Throughout World War Two the pilots of RAF
Fighter Command fought to command the skies over Europe.
From the earliest days in 1939, long range Luftwaffe reconnaissance
aircraft were engaged off the Scotish coast and over France.
Then came the frantic and confused combats over France and
Belgium in the face of the Blitzkrieg. The combats over
the beaches of Dunkirk were followed by battles over the
convoys in the channel and the desperate struggle that was
the Battle of Britain. As the war progressed Fighter Command’s
role changed. Night fighter pilots in Hurricanes, Defiants
and Beaufighters were charged with the night defence against
the Blitz. Spitfire and Hurricane pilots took the battle
back across the channel to face the elite of the Luftwaffe
fighter force. Finally the fighter pilots played a key role
in the invasion of Europe and assault on the Reich.
Each time an RAF fighter pilot claimed to
have brought down an enemy aircraft in combat he was required
to submit a Combat Report, giving details of his claim for
enemy aircraft destroyed. Until now, however, there has
been no single document listing these claims day by day.
The wartime records are fragmentary, the details of individual
pilots claims scattered in many different RAF files.
Noted historian and author John Foreman, has
now decided to make available the results of his many years
of research and to provide the definitive list of claims
submitted by RAF Fighter Command pilots for enemy aircraft
shot down in WW2. Each entry provides the following details:
Date, Location, Type of aircraft shot down, Claiming pilot
and his unit. The author has included claims for aircraft
destroyed, shared, probably destroyed and damaged.
This unique reference work will provide a
vital tool for those researching the combats that took place
over Europe, whether from the RAF or Luftwaffe view point,
and compliment the list of Fighter Command losses already
available via Midland Counties Publications.
