<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs expansion with: aerial warfare on the Eastern Front and Soviet - based air operations . You can help by adding to it . (May 2013) </Td> </Tr> <P> The air war in the European theatre commenced in 1939 . </P> <P> Pre-war doctrine had held that waves of bombers hitting enemy cities would cause mass panic and the rapid collapse of the enemy . As a result, the Royal Air Force had built up a large strategic bomber force . By way of contrast, Nazi German air force doctrine was almost totally dedicated to supporting the army . Therefore, German bombers were smaller than their British equivalents, and Germany never developed a fully successful four engined heavy bomber equivalent to the Lancaster or B - 17, with only the similarly sized Heinkel He 177 A placed into production and made operational for such duties with the Luftwaffe in the later war years . </P> <P> The main concentration of German raids on British cities was from 7 September 1940 until 10 May 1941 in the most famous air battle of all time, known as the Battle of Britain . Facing odds of four against one the RAF held off the Luftwaffe, forcing Hermann Wilhelm Göring to withdraw his forces and more importantly indefinitely postpone invasion plans . This proved the first major turning point of the War . After that most of the strength of the Luftwaffe was diverted to the war against the Soviet Union leaving German cities vulnerable to British and later American air bombings . As a result of the victory, Great Britain was used by U.S and other Allied forces as a base from which to begin the D - Day landings in June 1944 and the liberation of Nazi - occupied Western Europe . Nevertheless, German raids continued on British cities albeit on a smaller and less destructive scale for the rest of the war, and later the V1 Flying Bomb and V - 2 ballistic missile were both used against Britain . However, the balance of bomb tonnage being dropped shifted greatly in favour of the RAF as Bomber Command gained in strength . By 1942, Bomber Command could put 1,000 bombers over one German city . </P>

Who did most of the fighting in europe