well it depends on how you look at it

Promotion and the ‘Big Wing’
Bader was then promoted to take command of 242 Squadron, a Canadian unit that had suffered heavy casualties in France. He cut through RAF bureaucracy to get the squadron operational, and in its first serious combat operation, on 30 August 1940, it downed 12 German aircraft in just over an hour. Bader himself shot down a Messerschmitt 110.
Later he helped to develop the ‘Big Wing’ strategy, which involved sending large numbers of RAF fighters in mass formation against the Luftwaffe. The strategy was successful in bringing down significant numbers of enemy planes (but often only after they had hit their targets), and it made such an impression on the Germans that they delayed indefinitely the invasion of Britain. However, it was criticised because of the time it took all the aircraft that made up the ‘Big Wing’ to assemble, and because it left targets at home vulnerable to German raiders.

Did the Big Wing work?

In practice, Leigh-Mallory never really had a chance to use the Big Wing defensively. After the Battle of Britain, it quickly mutated from a defensive to an offensive formation, and Douglas Bader would eventually lead one of these new wings on massive fighter sweeps over France. To this day there is debate over the effectiveness of the 'Big Wing' as it was used during the Battle.
On the one hand, although Leigh-Mallory and Bader claimed it was a great success, post-war analysis suggests the actual number of German aircraft shot down by the wing was probably a fraction of those claimed. This would seem to support the idea that, for a 'Big Wing', there were "not enough enemy to go around". In other words, the Wing had too high a concentration of aircraft in the same air space looking for targets.
On the other hand, casualties for the 'Big Wing' were significantly lower than in the smaller formations - suggesting that they did indeed benefit from protection in numbers. It could also be argued that the 'Big Wing' invariably joined combat with the enemy over Northern London, where German fighter escort was at its very limit of range and therefore effectiveness.
Certainly Park's tactics (which had included the occasional use of two- and three-squadron wings) were correct for the conditions he had to fight under. The most powerful argument against Big Wing's use in the Battle of Britain is that without a clear idea of a raid's target as it formed over France, it was impossible for the Big Wing to get airborne and achieve formation in time to meet a raid.

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

We've certainly gone off on a tangent

THIS DISCUSSION is certainly interesting if your interested in Bader and the Battle of Brittain. Apparently well-informed correspondents discuss both sides of the argument and there are even suggestions that Bader was shot down by his own pilots who were mutinous - he seems to have been the Pagan of his own times

But the controversy does provide a counterpoint to the MC/Santy dynamic. It's easy for people to act as if the footy department and the MC are driven solely by the best interests of the club when in reality there would be more than a few personal and political conflicts being played out. Bader and Leigh-Mallory in Group 12 and Parks in Group 11 failed to co-ordinate in the best interests of Fighter Command while they fought over strategy. We also have seen how that sort of nasty infighting occurred in the Victoria Police with an Assistant Commissioner and Media Liaison Officer allegedly compromising an investigation into the leaking of confidential information that led to informers being killed. It really is incredibly naive for people to say that the Match Committee and the footy department more generally will only ever do what is in the interests of the club. There's plenty of time and opportunity for old scores to be settled along the way, and obsessions pursued. Whether that's happening will only be apparent in retrospect. If Santy's selected next week and holds his spot, then that certainly counters that suggestion. But if Santy continues to show good form after recovering from a condition that plagued him last year, and is still overlooked when spots open up, then one has to seriously wonder about the MC's agenda. Already, the failure to pick him against Essendon* creates suspicion, though queries over fitness may provide an innocent explanation. But he's clearly fit enough now to be recalled, so we'll see what happens.

I don't know how you brought that back on track Indie, but thank God you did.

I still dont get it???? Leigh Mathews and Darth Vader prefer to use Big Wingers but the jury is still out on the tactic???

It works in france but not in the UK, because any germans that you meet in London have been out on the Gas and overdone it?

in France, if you have Big Wingers and safety in numbers (a flood??) then this is a great offensive tactic, in London if you have Big Wingers it's not as good because it takes them too long to find all of their team mates to get the game started.

is this a Rugby Union thing?

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"Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time?" Billy Connolly

Our biggest problem is lack of self belief.

We were outplaying inferior opposition but we kicked poorly. The opposition gets one or 2 against the run of play and we drop our heads.

We can be like a petulant child at times, sulking because he doesn't get things his own way ALL the time. Our guys need to come to grips with the concept of "tough love".

Some observations:

* Garlett needs to pay his dues and should play at least 10 weeks with the Bullants before we can consider him again.

* Stevo needs to play like he means it. He sometimes seems to believe he's better than he actually is! (may have more time to concentrate on ferns and railway sleepers next season)

* Scotland is a senior player. (full stop)

* Setanta has paid the penalty and his second chance is long overdue.

* We place too much emphasis on playing pretty, slick football (overuse of handball) and we're too fancy at times!

That's what i reckon anyway...

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Heartbeat is optional

Yep, you know what these ruby types are like 2nd, they need time to do thier hair and make up.

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06