orca, the reason that the Luftwaffe fought the engagements of which you speak was to destroy Fighter Command (among whom were aviators of the dark blue variety of course). They failed in that, so whatever the reasons for them wanting to achieve that aim, they lost. As a member of the light blue persuasion I can only think that it was to achieve Air Superiority over the Channel and Southern England, by day at least. The only reason that they would want to achieve such air superiority (which is by its nature purely transient) would be to invade, or at least threaten so convincingly to invade to encourage us to sue for peace. Either way they failed because they didn't achieve their aim. That their invasion plans don't pass inspection in retrospect may well be true, or not, but it was a very real possibility at the time. Enough of a possibility for the fellow travellers to seize upon if Fighter Command had lost. It didn't and their swansong, the flying visit of the Reich Deputy Fuhrer, underlined their failure and Churchill's resolve.
Thank you for your warm words for the Royal Air Force, all the more so for it coming from someone of the Royal Navy, which fought the longest Battle of all of course and prevailed. Just as that was a joint effort so was the Battle of Britain. We frustrated our enemy and we survived. Let us all "Rejoice at that news"!
Last edited by Chugalug2; 19th Sep 2018 at 13:08.