Defeat in the West, 1943-1945 by Mike Spick

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45 He was probably our most distinguished scientist at that moment. Yet a little more than a decade later, it seemed that the world was quivering in fear during the Cuban Missile Crisis. 46 It is certainly true that during World War II, people working under his direction did produce some very practical and decisive things, like the proximity fuse. Alfred Thayer Mahan, the great American naval theorist before World War I, argued that authoritarian governments have an advantage over pluralist societies when it comes to organizing military forces for war.

48 One of the reasons the Ranger had to stay in the war against Hitler was that the Japanese surprised us with their fighter design in the Zero. The bomber losses over China after 1937 had led to the demand for a longrange escort fighter, which was developed in the Zero. It had exceptional range and agility but sacrificed speed and robustness to get it. S. 49 The standard American deck load in 1941 was made up of F4F Wildcats, which were no match for the Zero. The design of a higher-speed successor was imperative, and that was the F6F Hellcat—which helped win the war but which was generally too hot in landing aboard a small-deck, slow-speed carrier.

8 Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe, decided to commence the main attack in the middle of August 1940. He began it in an orthodox way with moves against the RAF airfields, radar installations, and the aircraft factories in the attempt to destroy the infrastructure. At the same time, he hoped to stimulate an air battle within the reach of his fighters in southern England that would help achieve command of the air. The Messerschmitt 109s could fly no farther than London, and the Me-110 with its two engines was too clumsy to even defend itself, much less the bombers.