates hundreds of feet, and the little hand tens of feet. For example, if the digital display reads "21, "the big hand is on the "4" and the little hand on the "8" your altitude is 21, 480 feet. 13. Airspeed Indicator: This shows how fast your fighter is flying in tens of 92 miles per hour. For example, if the hand on the gauge is pointing to "30, " you're flying at 300 miles per hour. 14. Engine Damage Indicator: This dial shows the amount of damage done to your fighter's engine in combat. If the indicator moves into the red area, the power output of the engine will be severely reduced and your RPM indicator reading will drop. You may then have to abort the mission and return to your home base, or even bail out. 15. Airframe Damage Indicator: This gauge shows the amount of structural damage sustained by your fighter in combat. When the indicator is in the red zone, your aircraft is severely damaged and may go out of control, forcing you to bail out. 16. Pitch Indicator: This shows the position of the nose of your fighter relative to the horizon. + means your nose is pointing above the horizon, 0 is level with the horizon, and - indicates that your nose is pointing below the horizon. 17. Replay Camera Indicator: This shows the percentage of film you have remaining in your replay camera when you are recording. The number on the indicator will decrease until you're out of film. When you press C to turn on your replay camera, a light above the indicator will go on, and stay on until you have turned your camera off, or used up all the film. 18. Fuel Gauge:This shows how much fuel remains in your fighter's fuel tanks:E means empty, F means full. 19. Landing Gear Lever:This shows the status of your landing gear. If the lever is forward or up, your landing gear is up;if the lever is back or down, your landing gear is down. Don't forget to lower your landing gear for a landing, or to raise it after takeoff. Lowering your landing gear has the effect of slowing your airspeed, which may be useful in certain situations. 93 DOUBLE-SEAT FIGHTER AND DIVE BOMBER CONTROLS (BF 110, JU 87 STUKA) When you're flying a double seat fighter or dive bomber, you're in a larger, less maneuverable aircraft than a single seat fighter. However, you're more heavily armed, with a rear firing machine gun to help ward off enemy attacks. Like a single seat fighter, you're also armed with forward firing machine guns, and, if you're flying a Bf 110, a 20 mm cannon. Your plane is slightly more durable than a fighter, so it will take more enemy bullets to bring it down. The Stuka and the fighter/bomber version of the Bf 110 carry bombs, and in the hands of a skilled pilot, they can be extremely accurate for low-altitude bombing (Bf 110C-4/B) and dive bombing (Ju 87). DOUBLE SEAT FIGHTER AND DIVE BOMBER WEAPONS CONTROLS Your forward firing guns function exactly the same as in a single seat fighter. But your plane is equipped with an extra weapon at your defense - a rear gunner. To activate your rear gunner, and switch to the rear view, press the G key(the 2 key will also switch you to this mode). Your plane will fly on, with the controls left where you set them. If you press A before you switch to the rear gunner, you'll activate the automatic pilot. Then, to manually aim the machine gun, move your controller around. If you press A while you're manning the rear gun, you'll activate the automatic shooting mode, which aims and fires the machine gun for you. You cannot aim and fire the rear machine gun yourself while it is in this mode. If you want your rear gun to be firing away while you return to piloting the plane, you must activate this auto shoot mode first. 94 CONTROLLER BUTTON FUNCTION DOUBLE SEAT FIGHTER AND DIVE BOMBER VIEW CONTROLS Left controller Fires forward button or machine gun or rear To look around your double seat SPACEBAR machine gun fighter or dive bomber in all directions, you can use either Right controller Fires 20 mm cannon the number keys on the top of button or (Bf 110 only) your keyboard or, if your key- period(.) key board has a keypad, use the key- pad controls. On some computers Left AND right Drops bombload the keypad controls are labeled controller (except Bf 110C-4) with arrows, and we recommend buttons or that you use them. For a RETURN further discussion of these controls, see cockpit instrument DOUBLE-SEAT FIGHTER AND DIVE #13 in the Double Seat Fighter BOMBER COCKPIT CONTROLS or Dive Bomber Cockpit Instruments section below. KEY FUNCTION KEY FUNCTION + Increases throttle 8 (Up Forward view (your mission (shift key not needed) arrow) starts in this direction) - Decreases throttle 6 (Right View right L Lowers and raises landing gear arrow) F Lowers and raises flaps 4 (Left View left D Extends and retracts dive brakes arrow) C Turns replay camera on and off 2 (Down Switch to rear gunner R Sends you to Review Combat Film arrow) (see the Pre-Flight chapter) P Moves you to pilot's position 3 (PgDn) View straight down G Moves you to rear gunner seat regardless of your flight angle) A Turns on the automatic pilot, 9 (PgUp) Scan view (look completely or automatic shoot mode if around your fighter or dive you're manning the rear gun bomber) position at the time S Lets you toggle between bombload settings M Sends you to the In-Flight Map/Radio J Lets you and crew member jump from plane & parachute to safety Q Ends mission; sends you to post flight evaluation 95 DOUBLE SEAT FIGHTER AND DIVE BOMBER COCKPIT INSTRUMENTS Once you've seated at the controls of a double seat fighter or dive bomber, these are the instruments you'll be relying on in combat: 1. Landing Gear Lever (Bf 110 only): This shows the status of your landing gear. If the lever is forward or up, your landing gear is up;if the lever is back or down, your landing gear is down. Don't forget to lower your landing gear for a landing, or to raise it after takeoff. Lowering your landing gear has the effect of slowing your airspeed, which may be useful in certain situations. 2. Compass: This shows which direction your double seat fighter or dive bomber is headed:north, south, east or west. 3. Bomb Indicator Panel(except Bf 110C-4):The number on this panel shows you how many of your externally mounted bombs you have left to drop. The lever lets you choose how to drop your bombload. If you're flying a Ju 87 Stuka, you'll be carrying four small wing mounted bombs and one large fuselage mounted bomb. When you start your mission, the lever is in the far left position, and a light underneath the miniature aircraft on the panel indicates that only your fuselage mounted bomb will be dropped when you press RETURN. Pressing S once moves the lever to the middle, and the lights on the miniature aircraft now indicate that only your four wing mounted bombs will be dropped. Pressing S again moves the lever to the far right, with the lights showing that all of your bombs will be dropped. Pressing S a third time returns the lever to the original position. If you're flying a Bf 110C-4/B, you'll be carrying two fuselage mounted bombs. Your bomb indicator panel will be in the lower right hand corner of the cockpit. Underneath the word BOMBEN on the panel, you'll see two lights. When the light on the left is lit, one bomb will drop every time you press RETURN. When the light on the right is lit, both of your bombs will drop at once if you press RETURN. Pressing S allows you to toggle between these two settings. 4. Ammunition Round Indicator:This show how many gun rounds you have left in your forward firing machine guns. If you're flying a Bf 110, you'll see two numbers. The top one indicates the number of machine gun rounds left, while the bottom number shows how many rounds you have left in your more powerful 20 mm 96 cannon. 5. Dive Brakes Lever(Ju 87 Stuka only):This shows whether your dive brakes are up or down. Lowering the dive brakes is necessary to slow down a Ju 87 during a dive bombing run. 6. Automatic Pilot Light:This tells you if you've turned on your automatic pilot, which you activate by pressing the A key. You'll want to turn on the automatic pilot before moving to the rear gunner position, otherwise the double seat fighter or dive bomber will fly with the controls set where you left them. 7. Altimeter:This give your distance above sea level in feet. The digital number indicates thousands of feet, the big hand on the dial indicates hundred of feet, and the little hand tens of feet. For example, if the digital display reads "13, ", the big hand is on the "7", and the little hand on the "2, " your altitude is 13, 720 feet. 8. Climb/Dive Indicator:This gauge gives you the rate your double seat fighter or dive bomber is climbing or diving, in thousand of feet per minute. The + area of the gauge indicates a climb, while the - area indicates a descent. 9. Nameplate:This gives the name and model number of your double seat fighter or dive bomber. 10. Pitch Indicator:This shows the position of the nose of your double seat fighter or dive bomber relative to the horizon. + means your nose is pointing 97 above the horizon, 0 is level with the horizon, and - indicates that your nose is pointing below the horizon. 11. Banking Indicator:This shows the roll of your double seat fighter or dive bomber (see the Flight Fundamentals and Tactics chapter for more information). The large horizontal bar shows the position of your wings relative to the ground, while the small vertical bar shows the direction your tail is pointing. As you bank your plane left or right, the horizontal line will also bank to reflect your position. 12. Gunsight:Use this to aim your forward firing machine guns and cannon at enemy aircraft. 13. View Indicator:This panel shows which direction you're looking out of from your double seat fighter or dive bomber. In normal flight, the panel will be blank. When you press the 4 key, the view out of your cockpit window will be the left view indicator. If your computer has enough memory, the cockpit screen will be replaced by a picture of the view looking over the left wing of your aircraft. Pressing the 6 key gives you the right view from the cockpit window with the word "RIGHT" displayed, or the view looking over the right wing of your double seat fighter or dive bomber. Pressing the 3 key gives you the view straight down, and the word "DOWN" will be displayed. When you press the 9 key, you'll be in the scan mode. In this mode, you can look around your double seat fighter or dive bomber in any direction by moving your controller, while your plane remains on course. Two numbers will be displayed on the view indicator. The first number shows how many degrees up or down you're looking, starting at 0 (level flight), and ranging from -90 (straight down) to +90 (directly right) to +180 (behind you). If you're looking left, the number ranges from 0 to -90 (directly left) to -179 (just about straight behind you). 14. Airspeed Indicator:This shows how fast your double seat fighter or dive bomber is flying, in tens of miles per hour. For example, if the hand on the gauge is pointing to halfway between "20" and "30, " you're flying at 250 miles per hour. 15. RPM Indicator (One gauge for each engine - two on the Bf 110), one on the Ju 87 Stuka): Each indicator gives you two readings. The dial shows the number of revolutions per minute (RPMs) the engine is delivering, in units of one hundred. The higher the RPMs, the farther to the right the dial will move. If the throttle setting is at "75" or higher, or if the dial moves into the red area, you'll be using up fuel at a higher rate. The white number at the bottom of the gauge shows the throttle or power setting of the engine. For example, if it reads "85, " your engine is set for 85 percent of the power it can produce. 16. Replay Camera Indicator:This shows the percentage of film you have remaining in your replay camera when you are recording. The number on the indicator will decrease until you're out of film. When you press C to turn on your replay camera, a light above the indicator will go on, and stay on until you have turned your camera off, or have used up all the film. 17. Radio:This receiver has two important components. The three digit number shows what frequency your radio is tuned to, while the light next to it will be lit when you've tuned into the correct frequency, which allows you to receive important mission information. To tune or use your radio, press M, which moves you to the In Flight Map/Radio. 18. Engine Damage Indicator(One gauge per engine - two on the Bf 110, one on the Ju 87 Stuka): Each dial shows the amount of damage done to your double seat fighter's or dive bomber's engine in combat. If the indicator moves into the red area, the power output of the engine will be severely reduced and your RPM indicator reading will drop. You may then have to abort the mission and return to your home base, or even bail out. 19. Fuel Gauge: This shows how much fuel remains in your double seat fighter's or dive bomber's fuel tanks:E means empty, F means full. 20. Flaps Lever:This gives you the position of your double seat fighter's or dive bomber's flaps. If it is in the up position, the flaps are up;if it is in the down position, the flaps are down. During normal flight your flaps should be up, but for takeoffs and landings, they should be down to increase lift and lower the stalling speed. 21. Airframe Damage Indicator:This gauge shows the amount of structural damage sustained by your double seat fighter or dive bomber in combat. When the indicator is in the red zone, your aircraft is severely damaged and may go out of control, forcing you to bail out. 99 MEDIUM BOMBER CONTROLS (HE 111, DO 17Z-2, AND JU 88) As the pilot of a medium bomber, you're flying a stable platform from which a large bombload can be dropped on enemy installations, usually from medium altitudes. However, your bomber is much slower and less maneuverable than the enemy fighters which will be defending these installations or intercepting you on your bombing mission. To partially compensate for this, your bomber is armed with machine guns, located at various positions throughout the fuselage(see the German and British Aircraft and Weapons chapter to find out where the machine guns are located on each bomber). The He 111 and the Do 17z both have five machine gun positions, while the Ju 88 has three. Your medium bomber is very durable, and it can generally take a lot of battle damage before it is shot down. 100 SWITCHING POSITIONS RETURN Drops bombload IN A MEDIUM BOMBER J Lets you and your crew jump from In a medium bomber, you can fly as a bomber and parachute to safety pilot, bombardier, or gunner at a variety Q End mission;send you to post- of gun position. What's more, you can flight evaluation constantly switch between any or all of these positions in mid-flight. Use these MEDIUM BOMBER VIEW CONTROLS keys to move around to all the positions. To look around your bomber in all The pilot, gunner, and bombardier roles directions, you can use either the num all have their own controls, and will be bet keys on the top of your keyboard discussed in turn in this section. or, if your keyboard has a keypad, use the keypad controls. On some KEY FUNCTION computers, the keypad controls are P Moves you to pilot position labeled with arrows, and we recommend G Moves you to gunner position that you use them. For a further dis- B Moves you to bombardier position cussion of these controls, see cockpit M Sends you to In Flight Map/Radio instrument #10 in the Medium Bomber 7 Toggles you between pilot and Cockpit Instruments section below. gunner positions KEY FUNCTION MEDIUM BOMBER COCKPIT CONTROLS 8(UP Forward view(your mission + Increase throttle arrow) starts in this direction) (shift key not needed) 6(Right View Right - Decrease throttle arrow) L Lowers and raises landing gear 4(Left View Left F Lowers and raises flaps arrow) D Lowers and raises dive brakes 3(PgDn) View straight down(regardless (Ju 88 only) of your flight angle) C Turns replay camera on and off 9(PgUp) Scan view(look completely R Sends you to Review Combat Film around your bomber) (see the pre flight chapter) A Turns on the automatic pilot, or MEDIUM BOMBER GUNNER CONTROLS automatic shoot mode if you're From the pilot's position, you can manning a machine gun at the move to the gunner position by time pressing G, then pressing one of the S Lets you toggle between bomb- keys in the chart below. The bomber load settings will continue to fly with the control set where you left them, unless you press A to turn on the autopilot before you leave the cockpit. If you go back to the pilot's position and press G again, you'll be sent to the last gunner position you manned. 101 To move around to all the gun positions, press any one of these keys: KEY FUNCTION 8 (Up arrow) Nose gunner 4 (Left arrow) Left fuselage gunner (except Ju 88) 6 (Right arrow) Right fuselage gunner (except Ju 88) 5 (Middle key) Lower fuselage (rear) gunner 2 (Down arrow) Upper fuselage (rear) gunner 7 Lets you toggle between pilot and gunner positions A Automatic shooting mode Notice how the location of each gun corresponds with the numeric keypad key that send you to that position. The location and key also correspond with the group of gun indicator lights in the cockpit that display the status of each gun(see the Medium Bomber Cockpit Instruments section for a description of these lights). When you're in any of these gunner positions, use your controller to move the machine gun up, down, left, or right, and press your controller button to fire. The number displayed next to the machine gun indicates how many round of ammunition it has left. If you'd like for the machine gun to aim and shoot automatically, press A. A red light will come on to show that the gun is in the autoshoot mode. As long as it's in this mode, you won't be able to manually aim and shoot it. You'll also see gun indicator lights similar to those displayed in the cockpit, which indicate the status of all gunner positions. From any gun position, press P to return to the pilot's position, press B to move to the bombardier's position, or press M to get to the In Flight Map/Radio. MEDIUM BOMBER BOMBARDIER CONTROLS When you press B, you'll find yourself looking down from the bomber as a bombardier would. In this position, you actually fly the bomber, so you can maneuver it into the best position to drop its bombload. To do this, move the controller around just like you would then you're piloting the bomber from the pilot's position. All of the cockpit controls will function, although you won't be able to use the cockpit view unless you press P and move back to the cockpit (see the Medium Bomber Cockpit Controls section for more information). To help you maneuver your bomber into position you'll find four gauges:an altimeter, an airspeed indicator, a compass, and a banking indicator. You'll also find a bomb indicator panel, which shows you how many bombs are left, plus a switch which lets you choose how to drop your bombs. If the light on the left is lit, it indicates that only one bomb will drop every time you press RETURN. If the light on the right is lit, it indicates that all of your bombs will drop simultaneously when you press RETURN. To alternate between these two settings, press S. See the Medium Bomber Cockpit Instruments section for more information about these controls, and the Flight Fundamentals and Tactics chapter to learn how to drop a bombload accurately. 102 MEDIUM BOMBER COCKPIT INSTRUMENTS Most of the same instruments found in a fighter's or dive bomber's cockpit are also used by a medium bomber. These instruments you'll see in front of you: 1. Altimeter:This gives your distance from the ground in feet. The digital number indicates thousands of feet, the big hand on the dial indicates hundreds of feet, and the little hand tens of feet. For example, if the digital display reads "09, " the big hand hand is on the "6, " and the little hand on the "1, " your altitude is 9, 610 feet. 2. Climb/Dive Indicator:this gauge gives you the rate your bomber is climbing or diving, in thousands of feet per minute. The + area of the gauge indicates a climb, while the - area indicates a descent. 3. Automatic Pilot Light:This tells you if you've turned on your automatic pilot, which you activate by pressing the A key. You'll want to turn on the automatic pilot before moving to the bombardier or gunner position, otherwise the bomber will fly with the controls set where you left them. 4. Banking Indicator:This shows the roll of your bomber(see the Flight Fundamentals and Tactics chapter for more information). The large horizontal bar shows the position of your wings relative to the ground, while the small vertical bar shows the direction your tail is pointing. As you bank your bomber left or right, the horizontal line will also bank to reflect your position. 5. Pitch Indicator:This shows the position of the nose of your bomber relative to the horizon. + means your nose is pointing above the horizon, 0 is level with the horizon, and - indicates that your nose is pointing below the horizon. 6. Compass:This shows which direction your bomber is headed:north, south, east, or west. 7. Airspeed Indicator:This shows how fast your bomber is flying, in tens of miles per hour. For example, if the hand on the gauge is pointing to "20, " you're flying at 200 miles per hour. 8. Gun Indicator Lights:These lights show the status of each of your bomber's machine guns. The top light indicates the nose gun, the center light indicates the upper fuselage (or dorsal) gun, the left and right lights indicate the left and right fuselage guns, and the bottom light indicates the lower fuselage (or 103 belly) gun. The chart below tells you how to read these lights, which is crucial to defending your bomber. COLOR OF LIGHT GUN STATUS Blue Gun idle Yellow Enemy fighters approaching gun's field of fire;you could be attacked from that direction Black Gun out of ammunition or destroyed Red Gun switched on to automatic shoot mode Green Gun firing at enemy fighters in automatic shoot mode In some graphics modes on some computers, the colors may be different. Consult your Reference Card to see which colors are used by your computer. When you begin your mission from the pilot's position, the guns will not be automatically shooting at enemy aircraft, and your bomber will be defenseless. To set your guns to fire automatically, press G to move into the gunner role(see the Medium Bomber Gunner Controls section to choose a particular gun position). Once you're in a position, press the A key. A red light on the machine gun barrel indicates that the gun is now in the autoshoot mode. Pressing A again turns off the autoshoot. If you want, you can stay and watch the machine gun automatically aim and fire at enemy fighters, but you can't manually move and shoot the gun when it's set on autoshoot. To activate this mode on all your guns, you must move into each individual gun position, and press A. Pressing P returns you to your pilot's seat. Your gun indicator lights will be red for every gun position in the autoshoot mode. The lights will flash green when the guns are automatically firing at enemy fighters. 9. Nameplate:This give the name and model number of your bomber. 10. View Indicator:This panel shows which direction you're looking out of from your bomber. In normal flight, the panel will be blank. When you press the 4 key, the view out of your cockpit window will be the left view, and the word "LEFT" will be displayed on the view indicator. If your computer has enough memory, the cockpit screen will be replaced by a picture of the view looking 104 over the left wing of your aircraft. Pressing the 6 key gives you the right view from the cockpit window with the word "RIGHT" displayed, or the view looking over the right wing of your bomber. Pressing the 3 key gives you the view straight down, and the word "DOWN" will be displayed. When you press the 9 key, you'll be in the scan mode. In this mode, you can look around your bomber in any direction by moving your controller, while your plane remains on course. Two numbers will be displayed on the view indicator. The first number shows how many degrees up or down you're looking, starting at 0 (level flight), and ranging from -90 (straight down) to +90 (straight up). The second number shows how many degrees you're looking around, beginning with 0 (straight ahead, your flight path). If you're looking toward the right, the number ranges from 0 to +90 (directly right) to +180 (behind you). If you're looking left, the number ranges from0 to -90 (directly left) to -179 (just about straight behind you). 11. Radio:This receiver has two important components. The three digit number shows what frequency your radio is tuned to, while the light next to it will be lit when you've tuned into the correct frequency, which allows you to receive 105 important mission information. To tune or use your radio, press M, which moves you to the In Flight Map/Radio. 12. Dive Brakes Lever (Ju 88 only):This shows whether your dive brakes are up or down. Lowering the dive brakes is necessary to slow down a Ju 88 during a dive bombing run. 13. Bomb Indicator Panel:This gives you information on the status of your bombload. The large number on the right indicates the number of bombs you have left. To the left, you'll see two lights, one marked "1, " the other marked "A." If the light next to the "1" is on, one bomb will drop when you press RETURN. If the light next to the "A" is on, your entire bombload will drop consecutively when you press RETURN. To toggle between these two lights, press the S key. 14. Flaps Lever:This gives you the position of your bomber's flaps. If it is in the up position, the flaps are up;if it is in the down position, the flaps are down. During normal flight your flaps should be up, but for takeoffs and landings, they should be down to increase your bomber's lift and lower its stalling speed. 106 15. Landing Gear Indicator:This shows the status of your landing gear. If the up arrow is lit, your landing gear is up;if the down arrow is lit, your landing gear is down. Don't forget to lower your landing gear for a landing, or to raise it after takeoff. Lowering your landing gear has the effect of slowing your airspeed, which may be useful in certain situations. 16. RPM Indicators (One per engine): These two identical gauges give you two readings. The dial shows the number of revolutions per minute(RPMs)the engine is delivering, in units of one hundred. The higher the RPMs, the farther to the right the dial will move. If the throttle setting is at "75" or higher, or if the dial moves into the red area, you'll be using up fuel at a higher rate. The white number at the bottom of the gauge shows the throttle or power setting of the engine. For example, if it reads "65, " your engine is set for 65 percent of the power it can produce. 17. Engine Damage Indicators (One per engine): These two identical dials show the amount of damage sustained by your bomber's engines in combat. If the indicator moves into the red area, the power output of that engine will be severely reduced and your RPM indicator reading will drop. You may then have to abort the mission and return to your home base, or even bail out. 18. Airframe Damage Indicator:This gauge shows the amount of structural damage done to your bomber in combat. When the indicator is in the red zone, your aircraft is severely damaged and may go out of control, forcing you to bail out. 19. Replay Camera Indicator:This shows the percentage of film you have left in your replay camera when you are recording. The number on the indicator will decrease until you're out of film. When you press C to turn on your replay camera, a light above the indicator will go on, and stay on until you have turned your camera off, or used up all the film. 20. Fuel Gauge:This shows how much fuel remains in your bomber's fuel tanks:E means empty, F means full. 107 IN FLIGHT MAP/RADIO To examine the In Flight Map, receive important mission information, and tune and use the radio of your plane, you'll need to move to the In Flight Map/Radio. You can do this by pressing M from any crew position during a mission. IN FLIGHT MAP Once you're at the In Flight Map/Radio screen, you'll see a map of the English Channel, Southern England, and the west coast of France. In the upper part of the screen, the words "IN FLIGHT MAP" will be displayed, along with the historical date and time of your mission. On the map of Southern England and the west coast of France, you'll see small colored icons scattered about. These icons represent various ground installations, including RAF airfields, factories, and radar sites, plus Luftwaffe airfields in France. To get more information about each of these installations, move the arrow over the icon. You'll then see the information listed in a column on the right, under the heading MAP ID. This information includes the name of the installation, a description of it, and its status(whether it is operational, or if it has been damaged or destroyed by any previous action). If your radio is tuned properly, you'll also be shown the distance this installation is from your plane, and the heading your plane needs to take to reach it. 108 IN FLIGHT RADIO Whenever you're flying a mission, the radio is a valuable source of information. You can use the radio to determine the position of your aircraft, and have it appear on the map as an icon. The radio will also give you reports of aircraft and ship sightings in the battle area. If you're flying as an RAF pilot, these sightings are radioed to you from the RDF system;if you're flying for the Luftwaffe, these sightings come from other German planes in the area. The most recent sighting reports will also show up as icons on the map, and will be updated every five minutes. To get this information click on the AIR/SEA ID button at the bottom of the screen. Then click on the ship or plane icon on the map. Information about the sighting will be displayed in the column on the right of your screen. To cycle through all the available sightings, click on either the NEXT FWD or NEXT BACK button. To view the map containing information about ground installations again, click on the LAND ID button at the bottom of the screen. TUNING YOUR RADIO If the radio icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen is lit, the radio is correctly tuned and you'll be able to receive information. If the icon is not lit, you'll need to tune your radio. To do this, pull out the Frequency Cipher Wheel, which you'll find inside the game box. Move the arrow to TUNE RADIO, located at the bottom of the screen, and click the button. Now you'll see a unit insignia, plus the name of an airfield, in the column at the right of the screen. Line up the notch on the Frequency Cipher Wheel so that the unit insignia on the wheel matches the one on the screen. Next, look at the window on the Frequency Cipher Wheel that displays the same airfield name that is on the screen. Beside the airfield name on the Frequency Cipher Wheel, you'll find a window with three colored numbers inside it. These three numbers together make up your correct radio frequency. Use the arrow to select the correct frequency and correct color from the display on the screen. To continue your flight, move the arrow to the box titled CONTINUE and click your controller button. 109 THIS PAGE IS BLANK 110 MISSION INSTRUCTIONS:POST-FLIGHT 111 ENDING YOUR FLIGHT There are many ways that your mission can be ended: CRASHING:If your plane smashes into the ground or water at a sharp angle before the pilot and crew has a chance to bail out, they are considered to be lost in action. CRASH LANDING:If your plane is forced down or lands poorly, and is a total wreck, the pilot and crew will survive. However, if this crash landing takes place on enemy soil, the pilot and crew will be captured, and will not be able to take part in any more missions. DITCHING:If your plane splashes down in the English Channel, it cannot be recovered. The pilot and crew will survive, however, and will be rescued by a passing ship or a rescue seaplane from their side. They then will be able to participate in a new mission. BAILING OUT OVERLAND:If your plane is plummeting down over land, and you press J before it crashes, the pilot and crew will parachute out of the plane. If the pilot and crew bail out over enemy territory, they will be captured, and cannot be used on any more missions. If they bail out over friendly territory, they will be transported back to their airfield for another mission. BAILOUT OUT OVER WATER:If the pilot and crew parachute from their plane over the English Channel, they will be rescued and can fly again. LANDING AT YOUR HOME AIR FIELD:Your mission also ends when you fly back to your home airfield, land safely, and press Q. PRESSING Q IN MID-FLIGHT:If you don't want to make a landing, you may also press Q at any time to end your mission. This will not affect the Combat Record score for your pilot and crew, unless they are captured or the aircraft is lost, which can happen by: Pressing Q while flying over enemy territory. If this happens, the pilot and crew will be captured and the aircraft lost. Pressing Q while flying over the Channel. If this happens, the plane will be lost, but the pilot and crew will be rescued. To avoid losing your aircraft, or having your pilot or crew captured, press Q when you're over England if you're a British pilot. If you're a Luftwaffe pilot, try to fly to the coast of Continental Europe before pressing Q. 112 MISSION RESULTS When your mission has ended you'll see a Mission Evaluation screen. The chart in the center of the screen will list the type of RAF or Luftwaffe aircraft that saw action in that mission, and how many were destroyed or damaged. The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of aircraft shot down or damaged by your own plane. At the bottom of the screen, you'll find a chart that shows which ground installations were destroyed or damaged, and which ship convoys were hit or sunk during your mission. UPDATING COMBAT RECORDS After a pilot or crew has completed the mission you assigned them to fly, their Combat Records will be updated to reflect their successes and failures. These Combat Records will be displayed after the Mission Evaluation screen. Any additional pilots or crews that you have selected from the Flight Roster to participate in a mission will also have their Combat Records updated. Each pilot or crew also has a cumulative score as part of their Record. This score 113 is based on a ranking system, and allows you to compare pilots and crews to one another. It too will be updated after every mission. Pilots and crews will achieve higher scores if the min objectives of their missions are accomplished. If you're an RAF pilot, your main mission objective is to prevent ground installations, ship convoys, and other RAF fighters from being destroyed in Luftwaffe medium bomber or dive bomber, you main mission objective is to bomb the target accurately. Since knocking out a target is a group objective, if other bomber crews also score direct hits on a target, your individual score will improve. If you're flying a Luftwaffe fighter as an escort, your main mission objective is to protect the bombers from enemy fighter attack so they can drop their bombloads over the target. The more bombs that hit the target, and the more bombers that survive, the higher your score will be. If you're flying a Luftwaffe fighter in a free ranging role, your main objective is to shoot down as many RAF fighters as you can. The greater the ratio of RAF fighter losses to Luftwaffe fighter losses, the higher your score will be. No matter which mission you choose to fly, helping your fellow pilots and crews to survive and complete their missions will increase your score. CAMPAIGN RESULTS If you're flying a Campaign Mission, a chart will be displayed after the Combat Records screen. This chart will summarize the impact of your last mission on the Battle of Britain as a whole. It will also tell you how the Battle is shaping up, and which side is closer to victory. 114 MEDALS AND PROMOTIONS Whether you're an RAF pilot or a Luftwaffe pilot or crew member, medals and promotions in rank will be awarded if you and your fellow fliers repeatedly fulfill mission objectives and have outstanding flights. The following honors were bestowed upon those who distinguished themselves in battle in 1940. RAF MEDALS (Listed in order of rank) VICTORIA CROSS The highest award in the Royal Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Victoria Cross was given to officers or enlisted men for "most conspicuous bravery or preeminent act of valour, self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy." Some 1, 346 Victoria Crosses have been awarded since the decoration was originally established by Queen Victoria in 1856. Flight Commander James Nicolson was the one RAF Fighter Command pilot to receive this award for combat action during the Battle of Britain. GEORGE CROSS Established in 1940, this medal was awarded to men and women for deeds of bravery, either against an enemy, or in peacetime. It is the second highest British decoration, ranking only below the Victoria Cross. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER Awarded for meritorious service while engaging an enemy, the Distinguished Service Order was established in 1886. It was given to officers and warrant officers of the Royal Army, Navy, Marines, or Air Force for numerous acts of bravery, rather than for a single individual act. If a recipient had already received a Distinguished Service Order, they were awarded bars, which were worn on the ribbon of the medal. DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS This medal was awarded to Royal Air Force officers and warrant officers for courage and valor while flying against an enemy. Like the Distinguished Service Order, it was usually given for several acts of bravery. Bars were awarded if a person had already won this medal for previous actions. BATTLE OF BRITAIN STAR This was given to all Fighter Command aircrews who flew at least one sortie against the Luftwaffe between July 10 and October 31, 1940. 115 LUFTWAFFE MEDALS KNIGHT'S CROSS OF THE IRON CROSS This was the highest award in the German military, and was given for valor and heroism against an enemy. Luftwaffe fighter pilots could be awarded the Knight's Cross for shooting down a set number of enemy planes. Werner Molders was awarded the Knight's Cross for shooting down twenty aircraft, while Adolf Galland received his for downing seventeen. Molders and Galland were also the first fighter pilots to receive Oak Leaves, which were awarded if a pilot recorded forty aerial victories, and worn on the Knight's Cross. Swords were given when a pilot reached seventy victories (Galland was the first to do so), while Diamonds were awarded for one hundred victories (a mark Molders was first to reach). Both the awards of Swords and Diamonds were initiated specifically by Hitler to honor these extraordinary accomplishments of Luftwaffe fighter pilots. IRON CROSS FIRST CLASS This medal was first instituted in 1813, and reinstated in 1870 and 1914. It was awarded for an outstanding feat of heroism, and usually given when the individual had already received the Iron Cross Second Class. IRON CROSS SECOND CLASS This award was commonly given for acts of bravery or distinguished service by the German military. 116 WOUND BADGE This medal was reinstated by Hitler in 1939, with three different classes. If an individual in the German military was wounded one or two times, he earned a black badge. If he was wounded three or four times, or lost an eye, a hand, a foot, or his hearing, he received a silver badge. If he was wounded five or more times, lost his eyesight, suffered brain damage, or was totally disabled, he was awarded a gold badge. RANKS AND PROMOTIONS For both the Luftwaffe and the RAF, promotions in rank were awarded to those pilots who demonstrated success in battle and exhibited qualities of leadership. New Luftwaffe pilots began their careers with the rank of Lieutenant, while new RAF pilots started out with the rank of Pilot Officer. WORLD WAR II COMMISSIONED OFFICERS' RANKS U.S. ARMY AIR FORCE LUFTWAFFE RAF (for comparison) Oberst Group Captain Colonel Oberstleutnant Wing Commander Lieutenant Colonel Major Squadron Leader Major Hauptmann Flying Lieutenant Captain OBERLEUTENANT Flying Officer First Lieutenant Lieutenant Pilot Officer Second Lieutenant 117 PICTURE OF PLANES 118 GERMAN AND BRITISH AIRCRAFT AND WEAPONS 119 Three types of aircraft were used by the RAF and the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain:fighters, dive bombers, and medium bombers. World War I fighters were highly maneuverable biplanes, but the 1930s saw the evolution of the faster, though less maneuverable, monoplane fighter. There were those, especially on the British side, who believed that the biplane fighter's greater maneuverability would give it an advantage over the swifter monoplane fighter. However, as subsequent World War II aerial battles proved, superior maneuverability was not nearly as important as superior speed. The faster a fighter was, the quicker it could move into a favorable position from which to attack a slower, though perhaps more maneuverable, enemy. These new fighters also had metal wings strong enough to hold as many as eight machine guns, while the biplanes could only carry two fuselage mounted machine guns. Although the British had some biplane fighters in use during the latter part of 1940, they were stationed away from heavy fighting and eventually replaced altogether. In the Battle of Britain, the RAF mainly relied on two monoplane fighters, the single engine Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane. The Luftwaffe flew the single engine Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the twin engine Messerschmitt Bf 110, both monoplane fighters. Like the monoplane fighter, the dive bomber also evolved between the two world wars. The theory called for using a plane to dive steeply on a target, drop its 120 bombs from a relatively short distance, and pull out in time to escape the blast was first tested by the U.S. Navy. In 1933, German pilot Ernst Udet used a couple of obsolete American made Curtiss Helldiver biplanes to demonstrate the accuracy of dive bombing to the German Air Ministry. The demonstration was impressive, and eventually resulted in the development of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber. The single engine Stuka was a formidable weapon in the conquest of Europe, when it attacked ground targets in coordination with German troops. It saw more action in the Battle of Britain than any other dive bomber, although the larger, twin engine Junkers Ju 88 was sometimes used in this role. Though not as accurate as a dive bomber, the twin engine medium bomber could carry a greater bombload. On the German side, these aircraft were originally developed as Schnellbombers, or bombers that could fly faster than the fighters that were attacking them. During the Spanish Civil War, the Schnellbomber proved to be successful against the slower, obsolete opposition fighters. But in the Battle of Britain, British Spitfire and Hurricane fighters were much faster than the Luftwaffe medium bombers, which resulted in heavy losses for the German air 121 force. Like the dive bomber, the medium bomber was designed to bomb targets in concert with an attacking army;Goering himself cancelled the development of a longer range heavy bomber, since he did not see the need for one. This proved to be a mistake that would come back to haunt Germany, as many of Britain's factories and airfields could have been hit by heavy bombers but were out of range of the Luftwaffe medium bombers. During the Battle of Britain, the main German medium bombers were the Dornier Do 17, the Heinkel He 111, and the Ju 88. RAF AND LUFTWAFFE AIR UNIT DESIGNATIONS In 1936 the RAF was reorganized and divided into "commands, " each of which was a large operational unit consisting of aircraft with the same function and responsibility. The major commands were Bomber Command, Fighter Command, Coastal 122 Command, and Training Command. After war was declared in 1939, Fighter Command, the new fighter arm in charge of defending Britain from aerial attack, divided fighter coverage into four "groups, " with each group responsible for covering a designated area of Britain.(See the Historical Overview chapter for a map of the area each group covered.) These groups were in turn divided into "sectors" with the most important airfield within a sector designated as the "sector station." At various airfields within each sector were "squadrons, " each of which consisted of twelve aircraft. Each squadron was broken up into two "flights" of six aircraft, designated "A" and "B". In turn, each flight was broken up into two "sections" of three aircraft, and given the designation "red, " "yellow, " "blue, " or "green." Two or more squadrons were sometimes joined together to form a "wing, " and three to five squadrons formed a "big wing." (See the maps at the back of the manual for more information.) Unlike the RAF, the Luftwaffe did not split up command of its aircraft according to function. Instead, it was divided into five self contained air fleets, or "Luftflotten, " each of which was responsible for air operations over a given section of Europe.(See the Historical Overview chapter for a map of the areas of Luftflotten coverage.) A Luftflotte was made up of approximately one thousand fighters, bombers, transports, and reconnaissance planes, and was in turn divided into two "Fliegerkorps, " consisting of these four type of aircraft. As the war progressed, the Fliegerkorps, which had started out as units of mixed aircraft, became more specialized. Within each Fliegerkorps were three to six "Geschwader, " which were specialized units of around 80 to 120 aircraft. Each Geschwader was named for the type of aircraft in the unit. A "Jagdgeschwader" (JG)was a fighter unit, "Kampfgeschwader" (KG) a bomber unit, and "Zerstorergeschwader" (ZG) a Bf 110 Zerstorer unit. These Geschwader were divided into "Gruppen" of about thirty aircraft, which were usually based at the same airfield. Each Gruppe was divided into three "Staffeln, " and each Staffel consisted of nine or ten of the same aircraft. (See the maps at the back of the manual for more information.) 123 GERMAN AIRCRAFT: 1940 MESSERSCHMITT BF 109E-3 EMIL FIGHTER One of the greatest fighter aircraft of the Second World War or of any war, the Bf 109 was a mainstay of the Luftwaffe from the time of Spanish Civil War right up until the defeat of the Third Reich. Nearly thirty five thousand Bf 109s were produced, more than any other fighter of that era. Bf 109s saw service in nearly every German offensive of World War II, and were the only German single seat fighters used in the Battle of Britain. There the Bf 109s, with their small, stubby wings, were an even match for the Spitfire, and swifter and more maneuverable than any of the other British fighters. TOP SPEED, FIGHTERS SPITFIRE 370 MPH HURRICANE 320 MPH BF 109 354 MPH BF 110 340 MPH 124 The Bf 109E-3 was developed in 1939 as a faster, more heavily armed improvement over the earlier models, the Bf 109B and C, which had been deadly in the Spanish Civil War.(Although designed by Willy Messerschmitt, the Bf 109 was named after his company at the time, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke.) The Emil featured a more powerful and reliable Daimler Benz 601Aa engine, as well as 20 mm cannons in the wings in place of machine guns. The Bf 109E-3 saw service in the invasion of Denmark and Norway, and in the campaigns against France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, where it gained a fearsome reputation. MESSERSCHMITT BF 109E-4/B JABO FIGHTER/BOMBER As the Bf 109E-3 was tested in battle, certain modifications were made based on its combat performance. This new version, the Bf 109E-4, had a redesigned and reinforced canopy for better visibility and durability, plus more powerful wing mounted cannons. When it was later decided to use the Bf 109E-4 as a Jabo, or fighter/bomber, a bomb rack was mounted underneath the fuselage. This model, the Bf 109E-4/B, saw its first action in July 1940 against coastal radar stations in the Battle of Britain. The Bf 109E-3 and E-4/B were fast, agile fighters that could dive and climb quickly. These planes had a tighter turning radius than either the Spitfire or the Hurricane, though few pilots found this out because they were afraid that the stubby wings would break off. Like the Spitfire, the Bf 109 was a joy to fly at medium speeds, but tougher to handle at high speeds, and could easily tire its pilot in a dogfight. Takeoffs and landings were also tricky, because the Bf 109s had a tendency to swing right or left. During the Battle of Britain, their limited range became a factor, since they could only fly as far as London and back. As a result, the longer range bombers they escorted would sometimes be left unprotected, and many Bf 109 pilots were forced to ditch in the Channel when they ran out of fuel. 125 BF 109E-3 PERFORMANCE BF 109E-4/B PERFORMANCE Powerplant:one Daimler Powerplant:one Daimler Benz DB 601Aa 12-cylinder Benz DB 601Aa 12-cylinder liquid cooled engine liquid cooled engine Horsepower:1, 100 Horsepower:1, 100 Top speed:354 miles per hour Top speed:354 miles per hour Rate of climb:3, 280 feet per minute Rate of climb:3, 280 feet per minute Ceiling:34, 450 feet Ceiling:34, 450 feet Range:410 miles Range:410 miles Crew:one Crew:one DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS Wingspan:32 feet 4 inches Wingspan:32 feet 4 inches Wing area:174 square feet Wing area:174 square feet Length:28 feet 4 inches Length:28 feet 4 inches Height:8 feet 2 inches Height:8 feet 2 inches WEIGHTS WEIGHTS Empty:4, 189 pounds Empty:4, 189 pounds Loaded:5, 520 pounds Loaded:4, 875 pounds ARMAMENT ARMAMENT Guns:two 20 mm MG FF Guns:two 20 mm MG cannons with 60 rounds FF/M cannons with 60 per gun, mounted in the rounds per gun, mounted wings. Two 7.92 mm in the wings. Two 7.92 mm Rheinmetall Borsig MG 17 Rheinmetall Borsig MG 17 machine guns with 1, 000 machine guns with 1, 000 rounds per gun, mounted rounds per gun, mounted in the fuselage. in the fuselage. Warhead load:one 110 pound bomb, or one 550 pound bomb, mounted beneath the fuselage 126 1. Radio 11. Nameplate 2. Bomb Release Light 12. Altimeter (Bf 109E-4/B Jabo 13. Airspeed Indicator fighter/bombers only) 14. Engine Damage 3. Flaps Lever Indicator 4. Compass 15. Airframe Damage 5. Climb/Dive Indicator Indicator 6. RPM Indicator 16. Pitch Indicator 7. Banking Indicator 17. Replay Camera 8. Ammunition Round Indicator Indicators 18. Fuel Gauge 9. Gunsight 19. Landing Gear Lever 10. View Indicator DURABILITY, FIGHTERS SPITFIRE + HURRICANE + BF 109 + BF 110 + 127 MESSERSCHMITT BF 110C-4 ZERSTORER FIGHTER Noted for its sleek design and distinctive twin rudders and engines, the versatile Bf 110 served in a variety of roles during World War II. Heavily armed with two cannons and four machine guns in its nose, the Zerstorer, or "destroyer, " was originally designed as a fast, long range fighter that could escort bombers deep into enemy territory, while blowing any opposition fighters out of the sky. During the invasion of Poland in 1939 Bf 110s proved successful in this role, and were also used to destroy Polish airfields and communications lines. As a fighter and a close support weapon for the German Army, the Bf 110 was highly effective in the invasion of Denmark, Norway, and the Low Countries, as well as in the Battle of France. The Bf 110C series was the first Zerstorer to be widely produced. It featured the more powerful Daimler Benze 601A engines, which enabled it to fly faster and farther than earlier models, plus a shallower radiator, which eliminated a turbulence problem. The Bf 110C-4 version had extra armor protection for its crew of two, the pilot and rear gunner. It arrived in France just in time for the Battle of Britain. MESSERSCHMITT BF 110C-4/B JABO FIGHTER/BOMBER In the summer of 1940, a modified version of the Bf 110C-4 began arriving at the Luftwaffe bases in France. This new model, the Bf 110C-4/B, had a pair of bomb racks beneath the fuselage and could carry two 551 pound bombs. It also featured the newer Daimler Benz 601N engines, which gave a slight boost in horsepower. A special Bf 110C-4/B unit, known as Experimental Group 210, was set RATE OF CLIMB, FIGHTERS SPITFIRE 2, 600 FT/MIN + HURRICANE 2, 420 FT/MIN + BF 109 3, 280 FT/MIN + BF 110 2, 118 FT/MIN + 128 up to develop fighter/bomber tactics, and in August this unit successfully attacked radar stations, airfields, and other targets in the south of Britain. During the Battle of Britain the weaknesses of the Bf 110 began to outweigh its strengths. On the plus side it was almost as fast as the Spitfire, was formidably armed, a delight to fly, and extremely capable in the fighter/bomber role. When combating enemy fighters, Bf 110 pilots enjoyed the most success by diving down on enemy aircraft, blasting them with their superior firepower, and then flying away from the action. But in a dogfight the much larger Bf 110 was no match for the more maneuverable Spitfire and Hurricanes, and a great number of 110s were lost in the summer's fighting. Many Bf 110s were forced to fly in defensive circles, to protect each other's more vulnerable rear. As fighter escort for Luftwaffe bombers, Bf 110s fared so poorly that they themselves had to be escorted by Bf 109s, and were eventually removed from that role. The versatility of the Bf 110 did prove to be a vital asset for the Luftwaffe in later action in North Africa and on the Russian Front, where the fighter opposition was less intense. 129 BF 110C-4 PERFORMANCE BF 110C-4/B PERFORMANCE Powerplant:two Daimler Powerplant:two Daimler Benz DB601A 12-cylinder Benz DB 601N 12-cylinder inline engines liquid-cooled engines Horsepower:1, 100 per engine Horsepower:1, 200 per engine Top speed:340 miles per hour Top speed:349 miles per hour Rate of climb:8.5 minutes Rate of Climb:2, 255 feet to 18, 000 per minute Ceiling:32, 810 feet Ceiling:32, 800 feet Range:680 miles Range:528 miles Crew:two - one pilot and Crew:two - one pilot and one rear gunner one rear gunner DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS Wingspan:53 feet 4 inches Wingspan:53 feet 4 inches Wing area:413 square feet Wing area:413 square feet Length:40 feet 4 inches Length:40 feet 4 inches Height:11 feet 6 inches Height:11 feet 6 inches WEIGHTS WEIGHTS Empty:9, 920 pounds Empty:9, 920 pounds Loaded:15, 290 pounds Loaded:15, 430 pounds ARMAMENT ARMAMENT Guns:two 20 mm MG FF Guns:two 20 mm MG FF cannons with 180 rounds cannons with 180 rounds per gun, mounted in the per gun, mounted in the nose. Four 7.92 mm MG 17 nose. Four 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns with 1, 000 machine guns with 1, 000 rounds per gun, also rounds per gun, also mounted in the nose. One mounted in the nose. One flexible 7.92 mm MG 15 flexible 7.92 mm MG 15 machine gun, mounted in machine gun, mounted in the rear of the canopy. in rear of the canopy. Warhead load:two 550 pound bombs, mounted beneath the fuselage. 130 1. Flaps Lever 12. Nameplate 2. RPM Indicator 13. Automatic Pilot Light 3. Engine Damage Indicator 14. Climb/Dive Indicator 4. Ammunition Round Indicator 15. Airspeed Indicator 5. Radio 16. Airframe Damage Indicator 6. Altimeter 17. Replay Camera Indicator 7. Pitch Indicator 18. Compass 8. Fuel Gauge 19. Bomb Indicator Panel 9. Banking Indicator (Bf 110C-4/B Jabo fighter/bombers 10. Gunsight only) 11. View Indicator 20. Landing Gear Lever 21. Autoshoot Light 22. Ammunition Round Indicator 131 Junkers Ju 87B-1 Stuka Dive Bomber At the start of World War II the Junkers Ju 87 was the most feared weapon in the arsenal of the Luftwaffe - and perhaps even of the entire Third Reich. With its bent wings, fixed landing gear, and screaming sirens, the intimidating Stuka proved to be nearly unstoppable during the Spanish Civil War and the invasion of Poland. Since it could deliver bombs with great accuracy, it was unsurpassed as an army-support weapon, despite its lack of speed and maneuverability. Coordinated attacks with Stukas and German Army troops, part of the tactics of the Blitzkrieg, were responsible for the incredible string of German successes during the early part of the war. The Ju 87B-1 was the first model to be produced in great numbers, and it incorporated many of the lessons learned from Spanish Civil War combat. It featured a more powerful engine, redesigned landing struts, and better quarters for its crew of two, the pilot and the rear facing gunner/radio operator. The Ju 87B-1 even had lines etched into the port side of the canopy showing diving angles, and an automatic pilot which pulled the plane out of its dive if the pilot blacked out. This was the model that gave the Stuka its notorious reputation, and it saw service in the campaigns against Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, and Crete. TOP SPEED, BOMBERS STUKA 242 MPH HE 111 273 MPH DO 17 265 MPH JU 88 280 MPH 132 JUNKERS JU 87B-2 STUKA DIVE BOMBERS In late 1939, a slightly more powerful version of the Junkers Jumo 211 Da engine began to arrive at Ju 87 assembly lines. The Stukas fitted with this engine were designated as the Ju 87B-2. Along with the new powerplant this new version had a number of minor modifications, including a deeper radiator for better cooling, and adjustable-pitch wooden propeller blades to replace the thin metal ones on the B-1. Despite these changes, the performance of the B-2 differed little from that of the B-1. The first Ju 87B-2s arrived in France just as the Battle of Britain began. At first B-1s and B-2s enjoyed success against British convoys in the English Channel. But after August 13, 1940, Eagle Day, Ju 87s were ordered to attack airfields and radar stations on the south coast of England, which were barely within the Stuka's range. For the first time in the war, the Ju 87 had to fly against significant enemy fighter opposition in an attack role for which it was ill suited. The Ju 87's slow speed, lack of maneuverability, and poor crew protection proved fatal against RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes, especially when pulling out of a dive, and over forty were shot down in just six days. Ju 87 losses mounted, and after August 19 the Stuka, its invincible reputation shattered, would see no more action in the Battle of Britain, though it would continue to be successful on other fronts. 133 JU 87B-1 PERFORMANCE fuselage. Four 110 pound Powerplant:one Junkers bombs, mounted beneath Jumo 211 Da 12-cylinder the wings. Vee liquid cooled engine JU 87B-2 PERFORMANCE Horsepower:1, 200 Powerplant:one Junkers Top speed:242 miles per Jumo 211 Da 12-cylinder hour Vee liquid cooled engine Rate of climb:12 minutes Horsepower:1, 200 to 12, 140 feet Top speed:237 miles per Ceiling:26, 250 feet hour Range:373 miles Rate of climb:12 minutes Crew:two - one pilot and to 12, 140 feet one rear gunner Ceiling:26, 250 feet DIMENSIONS Range:373 miles Wingspan:45 feet 3 inches Crew:two - one pilot and Wing area:344 square feet one rear gunner Length:36 feet 5 inches DIMENSIONS Height:12 feet 9 inches Wingspan:45 feet 3 inches WEIGHTS Wing area:344 square feet Empty:6, 080 pounds Length:36 feet 3 inches Loaded:9, 371 pounds Height:13 feet 2 inches ARMAMENT WEIGHTS Guns:two 7.92 mm MG 17 Empty:6, 060 pounds machine guns with 1, 000 Loaded:9, 320 pounds rounds per gun, ARMAMENT mounted in the Guns:two 7.92 mm MG 17 wings. One flexi- machine guns, with 1, 000 ble 7.92 mm MG rounds per gun, mounted 15 machine in the wings. One flexible gun with 7.92 mm MG 15 machine 900 gun with 900 rounds, rounds, mounted at the rear of the mounted at canopy. the rear of the Warhead Load:one 1, 100 canopy. pound bomb, mounted Warhead load:one beneath the fuselage. Four 1, 100 pound bomb, 110 pound bombs, mount- mounted beneath the ed beneath the wings. 134 1. Compass 13. Airspeed Indicator 2. Bomb Indicator Panel 14. RPM Indicator 3. Ammunition Round Indicator 15. Replay Camera Indicator 4. Dive Brakes Lever 16. Radio 5. Automatic Pilot Light 17. Engine Damage Indicator 6. Altimeter 18. Fuel Gauge 7. Climb/Dive Indicator 19. Flaps Lever 8. Nameplate 20. Airframe Damage Indicator 9. Pitch Indicator 21. Autoshoot Light 10. Banking Indicator 22. Ammunition Round Indicator 11. Gunsight 12. View Indicator 135 Dornier Do 17z-2 Medium Bomber Originally designed in 1934 as a passenger aircraft, the twin engine "Flying Pencil" was rejected by the German airline Lufthansa because the slender fuselage did not leave enough room for its six passengers. The design attracted the attention of the Luftwaffe, however, and prototypes were developed into bombers and reconnaissance planes that could fly faster than pursuing fighters. The feasibility of this Schnellbomber idea was tested at the Zurich Air Show in 1937, where a Do 17 prototype startled onlookers by finishing ahead of all the fighters in the competition. 136 The first Do 17s saw service in the Spanish Civil War as reconnaissance aircraft. The Do 17z-2, which had extra protective armor, a redesigned nose, and a cockpit with more room and greater visibility, was delivered to the Luftwaffe in 1939. Unfortunately, the Messerschmitt factory had top priority and got to use the Daimler Benz engine for its Bf 109s, forcing the Do 17z-2 to use the less powerful BMW Bramo Fafnir engine, which greatly reduced its speed. During the Battle of Britain the Do 17z-2 was first used against Channel convoys, then on bombing missions against airfields and factories inland, where it did extensive damage despite suffering heavy losses. The Do 17 enjoyed success as a low altitude bomber, since it could dive on a target with its engines at full throttle and then pick up enough speed to get away after dropping its bombload. Although it had several drawbacks, including a relatively light warhead load, the ruggedness, maneuverability, and stability of the Flying Pencil made it popular with the men who flew it. RATE OF CLIMB, BOMBERS STUKA 1, 012 FT/MIN HE 111 492 FT/MIN DO 17 991 FT/MIN JU 88 770 FT/MIN 137 DO 17Z-2 PERFORMANCE WEIGHTS Powerplant:two BMW Empty:11, 484 pounds Bramo Fafnir 323P nine- Loaded:18, 913 pounds cylinder air cooled redial ARMAMENT engines Guns:five 7.92 mm MG 15 Horsepower:1, 000 per machine guns with 750 engine rounds per gun - one Top speed:265 miles per mounted in the nose, one hour mounted at the upper part Rate of climb:3.3 minutes of the canopy facing rear, to 3, 280 feet one mounted beneath the Ceiling: 26, 740 canopy facing rear, and Range:721 miles two at the center of the Crew:four - one pilot, fuselage facing left and one radio operator, one right flight engineer, and one Warhead load:four 550 aircraft commander/bom- pound bombs totaling bardier 2, 200 pounds DIMENSIONS Wingspan:59 feet 10 inches Wing area:592 square feet Length:51 feet 10 inches Height:15 feet DURABILITY, BOMBERS STUKA + HE 111 + DO 17 + JU 88 + 138 1. Altimeter 12. Bomb Indicator Panel 2. Climb/Dive Indicator 13. Flaps Lever 3. Automatic Pilot Indicator 14. Landing Gear Indicator 4. Banking Indicator 15. RPM Indicator 5. Pitch Indicator 16. Engine Damage Indicator 6. Compass 17. Airframe Damage Indicator 7. Airspeed Indicator 18. Replay Camera Indicator 8. Gun Indicator Lights 19. Fuel Gauge 9. Nameplate 20. Autoshoot Light 10. View Indicator 21. Ammunition Round 11. Radio 22. Gun Indicator Lights 139 HEINKEL HE 111H-3 MEDIUM BOMBER The bomber used most by the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, the twin engine He 111 was originally introduced as a civil airliner but secretly tested as a bomber. In fact early versions, marked as Lufthansa airlines, actually flew photo reconnaissance missions over Britain, France, and the Soviet Union in 1937. The He 111 was first used in the Spanish Civil War with a great deal of success, as it flew faster than the defending fighters. Then in 1939 it was mass produced as the main Luftwaffe bomber. Called "The Spade" by its crews because of its broad, rounded wings, the glass nosed He 111 saw service in campaigns against 140 Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. The He 111H-3 could carry twice the bombload of a Do 17, and over a thousand pounds more than the Ju 88. But since the Messerschmitt factory was using all available Daimler Benz engines, the He 111H-3, like the Do 17, was forced to use less powerful engines that reduced its airspeed. To compensate for its slowness, more machine guns were added, along with extra armor protection. He 111H-3s did extensive damage to British targets during the Battle of Britain, when protected by fighter escort, and gained a reputation as a tough aircraft capable of remaining airborne even when shot to pieces. But when fighter protection was unavailable, the lumbering "Spade"was shot down in great numbers by the much faster British fighters. After the Battle, however, He 111s were the main Luftwaffe bombers used in the Blitz, and nearly leveled London. 141 HE 111H-3 PERFORMANCE ARMAMENT Powerplant:two Junkers Guns:five 7.92 mm MG 15 Jumo 211D-2 12-cylinder machine guns with 750 Vee liquid cooled engines rounds per gun - one Horsepower:1, 200 per mounted in the nose, one engine mounted in the fuselage Top speed:273 miles per above the wings facing hour rear, one mounted in the Rate of climb:30 minutes gondola beneath the fuse- to 14, 765 feet large facing rear, and two Ceiling:25, 590 mounted at the waist win- Range:745 miles dows at the center of the Crew:four or five fuselage DIMENSIONS Warhead load:eight 550 Wingspan:74 feet 2 inches pound bombs or four Wing area:943 square feet 1, 100 pound bombs, total- Length:53 feet 9 inches ing 4, 400 pounds Height:13 feet 2 inches WEIGHTS Empty:15, 873 pounds Loaded:28, 924 pounds 142 1. Altimeter 15. RPM Indicators 2. Climb/Dive Indicator 16. Engine Damage Indicators 3. Automatic Pilot Light 17. Airframe Damage Indicator 4. Banking Indicator 18. Replay Camera 5. Pitch Indicator 19. Fuel Gauge 6. Compass 20. Autoshoot Light 7. Airspeed Indicator 21. Ammunition Round Indicator 8. Gun Indicator Lights 22. Gun Indicator Lights 9. Nameplate 23. Altimeter 10. View Indicator 24. Airspeed Indicator 11. Radio 25. Compass 12. Bomb Indicator Panel 26. Banking Indicator 13. Flaps Lever 27. Bomb Indicator Panel 14. Landing Gear Indicator 28. Bombsight 143 JUNKERS JU 88A-1 MEDIUM BOMBER/DIVE BOMBER The newest and best of the German medium bombers in 1940, the twin engine Junkers Ju 88 did not see as much action in the Battle of Britain as the He 111 or the Do 17 because fewer of them had been produced. Swift, reliable, and tough, the Ju 88 ended up as the primary all-purpose bomber of the Luftwaffe, and nearly fifteen thousand were built during the course of World War II. Based on a 1935 design by a team led by two Americans, the first prototype flew in December 1936. Limited production began in 1939, too late for the testing grounds of the Spanish Civil War, and it saw little action in the conquest of Europe. The Ju 88 was used on a limited basis against British warships in the North Sea prior to the Battle of Britain. RANGE, BOMBERS STUKA 373 MILES HE 111 745 MILES DO 17 721 MILES JU 88 1, 453 MILES 144 The Ju 88A-1 was the first of these models to be widely produced, and featured underwing dive brakes that enabled it to be used as a dive bomber. It was faster, stronger, more maneuverable, and could fly farther than any other Luftwaffe medium bomber. In the Battle of Britain, the Ju 88A-1 initially enjoyed success attacking RAF airfields. But as the Battle progressed, the Ju 88A-1, like the other Luftwaffe bombers, proved vulnerable to the RAF fighters, though crews had a better chance of getting back to their bases in this excellent aircraft than in the others. 145 JU 88A-1 WEIGHTS PERFORMANCE Empty:21, 738 pounds Powerplant:two Junkers Loaded:30, 865 pounds Jumo 211B-1 12-cylinder ARMAMENT Vee liquid cooled engines Guns:three 7.92 mm MG Horsepower:1, 200 per 15 machine guns with 750 engine rounds per gun - one Top speed:280 miles per mounted in the nose, one hour mounted on the top of the Rate of climb:23 minutes fuselage above the wings to 17, 715 feet facing rear, and one Ceiling:26, 500 mounted in the gondola Range:1, 453 miles beneath the fuselage fac- Crew:four - one pilot, ing rear one bombardier/nose gun- Warhead load:six 550 ner, one radio operator/ pound bombs or three rear gunner, and one 1, 100 pound bombs, total- gondola gunner ing 3, 300 pounds, mount- DIMENSIONS ed beneath the fuselage Wingspan:59 feet 10 inches Wing area:540 square feet Length:47 feet 1 inch Height:15 feet 5 inches FIREPOWER, BOMBERS STUKA + HE 111 + DO 17 + JU 88 + 146 1. Altimeter 13. Bomb Indicator Panel 2. Climb/Dive Indicator 14. Flaps Lever 3. Automatic Pilot Light 15. Landing Gear Indicator 4. Banking Indicator 16. RPM Indicators 5. Pitch Indicator 17. Engine Damage Indicators 6. Compass 18. Airframe Damage Indicator 7. Airspeed Indicator 19. Replay Camera Indicator 8. Gun Indicator Lights 20. Fuel Gauge 9. Nameplate 21. Autoshoot Light 10. View Indicator 22. Ammunition Round Indicator 11. Radio 23. Gun Indicator Lights 12. Dive Brakes Indicator 147 BRITISH AIRCRAFT: 1940 HAWKER Hurricane MK I FIGHTER The first monoplane fighter ever used by the RAF, the sturdy, reliable Hurricane was a workhorse during the early part of World War II when it outnumbered all other modern British fighters. Its fuselage was constructed of metal tubes surrounded by wood and fabric, which enabled it to sustain a good deal of damage in battle and to be quickly repaired on the ground. Although not as fast or as maneuverable as the German Bf 109, the performance of the Hurricane was nevertheless close enough to hold its own in dogfights if its pilot was skilled enough. Also, since it had better range, it had the advantage of staying in the air longer than the Bf 109. The rugged, heavily-armored Hurricane proved to be 148 devastating against the other German aircraft. Frequently British fighter tactics called for this fighter to attack the bombers, while the more maneuverable Spitfire would take on the 109s. The Hurricane proved more than capable, and 57 percent of the German aircraft lost in the Battle of Britain were shot down by Hurricanes. The Hurricane Mk I was the first production model to go into service. Later versions of this model featured an all-metal wing, replacing the earlier fabric skinned wing, plus extra armor protection around the cockpit area. These were used in the defense of Singapore against the Japanese, and in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. CEILING, FIGHTERS SPITFIRE 34, 000 FEET HURRICANE 35, 000 FEET BF 109 34, 450 FEET BF 110 32, 810 FEET 149 HURRICANE MK I DIMENSIONS PERFORMANCE Wingspan:40 feet Powerplant:one Rolls Wing area:257 square feet Royce Merlin II or III 12- Length:31 feet 5 inches cylinder liquid cooled Height:13 feet 1 inch engine WEIGHTS Horsepower:1, 030 Empty:4, 670 pounds Top speed:320 miles per Loaded:6, 600 pounds hour ARMAMENT Rate of climb:2, 420 feet Guns:eight Browning .303 per minute caliber machine guns, four Ceiling:35, 000 feet mounted in each wing, Range:460 miles with 334 rounds per gun Crew:one FIREPOWER, FIGHTERS SPITFIRE + HURRICANE + BF 109 + BF 110 + 150 1. Fuel Gauge 10. RPM Indicator 2. Ammunition Round Indicator 11. Climb/Dive Indicator 3. Pitch Indicator 12. Replay Camera Indicator 4. Altimeter 13. Nameplate 5. Airspeed Indicator 14. Engine Damage Indicator 6. Gunsight 15. Airframe Damage Indicator 7. View Indicator 16. Radio 8. Banking Indicator 17. Landing Gear Lever 9. Compass 18. Flaps Lever 151 SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK I FIGHTER Perhaps no other combat aircraft in history can match the reputation of the Spitfire. In the eyes of the British public, the performance of this aircraft, more than any other factor, decided the outcome of the Battle of Britain and changed the course of World War II. The first all metal fighter to be produced for the RAF, the Spitfire was noted for its sleek design and unique thin, oval wings. While the Hurricane evolved from a biplane design, the Spitfire was designed as a monoplane from the start. And while the Hurricane outnumbered the Spitfire in 1940 and shot down more German aircraft, the Spitfire captured the imagination of the British people. Originally based on a design for a record breaking racing seaplane, the first Spitfire prototype flew in 1936. Though its complex design delayed initial production, the first Spitfires, model MK I, were delivered to RAF squadrons in 1938. The first seventy seven aircraft had two blade fixed pitch propellers, and succeeding aircraft were fit with three blade two position propellers, thereby raising its ceiling by 7, 000 feet and improving climbing and diving. Later modifications included the addition of a high visibility bubble cockpit hood and extra armor protection. The Spitfire MK I first saw action in October 1939 at the Firth of Forth in Scotland, where two RAF squadrons intercepted Ju 88 bombers and shot one down. RANGE, FIGHTERS SPITFIRE 500 MILES HURRICANE 460 MILES BF 109 410 MILES BF 110 680 MILES 152 SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK II FIGHTER When the more powerful Rolls Royce Merlin XII engine was developed in 1940, it was delivered to a new Spitfire plant near Birmingham. The Spitfire model that used this engine was known as the MK II, and the first one rolled off the assembly line in June 1940. Along with a higher level of performance, the Spitfire MK II was more combat worthy than the MK I, with self sealing fuel tanks, a bulletproof windshield, and extra armor protection for the pilot added during assembly. Certain versions of this model could also carry bombs and extra fuel tanks. During the Battle of Britain, the speed and maneuverability of the Spitfire made it an even match for its main German adversary, the Bf 109, and gave it a decisive advantage over other German aircraft. Although the Spitfire could not out climb the Bf 109, it could outrun it, unlike the Hurricane. The Spitfire's engine, however, would sometimes cut out in combat when the G-forces caused fuel to flood the carburetor. To prevent Bf 109 pilots from taking advantage of this British pilots would execute a half roll and dive, which kept the Spitfire's engine running. The carburation flaw was later corrected, and the Spitfire would go down in history as perhaps the best defensive weapon of the war. 153 SPITFIRE MK I SPITFIRE MK II PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE Powerplant:one Rolls Powerplant:one Rolls Royce Merlin II or III 12- Royce Merlin XII 12-cylin- cylinder liquid cooled der liquid cooled engine engine Horsepower:1, 175 Horsepower:1, 030 Top speed:370 miles per Top speed:355 miles per hour hour Rate of climb:2, 600 feet Rate of climb:2, 530 feet per minute per minute Ceiling:34, 000 feet Ceiling:34, 000 feet Range:500 miles Range:395 miles Crew:one Crew:one DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS Wingspan:36 feet 10 Wingspan:36 feet 10 inches inches Wing area:242 square feet Wing area:242 square feet Length:29 feet 11 inches Length:29 feet 11 inches Height:11 feet 5 inches Height:11 feet 5 inches WEIGHTS WEIGHTS Empty:5, 142 pounds Empty:5, 067 pounds Loaded:6, 484 pounds Loaded:6, 409 pounds ARMAMENT ARMAMENT Guns:eight Browning .303 Guns:eight Browning .303 caliber machine guns, four caliber machine guns, four mounted in each wing, mounted in each wing, with 300 rounds per gun with 300 rounds per gun 154 1. Fuel Gauge 10. RPM Indicator 2. Ammunition Round 11. Climb/Dive Indicator 3. Pitch Indicator 12. Replay Camera Indicator 4. Altimeter 13. Nameplate 5. Airspeed Indicator 14. Engine Damage Indicator 6. Gunsight 15. Airframe Damage Indicator 7. View Indicator 16. Radio 8. Banking Indicator 17. Landing Gear Lever 9. Compass 155 GERMAN AIRBORNE WEAPONS 7.92 MM MG 15 AND MG 17 MACHINE GUNS The MG 15 and MG 17 were the standard German airborne machine guns, used by both Luftwaffe fighters and bombers. The MG 17 was mounted on the wings, fuselage, and nose of the Bf 109, the Bf 110, and the Ju 87. The MG 15 was drum-fed, and flexibly mounted inside the canopies and gondolas of the He 111, the Do 17, and the Ju 88. In performance, these weapons had a slightly slower rate of fire than the British .303 machine guns, although they fired slightly heavier bullets. 20 mm MG FF and MG FF/M CANNONS The MG FF and MG FF/M cannons could do a great deal of damage at close range, especially the MG FF/M, which had a higher fighter rate. Mounted in the wings of the Bf 109 and in the nose of the Bf 110, they fired a thin shelled projectile that exploded on impact. These cannons, however, had a limited magazine of sixty shells, which could be used up in just eight seconds! Worse yet, they had a low muzzle velocity, meaning that the shells were slow to reach the target. Since it was hard for Luftwaffe pilots and gunners to keep the swift RAF fighters in their gunsights for long, this proved to be a great drawback. 1, 100/550/110 POUND(500/250/50 KG)BOMBS The 1, 100, 550, and 110 pound bombs were general purpose bombs, with bodies made of a solid piece of forged steel, then packed with explosives. From the He 111, the 550 pound version was dropped tail-first, which the British and other Allied enemies claimed reduced its accuracy. 156 .303 BROWNING MACHINE GUNS With eight Browning machine guns mounted on the wings of the Spitfire and Hurricane, these fighters provided an even match for the firepower of the Bf 109 with its two cannons and two machine guns. However, a lot of machine gun bullets were needed to bring down the more durable bombers. These machine guns had a somewhat greater muzzle velocity and rate of fire than their German counterparts, the MG 15 and MG 17. 157 (THIS PAGE IS BLANK) 158 FLIGHT FUNDAMENTALS AND TACTICS 159 FLIGHT FUNDAMENTALS This section covers the dynamics of flight, both in a real aircraft, and in the fighters and bombers you fly in Their Finest Hour. Those paragraphs that apply in the game are in italics. At the same time of the Battle of Britain, aircraft had become larger, heavier, and faster than every before. Yet these 1940 fighters and bombers, like the supersonic military aircraft of today, utilized the same aerodynamic principles that the Wright Brothers first applied in 1903 at Kitty Hawk. And the most important of these principles of flight is known as lift. LIFT FASTER AIR PRESSURE (LOWER PRESSURE DIFFERENCE CAUSE LIFT AIRFLOW WING SLOWER AIR (HIGHER PRESSURE) Try this simple experiment. Hold a piece of paper by one of its edges and blow across the top of it. The paper will rise. Why? Because the air moving across the top of the paper creates a high pressure zone greater than the pressure zone below the paper, which in turn creates suction and pulls the paper up. This is known as lift. Substitute an aircraft wing for the piece of paper, and you have some idea of how a plane becomes airborne. Of course, a wing has a more streamlined, aerodynamic shape than a piece of paper. This shape is designed specially to to create high and low pressure zones, and to ensure a smooth flow of air around the wing. Without a streamlined shape, too much drag, or wind resistance, is produces, which reduces the amount of lift. A continuous flow of air is needed over and under a wing to sustain lift. To do this, an engine is used to push the aircraft through the air by providing forward thrust, or movement. The faster the forward thrust, the more lift is created. As a result, an aircraft can be large in size and weight as long as it is equipped with a powerful engine. To increase your thrust, use the + key on your keyboard. To decrease it, use the - key. 160 STALLING If the smooth flow of air around the wing is interrupted, a dangerous situation known as a stall can occur. An aircraft usually stalls when the wing is tilted upward at such a steep angle that it obstructs the airflow. A stall can also occur when the aircraft is moving too slowly. When an aircraft stalls, it can go out of control and crash. Your aircraft may stall if you've pulled the nose up at too sharp an angle, or if you let your airspeed drop to 60-80 MPH in level flight(this is known as the stalling speed of your aircraft). If a stall occurs, push the nose of your aircraft down by moving the controller forward. When the message STALL RECOVERED appears on the screen, quickly pull back on the controller until your aircraft is in level flight again. Stalls frequently occur when you're trying to engage an aircraft that's at a much higher altitude. Learn to gain altitude gradually. Also keep an eye on your airspeed indicator, and learn to listen for the distinctive sound that your engine makes when the plane is about to stall. IN-FLIGHT MANEUVERING While an aircraft is in flight, it can maneuver three different ways. It can pitch, or move up and down;it can yaw, or swivel left and right, and it can roll, 161 or tilt left or right. To execute these maneuvers, the pilot moves a control stick or column, which controls pitch and roll. Yaw is controlled by a combination of pitching and rolling. To make an aircraft dive, the pilot pushes on the control stick. This moves the trailing-edge(or rear)horizontal portions of the tail, called elevators, down. To climb, the pilot pulls back on the stick. This moves the elevators up. To turn, the pilot moves the control stick either left or right and banks the plane left or right. This moves the trailing-edge vertical segment of the tail, called the rudder, along with the small, trailing-edge sections of the wing near the wing tips, called ailerons. As the aircraft banks, its wings will tilt more and more to one side or the other. The steeper the bank, the faster the turn, up to a full 90 with the wings pointing straight up and down. As you steepen a bank turn, and as your wings become closer and closer to perpendicular to the ground, your aircraft will lose lift and the nose will start to drop. To counter this, pull back on the controller slightly or increase your throttle setting when you bank. To come out of a banked turn, and return to level flight, move your controller in the opposite direction of your bank. TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS To help an aircraft gain lift for takeoffs, and allow it to slow it down for landings, flaps are used. These are the large trailing-edge sections of the wings that, when extended downward, increase lift. This added lift lift allows the plane to fly at a slower speed before stalling. Of course, landing gear is also used for takeoffs and landings. It consists of the wheels of the aircraft and the supports for those wheels. To takeoff from an airfield, increase your plane's throttle and taxi down the runway. When you reach the end of the runway, turn your plane around so that it's pointing down the runway in the other direction. Then, lower your flaps and increase your throttle until the white digital number at the bottom of the RPM indicator reads "100%". As your aircraft rushes down the runway, wait until the 162 airspeed reaches 125 MPH. Then, pull back on your controller to become airborne. Retract your landing gear(unless you are flying a Ju 87 Stuka with fixed landing gear), then decrease the throttle setting with the - key to conserve fuel. When approaching an airfield to land, begin to slow your airspeed by decreasing the throttle setting. Gradually, flatten your descent, then line up your aircraft with the airstrip. As you continue to descend, lower your flaps and your landing gear, and decrease the throttle setting until it is just above the stalling speed of your aircraft. When you touch down, decrease the throttle setting to 0 and let your aircraft taxi until it has come to a complete stop. DIVE BOMBER MANEUVERING SPEED BRAKES are special flaps found only on dive bombers. They open both up and down from the trailing-edge of the wing and are full of small holes to keep the aircraft from being buffeted when they are open. If you're flying a Ju 87 Stuka or a Ju 88, use your speed brakes to slow your diving speed as you make your dive-bombing run on a ship convoy or ground installation. This will make it easier to line up the target and drop your bombload more accurately. 163 TACTICS This section of the chapter describes tactics used by many RAF and Luftwaffe pilots during the Battle of Britain. Those paragraphs that will be helpful to you in the game situations of Their Finest Hour are in italics. Also note that the replay camera is a useful tool for analyzing your performance in combat and improving your aerial tactics. It lets you "film" your dogfights, bombing runs, or other aerial maneuvers, and then view the "motion picture" from any angle. See the Review Combat Film section of the manual for more information. FIGHTER TACTICS As the slower, more maneuverable biplane fighters of World War I evolved into the faster, less maneuverable monoplane fighters of World War II, the tactics of aerial combat evolved as well. Yet one of the keys to aerial victory remained the same throughout both wars:surprise the enemy. Gaining a height advantage was one way to achieve this element of surprise. The higher a fighter could get, the faster it could pounce upon the enemy aircraft below, hopefully without being detecting until it was too late. Another way to surprise the enemy was to attack from the direction of the sun. Hidden in the sun's bright glare, a fighter pilot could strike before the enemy spotted him and retaliated. RAF pilots had an expression for guarding against this type of attack:"Beware of the Hun in the sun." Attacking from the direction of the sun is a valuable tactic, since the enemy fighters or bombers you're attacking can't see you. To attack from the angle of the sun, first use the scan mode to locate the sun, then use it to locate the enemy fighters or bombers you want to attack. Next, adjust your flight path so that your fighter will eventually be positioned between the sun and the enemy. When you reach this point, turn your fighter around and head toward the enemy. ideally the sun should be at your back;if you can see the sun in your rear view mirror, you're in a perfect position to attack. Since you can't be seen, the enemy fighters won't take any evasive action or fire at you until you fire at them. Likewise, the bomber gunners won't fire at you until you open fire first. 164 In all of your missions, keep in mind that enemy fighters may use these same tactics on you. When attacking from the direction of the sun, pilots would usually rely on the stern attack. To execute this approach, which dates back to the First World War, the attacking pilot would dive on a target, pull out of his dive when he was on the tail of the target, then fire. If the target aircraft had a rear or tail gunner, the attacking pilots would usually pull out of their dive and fire at an angle slightly beneath the tail of the target to avoid gunfire. If you're flying a Spitfire or a Hurricane, and a Bf 109 is attacking you from behind, never try to dive away from it, since it can accelerate in a dive faster than you can. Instead, try to make a tight turn inside to shake it. A series of S-turns can also throw off its aim. But if you're flying a Bf 109, you can shake a pursuing RAF fighter by going into a dive. If you're flying a Bf 110, you won't be able to lose pursuing fighters with maneuvers, so use your rear gunner to ward off stern attacks, and try to bring your Zerstorer around so that you can use its forward firepower. In the early part of the Battle of Britain, RAF pilots would sometimes fly straight at approaching enemy formations, and fire at them when they were within range. This was known as the opposite attack, and it was phased out after a number of head-on collisions. With stern and opposite attack tactics, a fighter pilot could bring down an airplane by shooting straight ahead, since the target was right in front of him. 165 But when approaching and attacking an enemy plane from an angle, pilots on both sides had to learn deflection shooting to score a kill. This meant that the pursuing pilot would shoot at a point ahead of the enemy plane's flight path, so that the bullets would reach that point at the same time as the enemy. Mastering deflection shooting was extremely difficult, as Spitfires and Bf 109s could reach speeds of nearly 400 MPH, leaving little time to judge distance. Deflection shooting is a skill you must master to enjoy success as a fighter pilot. You'll need to compensate for the speed of your target, the angle at which it crosses your line of sight, and its distance away from you, which you can judge by comparing the size of the enemy aircraft to your gunsight right. If 166 your gunsight ring. If the enemy aircraft is faster, flying a perpendicular flight path, or flying away from you, you'll have to lead your shots more. By taking all these factors into account, and remembering to shoot ahead of your target, you'll be able to score hits every time. You'll know your shots are hitting home when pieces of the enemy plane break off, or if smoke pours out of it. To maximize a pilot's chances to score a kill, the eight machine guns on the Spitfire and the Hurricane were harmonized. This meant that the guns were adjusted so that when they were fired, the bullets would intersect at a certain point in the distance. This gave the pilots a large "area of lethal density" ahead of them. Unfortunately, this often penalized pilots who liked to shoot from close range, since their bullets did not intersect in the vicinity of the target. These pilots countered by adjusting their own guns so that their intersection point was much closer, allowing them to pour on highly concentrated gunfire as they neared their target. The machine guns of your RAF fighter are harmonized so that they will do more damage at close range than from long range. When you're approaching enemy fighters, there may be a few seconds when you'll be so close that you're able to make out the details of a particular aircraft. This is the time to open fire. Since the machine guns on the Hurricane were more closely grouped together than those of the Spitfire, it had a denser bullet pattern. This made the Hurricane more suited for attacking bombers, since a bomber required more gunfire to bring it down than a fighter. Factored into this tactic was the knowledge that the Hurricane was not as maneuverable as the Bf 109, so while the Hurricanes took on the bombers, the more agile Spitfires attacked the German fighters. A good rule to remember as a fighter pilot is that when you're in hostile skies never fly in a straight or level path for more than thirty seconds. FIGHTER FORMATIONS After the Luftwaffe fighters suffered heavy losses flying in tight three-plane formations during the Spanish Civil War, German ace Warner Molders developed and tested a loose fighter formation. Known as the Schwarm, it consisted of four fighters flying in pairs, or Rotten. The leader of this formation was the best pilot and best shot, and always flew ahead of the other three fighters. The second aircraft was the leader's protective wingman, and his job was to never 167 leave the leader's side. The wingman always flew on the side of the leader where the sun was, though at a lower altitude so that the other aircraft would not have to look into the sun to see him. On the opposite side from the wingman was the leader of the second Rotte, and at his side, though at a higher altitude, was high wingman. The second wingman always had the job of scanning the sky around the sun, and watching for enemy attacks from that direction. Since the Schwarm was so spread out, it was harder for enemy fighters to spot it, and it had the added benefit of minimizing the risk of collision within a formation. The result was a high rate of kills for the Luftwaffe fighters during the remainder of the Spanish Civil War and the early stages of the Battle of Britain. During the time between the two world wars, the British, believing that their fighters would be attacking unescorted bombers, developed a tight formation known as the vic. Essentially the same formation the Luftwaffe abandoned in Spain, it consisted of three fighters flying at the same altitude, with the middle fighter slightly ahead of the other two. Flying wing tip-to-tip, the vic was a great formation for air shows, but with each pilot constantly worrying about collision, it left little time to look for the enemy. This made the RAF fighters easy targets for the looser-flying Luftwaffe fighters, who could also spot the tight British formation sooner. As the Battle of Britain progressed, RAF pilots, who lacked the vital experience the Luftwaffe had gained in the 168 Spanish Civil War, gradually abandoned the vic, and adopted their own version of the Schwarm, which they called the finger four formation. If you're flying as the leader of a Schwarm or a vic formation, you're responsible for leading the attack on the enemy. It's important that your wingmen remain at your side for protection;therefore don't fly so radically that you lose them. If you're flying as a wingman in either of these two formations, your primary responsibility is to cover your leader, and to stay by his side. A controversial fighter formation that the British developed during the Battle of Britain was the big wing. It was made up of three to five squadrons, totaling some thirty six to sixty aircraft. The advantage of a big wing was obvious more guns were brought to bear on the enemy aircraft. Moreover, the sight of so many fighters proved to be a show of strength unnerving to the Luftwaffe. The disadvantage of the big wing was the amount of time it took all the aircraft to assemble usually over half an hour. Also, the more RAF fighters in the air, the more that could be knocked out by the Luftwaffe, who saw aerial combat as the best way to finish off Fighter Command. The debate over the feasibility of the big wing divided Fighter Command. Eleven Group felt that the big wing was impractical, since its besieged squadrons simply did not have enough time to assemble such a large formation. Twelve Group, which originated the big wing, was located further north than 11 Group, and the gave then more time to put a big wing together before the Luftwaffe 169 arrived. Twelve Group's big wing proponents believed that it was better to hit the enemy hard after it had dropped its bombs on its targets and was returning to Continental Europe. But since many of these targets were 11 Group's fighter airfields, 11 Group vehemently disagreed with this philosophy, and usually tried to intercept the Luftwaffe beforehand, with single squadrons. The formidable Bf 109 was often used in a free-ranging or free chasing role, in which formations of 109s would simply fly about looking for RAF fighters to attack. When the defensive minded RAF avoided engaging these free ranging Bf 109s, the Luftwaffe used the Ju 87 Stuka and other bombers as bait to lure the RAF fighters into combat. Using fighters to accompany and protect bombers on their way to the target and back was knows as fighter escort. The Bf 110 was originally developed for this role, but during the early part of the Battle of Britain, it proved to be a failure against the more maneuverable Hurricane and Spitfire. The Bf 110 was successful only when it could dive down and blast the enemy with its two cannons and four machine guns, then get away. As Bf 110 losses mounted, they were given a protective escort of Bf 109s, and the 109 became the main escort fighter for the duration of the Battle. If you're flying fighter escort, you main responsibility is to make sure the 170 bombers reach their targets and escape enemy fighter attacks. Try to keep the bombers in sight at all times, and beware of enemy fighters pouncing on them from the direction of the sun, or from high above. During the Kanalkampf, providing fighter escort for Ju 87s proved to be next to impossible during a dive bombing run, since the Stukas were slowed by their dive brakes and bombload. Their escorts, the much-faster Bf 109s, flew right past the Stukas during a dive, leaving them unescorted, and easy targets for Spitfires and Hurricanes. As Ju 87 losses increased, their crews began demanding more fighter escort, and the fighter-to-bomber ratio, which had been one to one, was increased to two to one. When the Stukas were withdrawn from the Battle of Britain in mid-August, Luftwaffe bomber formations were escorted by formations of Bf 109s, flying several thousand feet higher to gain a height advantage over the attacking British fighters. But British fighters in turn took advantage of this height difference, and pulverized the bombers before the Bf 109s could dive down. Again, the increasing bomber losses forced the Luftwaffe to change its escort formations. Bf 109s were then ordered to fly alongside the bombers, at the same altitude. The fighters were forced to throttle way back to stay at the same speed as the bombers, and often weaved in and out of the bomber formations. This cut down on bomber losses, but it also cut down on RAF losses, since the 109s were now in a defensive, rather than an offensive, role. The fighter-to-bomber ratio was increased to three to one, and formations of fighters flew ahead of, alongside, and above the bombers. DIVE-BOMBING TACTICS When the tactics of dive bombing were being developed during the period between the wars, the RAF took little interest. But the Luftwaffe, seeing dive bombing as a way to soften up an enemy before ground troops moved in, embraced the concept, and developed the Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber in 1935. The Stuka became a formidable weapon in the conquest of Europe, although it had limited success against the convoys and coastal targets of the English Channel during the Battle of Britain. 171 What made dive bombing so appealing was its pinpoint accuracy. Theoretically, if a plane could dive straight down on a target before releasing a bomb, there was no way it could miss. Though Stuka pilots rarely made vertical dives, 80 dives generally resulted in deadly dits. Flying at an altitude between 10, 000 and 15, 999 feet, the Stuka pilot would spot his target, and begin to dive when he was nearly over it. Dive angle lines were even etched on the glass canopy of the Ju 87, to give the pilot an idea of his angle of approach. As the Stuka picked up speed in its dive, the pilot would extend the dive brakes, which slowed the airspeed and enabled the pilot to make a more controlled dive. Along with the brakes, the drag on the fuselage caused by the externally mounted bomb and the fixed landing gear slowed the Stuka's diving speed to around 350 MPH. With the landing gear mounted sirens, called the "trumpets of Jericho, " screaming in the wind, the pilot would release the Stuka's fuselage mounted bomb at an altitude of 3, 000 feet. If the bomb was released any lower, the Stuka would be in danger of being destroyed by the resulting explosion, since it needed another 1, 500 feet to pull out its dive and level off. Once the pilot had released the bomb and pulled out of his dive, he would often make evasive turns to avoid any anti aircraft fire or enemy fighters. And if he looked over his shoulder, he might get a glance at the damage inflicted by the bomb he just delivered. If you're flying a Ju 87 dive bombing mission with other Stukas, there will always be one or more. Stukas flying ahead of you. When you're about five miles from the target, all the Stukas will assemble into a line astern formation, lined 172 up after another. If you've strayed away from the formation, you'll see a space where your Stuka should be. After you've returned to the formation, you'll be able to follow the Stuka ahead of you as it dives down to attack a ground installation or ship. When you're piloting a solo Ju 87 Stuka or Ju 88, switch on the scan view mode to help you locate the target you want to dive bomb(see the Double Seat Fighter and Dive Bomber View Controls section for more information). In this view mode, you can fly the plane in one direction while searching in any direction. When you spot the target, make a note of its location in degrees, switch back to normal flight, and change the direction of your dive bomber so that will fly over the target. Switch back to the scan view mode if you have trouble locating the target in normal flight. As you get closer to the target, switch to the straight down view mode. If you have lines up your target correctly, it will slowly begin to appear in the screen. This is the time to begin your dive. Ideally, you should be at n altitude of 7, 000 feet or more when you start diving;if your starting altitude is below 5, 000 feet, you may have trouble pulling out of your dive in time. To begin your dive, make sure you're in normal flight, and extend your speed brakes. You may want to turn on your replay camera to record your dive and see if your bombload hit home, and check your bomb indicator to determine which of your bombs will drop. If you're bombing a large target, such as a ship, you'll want to drop your entire bombload at once. If you're attacking scattered ground targets, such as airfield hangars, you'll want to scattered ground targets, such as airfield hangers, you'll want to scatter your bombs on different targets. Then, when you're ready, push the controller forward until you're in a 70 to 80 degree dive. The Ju 87 has several diving angle lines etched in the left window. Four of these lines are labeled 50, 60, 70, and 80 degrees. Switch to the view left mode to line up any of these diving angle lines with the horizon. You can also use your pitch indicator to judge how steep your descent is. If its 173 needle is pointing three quarters of the way down the minus(-) part of the indicator, you're in a 70 degree dive. Try to keep the target in your gunsight ring on your way down. As you dive, you may find that your approach to the target is off, and that it's straying to one side or the other. Simply moving your controller to the side to correct this is dangerous, since it could cause your dive bomber to move sideways relative to the direction it's headed(a condition known as slipping or skidding). To correct your approach, push the controller forward until your dive bomber is in a near vertical dive, approaching 90 degrees. Then, move your controller left or right until the target is lined up correctly, and pull back on the controller to return to your desired diving angle. If you're attacking a ship in a convoy, a longitudinal attack, along the line of the ship's course, is best, since this gives you a longer area for your bombs to hit. Approaching the ship from the bow is more preferable than from the stern, as in a stern attack the ship will sail away from you and you'll have to flatten out your dive to catch it further along. However, don't waste valuable 174 making a perfect approach. With practice, you'll be able to score direct hits even with a perpendicular attack on a ship. If you're attacking ground installations, they will be easier to hit than ships, because they aren't moving. But no matter which type of target you're attacking, ignore the bursts of flak or gunfire around you, and concentrate on your mission objective, since it is vital. When your altitude reaches 3, 000 feet, you should get ready to release your bombload, and release it below your altitude reaches 2, 000 feet. If you're in a 70 degree dive, your gunsight should be pointed just ahead of where you want your bomb or bombs to fall. This will compensate for gravity pulling your bombload out of the line of your dive. Once you've released your bombload, pull back on the controller to pull out of your dive. In the Battle of Britain, this was the time when dive bombers, particularly the Ju 87 Stuka, were the most vulnerable to enemy fighter attack, since their airspeed was slowed and their fighter escort gone, unable to stay with the dive bombers in a dive. To avoid what the RAF fighter pilots called a "Stuka party, " make sure that your dive bomber is in level flight after you've pulled out of your dive, turn on the autopilot, then switch to the rear gunner. Us your forward guns if an unlucky fighter happens to wander in front of you. If you're flying a Ju 88, you may want to switch to the upper dorsal gun position to ward off fighter attacks. You can also weave your dive bomber around to make it a harder target for enemy fighters to hit. LOW AND MEDIUM ALTITUDE BOMBING TACTICS Low altitude bombing raids, from heights of several hundred feet or less, proved to be highly successful against airfields, radar stations, and other targets. At the low height these bombers flew, the RDF system couldn't detect them, and the Observer Corps on the ground had trouble spotting them. Low altitude surprise attacks also gave anti-aircraft batteries little time to react, and thus gave the planes an excellent chance to get away after dropping their bombloads. Bombers also had a better chance of scoring more accurate hits from low levels. The main Luftwaffe bombers for low altitude bombing raids were the Ju 88, which was structurally reinforced to serve double duty as a dive bomber, and the Do 175 17. The fighter/bomber versions of the Bf 109 and the Bf 110 were also used for low altitude bombing. If you fly your mission from an altitude of less than 500 feet, you won't be detected by the radar system, and they won't send any fighters after you. More important, you may be able to fly to your target without being seen by any high altitude fighter patrols. However, there's always a chance that a low altitude fighter patrol will spot you. For low altitude bombing, it's more accurate and less dangerous to drop your bombload from the pilot's position than from the bombardier's position. The majority of the Luftwaffe's bombing raids came from medium altitudes of 11, 000 to 18, 000 feet, depending on the cloud cover. It was essential to the success of medium bombing raids that the ground be visible from the bomber, since in 1940 landmarks had to be visible from the plane for navigation, and targets had to be spotted before they could be bombed. In a medium altitude bombing mission, the bombers flew directly to the target, released their bombs, and headed directly to their bases. If the bombers spent more time than necessary over England, they would be in jeopardy of losing their fighter escort, because the Bf 109s only carried enough fuel to remain over England for twenty to thirty minutes. The He 111, the Do 17, and the Ju 88 served as the main 176 medium altitude bombers for the Luftwaffe. If you're flying a bomber and are attacked by enemy fighters, maintain a tight formation. This allows the gunners on the other bombers to protect the formation. It will take a lot of practice to learn how to drop a bombload accurately from a medium altitude. To give yourself some benchmarks, always drop your bombload from the same altitude and at the same speed on all your missions. Then, use the rings on your bombsight to gauge the precise moment when you should drop your bombs on a target. BOMBER GUN POSITIONS The best way to defend your bomber from enemy fighter attack is to learn to read the flashing yellow gun indicator lights. When you see a flashing light, it means that an enemy plane is approaching, and you could be attacked from that position. Look at the lights, determine which position is being attacked, and move over to that position. If you feel that some positions are not as critical to defend as others, switch those less important positions to the autoshoot mode, it will use up its ammunition faster. Also, it will not be able to see enemy aircraft attacking from the direction of the sun, which you yourself are 177 able to do. Deflection shooting is as important for bomber gunners as it is for fighters (see Fighter Tactics above for more information). NIGHT BOMBING TACTICS The Luftwaffe made scattered bombing raids at night throughout the spring and summer of 1940, and switched over entirely to night bombing in the fall and winter, as daylight raids were proving too costly. Night bombing had many advantages. The bombers could fly virtually undetected after they passed the coast, since then the RDF system could no longer pick them up and the Observer Corps could not see them. British ground defenses had to rely on listening for the sounds of the bomber's engines to track them, and this difficult task was made virtually impossible by bad weather and the varying speeds of German aircraft. Since airborne radar had not yet been developed for RAF fighters, they 178 were virtually useless in the dark, and only a few German bombers were brought down by fighters at night. Yet this same darkness that hindered Fighter Command also prevented the Luftwaffe from finding and hitting blacked-out targets accurately. However, the Luftwaffe did posses a navigational aid which could have made night bombing much more formidable. It was a radio beam known as Knickebein, or "crooked leg." The Knickebein signal radiated from Germany or France, and pointed toward a target in England. A bomber pilot, flying along this beam, which was a few hundred yards wide, heard a series of dot and dash codes if he strayed too far left or right. As the bomber approached the target, it would intersect with a second beam, which was transmitted from a different location on the Continent. This beam gave a different sound, and was the signal to prepare to drop the bombload. The bomber released its bombs a predetermined distance from where the second beacon was received. But the British, who had known about Knickebein ever since early 1940, developed countermeasures to hinder its effectiveness. Special detection equipment was installed on top of the 350 foot high RDF masts along the British coast, and technicians precariously sat on the masts and listened for incoming beams. The German usually tested a beam the morning before a raid, and by plotting the direction of the beam, the British usually figured out which target was likely to be bombed that night. Then, the British overpowered the Knickebein beam by transmitting beams of their own, making it impossible for Luftwaffe bomber pilots to hear the correct beam. Often the British beam would be misinterpreted as the second German beam, and many German bombloads were dropped in the ocean or scattered throughout the countryside by crewmen who thought they had hit their target. These British countermeasures were not always successful, yet for the most part they blunted the weapon of night bombing. Although airfields, factories, ports, and cities were hit at night throughout the close of 1940 and into the beginning of 1941, these raids, which might have brought Britain to its knees, did not. 179 (THIS PAGE IS BLANK) 180 APPENDIX 181 MISSION BUILDER When you use the Mission Builder, you get a chance to become your own game designer. This utility lets you create missions, and then save them to disk for yourself and others to fly in Their Finest Hour. Your actually construct a battle scenario by deciding the composition of forces for both the British side and the German side in the Battle of Britain. You decided the number of aircraft for each side, the types of aircraft to be used, the flight groups they'll fly in, and more. Once you finished designing a mission, you save it, and then select FLY CUSTOM MISSION from the Main Menu of Their Finest Hour to fly it. You can even go back and modify it later if you want. With the Mission Builder, there's no end to the variety of combat mission challenges you can create, both for yourself and for your friends. HINT:Before you sit down in front of your computer to create a mission, plan it out on paper. Since there are so many choices you need to make, building a mission with the computer can be tricky without a plan to work from. LOADING THE MISSION BUILDER To start up the Mission Builder on your computer, look at the Loading Instructions:Mission Builder section of your Reference Card. Then continue by following the instructions below. USING THE MISSION BUILDER Once you've loaded the utility, you'll see a special map, which shows Southern England, the English Channel, and the west coast of France, with the words MISSION BUILDER at the top. This map is nearly identical to the Campaign Map you access whenever you're playing Campaign Missions. If you've already fought a campaign battle, you'll notice that many of the controls used for playing a campaign are 182 the same ones used for building a Custom Mission. You'll use this map and the buttons on it to determine the forces for both sides of your mission. The markings on the map indicate different ground installations that can be attacked by the Luftwaffe or defended by the RAF. To learn the name of any of these ground installations, move the arrow over a ground installation icon. You'll see the information in the column in the lower right hand corner of the screen. At the bottom of the screen, you'll see five buttons: LOAD:This lets you load the missions you've already created, so you can make any modifications to them. When you choose this, you'll be shown a list of the down arrow icon, and hold down the controller button;to look up the list, move the arrow to the up arrow icon, and hold down the button. Click the arrow on the name of a mission to load it. The name of the mission you've selected will appear next to the word NAME at the top of the screen. SAVE:This lets you save a mission you've just created, so you can play it from the game program at a later time. Your mission will not be saved unless it has been given a name. To name your mission, click the controller on the white area labeled NAME at the top of the screen. A text cursor will appear. Use it to type the name of your mission, then press RETURN. NOTE:If you build a mission with more than three different types of aircraft, you won't be able to save it, as it requires too much memory during game play. NEW:This cancels any mission building choices you have made, so you can start building a mission all over again. SETTINGS:This lets you change the mission settings for the plane that you yourself will fly in your mission. EXIT:This returns you to your computer's operating system. FLIGHT GROUPS When you create a Custom Mission, you'll begin with up to sixteen aircraft, although you don't have to use all sixteen in every mission you create. To divide these available aircraft between the British and the German sides, you'll need to assign them to various flight groups for both sides. A flight group is a given number of aircraft flying together as a unit. By choosing the type of 183 aircraft and the number of aircraft for each flight group, you allocate aircraft to either the RAF or the Luftwaffe in your mission. Here's an example. Let's say you're creating three flight groups for a mission; the first with six He 111 bombers, the second with six Bf 109 fighters. The Luftwaffe now has twelve aircraft on its side in your mission. Now, the most aircraft the RAF can have on its side in the third flight group is four. Of course, you can put all of your available aircraft on only one side, and create a mission with no enemy aerial opposition. But, as you'll find out, it won't be very challenging or interesting. Also, if you have a slow machine, you won't want to have the aircraft bunched together in the same location, since the mission will be more enjoyable when they're spread out. HINT:Even though you have a limited number of aircraft, if you create a fighter flight group, and it is destroyed, a flight group of similar composition can be vectored to take its place. If you'd like to use this feature in your missions, see the WAVE button below. BUILDING YOUR OPPOSING FORCES To determine the composition of your forces, you'll use the seven Flight Group buttons on the right side of the screen: FLIGHT GROUP:Click your controller button to cycle through the flight groups that are available to be filled, and to look at the ones you've already created. To create a flight group, you must select a plane type(see below)and allocate at least one plane to that flight group. You yourself will always fly in the first flight group, called FLIGHT GROUP 1. The default setting for this group will always have you flying a Spitfire. This can be changed by using the PLANE TYPE button below. PLANE TYPE:Click your controller button to cycle through the different types and models of aircraft that can make up a flight group.(For example, "SPITFIRE" is a type of aircraft, and "MK I" designates its model number.) Each flight group must consist of the same model of aircraft. For instance, you cannot create a flight group with both Spitfire Mark Is and Spitfire Mark IIs. However, you can create one flight group of Mark Is and a second one of Mark IIs. # PLANES:This lets you change the number of aircraft in the flight group you're creating. You need to have at least one plane in the flight group before that 184 group can fly in your mission. Pressing the left controller button increases the number, and pressing the right controller button decreases it. The number of planes you have left to assign will be displayed in the upper right hand corner of the screen, next to the words PLANE AVAILABLE. The number of planes on your side, along with the number of planes on the opposition side, will be displayed below PLANES AVAILABLE. The maximum number of planes you can have in a flight group is six. FORMATION:Use this to cycle through the available flight formations your current flight group can fly in. These formations are the "VIC"(a triangular three plane formation), the "SCHWARM"(a single file formation), and "ABREAT"(a side by side formation). For more information about the vic and the Schwarm, see the Flight Fundamental and Tactics chapter of the manual. EXPERIENCE:Use this to cycle through the amount of combat experience a flight group can possess. ORDERS:Click your controller button to cycle through the mission orders for the flight group you're creating. When you're composing the RAF forces, you can choose to have your fighters attack either enemy bombers or fighters, or to ignore or avoid an attack. If you're composing the Luftwaffe forces, the choices vary, depending upon the type of aircraft in your flight group. The He 111 and the Do 17z-2 can level bomb, the Ju 87 Stuka can dive bomb, and the Ju 88 can be used for both level bombing and dive bombing. The Bf 109 and 110 fighters can be used for bomber escort(protecting a bomber flight group0, for free ranging (hunting RAF fighters), or for strafing airfields. Bf 109 and 110 Jabo fighter/ bombers can be used for either level bombing, or for bombing and strafing airfields. Both RAF and Luftwaffe forces can also be ordered to return to their home airfield. WAVES:Use this to choose the number of times the fighter Combat air Patrol(CAP) aircraft in an enemy flight group will be reinforced. What this means is that if a wave of fighters is destroyed, another one will be vectored to the battle area to take its place. The number to the right of the WAVES button indicates the total number of waves that can appear in your mission. This number also includes the initial wave that you start with. For example, if you choose "4, " your first wave of fighters will be reinforced up to three times. If the number 185 to the right of the WAVES button is "1, " the flight group will not be reinforced. If you've chosen to have the flight group fly a fighter escort mission, this button will change to ESCORT. Then, you use this button to select which bomber flight group your fighters will escort. FLYING YOUR OWN AIRCRAFT AS LEADER OR WINGMAN At the top of the screen, in the upper right hand corner, you'll see a button marked PLAYER. Pressing this button switches your plane between the LEADER, whose plane is leading the formation, or WINGMAN, whose plane has the responsibility of covering the leader. If you're flying a bomber, you cannot fly as the leader. FLIGHT ROSTER Like the other missions in Their Finest Hour, you can select pilots and crews to fly the aircraft in your custom mission when you're at Flight Briefing in the program. However, if you create a mission with more than seven aircraft on your side, you'll only be able to assign pilots and crews from the ROSTER screen to the first seven planes. CREATING A FLIGHT PLAN After you've created a flight group, you need to implement a flight plan for it to follow. You create a flight plan by placing a series of navigation markers on the Mission Builder map. A flight plan is composed of up to six of these navigation markers, including its starting point(BEGIN), four rendezvous points (WAY PT 1, WAY PT 2, WAY PT 3, and WAY PT 4)and an airfield to return to(LAND). To create a flight plan, look below the Flight Group buttons. There, you'll see a chart that looks like this: FLIGHT PLAN ALT ATK BEGIN WAY PT 1 WAY PT 2 WAY PT 3 WAY PT 4 LAND DELETE To choose where you want a flight group to start its mission, click on BEGIN. A star will appear next to the word BEGIN. Move the floating arrow to the location on the map where you want the flight group to begin its mission, then click the controller button. A starting point icon will now appear on the map. 186 If you decide you want to relocate the starting point, move the arrow to the desired location, and click the button again. RAF flight groups can only begin their missions over England or the English Channel. Luftwaffe flight groups can only begin their missions over Continental Europe or the English Channel. Now look for the word ALT next to the words FLIGHT PLAN. This shows the current cruising altitude for this flight group, in thousands of feet. Clicking the left controller button increases the altitude at which that group begins your mission, and clicking the right controller button decreases it. The locations of the four Way Points are set the same way you set the BEGIN location. First, click on WAY PT 1, move the arrow to the desired location on the map, and click your controller button. An icon will appear on the map to represent the location of WAY PT 1. To adjust the altitude for your flight group flying toward WAY PT 1, click on the number below ALT. Repeat this procedure for WAY PT 2, 3, and 4 if you want. With these different Way Points, you can plot a course for each side to follow in your mission. During fighter Combat Air Patrol(CAP)missions, the flight group flies between the Way points until it runs low on fuel. For bombing missions, the flight group only follows the flight plan once. For fighter escort missions, the flight group stays near the bomber flight group it is escorting, regardless of the flight plan created for it, unless the bombers have all been destroyed. Any bomber or fighter/bomber flight group will automatically bomb a target if it is located where you've placed a Way Point icon. If you don't want the flight group to attack this target, lik for the word ATK(attack)next to ALT. A YES will appear if an attack will occur. Click on YES to erase this word, and call off the attack. To assign each flight group to a landing area after you have assigned them to different Way Points, click on LAND, move the arrow to the desired airfield, then click the controller button. After you've created a flight plan, you may want to remove one or more of the Way Points. To do this, click on the Way Point you'd like to remove, then click the DELETE button, which is located to the right of the LAND button. This removes the Way Point icon from the map. 187 As you create flight plans for all of the flight groups for both sides, their starting points will be marked by icons on the map. CONVOYS If you're looking for a suitable dive bombing target for a Ju 87 Stuka or a Ju 88 flight group, you can include a ship convoy in your mission. To do this, look at the buttons in the lower right hand corner of the screen. Click the controller on CONVOY to choose between a YES or a NO setting. If you choose YES, click the controller on # SHIPS to choose how many ships will be in the convoy. To determine the location where the convoy will start, click on START LOC. Now every time you click the controller, a black convoy icon will move around to various locations in the English Channel. Keep clicking until the convoy icon is positioned in the desired location. CHANGING THE SETTINGS FOR YOUR AIRCRAFT If you'd like to modify the features of your aircraft in your mission, press the SETTINGS button from the Flight Group buttons. You'll then see four new buttons: TIME:Use this to change the time of day you'll begin your mission, from 0 to 23:00 hours. AMMO:Use this to change between "STANDARD" or "UNLIMITED" amounts of ammunition you'll carry. In the "STANDARD" mode, you'll carry the same number of gun or cannon rounds as German and British aircraft in 1940. In the "UNLIMITED" mode, you'll never run out of ammunition. FUEL:Use this to change between "STANDARD" or "UNLIMITED" fuel capacity. In the "STANDARD" mode, you'll carry a finite supply of fuel, and use it up as you go along. In the "UNLIMITED" mode, you'll have an endless supply of fuel. DAMAGE:Use this to change between "STANDARD" or "UNLIMITED" amounts of battle damage that can be sustained by your aircraft. In the "STANDARD" mode, your plane can be damaged and shot down by enemy gunfire. In the "UNLIMITED" mode, your aircraft is invincible. If you change the AMMO, FUEL, or DAMAGE settings to "UNLIMITED, " the results of your mission will not count on your Combat Record. 188 A SAMPLE MISSION:STEP BY STEP Though the Mission Builder may seem complex at first glance, it is actually fairly easy to create a mission with it. For example, let's say you want to create a mission where you defend the RAF airfield at Hawkinge with three Hurricanes against a level bombing attack by three He 111 bombers and three escorting Bf 109 fighters. First, set the composition of the RAF forces by clicking on FLIGHT GROUP. For FLIGHT GROUP 1, choose "HURR MKI" from the PLANE TYPE, and "3" from # PLANES. Choose "VIC" from FORMATION, "TOP ACE" from EXPERIENCE, "CAP PRIORITY BOMBERS" from ORDERS(ordering the Hurricanes to go after the bombers instead of the fighters), and "1" from WAVES. Since the Luftwaffe will be attacking Hawkinge, create a flight plan where your fighter CAP covers this airfield from many directions. Finally, you might as well designate the aircraft you'll be flying to the leader position. Now for the Luftwaffe. For FLIGHT GROUP 2, choose "He 111H-3, " and for FLIGHT GROUP 3, choose "Bf 109E-3." For # PLANES, choose three for each flight group. Then, go down the flight group list to set the other variables for the two flight groups. Since Flight Group 3 will be escorting Flight Group 2, be sure to designate that with the ESCORT FG button. Then, create a flight plan for Flight Group 2 so that the bombers will fly straight in to Hawkinge, bomb it, and then head for home. Create a flight plan for Flight Group 3 in case you manage to shoot down all of the bombers in Flight Group 2. The mission you're building is nearly completed. Now, click on the name bar, and type in a name for your mission. Click on SAVE to store it on disk.(If you're using a floppy disk to save the game, insert one at this time.) To fly the mission, exit the Mission Builder, and start up the game program. When you're at the Main Menu, select FLY CUSTOM MISSION, then select the name of your mission. Soon, you'll be flying a Hurricane over Hawkinge - against a larger Luftwaffe force. Good luck! 189 SUGGESTED READING When we began working on the game design and manual for Their Finest Hour, we were pleasantly surprised to find that a wealth of information exists on the subject of the Battle of Britain. To gain a better understanding of this epic air duel, we recommend the following books: Battle for Britain by Ronald W. Clark Fighter by Len Deighton The First and the Last by Adolf Galland Summer, 1940:The Battle of Britain by Roger Parkinson Duel of Eagles by Peter Townshend The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster A visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is also highly recommended. Besides being one of the most interesting museums around, it's also one of the most fun. The Air and Space Museum features an actual Spitfire and Bf 109, plus many other famous World War II aircraft and memorabilia. It also has a research library, whose staff graciously supplied us with many of the photographs used in this manual, and was of invaluable assistance. In addition, we encourage you see the movie The Battle of Britain, which was release in 1969. It features plenty of terrific aerial acrobatics by Spitfires, Hurricanes, Bf 109s, and even He 111s that will really put you in the mood to play the game. For a more documentary type look at the events of 1940, part three of the series Why We Fight is also recommended. Although it was a U.S. made propaganda film, and consequently is heavily biased(a map of Scandinavia and Northern Europe turns into "the jaws of the Nazi whale"), its documentary footage is well worth seeing. 190 BIBLIOGRAPHY Agar, Herbert. The Darkest Year. Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1973. Angelucci, Enzo, and Paolo Matricardi. The Complete Book of World War II Combat Aircraft. Military Press, 1988. Bekker, Cajus. The Luftwaffe War Diaries. Ballantine Books, 964. Beman, Jr., John R. and Jerry L. Campbell. Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Action. Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1980. Brickhill, Paul. Reach for the Sky. Fontana Books, 1954. Campbell, Jerry L. Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer in Action. Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1988. Clark, Ronald W. Battle for Britain.Franklin Watts, Inc., 1955. Deighton, Len.Fighter.Alfred A. Knopf, 1978. Ethell, Jeffrey L., et al.The Great Book of World War II Airplanes.Bonanza Books, 1984. Filley, Brian.Ju 87 Stuka in Action. Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1988. Fleming, Peter.Operation Sea Lio.Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957. Galland, Adolf.The First and the Last.Ballantine Books, Inc., 1957 Gelb, Norman.Scramble.Pan Books, Ltd., 1986. Johnson, J.E. Wing Leader.Chatto & Windus, ltd., 1956. Johson, J.E. Full Circle. Ballantine Books, Inc., 1964. Jullian, Marcel. The Battle of Britain. Grossman Publishers, Inc., 1967. Keegan, John, ed. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of World War II. Rand McNally & Company, 1977. Kesselring, Albert. Kesselring:A Soldier's Record. William Morrow & Company, 1954. Lucas, Laddie. Wings of War. Macmillan Publishing Company, 1983. Mason, Francis K. Battle Over Britain. McWhirter Twins, Ltd., 1969. Mosley, Leonard. The Battle of Britain. Time-Life Books, Inc., 1977. 191 Munson, Kenneth. German Aircraft of World War II in Colour. Blandford Press, Ltd., 1978. Novarra, heinz. Heinkel He 111:A Documentary History. Jane's Publishing, Inc., 1980 Parkinson, Roger. Summer, 1940:The Battle of Britain. David McKay Company, Inc., 1977. Scutts, Jerry. Spitfire in Action. Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1980. Scutts, Jerry. Hurricane in Action. Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1986. Taylor, A.J.P. English History 1914-1945. Oxford University Press, 1965. Time-Life Books, Inc. The RAF at War. Time-Life Books, Inc., 1981. Time-Life Books, Inc. The Luftwaffe. Time-Life Books, Inc., 1982. Townshend, Peter. Duel of Eagles. Simon and Schuster, 1970. Turner, John Frayn. British Aircraft of World War II. Stein & Day, 1975. Willis, John. Churchill's Few. Paragon House Publishers, 1985. Wood, Derek, and Derek Dempster. The Narrow Margin. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1961. Wood, Tony, and Bill Gunston. Hitler's Luftwaffe. Crescent Books, 1977. 192 ============================================================================ DOCS PROVIDED BY RAP AND -+*+-THE SOUTHERN STAR-+*+- for M.A.A.D. ============================================================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PARANOIMIA PRESENTS: THEIR FINEST HOUR: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN RADIO FREQUENCY CIPHER WHEEL for AMIGA r = RED b = BLUE w = WHITE Kampfgeschwader 76 (red background, grey missile in middle, 3 white ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ lines across the missile) Tangmere - w1r2w5 | Kenley - r4w4w2 | Northolt - w3w4b7 | Deben - w2r1b3 North Weald - r4w7b6 | Hornchurch - b1b1b5 | Biggin Hill - b2r4w8 "Udet" Jagdgeschwader 3 (black and white, slices of pie) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tangmere - w3r1r4 | Kenley - w1r1r2 | Northolt - r2w7r3 | Deben - b4b6w7 North Weald - w1r3b5 | Hornchurch - b2r6w1 | Biggin Hill - b4b5w7 "Boelcke" Kampfgeschwader 27 (red background, white wings with a sword ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ through the middle, inscription on bottom) Tangmere - b4b1w7 | Kenley - b2b4b1 | Northolt - b3r7r1 | Deben - b1w4r2 North Weald - b4b3b9 | Hornchurch - r1w3w2 | Biggin Hill - w3w4w2 "Molders" Jagdgeschwader 51 (red, white & green, battle axe in middle) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tangmere - b2r7w1 | Kenley - w1b5b3 | Northolt - r4r6b5 | Deben - r3b5r4 North Weald - b2w6w4 | Hornchurch - r2b1w6 | Biggin Hill - w4b2w1 "Horst Wessel" Zerstorergeschwader 26 (red & black squares, 2 white Y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ shaped figures in upper part) Tangmere - r3w4r1 | Kenley - w4w3w2 | Northolt - b1b7b4 | Deben - b2w2w5 North Weald - r1r6w2 | Hornchurch - w4r4w1 | Biggin Hill - w3b6w5 Jagdgeschwader 54 (yellow background, picture of devil like character on it) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tangmere - w2r5w8 | Kenley - r1b6w5 | Northolt - b2b6w7 | Deben - b4r7r2 North Weald - w3w1w7 | Hornchurch - b1r7w9 | Biggin Hill - w6r3w8 Stukageschwader 1 (white background, blue helmet, red anchor) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tangmere - r4b5r8 | Kenley - r2b1w1 | Northolt - w3w2r7 | Deben - w1r1b3 North Weald - r2w7w6 | Hornchurch - w1w5b4 | Biggin Hill - b3b7w9 Jagdgeschwader 52 (left side black, right side red, sword in middle, 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ lines on each side of sword) Tangmere - b3b7b4 | Kenley - r1w4w9 | Northolt - w4r2w6 | Deben - w4r4w7 North Weald - r1w3b8 | Hornchurch - r4r1r1 | Biggin Hill - w2r5r4 Erprobungsgruppe 210 (grey background, yellow scope circle in middle, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ red figurine behind scope) Tangmere - w4w4w5 | Kenley - r3r5r7 | Northolt - b2r3w5 | Deben - b1b2w3 North Weald - r4w6w2 | Hornchurch - r2w4b6 | Biggin Hill - w3r3r1 "Immelmann" Stukageschwader 2 (yellow background, eagle on top, iron cross ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ on bottom w/ red backdrop) Tangmere - w3w6w2 | Kenley - r4b7w5 | Northolt - b3w3w2 | Deben - w1b5r8 North Weald - r3r4b7 | Hornchurch - r4r5w4 | Biggin Hill - r2b2r9 "Richthofen" Jagdgeschwader 2 (grey background, fancy R character on it) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tangmere - b1w7r2 | Kenley - b3b1b8 | Northolt - r2r5b7 | Deben - b4r1r9 North Weald - b1b4r5 | Hornchurch - b2b5b1 | Biggin Hill - b1w1r8 "Blitz" Kampfgeschwader 3 (top white, bottom red, iron cross on top and ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bottom) Tangmere - r3w2w9 | Kenley - b4w6w1 | Northolt - b1w5b6 | Deben - w3b1r2 North Weald - r2b3w7 | Hornchurch - r3w5w2 | Biggin Hill - b4w7b9 "Pik As" Jagdgeschwader 53 (white back, spade on it) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tangmere - b2w2b3 | Kenley - w3r6w9 | Northolt - r4r5w1 | Deben - w1r6w4 North Weald - w4b2w8 | Hornchurch - w1w2w6 | Biggin Hill - w2r7b8 Stukageschwader 77 (yellow background, blue top, eagle holding missile ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in it's claws) Tangmere - r4r2r2 | Kenley - r1r3b1 | Northolt - r3w7w6 | Deben - b2r4r3 North Weald - w3r6r8 | Hornchurch - b4b3r5 | Biggin Hill - r1w4b7 "Schlageter" Jagdgeschwader 26 (white background, fancy S on it) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tangmere - w3r5r9 | Kenley - b2r6b9 | Northolt - b4b3r7 | Deben - w3w3r5 North Weald - w2r2w7 | Hornchurch - r1r2b8 | Biggin Hill - b3r2b1