Battle of Britain Big Wing | Was the Big Wing a bad idea?

The RAF were regularly outnumbered by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, earning them the name of the Few. One solution to this was the Big Wing. The Big Wing strategy involved up to five squadrons of fighter aircraft flying together in one large formation, allowing them to meet the oncoming enemy in strength. This tactic has strong support from 12 Group, based at Duxford, including Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory and Squadron Leader Douglas Bader, as well as from Air Ministry and the government. But the Big Wing was a controversial tactic. Among its critics was Head of Fighter Command Hugh Dowding and Air Officer Commander Keith Park – and this opinion that would eventually lead to their downfall.

So was the Big Wing a good idea or not? We’re going to find out.

Music credit:

#history #ww2 #battleofbritain

[ImperialWarMuseums]

Thanks for watching! Let us know what you think of the Big Wing and what you want us to look at next!

[humphreytull]

I like the way Sir Keith Park is labeled as a winner. He goes here, he wins; he goes there he wins. An absolutely outstanding leader but is little known and recognized in NZ.

[paulfuller]

The evidence is very strong . 12 group did not support 11 group as Dowding ordered them to . Leigh Mallory 's big wings did not cover 11 group's airfields while 11 group's planes were attacking the Luftwaffe . The big wing theory was completely wrong . One only has to read Len Deighton's and other excellent books on the subject to see that Dowding was right and Leigh Mallory was wrong .

[blank]

I admire Bader's personal courage and as a fighter ace. But he was dead wrong to support Mallory's big wing strategy. Downing had limited planes flown by exhausted pilots that were difficult to replace. He choose the middle course to have smaller groups of fighters disrupt the German bomber fleets, and prevent them from bombing, even though it resulted in less kills. That provided a precious reserve of planes to be available intercept other incoming German planes suddenly appearing. If the RAF committed too many of its fighters to intercept one German bomber sortie, it would result in gaps to cover other targets from being attacked.

It took a long time for the British fighters to reach altitude and location, so again, committing so many of the few squadrons they had would result in wasted fuel and time to respond to to other attacks. More kills would not have discouraged Hitler from invading England. It was the survival of the RAF to maintain air superiority over Britain that made him change his mind, among other things, to invade. Hitler rightly feared the British fleet, and without air superiority so the Luftwaffe could sink the British ships, Operation Seal Lion could not succeed.

Downing and Parks deserved better for saving Britain, and taking care of their pilots who fought outnumbered and with great fatigue. Mallory was a egotist bucking for promotion who did not carry the burden that Downing did.

[mookie]

Almost everything Leigh-Mallory did was wrong. The Big Wing, its successor "Circuses" and "Rodeos" into France (which killed hundreds of pilots, to little effect), the decision not to develop the long-range escort Spifires in 1942, the erasure of Park and Dowding from the Official History of the BoB, and even his final, terminal decision to have himself and his family flown across the Alps in atrocious weather. The Americans had bad WW2 leaders (Clark, King), but so did we Brits.

[fredweller]

This is basic Sun Tzu:
When outnumbered, do not attack en force. Instead, hit and run. Save your resources while exacting maximum damage on an overextended enemy.

[jjmcrosbie]

Answer to the question:
1 - In the case of 12 group (N of Thames) during the Battle of Britain, YES it was a mistake. It took too long to assemble, and the time taken in forming up the big formations seriously reduced the already short duration of the fighters' flying time. Most times it arrived too late anyway.
2 - It finally had a great effect toward the end of the Battle of Britain, and finally "put the tin lid" on the Luftwaffe's loss in morale. The Luftwaffe crews had been told that there weren't many RAF fighters left, and when they were met over London by a huge Big Wing, that helped to end the BB.
3 - The background to the Big Wing was Leigh-Mallory's opposition to ACM Dowding. Dowding's tactic of sending a handful of fighters to the right place at the right moment was correct. It was the Luftwaffe's aim at that time to bring the RAF to a battle which they (Luftwaffe) believed they could win. The RAF at this time couldn't afford the attrition which this would have caused. Remember that at this time the Luftwaffe had many more aircraft, flown by experienced pilots (ex-Spanish Civil War and Poland) using much more effective tactical formations. Once the RAF had learned to give up tight Vic formations they improved their tactical situation.

[dougcoombes]

Hugh Dowding was the unsung hero of WW II. Without him Fighter Command would not have existed in the form it did or the air defences of Britain itself. He prevented Churchill from sending most of Fighter Command to France in the summer of 1940 and made sure it was used in the most effective way possible during the Battle of Britain. As a reward he was "retired' from command after the battle by Churchill who never forgave him for preventing the deployment of more British fighters to France. And Mallory who likely would have lost the battle with his tactics took over.

[ianpattison]

I worked at the IWM Duxford for many years, and the overblown reputation and status of Bader was well known. The man was an unbearable prat who was always selfish, rude and narcissistic. Many many pilots were far superior in their skills and achievements, and what is not well known is the fact that his selfishness by diving in to get a German already being shot down by an RAF fighter led to him being shot down by friendly fire.

[johngadsby]

Totally magic. Dowding and Keith Park won the battle. Leigh Mallory would have lost it

[garyneilson]

A disadvantage of the big wing is that all aircraft are either in the sky or on the ground being refuelled/rearmed. With Dowding sending up seperate squadrons there could be a new squadrn taking over as another squadron goes back for refuelling etc so there would always be aircraft available in the air..

[ShaneBaker]

The treatment of Keith Park by the RAF was shameful.

[Caratacus]

After the Battle of Britain the proponents of the Big Wing tried to justify themselves by using them for fighter sweeps over the Channel in 1941. These were known as 'Circuses' and suffered horrendous losses. They wasted precious veteran pilots and Spitfires that were desperately needed overseas where pilots in their old fighters were getting slaughtered. However the Spitfires were retained at home for these disastrous Big Wing Circuses until 1942. So you should probably have mentioned the Big Wing's terrible post-1940 legacy.

[heritage_isimportant]

Actually, Dowding appointed Leigh - Mallory to be in charge of 12 Group.
Rather than being appreciative and cooperative,
Leigh - Mallory was out to get Dowding for not appointing him to 11 Group.
So here is Britain fighting for survival, the Luftwaffe is trying to get air superiority,
and Leigh - Mallory is focused on his ego and his career.
... and then he helped push Dowding and Park out.
There are no words that accurately describe the likes of Trafford Leigh - Mallory.

[michaelbowes]

Bader, as a Wing Commander, had no place in this discussion. He was a pretty self confident, not to say bumptious, man who was out of his league among the Air Marshalls and AVMs. Anyone else would have been told to wind his neck in. Leiigh Mallory was an ambitious man and used Bader to cast doubt on Dowding's strategy. The real conflict was between LM and Parkes.

[jamiecole]

Dowding’s system was essentially a guerrilla attack against an often numerically superior force. It’s classic hit and run warfare, and frankly, groundbreaking.

[royfearn]

Sadly, Park and Dowding were shat upon from a great height by the hierarchy, who saw political advantage in supporting a perceived hero in the shape of Bader backed by the arrogance of Leigh-Mallory. The fact remains that the Dowding system was the ONLY way to successfully fight the Battle of Britain, which required a quick and varied response in order of to have fighters vector effectively into bomber groups BEFORE they reached their targets. The big wing took far too long to assemble and frequently reached their targets after they had dropped their bombs on London and later on 11 Group airfields.

It seems to me the both methods had their strong suits but for different battle scenarios but the Air Ministry was wrong to put the blame on Keith Park and Hugh Dowding. Another case of politics trumping common sense. Had Dowding and Park been withdrawn earlier in favour of Leigh-Mallory, Britain would have lost the Battle of Britain. As it was, it was only the capricious nature of the dictatorHitler directing his focus onto the Russian front that allowed Britain to regroup and gain that vital respite.

[timsprott]

As well stated by Stephen Bungay Dowding created the weapon and Park wielded it. Park's decision making was incredible...both in the Battle of Britain and later in Malta.

[jimclark]

It was not only a very bad idea, but Leigh-Mallory constantly lied about how successful the big wing was and lied about Parks and Dowding behind their backs to Churchill and others.

[andrewmstancombe]

My first introduction to Bader was through the Film, "Reach for the Sky!"
Made in 53? Though I'm not quite that old, I saw it as a boy in the early 60s on TV.
He lost his legs doing something he had been ordered not to do.
His bloody minded fight to walk without a stick, getting back into the RAF, his POW years are all admirable in a way.
Later on in life I picked up a Pilot who flew in his squadron in my cab.
He was a Bastard to work for he said, but also inspirational.
For many years he could be seen promoting this or that charity or his war service. I still find his bloody minded determination admirable.
But.
I read up on the Dowding system and Bader and Lee malory big wing. The film makes it seem so reasonable as Kenneth Moore jabs his pipe in his hand and points out, "if only we had more up there the more we could shoot down!"
But the reality is we all know it took too long to form up and often the German planes were on their way home before the big Wing got there.
Lee mallory was, as has already been said probably just using Bader to take a crack at Park and Dowding.
I sometimes wonder if Bader ever realised, they had been right, and he wrong.
By the way in the film he states that it was WW1 pilots that first used the big wing idea Bader just built it up.
It could just be they didn't want to credit an Italian in the Film or was there some small truth to it?
By the way I don't assume the Film is all true, it's a film.
I'm just saying it was my first introduction to Bader.