RAF Aircraft and Engine production, repaired planes and losses

Autor: Mgr. Tomas Bouzek, war historian

We have to start with official tables and than analyzed them.

Deliveries of new aircaft in the UK1

Month Heavy bombers Medium bombers Light bombers Fighters General reconnaissance Naval Trainers and miscellaneous Together

January 1940 - 96 86 157 24 19 420 802

February 1940 - 66 65 143 29 20 296 719

March - 91 75 177 31 25 461 860

April - 130 91 256 37 32 535 1081

May 1 183 124 325 52 33 561 1279

June 1 239 167 446 64 43 631 1591

July 4 242 173 496 34 47 669 1665

August 1 214 177 476 41 56 636 1601

September 3 163 112 467 22 43 531 1341

October 4 167 154 469 18 54 553 1419

November 14 169 163 458 18 60 579 1461

December 13 166 134 413 17 44 443 1230

1940 41 1926 1521 4283 387 476 6415 15049

1 Postan: British War Production, p. 484, Appendix 4.

January 1941 17 150 117 313 15 69 517 1198

February 21 196 196 535 16 74 525 1587

March 31 163 163 609 19 81 590 1730

April 27 231 163 534 13 88 492 1529

May 38 232 147 580 23 109 579 1708

June 39 231 136 556 17 114 535 1628

July 38 232 130 572 12 110 574 1668

August 50 237 99 645 3 121 638 1793

September 60 253 85 747 14 122 634 1915

October 57 275 70 676 13 122 634 1847

November 59 268 48 653 27 116 635 1806

December 55 236 39 644 24 106 581 1685

498 2777 1393 7064 196 1232 6934 20094

Weekly fighter production and deliveries from abroad to Fighter Command2

Week ending Beaufighter Defiant Hurricane Spitfire Whirlwind Together Imported

Buffalo

Imported

Hurricane

from Canada

Imported

Martlet

Imported

Mohawk

Imported

Tomahawk

Together All together with

import

2 Wood – Dempster: The Narrow Margin, p. 305. TNA, Kew, AIR 22/293, Weeekly Output of Fighters.

1 June 0 8 87 22 0 117 0 0 0 0 0 0 117

8 June 2 2 79 22 1 106 0 1 0 0 0 1 107

15 June 0 7 67 25 0 99 0 0 0 0 0 0 99

22 June 0 8 75 21 1 105 0 3 0 0 0 3 108

29 June 0 13 68 26 0 107 0 0 0 0 0 0 107

25. 5. – 29. 6 . 2 38 376 116 2 534 0 4 0 0 0 4 538

6 July 0 12 65 32 0 109 0 0 0 0 0 0 109

13 July 0 12 57 30 1 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 100

20 July 1 11 67 41 1 121 10 3 0 3 0 16 137

27 July 4 14 65 37 1 121 2 2 0 0 0 4 125

30. 6. – 27. 7 . 5 49 254 140 5 453 12 5 0 3 0 20 473

3 August 3 13 58 41 0 115 0 0 0 0 0 0 115

10 August 5 10 54 37 0 106 0 4 0 5 0 9 115

17 August 5 11 43 31 0 90 0 2 0 18 0 20 110

24 August 5 8 64 44 0 121 0 9 0 14 0 23 144

31 August 5 3 54 37 1 100 0 9 2 12 0 23 123

28. 6. – 31. 8. 23 45 273 190 1 532 0 24 2 49 0 75 607

7 September 5 11 54 36 1 107 0 0 3 0 0 3 110

14 September 6 10 56 38 1 111 0 1 0 0 1 2 113

21 September 4 6 57 40 1 108 1 0 0 1 0 2 110

28 September 0 10 58 34 0 102 0 0 0 8 0 8 110

1. – 28. 9. 15 37 225 148 3 428 1 1 3 9 1 15 443

5 October 0 12 60 32 0 104 0 0 6 12 0 18 122

12 October 4 11 55 31 1 102 5 0 4 14 0 23 125

26 October 6 8 55 25 0 94 4 0 16 9 0 29 123

29 October 9 16 69 42 0 136 2 1 9 9 0 21 157

2 November 3 10 56 41 4 114 0 0 1 13 0 14 128

29. 9. – 2. 11. 22 57 295 171 5 550 11 1 36 57 0 105 655

25. 5. – 2. 11. 67 226 1423 765 14 2495 24 33 41 120 1 219 2714

Planned aircraft production - Herrogate Programme in combination with reported new aircraft deliveries3 Month Planned

heavy

bombers

Delivered

heavy

bombers

Planned

medium

bombers

Delivered

medium

bombers

Planned

light

bombers

Deliverd

light

bombers

Planned

fighters

Deliver

ed

fighters

Planned

reconnaissa

nce aircraft

Deliver

ed

reconn

aisance

aicraft

Planned

naval

aircarft

for FAA

Deliver

ed

naval

aircraft

Planned

trainers

and mis.

aircraft

Deliver

ed

trainers

and

mis.

aircraft

Planned

together

Delivered

together

January

1940

- - 107 96 175 86 160 157 172 24 41 19 322 420 977 802

February 2 - 111 66 155 65 171 143 167 29 44 20 351 296 1001 719

3 Postan: British War Production, p. 474, Appendix 3 and p. 484, Appendix 4.

1940

March 1940 3 - 116 91 150 75 203 177 205 31 56 25 404 461 1137 860

April 1940 5 - 125 130 150 91 231 256 190 37 62 32 493 535 1256 1081

May 1940 6 1 121 183 145 124 261 325 179 52 63 33 469 561 1244 1279

June 1940 10 1 118 239 145 167 292 446 184 64 47 43 524 631 1320 1591

July 1940 16 4 117 242 145 173 329 496 188 34 54 47 632 669 1481 1665

August

1940

20 1 94 214 108 177 282 476 178 41 46 56 582 636 1310 1601

September

1940

31 3 129 163 145 112 392 467 202 22 67 43 709 531 1675 1341

October

1940

42 4 149 167 145 154 427 469 204 18 73 54 671 553 1711 1419

Hennessy Target Programm in combination with reported new aircraft deliveries4 Month Planned

heavy

bombers

Delivered

heavy

bombers

Planned

medium

bombers

Delivered

medium

bombers

Planned

light

bombers

Deliverd

light

bombers

Planned

fighters

Delivere

d

fighters

Planned

reconnaissa

nce aircraft

Delivere

d

reconna

isance

aicraft

Planned

naval

aircarft

for FAA

Delivere

d naval

aircraft

Planned

trainers

and mis.

aircraft

Delivere

d

trainers

and mis.

aircraft

Planned

togethe

r

Delivered

together

Septembe

r 1940

9 3 185 163 186 112 547 467 97 22 63 43 533 531 1620 1341

October

1940

20 4 222 167 186 154 631 469 88 18 63 54 538 553 1748 1419

Novembe

r 1940

31 14 263 169 187 163 697 458 88 18 70 60 619 579 1955 1461

Decembe

r 1940

48 13 278 166 235 134 727 413 73 17 81 44 669 443 2111 1230

Planned and reported month fighter production5 Month Planned

Beaufigh

ters

DeliveredB

eaufighters

Differ

ence

Planned

Defiants

Delivered

Defiants

Differ

ence

Planned

Hurricanes

Delivered

Hurricanes

Differ

ence

Planned

Spitfires

Delivered

Spitfires

Differ

ence

Plannedh

Whirwinds

Delivered

Whirlwind

s

Differ

ence

Planned

together

Delivere

d

together

Diff

ere

nce

June 1940 8 2 -6 30 30 0 300 309 +9 135 103 -32 8 2 -6 481 446 -35

July 14 5 -9 50 56 +6 220 272 +72 140 160 +20 4 3 -1 428 496 +68

August 21 23 +2 65 38 -27 270 251 -19 155 163 +8 6 1 -5 517 476 -41

4 Ibid, p. 475-484. 5 Wood – Dempster: The Narrow Margin, p. 306.

Septembe

r

24 15 -9 65 41 -24 280 252 -28 175 156 -19 8 3 -5 552 467 -85

October 40 21 -19 50 48 -2 300 250 -50 231 149 -82 10 1 -9 631 469 -

162

Together 107 66 -41 260 213 -47 1370 1334 -36 836 731 -105 36 10 -26 2609 2354 -

255

Weekly production and import of fighters to Fighter Command6 Week ending Beaufighter Defiant Hurricane Spitfire Whirlwind Together Imported

Buffalo

Imported

Hurricane

from

canada

Imported

Martlet

Imported

Mohawk

Imported

Tomahawk

Together Together with

import

1 June 0 8 87 22 0 117 0 0 0 0 0 0 117

8 June 2 2 79 22 1 106 0 1 0 0 0 1 107

15 June 0 7 67 25 0 99 0 0 0 0 0 0 99

22 June 0 8 75 21 1 105 0 3 0 0 0 3 108

29 June 0 13 68 26 0 107 0 0 0 0 0 0 107

25. 5. – 29. 6 . 2 38 376 116 2 534 0 4 0 0 0 4 538

6 July 0 12 65 32 0 109 0 0 0 0 0 0 109

6 Ibid., p. 305. TNA, Kew, AIR 22/293, Weeekly Output of Fighters.

13 July 0 12 57 30 1 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 100

20 July 1 11 67 41 1 121 10 3 0 3 0 16 137

27 July 4 14 65 37 1 121 2 2 0 0 0 4 125

30. 6. – 27. 7 . 5 49 254 140 5 453 12 5 0 3 0 20 473

3 August 3 13 58 41 0 115 0 0 0 0 0 0 115

10 August 5 10 54 37 0 106 0 4 0 5 0 9 115

17 August 5 11 43 31 0 90 0 2 0 18 0 20 110

24 August 5 8 64 44 0 121 0 9 0 14 0 23 144

31 August 5 3 54 37 1 100 0 9 2 12 0 23 123

28. 6. – 31. 8. 23 45 273 190 1 532 0 24 2 49 0 75 607

7 September 5 11 54 36 1 107 0 0 3 0 0 3 110

14 September 6 10 56 38 1 111 0 1 0 0 1 2 113

21 September 4 6 57 40 1 108 1 0 0 1 0 2 110

28 September 0 10 58 34 0 102 0 0 0 8 0 8 110

1. – 28. 9. 15 37 225 148 3 428 1 1 3 9 1 15 443

5 October 0 12 60 32 0 104 0 0 6 12 0 18 122

12 October 4 11 55 31 1 102 5 0 4 14 0 23 125

26 October 6 8 55 25 0 94 4 0 16 9 0 29 123

29 October 9 16 69 42 0 136 2 1 9 9 0 21 157

2 November 3 10 56 41 4 114 0 0 1 13 0 14 128

29. 9. – 2. 11. 22 57 295 171 5 550 11 1 36 57 0 105 655

25. 5. – 2. 11. 67 226 1423 765 14 2495 24 33 41 120 1 219 2714

Drop or increase of fighter production based on Hennessy Target Programm7 Month Planned Delivered Diffrence

June 1940 481 446 -35

July 1940 428 496 +68

August 1940 517 476 -41

September 1940 552 467 -85

October 1940 631 469 -162

November 1940 697 458 -239

December 1940 727 413 -314

June - December 4033 3225 -808

As you can see this Masonʼs statement is lie: „From May 1940 until the end of the war, there was never a single month in which actual total aircraft production fell below

the planned target.“8 Very important for effectivity of production was MPA index of productivity. This index was dwindling seriously from 731 in August 1940 to 527 in

7 Dempster – Wood: The Narrow Margin, p. 306, Postan: British War Production, p. 475-484. 8 Mason: Battle over Britain, p. 93.

January 1941 and after that rising slowly till the end of 1941.9 That was Beaverbrooksʼ resposibility. Typical July week shift was 63,6 hours per worker. August 1940 night

shift effectivity in Castle Bromwich was only 50 to 60 %.

Now we have to add some losses.

Number of destroyed and severely damaged Spitfires and Hurricanes and its production in August 1940 in BoB10 Cause Hurricanes

Cat. 2

Hurricanes

Cat. 3

Hurricanes Cat. 2 a

3

Hurricanes

production

Spitfires Cat. 2 Spitfires Cat. 3 Spitfires Cat. 2 a 3 Spitfires

production

Combat 49 220 269 - 55 118 173 -

Enemy

on

ground

10 15 25 - 10 5 15 -

Accident 38 18 56 - 35 14 49 -

Total 97 253 350 251 100 137 237 163

Number of destroyed and severely damaged Spitfires and Hurricanes and its production in September 1940 in BoB 11 Cause Hurricanes

Cat. 2

Hurricanes

Cat. 3

Hurricanes Cat. 2 a

3

Hurricanes

production

Spitfires Cat. 2 Spitfires Cat. 3 Spitfires Cat. 2 a 3 Spitfires

production

Combat 95 228 323 - 80 130 210 -

9 Ritchie, Noel Sebastian: Industry and Air Power: The Expansion of British Aircraft Production, 1935-1941: Expansion of British Aircraft Production, 1935-41, Routledge 1997, p. 238. 10 Dempster – Wood: The Narrow Margin, p. 306-314. 11 Ibid.

Enemy

on

ground

1 1 2 - 0 2 2 -

Accident 60 21 81 - 56 13 69 -

Total 156 250 406 252 136 145 281 156

Even if these losses numbers could be in reality much higher, you can clearly see the difference.

Ofcourse, we have repaired aeroplanes.

Three main operational types of Fighter Command fighters in storage units12 Week ending Defiants

Class 1 Defiants Class 2

Defiants Class 3

Defiants Class 4

Defiants together

Hurricanes Class 1

Hurricanes Class 2

Hurricanes Class 3

Hurricanes Class 4

Hurricanes together

Spitfires Class 1

Spitfires Class 2

Spitfires Class 3

Spitfires Class 4

Spitfires together

Total

28 June 20 4 2 3 29 170 25 59 39 293 97 10 7 3 117 439

5 July 32 2 0 2 36 222 21 74 45 362 119 21 13 3 156 554

12 July 45 0 2 1 48 186 18 79 39 322 122 4 10 7 143 513

19 July 52 1 12 0 65 174 20 84 37 315 107 17 30 12 166 546

26 July 56 0 17 0 73 176 26 89 38 329 80 15 27 15 137 539

2 August 72 0 4 0 76 164 26 128 36 354 100 8 49 16 173 603

9 August 80 0 11 0 91 160 23 150 33 366 132 11 51 13 207 664

16 August 73 1 24 0 98 98 17 119 36 270 118 34 21 6 179 547

23 August 79 1 18 4 102 86 17 113 33 249 84 11 28 8 131 482

30 August 40 0 18 35 93 78 22 127 31 258 73 19 24 15 131 482

6 September 67 1 13 17 98 86 21 56 24 187 41 21 24 19 105 390

13 September 81 1 14 10 106 80 17 68 8 173 47 10 15 9 81 360

20 September 54 3 30 11 98 100 21 81 5 207 38 17 23 6 84 389

27 September 66 0 40 6 112 116 17 109 5 247 43 9 34 4 90 449

4 October 74 0 31 7 112 111 22 82 8 223 51 13 20 5 89 424

11 October 77 1 39 7 124 119 19 102 3 243 52 7 39 9 107 474

18 October 82 1 40 6 129 156 24 80 3 263 71 3 26 8 108 500

25 October 92 0 44 4 140 152 15 85 18 270 61 16 31 7 115 525

12 Class 1 means that aeroplane is ready to current acceptable standard, Class 2 that aeroplane will be ready within 4 days (Equipment in sight), Class 3 that aeroplane is under preparation for issue and Class 4 that it is waiting for repair od modification. Dempster – Wood: The Narrow Margin, p 307.

1 November 103 0 41 4 147 158 21 90 19 288 50 16 30 12 108 543

As you can see situation wasnʼt good at all. Between 6th July and 13th September number of immediately deliverable Hurricanes dropped from 222 to 80. If you consider

Spitfires, between 12th July and 20th September Class 1 dropped from 122 to 38. But, what is interesting, even when the losses start dwindling, number of Class 1

Hurricane stepped up slowly, 119 at week ending 11th October, but on 1st November it raised to 158. If you look at Spitfires, its much worse, because on 1st November

they were only 50 for immediate delivery.

Most important statement from this figures is that Fighter Command could not replace losses by production of Hurricanes and Spitfires, only by repair them! And even after

this it was big problem. Ofcourse you had to have in mind that German bombardment destroyed factories and killed skilled workers.

Battle losses of metropolitan RAF from 1 July to 31 October 194013 To date Bombers

Cat. 2 Přírůstek Bombardéry

kat. W Přírůstek Bombardéry

kat. 2 a W Stíhačky kat. 2

Přírůstek Stíhačky kat. W

Přírůstek Stíhačky kat. 2 a W

Ostatní typy kat. 2

Přírůstek Ostatní typy kat. W

Přírůstek Ostatní typy kat. 2 a W

Celkem kat. 2

Přírůstek Celkem kat. W

Přírůstek

1 July 82 - 358 - 440 56 - 517 - 573 16 - 104 - 120 154 - 979 -

11 July 87 +5 386 +28 473 78 +22 565 +48 643 20 +4 108 +4 128 185 +31 1059 +80

18 July 92 +5 396 +10 488 100 +22 588 +23 688 23 +3 112 +4 135 215 +30 1096 +37

25 July 95 +3 413 +17 508 113 +13 623 +35 736 26 +3 116 +4 142 234 +19 1152 +56

1. – 31. 7. 20 - 77 - 97 74 - 133 - 207 13 - 16 - 29 80 - 173 -

1 August 102 +7 435 +22 537 130 +17 650 +27 780 29 +3 120 +4 149 261 +27 1205 +53

8 August 106 +4 448 +13 554 143 +13 685 +35 828 31 +2 128 +8 159 280 +19 1261 +56

15 August 124 +18 487 +39 611 211 +68 807 +122 1018 35 +4 137 +9 172 370 +90 1431 +170

22 August 133 +9 510 +23 643 272 +61 897 +90 1169 37 +2 145 +8 182 442 +72 1552 +121

29 August 144 +11 534 +24 678 314 +42 1017 +120 1331 38 +1 147 +2 185 496 +54 1698 +146

5 September 153 +9 563 +29 716 423 +109 1184 +167 1607 39 +1 153 +6 192 615 +119 1900 +202

12 September

161 +8 595 +32 756 487 +64 1293 +109 1780 41 +2 161 +8 202 689 +74 2049 +149

19 September

167 +6 611 +16 778 532 +45 1362 +69 1894 43 +2 164 +3 207 742 +53 2137 +88

26 September

176 +9 624 +13 800 568 +36 1406 +44 1974 49 +6 169 +5 218 793 +51 2199 +62

3 October 179 +3 648 +24 827 628 +60 1488 +82 2116 51 +2 178 +9 229 858 +65 2314 +115

13 Dempster – Wood: The Narrow Margin, p 313.

10 October 183 +4 661 +13 844 662 +34 1537 +49 2199 56 +5 184 +6 240 901 +43 2382 +68

17 October 185 +2 689 +28 874 701 +39 1587 +50 2288 58 +2 189 +5 247 944 +43 2465 +83

24 October 192 +7 701 +12 893 726 +25 1607 +20 2333 63 +5 190 +1 253 981 +37 2498 +33

31 October 198 +6 725 +24 923 766 +40 1657 +50 2423 66 +3 200 +10 266 1030 +49 2582 +84

1. 7. – 31. 10. 116 +116 367 +367 483 710 +710 1140 +1140 1850 50 +50 96 +96 146 876 +876 1603 +1603

These figures are probably not correct and should be higher, E. H. Sims in The Fighter Pilots states that from 10 July to 31 October there were 1671 Cat. 3 and 995 Cat. 2

battle losses, but even this number could be higher in reality. And these are only battle losses not losses from all cases.

Encyclopædia Britannica statement was that from 10 July to 31 October Fighter Command lost 1398 fighters in combat (operational losses). What we know for sure is that

you can repair nearly everything if you want to. This was Mr. Beaverbrook politicy in Ministry of Aircraft Production. He didnʼt want more spare parts, which comprised only

6 % of output, but aircraft. The Civilian Repair Organisation (CRO) could make one aircraft from between two and four wrecks.

Shortage of spares was unfortunately so big, that training units were 50% under strength and combat squadrons had problems to put 12 aircraft into air, flying with as few

seven until they get replacements or were withdrawn from action. Fighter Command biggest problem may well have been a shortage of qualified pilots and aircrew, but

ACM Dowding wasn ʼt overstating the issue when he said that his aircraft losses were very heavy.

Talking about repairs and CRO, we know that from 1st July to 31th December 1940 it repaired and delivered 4196 aeroplanes to RAF. During the period from July to

September an average of 660 planes were delivered, so 21,52 per day, and during period from October to December it grew to 738 per month, so 24,2 per day.

What is interesting that we are being told that only 35% of fighter aeroplanes delivered to squadrons were from repaires during Battle of Britain period. In July it was even

more 40%. From official numbers itʼs completely clear that aircraft production dropped between July and December by 26,13% and between July and September by 19%

but there is one essential part of each earoplane - the engine!

Engine production dropped between July and September 1940 by 26 percent!

Letʼs consider the production of Merlin engine. We are being told that there was increase of production to average 400 per moths in critical times. Is it enough to fulfill

recorded production numbers? NO. Even if the production of Merline engines rose to around 400 it was definitely not enough to fullfill MAP numbers! So, these numbers

must be false. Lets look at some figures.

During period from September 1939 to September 1940 only 2,000 Merlin engines were built and this number was celebrated. Even if we count only this 12 moth, it shows

that only 166,67 engines were built per month. This is incredibly low number. Which aircraft required Merlin engines? They were four: Fairey Battle, Bristol Paul Defiant,

Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane. The last Battle was delivered to RAF on 2nd September 1940. And even if it used Merlin I, II and V engine, not Merlin III, it was

still Merlin. In total, 2,185 Fairey Battles were built during the machine's production life; 1,156 by Fairey and 1,029 by the Austin Motor Company. A further 16 were built

under licence by Avions Fairey at Goselies, Belgium for service with the Belgian Air Force. These aeroplanes were useless as combat aircraft, but still required Merlin

engines.

Now focus on the best three aircraft. What was their declared production? In July 488, in August 452, In September 449 and 447 in October, but where are engines for

them if we are being told that Merlin engine production increased significantly but only to average 400 per month in these crucial times. But we know that generally engine

production dropped by nearly a quater during July to September! Average Merlin production during September 1939 to September 1940 was only 167! There were still no

new factories. And, ofcourse, you have to know, that engines in aeroplanes must be changed after some time. Where are those changed? And they must be changed after

damage too. British fighter pilots used their engines really roughly, many times they push the lever over the gate what caused not only drop off engine performance in

future flights but it damaged engine significantly only to be changed after few flying hours. But there were constant shortage of Merlin engines. How do British in those

circumstances managed to produce around 450 Merlin engine aeroplanes? It is even possible? I have to find out.