The eternal BS of higher headquarters: An example from German pilots in 1940
One of the eternals of combat is that frontline fighters will always feel betrayed by the BS being peddled by top leaders. I thought of this when I read that during the summer of 1940, the German leaders kept saying that the Royal Air Force was on the verge of collapse. It didn’t feel that ...
One of the eternals of combat is that frontline fighters will always feel betrayed by the BS being peddled by top leaders. I thought of this when I read that during the summer of 1940, the German leaders kept saying that the Royal Air Force was on the verge of collapse. It didn't feel that way to Luftwaffe pilots, who supposedly would radio each other sarcastically as they crossed the British coast, "Here they come again, the last fifty British fighters."
One of the eternals of combat is that frontline fighters will always feel betrayed by the BS being peddled by top leaders. I thought of this when I read that during the summer of 1940, the German leaders kept saying that the Royal Air Force was on the verge of collapse. It didn’t feel that way to Luftwaffe pilots, who supposedly would radio each other sarcastically as they crossed the British coast, "Here they come again, the last fifty British fighters."
The RAF did take a beating that summer, of course. I was surprised to see that the majority of Australian pilots flying for the RAF were killed — that is, 14 of 22, according to Len Deighton’s Battle of Britain. (Other sources offer different numbers.) By contrast, Deighton’s chart shows that 418 of the 2,543 British-born aircrew members were lost.
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
More from Foreign Policy

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose
Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy
The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now
In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet
As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.