Battles & Wars › Between the wars › Battle of Britain
Messerschmitt (Bf 109, Me 262)
Bf 109 first flew 1935; Me 262 in combat 1944· Arms maker, factory or program· Arms makers & war industry
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
German aircraft firm of designer Willy Messerschmitt, maker of the Bf 109 fighter and the Me 262, the first jet fighter in combat.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW), with Willy Messerschmitt as chief designer, was renamed Messerschmitt AG in 1938. Its Bf 109, first flown in 1935, was a small, fast, all-metal monoplane; about 34,000 were built, more than any other fighter in history, many by other firms under license. It was the Luftwaffe's main fighter from Spain to 1945. The twin-jet Me 262 reached combat in mid-1944; about 1,400 were built. Production relied heavily on forced and concentration-camp labor.
Why it matters
The Bf 109 set the standard the Spitfire had to beat, and the Me 262 showed that the piston-engine fighter's days were numbered.
How we know
Luftwaffe production records, Allied postwar intelligence surveys, surviving aircraft in museums, and postwar investigations documenting forced labor for Messerschmitt at camps such as Flossenbürg and Gusen.
Still debated
Whether Hitler's demand to use the Me 262 as a bomber really delayed it is debated; unreliable engines may have mattered more.
Connections (4)
▸Messerschmitt (Bf 109, Me 262) combat-tested the Bf 109 in the Spanish Civil WarWell documented
The connection
Germany sent the Condor Legion to support Franco's Nationalists. Bf 109s arrived in 1937 and outclassed the Soviet-supplied fighters of the Republic. Pilots such as Werner Mölders developed the loose 'finger-four' formation there, later adopted by most air forces. Spain gave Germany combat-tested aircraft and tactics before World War II began.
When and how
Spain, spring 1937 – 1939; the Condor Legion's fighter group, Jagdgruppe 88.
How we know
Luftwaffe and Condor Legion records and pilots' accounts document the deployments and the tactics developed.
Debates and open questions
Some lessons from Spain misled Germany, for example encouraging faith in dive-bombing and too little interest in long-range escort fighters.
▸Messerschmitt (Bf 109, Me 262) built the Bf 109 that fought in the Battle of BritainWell documented
The connection
The Bf 109E was the Luftwaffe's main single-seat fighter in 1940, roughly a match for the Spitfire. But its fuel let it stay over London for only about 10–20 minutes, so it could not protect bombers deep inland. The twin-engine Messerschmitt Bf 110 escort fighter fared badly against RAF fighters.
When and how
Skies over southern England, July–October 1940; Luftwaffe fighter wings based in northern France.
How we know
Luftwaffe loss returns, RAF combat reports, and British test flights of captured Bf 109s.
Debates and open questions
Whether Göring's order tying fighters to close bomber escort, rather than free hunting, cost Germany the battle is debated.
▸Messerschmitt (Bf 109, Me 262) fielded the first combat jet fighter using the Jet engine and the jet fighter (Me 262)Well documented
The connection
Messerschmitt began the Me 262 design in 1939 and first flew it on jet power alone in July 1942. Production was slowed by unreliable Junkers Jumo 004 engines, shortages of heat-resistant metals, Allied bombing and Hitler's insistence that it also serve as a bomber. It entered combat in 1944, the first jet fighter to do so.
When and how
Augsburg, Bavaria, 1939–42; production in dispersed forest and underground sites, 1944–45, using forced labor.
How we know
Flight-test logs, Luftwaffe production records, and surviving Me 262s in museums such as the Deutsches Museum and the Smithsonian.
Debates and open questions
How many prisoners died building Me 262s in the hidden forest and tunnel plants, such as Bergkristall near the Gusen camp in Austria, is known only roughly.
▸Supermarine Spitfire and its factories dueled in the skies with the fighters of Messerschmitt (Bf 109, Me 262)Well documented
The connection
Through the war the Spitfire and Bf 109 were repeatedly upgraded to beat each other, with more powerful engines, heavier guns and better high-altitude performance. Each new Spitfire mark answered a new 109 variant, and vice versa, from the Spitfire I and Bf 109E of 1940 to the Spitfire XIV and Bf 109K of 1944.
When and how
Western Europe, the Mediterranean and Malta, 1940–45; the design teams at Supermarine and Messerschmitt.
How we know
Combat reports, both sides' tests of captured aircraft, and production records.
Debates and open questions
Which was better is endlessly argued; most historians say it depended on the version, the altitude and the pilot.