Neville Chamberlain is treated a little unfairly in popular history (although the manner of his trying to stay in office in 1940 does him no credit).
He did start to re-arm in 1936.
In 1938, at Munich, when he avoided going to war he would have known:-
1) Most of Fighter Command was equipped with biplanes, all slower than the new Dornier, Junkers and Heinkel monoplane bombers
2) The few operational squadrons of Hurricanes had a problem, their guns froze up at altitude and could not fire.
3) No Spitfires were yet operational.
Things at Fighter Command were somewhat improved in 1939 when he did go to war in response to the invasion of Poland.
If the war had started in 1938, and the Battle of Britain fought in the summer of 1939 I might have grown up speaking German,
Last edited by Parabola; 03/01/26 03:08 PM.
