Yes, I agree with your points, just don't agree with the conclusion that the USSR was necessary. The UK, alone, had the best fighter plane throughout most of the war - the Spitfire. The Brits owned the Germans in the air.
I watched a lot of History Channel in its early days when it seemed it was 24/7 WWII specials, so I'm familiar with Hitler's Arian "Living Space" concept.
The Spitfire was the most advanced fighter at the beginning of the war, regardless of what Britain's main fighter was.
Please stay away from getting all your info from the History Channel, as they "dumb down" & concentrate on the headlines..
Regarding the airplanes of the UK & German air forces:-
The role & prowess of the Spitfire is overstated & is a myth...yes is was a damn good plane, but costly & difficult to repair...so it took longer to "turn-around" if it had been shot up, compared to the other fighters e.g. the Hurricane.
The Supermarine Spitfire, specifically Mk 1A, entered service in August 1938, & had a max speed of 362mph & ceiling height of 31,900ft, range 395miles. ..By comparison the Germans had the Messerschmitt Bf 109D-1 in circa 1936 max speed of 298mph at sea level & ceiling height of 32,810ft, range 348miles.
By the time of the "Battle of Britain" in July to October 1940 there was the Supermarine Spitfire Mk II, which was similar in performance to the Mk1... By comparison the Germans had the Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 (& other variants) with a max speed of 290mph at sea level & 348mph at 14,560ft & a max ceiling height of 34,450ft, range 410miles.
So although the Spitfire was marginally faster the Messerschmitt could fly above the Spitfire which is a big tactical advantage.....& in the Battle of Britain air campaign only 610 Messerschmitt's were lost compared to 1,043 Spitfires & Hurricanes............the UK only just won that battle...
One other main disadvantage of the Spitfire was the float type carburettors for the fuel injection. Whereas the Mess’ had direct injection..which was better in higher G manoeuvres. The later (after feb 1941) Spitfires e.g. MkV to MkXIV ended up with speeds upto 448mph, ceiling of 43,000ft, range of 980miles.
Air dog fights were few & far between in WWII, the main air traffic was big heavy bombers...so Blenheims, Stirlings, Lancaster's, Halifax's, Wellingtons, etc....These had fighters for escort duties & mainly the Hurricanes, & Typhoons & yes some of the Spitfires.
One of the best & most versatile UK airplanes was the "wooden wonder" the de Havilland Mosquito fighter bomber…, operational in May 1942. Depending on the variant:- Max speed 408mph, 37,000ft ceiling, 1,885 mile range, & was heavily armed with four 20mm cannons , four .303guns, numerous bombs & could carry a 4,000lb bomb!
As a side note the jet engine was being invented by Frank Whittle in the late 20’s/ early 1930’s However due to various factors he ended up being part of “Power Jets Ltd” in 1936. Unfortunately, due to more difficulties mainly in the lack of interest from the Air Ministry (Gov’) funding was lacking & the war got in the way. It wasn’t until the Germans who started in 1935 on their own jet engine which was then flying in 1939, that the UK Air Ministry decided the UK jet engine was worth while & invested in 1940. This eventually lead to operational UK jet powered aircraft being flown in the war from August 1944 in the shape of the Gloster Meteor..the only Allied jet to fly in the WWII.
By contrast, the Germans who started in 1935 (later than the UK) got their first operational Jet aircraft in July 1944 with the Arado Ar 234B-2 Blitz....then the Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a by August 1944.
If Whittle had the funding & interest from the Air Ministry before the war then the UK would have had jet powered airplanes before the Germans…& better dominance in the air & earlier on in the war. This would have stopped many of the air raids over the UK by the Germans, & thus less damage to UK factories, towns, ports, etc.. This could have lead to the UK completing its research on the atomic bomb, & the UK could have dropped the first atomic bomb from a jet powered plane! ALL UK built & invented!
Another side note:- The main tool which the UK relied upon was the Radar system it invented & started building in 1936 (Chain Home). This was later expanded & improved. By 1939 one system could detect a plane flying at 500ft at a range of 25miles away. Without RADAR the air war would have been very different!!
Chain Home - Wikipedia
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