Surely to defend the Fatherland against repriasal attacks, I don’t think the Reich were that arrogant not to expect that.
Wouldn’t the extra fuel, pilot weariness from having to already fly quite a distance to get to the dog fight, possibly over cooking things and having to land in hostile teritory, keeping an eye on time and fuel use, and then allowing for finding your way home again, be a disadvantage?
I don’t think that just using the Battle of Britain as a yardstick to measure two aircraft is ballanced.
Yes but reprisals from whom? don’t forget before the attack on Poland, Europe was at peace, Germany was forbidden to have weapons other than the most basic defensive arms, who was Germany defending against?
Russia (who in any case had signed a non aggresion pact) was still recovering from Stalin’s execution of some 30,000 officers, they were in no position to attack Germany, the rest of Europe not too suprisingly were more interested in defending themselves from attack (more likely than not from Germany).
Therefore the 109 must have been designed as an attack A/C like the Stuka, and obviously the bombers; it must have crossed the collective minds of the high command ,that there could be a need to escort the bombers, that they were building, therefore a fighter would need the same range as a bomber ,to accomplish this.
Didn’t Goering say, “if one bomb falls on Berlin, you can call me meyer”
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