Introduction

World War II raged across the globe on virtually every continent, across the seven seas and in the air.

For the 9-part 1997 documentary Warbirds of World War II look here.

Outline

To invade England Germany needed mastery of the air and the English Channel.

The Luftwaffe began attacking convoys and shipping in the Channel on 10 July and by August 1940 the Luftwaffe set out to overpower the RAF with strikes against airfields in southern England.

On 25 August a single German plane accidentally attacked London and the British mounted a retaliatory strike against Berlin that night. This caused the change in tactics to start attacking cities rather than RAF installations.

This was the turning point in the Battle of Britain which ended on 15 September with the invasion postponed.

In June 1941 Germany invaded Russia and the Luftwaffe destroyed over 4,000 Russian aircraft in a month.

By April 1944 the tide had turned against the Axis and defending the Reich became the major effort of the Luftwaffe that included the introduction of the first combat jet, the ME 262.

Germany’s air force lost over 100,000 aircraft between 1939 and 1945.

Warbirds of World War II Series

You can find a full index of Warbirds of World War II (2008) here.

Production & Filming Details

• Production: Valorous TV.
• Distributor(s): Valorous TV.
• Release Date: 2008.
• Running Time: 10 x 60 minutes (600 minutes total running time).
• Country: US.
• Language: English.