By coordinating the RAF into three main groups: 10, 11 and 12 meant that Fighter Command was better able to control the RAF by reducing large scale coordination of British forces as each group had its own zone of control. Furthermore this grouping allowed for fewer aircraft to be lost as not as many planes were used during the conflict, mostly those of group 11.
British fighter production was twice that of Germany at over 400 fighters a month; this was aided by recycling schemes set up by Lord Beaverbrook. Due to the large scale production Britain did not have to worry about extensive loss of fighter, but could focus on the issue of replacing pilots. This was helped by the use of colonial pilots, especially Czech and Polish.
The superiority of British fighters especially the Submarine Spitfire meant that during dog fights Britain often gained the upper hand. The speed and manoeuvrability of the Spitfire was far greater than that of the Messerscmitt, a Spitfire could turn 90 degrees in one movement a Messerschmitt in five this enabled the Spitfires to run amok around the slower Messerschmitts and bombers.
The Fuel limitations of the Messerschmitts meant that they only had enough fuel for 30 minutes of flight time over Britain. This meant that if they were engaged in dog fights they would expose the bombers to the British fighters. Furthermore Germany had nearly 1000 bombers at the start of the battle but only 900 fighters and as two fighters were required per bomber less than half of Germany’s bombers could be deployed.
Although Germany had a large number of pilots her fighter production was very slow, and she was losing more fighters than she could build. When German planes were shot down the pilots had no way of returning to Germany so many of her experienced pilots were taken captive and unable to aid Operation Sea Lion.
After accidentally bombing London and retaliation by Britain on Berlin, Hitler changed Operation Sea Lion from bombing British airfields to night bombing raids on London. This allowed the almost collapsed group 11 to regather its strength train more pilots and group 10 were able to aid group 11. This forced the Messerschmitts to fight at the end of their fuel ranges.
In conclusion it was a combination of The British use of radar and the effectiveness of the Spitfire and Allied pilots, along with the German decision to change Operation Sea Lion that allowed Britain to win the Battle of Britain.
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