World War II in real time

Day 377 of World War II, September 11th 1940

Battle of Britain

he air war of the last week or so had developed into a rather dull sort of plan. It did not matter what the weather conditions were, the days were relatively quiet and to many of the once exhausted British fighter pilots, they found time to relax and enjoy time amongst themselves as longer gaps between sorties developed. Each afternoon, as if trying to keep to a weekly timetable, formations of German aircraft would show up on the CRT screen at the coastal radar stations generally around 1400 or 1500 hours and it was time to repeat the performance of the previous day. The next three days were to prove no different. The weather was not the best for combat, conditions being as unpredictable as ever, but at this time of the year it was only to be expected that unsettled conditions would prevail as the summer had just about passed and the often wet and dull days of autumn would be coming in.

The threat of invasion was still a high priority with the British War Office but as on many other occasions, the Luftwaffe had failed to follow up after the main attack. Why, they thought, throw everything at us as they did on 7 September and fail to continue. The leaders in all the various departments knew that Britain was still managing to hold out, with the Luftwaffe turning its attention to London itself gave Fighter Command the breathing space it so badly needed. By 12 September most of the airfields were back to at least 85% fully operational with the exception of maybe Biggin Hill.

The morning period was virtually a non-event as far as combat action was concerned. British Radar reported that a number of lone aircraft were well offshore both over the Channel and the North Sea. Fighter Command decided to leave these aircraft alone as they were reconnaissance patrols and not doing any harm. Warmwell dispatched just one section of Spitfires to intercept a lone Ju 88 out from Swanage, but it made full use of the low cloud and disappeared. Another German patrol was sighted and Hurricanes of RAF No. 151 Squadron were scrambled from Digby with one Ju 88 destroyed and another damaged off the Humber Estuary. About midday three small raids dropped bombs on the radar station at Fairlight - although without doing any real damage. Chased as far as Cap Gris Nez one Do 215 was destroyed by RAF No 605 Sqd. and RAF No 603 Sqd. damaged one Do17 over Beachy Head. At 1251 hours three high explosive bombs were dropped on Harrogate and near the Majestic Hotel. Mains were damaged, a house nearby was demolished, and fifteen casualties resulted. At 1440 hours, six high explosive bombs and some Incendiary bombs were dropped on Hastings and wrecked two houses and badly damaged three others. The German aircraft was reported to have machine-gunned those who were engaged in the rescue work. Later in the afternoon Ju88's made another small raid over Hampshire and Wiltshire before being intercepted by Hurricanes of RAF No. 238 Squadron St Eval (Hurricanes) scrambled from Middle Wallop. It can be seen that the Luftwaffe at this time was keeping well clear of London and all these isolated incidents took place either in the west country or up north in Scotland.

One unfortunate incident that happened was with Wing Commander J.S.Dewar of RAF No. 213 Squadron who was commander of the airfield at Exeter. Taking advantage of the lull in combat activity, he was to fly over to Tangmere to visit friends there. He never arrived and it seems that his Hurricane V7306 had been shot down after he had encountered some enemy aircraft and he decided to bale out. On the way down he was straffed by German plane or planes and shot to pieces as he dangled helplessly underneath his descending parachute.

The bombers of III./KG 51 and I./KG 54 did not attack London until late in the evening, and even then it was on a far reduced scale than on previous occasions. The night bombers before often numbered between two and three hundred, but this time barely fifty made the dismal trek across the Channel in rather murky conditions including only three He 111s of III./KG 27 who dropped bombs on Liverpool. No serious damage was done, although bombs fell in the commercial area of Aldgate, Mansion House and Holborn, but the most serious threat was a high explosive delayed action bomb which fell just to the north of St Paul's Cathedral. Two officers who defused the bomb, Lt. R.Davies and Sapper J. Wylie of the Royal Engineers became the first military personel to receive the George Cross for their actions. One high explosive bomb fell near Wavertree Station during the night, and two houses were wrecked. Many other bombs were dropped in the Liverpool area but little damage was done. The greater number of raids left the French Coast between 2100 and 2200 hours, after which there was a gradual decrease in activity until about 0330 hours. All raids had finally withdrawn by 0415 hours.

One German aircraft was reported shot down by AA guns in North London, another Luftwaffe casualty was claimed by the Balloon Barrage at Newport (Monmouthshire) and a third German aircraft was reported to have been badly damaged by AA guns in the West Country and was last seen flying very low over the sea. The night attacks appeared to have been quite ineffective, and apart from some damage to road and rail communications, no target of major importance was hit.

In the meantime, two heavily escorted Luftflotte 3 formations from Cherbourg and Seine Bay were heading towards Southampton and Portsmouth and 10 Group released squadrons from Tangmere, Westhampnett and a flight from Middle Wallop. Most of the British fighters intercepted the Germans off the coast at Selsey Bill and an intense combat ensued. The Bf 109s of JG 27 and the Bf 110s of ZG 76 managed to destroy some of the defending Hurricane and Spitfire fighters. Some of the bombers managed to get through the fighter defense and both the towns of Portsmouth and Southampton received bomb damage. Eight Bf110s dive-bombed the Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft works at Eastleigh, Southampton killing 28 and injuring 70 when a shelter was hit. The bombers also made a dive-bombing attack on Eastleigh Naval Air Station at about 1613 hours without causing any damage. But most of the formations and their escorts were scattered and were forced to turn back.

One hour after these battles several small raids appeared over Kent. The Dover balloons were attacked and single aircraft headed to Colerne, Kenley, Detling and Eastchurch but in no case was the damage severe or the casualties heavy. One formation dive-bombed the convoy "Peewit" between Margate and Dover with an escort from JG 26. In the melee over the convoy several fighters, particularly from III./JG 26 found themselves over Kent and engaged with RAF fighters. Oblt. Joachim Müncheberg of 7./JG 26 downed his nineteenth aircraft when he destroyed a Spitfire east of Ashford at 1925 hours. Five minutes later Lt. Gustav Sprick of 8./JG 26 claimed a Hurricane near Canterbury for his seventeenth kill. Three other pilots from 8./JG 26 also claimed kills. The convoy escort 'Atherstone' was disabled in the attack.

As the 'Schlageter' pilots headed for home they encountered a British Coastal Command formation of Blenheims returning from a raid on Calais. In an effort by the British to disrupt the German invasion plans, the RAF tried to destroy the invasion preparations on the coast of France. Twelve Fleet Air Arm Albacore torpedo bombers with an escort of Blenheim fighters from Coastal Command No. 235 Squadron were sent to bomb invasion shipping in the Calais harbor. Intercepted by the fighters from III./JG 26, one of the Blenheims was shot down by Hptm. Gerhard Schöpfel, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 26, for his twentieth victory. When he returned to base, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz. Fighters from III./JG 53 and 1./JG 52 also intercepted the Blenheims and shot down several planes. Oblt. Günther Büsgen of 1./JG 52 destroyed two of the British planes for a score of four victories as did Oblt. Walter Fiel of 8./JG 53 who also reached a score of four kills.

Again London was pounded by night bombing from 2100 hours until 0430 hours the following morning, and still the RAF had no answer to these night attacks. Hundreds of searchlights picked out the invading bombers but it all seemed in a lost cause because of the high altitudes that they were flying at. London's dockland was again hit as well as parts of Central London and Buckingham Palace sustained damage and gave reason for the Queen (now the Queen Mother) to state . . .

"....now the palace has been bombed, I feel now that I can look at the people of the East End straight in the eye".

In all, it had not been the best of days to either side. RAF Fighter Command would have to be commended for the effort that they put in defense, but it came at a price. For the first time, Fighter Command casualties exceeded that of the Luftwaffe. Many of the bombers managed to get through with London again suffering considerable damage. Luftwaffe combat losses for the day totaled twenty-one, and another six force landed. KG 26 was the worst hit, with eight He111s shot down. Of these losses, only four were Bf 109s, although a fifth crashed as a result of a midair collision over France. Collisions were not that unusual; four Ju 87s were lost to this cause on a training mission. Six Spitfires and nineteen Hurricanes were lost and a further six fighters crash landed. Twelve pilots were killed and four severely injured. This was an exchange rate that Fighter Command could not afford.

Photo: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth inspect the bomb damage at Buckingham Palace in London,



Air War over Europe

RAF Bomber Command bombs Berlin again, damaging railway installations and the airfield. Other targets are the north German ports (Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg), warehouses at Hamm, Cologne, Coblenz, Ehrang and Mannheim), a munitions plant in Frankfurt, oil installations at Monheim, and the usual airfields in northwestern Europe.

During the late afternoon, RAF Coastal Command sends a dozen Blenheim bombers to attack the German barges assembling for the invasion in Calais. No. 826 Squadron loses an Albacore and has two others damaged, with one death and several wounded airmen.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-28 (Kapitänleutnant Günter Kuhnke) stalks Convoy OA 210 about 200 miles northwest of Ireland. During the middle of the night, it strikes quickly. He lets loose three torpedoes and hears three explosions - apparently two on the same ship.

At 03:26, U-28 torpedoes and sinks 1234 ton Dutch freighter Maas. There are 20 deaths and two survivors.

At 03:28, U-28 torpedoes and damages British freighter Harpenden. The torpedo strikes kills one crewman, but the Harpenden just makes it back to the Clyde under tow, where it is beached at Kilchattan Bay and can be salvaged.

U-99 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer) torpedoes and sinks 2468 ton British iron ore freighter Albionic in the Atlantic southeast of Rockall (northwest of Ireland). All 25 crew on board perish.

The Luftwaffe attacks Royal Navy 209 ton trawler HMT Beathwood while it is at anchor in the North Sea just east of Montrose Coastguard lookout (east coast of Scotland). The planes attack at 22:00 and sink it. It is unclear how many perished aboard it, but local newspapers noted that "Most of the crew were below deck when the plane attacked."

British destroyers HMS Malcolm, Veteran and Wild Swan, on a more-or-less routine patrol off of Ostend, encounters a German convoy on radar. The destroyers contact the RAF for assistance, which sends planes to drop flares over the convoy. The destroyers open fire and sink an escort ship, two trawlers towing barges, and a large barge.

Kriegsmarine tug Escaut sinks off the French coast of unknown reasons, perhaps due to hitting a mine.

Kriegsmarine freighter Cordoba hits a mine in the English Channel and is towed to Le Havre. The Cordoba is beached, but is a total loss and, after some preliminary repairs, ultimately scuttled in September 1944 to avoid capture by the Allies.

The Luftwaffe attacks convoy CW 11 and damages destroyer HMS Atherstone in the English Channel off Ramsgate.

In the Luftwaffe attacks on Dover, British motor torpedo boats MTB 29 and 71 are damaged, the latter severely.

In London, the Luftwaffe damages Swedish freighter Torkel and British freighter Norman.

Convoy FN 278 departs from Southend, Convoy MT 166 departs from Methil, Convoy FS 278 departs from the Tyne, Convoy OB 212 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SL 47 departs from Freetown.

British submarine HMS Porpoise lays minefield FD 26 in the North Sea, while several minelayers operating out of Loch Alsh lays mines in Operation SN 41.

Corvette HMS Asphodel (K 56, Lt. Commander Kenneth W. Stewart) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean

The Italian advance from Libya toward Egypt continues. By most accounts, they have not yet crossed the border. There are air battles overhead as the RAF tries to slow them down.

The Vichy French flotilla (Force Y) heading from Toulon to Dakar (unknown to the British) is spotted at 05:15 in the Mediterranean 50 miles from the Straits of Gibraltar by destroyer HMS Hotspur. British battleship HMS Renown asks their destination, and in a friendly exchange, the French captain simply says they are southbound. The British tell the French to go no further south than Casablanca, Morocco.

It radios for instructions, but nobody is told to intercept the ships. The three cruisers and accompanying smaller ships speed through the Straits at high speed (25 knots), passing within sight of the British at 08:35. Long after the ships are out in the Atlantic, at 16:00, the Admiralty finally orders the battleship HMS Renown to pursue Force Y to make sure it goes no further south than Casablanca. Their presence at Dakar would cause problems for upcoming Operation Menace, the British attack on Dakar. The French ships put into Casablanca for the night by design, thereby avoiding a major confrontation with former ally Great Britain.

The fact that the British let the powerful flotilla pass through the straits without incident amazes both the French and British governments since the cruisers are easy targets without air cover and with minimal escorts. They easily could have been attacked by air, sea and land bombardment. Gibraltar commander Admiral Sir Dudley North is relieved of his command. Ultimately North is exonerated, since the true blame lies with Whitehall. However, the smell of this incident lingers due to subsequent events, and North's career essentially is over.

The entire affair is confused. Ships on "opposing sides" sight each other and don't know whether to attack or wave hello. Whitehall also appears confused and conflicted - which actually may be appropriate under the circumstances, and certainly is understandable. Nobody really knows where the Vichy France/British relationship is headed, but it doesn't look good.

At Malta, it is a quiet day. Governor Lt. General Dobbie sends a request for more anti-aircraft guns in addition to the 60 already "on order," making a total request of 92 in all. He also requests searchlights and sound locators. A patrolling Skua reports spotting two Italian destroyers at Augusta, another destroyer outside Messina, and other small craft in Syracuse harbor.

Photo: Cowra, NSW. Bren Gun Carriers of the 2/1st Australian Medium Regiment moving down the main street of Cowra during a parade. The street is lined with cars and people, some of whom are standing on the backs of trucks in order to get a better view.



Battle of the Indian Ocean

The Italians bomb Convoy BS 4 in the Red Sea, without success.

Japanese/Vichy French Relations

The Vichy French, upset at the infiltration of French Indochina by Japanese troops in China, have been slow-walking further negotiations with the Japanese. Today, Japanese Army Major General Issaku Nishihara complains to the government in Tokyo about the impasse.

German/Norwegian Relations

Adolf Hitler meets with Vidkun Quisling and Reichskommissar for Norway Josef Terboven. With all political parties in Norway outlawed except for Quisling's pro-Nazi party, Quisling has become a key player in maintaining peace in the country.

US/Japanese Relations: Okuda Ojiro becomes acting Japanese consul general in Hawaii. Part of his mission is to spy on the US fleet at Pearl Harbor.

US Military

The US Navy continues its crash shipbuilding programme, financed by the exorbitant fiscal year 1941 (the US fiscal year begins in September) appropriations that have just been approved. It orders six new Cleveland-class light cruisers, to be built by the William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

German Military

The Germans make their first expansion of the Schutzstaffel (SS) outside of the Reich: they form the Nederlandsche SS (Dutch SS).

Generalfeldmarshall Fedor von Bock begins taking his Army Group B headquarters east in preparation for Operation Barbarossa.

British Homefront

Winston Churchill addresses the nation in a radio broadcast. Soaring into his usual rhetorical heights, he says:

YouTube (Winston Churchill wartime speech 'Every Man to His Post')



When I said in the House of Commons the other day that I thought it improbable that the enemy's air attack in September could be more than three times as great as it was in August, I was not, of course, referring to barbarous attacks upon the civil population, but to the great air battle which is being fought out between our fighters and the German Air Force.

You will understand that whenever the weather is favourable, waves of German bombers, protected by fighters, often three or four hundred at a time, surge over this island, especially the promontory of Kent, in the hope of attacking military and other objectives by daylight. However, they are met by our fighter squadrons and nearly always broken up; and their losses average three to one in machines and six to one in pilots.

This effort of the Germans to secure daylight mastery of the air over England is, of course, the crux of the whole war. So far it has failed conspicuously. It has cost them very dear, and we have felt stronger, and actually are relatively a good deal stronger, than when the hard fighting began in July. There is no doubt that Herr Hitler is using up his fighter force at a very high rate, and that if he goes on for many more weeks he will wear down and ruin this vital part of his Air Force. That will give us a very great advantage.

On the other hand, for him to try to invade this country without having secured mastery in the air would be a very hazardous undertaking. Nevertheless, all his preparations for invasion on a great scale are steadily going forward. Several hundreds of self-propelled barges are moving down the coasts of Europe, from the German and Dutch harbours to the ports of Northern France; from Dunkirk to Brest; and beyond Brest to the French harbours in the Bay of Biscay.

Besides this, convoys of merchant ships in tens of dozens are being moved through the Straits of Dover into the Channel, dodging along from port to port under the protection of the new batteries which the Germans have built on the French shore. There are now considerable gatherings of shipping in the German, Dutch, Belgian, and French harbours -- all the way from Hamburg to Brest. Finally, there are some preparations made of ships to carry an invading force from the Norwegian harbours.

Behind these clusters of ships or barges, there stand very large numbers of German troops, awaiting the order to go on board and set out on their very dangerous and uncertain voyage across the seas. We cannot tell when they will try to come; we cannot be sure that in fact they will try at all; but no one should blind himself to the fact that a heavy, full-scale invasion of this island is being prepared with all the usual German thoroughness and method, and that it may be launched now -- upon England, upon Scotland, or upon Ireland, or upon all three.

If this invasion is going to be tried at all, it does not seem that it can be long delayed. The weather may break at any time. Besides this, it is difficult for the enemy to keep these gatherings of ships waiting about indefinitely, while they are bombed every night by our bombers, and very often shelled by our warships which are waiting for them outside.

Therefore, we must regard the next week or so as a very important period in our history. It ranks with the days when the Spanish Armada was approaching the Channel, and Drake was finishing his game of bowls; or when Nelson stood between us and Napoleon's Grand Army at Boulogne. We have read all about this in the history books; but what is happening now is on a far greater scale and of far more consequence to the life and future of the world and its civilisation than these brave old days of the past.

Every man and woman will therefore prepare himself to do his duty, whatever it may be, with special pride and care. Our fleets and flotillas are very powerful and numerous; our Air Force is at the highest strength it has ever reached, and it is conscious of its proved superiority, not indeed in numbers, but in men and machines. Our shores are well fortified and strongly manned, and behind them, ready to attack the invaders, we have a far larger and better-equipped mobile Army than we have ever had before.

Besides this, we have more than a million and a half men of the Home Guard, who are just as much soldiers of the Regular Army as the Grenadier Guards, and who are determined to fight for every inch of the ground in every village and in every street.

It is with devout but sure confidence that I say: Let God defend the Right.

These cruel, wanton, indiscriminate bombings of London are, of course, a part of Hitler's invasion plans. He hopes, by killing large numbers of civilians, and women and children, that he will terrorise and cow the people of this mighty imperial city, and make them a burden and an anxiety to the Government and thus distract our attention unduly from the ferocious onslaught he is preparing.

Little does he know the spirit of the British nation, or the tough fibre of the Londoners, whose forbears played a leading part in the establishment of Parliamentary institutions and who have been bred to value freedom far above their lives. This wicked man, the repository and embodiment of many forms of soul-destroying hatred, this monstrous product of former wrongs and shame, has now resolved to try to break our famous island race by a process of indiscriminate slaughter and destruction.

What he has done is to kindle a fire in British hearts, here and all over the world, which will glow long after all traces of the conflagration he has caused in London have been removed. He has lighted a fire which will burn with a steady and consuming flame until the last vestiges of Nazi tyranny have been burnt out of Europe, and until the Old World -- and the New -- can join hands to rebuild the temples of man's freedom and man's honour, upon foundations which will not soon or easily be overthrown.

This is a time for everyone to stand together, and hold firm, as they are doing. I express my admiration for the exemplary manner in which all the Air Raid Precautions services of London are being discharged, especially the Fire Brigade, whose work has been so heavy and also dangerous. All the world that is still free marvels at the composure and fortitude with which the citizens of London are facing and surmounting the great ordeal to which they are subjected, the end of which or the severity of which cannot yet be foreseen.

It is a message of good cheer to our fighting Forces on the seas, in the air, and in our waiting Armies in all their posts and stations, that we sent them from this capital city. They know that they have behind them a people who will not flinch or weary of the struggle -- hard and protracted though it will be; but that we shall rather draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival, and of a victory won not only for ourselves but for all; a victory won not only for our own time, but for the long and better days that are to come.

Day 379 of World War II, September 13th 1940

Battle of Britain

Again no sign in an improvement in the weather, and it was expected to remain unsettled with rain periods and a chance of thunderstorms in all areas. Over the Channel, the heavy cloud and rain would give way to lighter higher cloud during the day, but the chance of showers would persist.

The Germans did what they could in an attempt to jam the British radar with electronic interference. A few aircraft managed to cross the Channel on weather reconnaissance missions. At 1000 hours, a He 111 flew over North-east Kent and towards South London and was eventually shot down. Some of the coastal resorts in the vicinity of Eastbourne and Brighton were bombed by one or two raiders. At Brighton twenty-one high explosive bombs and some incendiaries fell in the Old Borough, and some of these hit a cinema causing 35 deaths and many injuries. A small formation was detected over Selsey Bill and one German aircraft was reported to have been shot down. Others probed the areas of South London and bombs fell on residential areas of Croydon and Mitcham killing over fifty people.

Between 1520 and 1545 hours, the Coast was crossed between Deal and Dungeness by German aircraft in three formations. In the first, 150 Luftwaffe aircraft operated, some of which penetrated the Inner Artillery Zone and attacked London via the Estuary. In the second attack, about 100 aircraft were involved and the Inner Artillery Zone was again penetrated from the South-east through Kent. Bf 109s from JG 26, JG 77, JG 51 and JG 54 escorted Do17s, He 111s and Ju 88s bombers and a mini aerial combat session developed within 30 minutes. Some twenty-two RAF fighters squadrons from 11 Group and five from 12 Group were scrambled to intercept the raids. Vectored to the Thames Estuary were RAF No. 41 Sqd (Spitfires), RAF No.66 Sqd (Spitfires), RAF No.73 Sqd (Hurricanes), RAF No.222 Sqd (Spitfires), RAF No.504 Sqd (Hurricanes) and 1 RCAF Sqd (Hurricanes). Vectored to the Kent coast near Deal were RAF No.72 Sqd (Spitfires), RAF No.92 Sqd (Spitfires), RAF No.229 Sqd (Hurricanes) and RAF No.253 Sqd (Hurricanes). Gladiators of RAF No. 247 Sqd, scrambled from Roborough managed to intercept the raiders off the Sussex coast.

Again, as was becoming a common occurrence, people along the coastal stretches from Folkestone, round 'Hell Corner' to Margate saw the twisting and snaking black dots against the grey overcast with many cheering if they recognized a German plane spiral down into the sea. Most of the action took place over the Estuary or over north Kent near Maidstone by the time that the British fighters made contact with the German bombers. Even though the raids were small by previous standards, there were more Bf 109s than usual indicating that the Luftwaffe was trying to draw as many fighters in the air as possible. A number of Do17s were shot down but also quite a few Bf 109s also suffered. I./KGr.606 was to suffer most when two Dorniers were classed as write offs, while two others were damaged. Stab./KG 55 lost another He 111 shot down in the sea off Sussex by a fighter from RAF No. 72 Sqd. One crewmember, Fw. Josef Geiger was able to crawl into a dingy and spent the next three days in the water before being picked up by the Seeotdienst. JG 26 claimed five fighters for the loss of the Gruppe-Adjutant of I./JG 26, Oblt. Kurt Dähne, when his Messerschmitt collided with a Hurricane from No.253 Sqd. A pilot from 9./JG 26 force landed his plane at St Inglevert after the battle, his plane written off. Fw. Heinz Ettler of 1./JG 77 was shot down over Detling and taken prisoner. Uffz. Valentin Blazejewski of 6 (S)./LG 2 fired on a Spitfire on his way home from escorting the bombers and was immediately attacked and hit from behind by another Spitfire. Bailing out over Ashford he spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.

Photo: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth with Churchill as they tour the wreckage at Buckingham Palace



Air War over Europe

In line with the general strategy of frustrating an invasion, the RAF steps up its attacks on German shipping along the coast. It makes a daylight raid on a convoy of tankers off Zeebrugge; the plane crews report sinking one, that it is unclear if that actually happened. Bomber Command shifts its priority from strategy targets in Germany to the likely invasion ports.

Battle of the Atlantic

Mines take a huge toll on shipping today, and for once the British are not on the receiving end. While the British have developed countermeasures to the feared German magnetic mines, they are costly and bulky. The only silver lining for the British is that the much scarcer Axis shipping is equally vulnerable to them, as shown by today's events.

A Vichy French convoy of 11 troopships in the Mediterranean near the island of San Pietro, off Sardinia, blunders into a minefield laid by the Italians, the "San Pietro minefield." The day turns into a series of explosions as one ship after another is struck.

The first to hit a mine is the Cap Tourane at 09:10. It is badly damaged, but is able to proceed to Ajaccio. Along the way, it hits another mine, a rare instance of a non-military ship hitting two mines and surviving.

Next is 1544 ton ship Cassidaigne. It comes to the Cap Tourane's assistance and, at 09:22, also hits a mine. It sinks in five minutes. Everybody aboard survives.

The third ship in the convoy to hit a mine is the 1610 ton Ginette Le Borgne at 09:28. It explodes, breaks apart into two pieces, and sinks within two minutes.

Minefield troubles also occur elsewhere.

Kriegsmarine auxiliary minesweeper M-1306 "Hermann Krone" hits a mine and sinks off Hanstholm, Denmark in the Skaggerak.

Soviet minesweeper T-104 hits a mine and sinks in the Gulf of Finland.

Other incidents also take a toll on shipping. The oddest thing about the day is that none of the day's many shipping incidents involve direct attacks, they are all passive.

Kriegsmarine trawler UJ-173 Hinrich Wesselhöft runs aground at Harandgerfjord, Norway and is badly damaged. It is floated off, but the damage is too significant and it sinks on the 14th while under tow.

The British, preparing for an invasion, is sinking blockships at the entrances to vulnerable harbors. While towing the British 9577 ton cargo ship Protesilaus to Scapa Flow to sink as a blockship, the Protesilaus - previously very badly damaged on 21 January 1940 by a mine - springs a leak. The ships is scuttled to no purpose off Skerryvore.

The British remain in pursuit of Vichy French Force Y, three cruisers which the British permitted to escape through the Straits of Gibraltar en route to Dakar. British Force H from Gibraltar combines with Force M coming up from Freetown, but there is no sign of the French cruisers.

British Convoy OB 213 departs Liverpool with passenger ship City of Benares. The Benares is transporting British schoolchildren being evacuated to Canada.

USS destroyer USS Kearny (DD 432, Commander Anthony L. Danis) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean

After several days trudging through the hot desert sand, the Italian invasion force (Operation E) of 200,000 men from Libya finally reaches the Egyptian frontier in force. Two divisions of the 10th Army's XIII Corps (five divisions) advance along the coast road. A southern prong of the Italian advance, led by the Maletti Group (armored), has been cancelled due to difficulties navigating in the desert, so the advance along the vulnerable coast road constitutes the entire invasion, though it has been split into closely separated prongs.

In the northern prong, the 1st Blackshirt Division (23rd Marzo, in honor of the date of founding of the Fascist party in 1919) retakes Fort Capuzzo at just west of Sollum, which the British had taken at the start of the war. This is still on the Libyan side of the border. The Italians bombard Musaid, which is a British base just across the border. The Italians also open fire on Sollum airfield, which the British have not used. An Italian attack takes the barracks near the airfield, so the Italians "take Sollum," though the British still hold the port.

Meanwhile, slightly inland on the southern prong, the Italians send two divisions and the Maletti Group toward Halfaya Pass. This creates a converging attack, as these troops will be met at the other end of the pass by the two divisions advancing past Sollum.

Opposing the Italians are two divisions of the British Western Desert Force under General O'Connor, the 7th Armoured and the 4th Indian. The British have orders to hold their positions. The Italians cut the barbed wire along the frontier but do not yet advance very far across it.

The British Long Range Patrol Unit (the "Desert Rats") reaches Siwa near the Libyan border, where they stock up on supplies.

In Ethiopia, the Italians also are on the move, but on a much smaller scale. Light forces penetrate 20 miles north into Kenya.

One apparent side effect of the Italian operations in North Africa is a period of quiet at Malta, which experiences no air raids again. Four Short Sunderland flying boats arrive for three days of operations, otherwise, it is a quiet day. Governor Dobbie informs the War Office that compulsory evacuation of British civilians would harm island morale, though voluntary evacuations at the person's own risk would be acceptable.

German/Japanese Relations

German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop has his aide Heinrich Stahmer meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka. They reach a tentative agreement for an alliance, which of course must be negotiated further, written up and approved by both governments.

US Military

The USAAC drops the P-44 program, an attempt to upgrade a high-altitude Republic P-43 Lancer fighter with a Pratt & Whitney R-2180-1 Twin Hornet engine rated at 1,400 hp (1,000 kW). This is due to combat reports from Europe suggesting that the basic P-43 design already is obsolete. Incidentally, although the designation for the P-44 is "Rocket," it was never intended to use an actual rocket engine - a fact which confuses a lot of people.

China

Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters have been operational for months now, with pilots qualifying on the planes which are a quantum leap ahead of previous Japanese fighters. The workup period, however, is now complete and they are ready for action.

To date, they have seen little action aside from routine escort duties. Today, however, 13 Zeros led by Lieutenant Saburo Shindo serve as escort for a bombing raid on the Nationalist capital, Chungking, and all that changes. For once, the Nationalist air force sends up a large formation to challenge the bombers, which have been ravaging the city for months. They meet the Zeros in combat with nine I-16 (monoplane) and 25 Polikarpov I-15 (biplane) fighters.

The Zeros shoot down 27 of the Nationalist fighters. They only suffer damage to four of their own planes. It is perhaps the most one-sided encounter in military aviation history.

Now, admittedly the Nationalists only have old Soviet fighters, Polikarpov I-15s and I-16s. These are not up to the standards of the European combatants, though of course they have machine guns which are fully capable of taking down a Zero. Thus, the victory is not quite as fantastic as it appears from the numbers alone. However, this incident begins to open the world's eyes to the new kid on the block, a Japanese fighter that quickly gains the reputation of being unbeatable. It also imbues the Imperial Japanese Air Force with extreme confidence, perhaps overconfidence, in its new fighter.

The 27 Japanese G3M bombers thus get through to the target.

German Homefront

The government bows to reality and completes a plan to help parents voluntarily evacuate their children from Berlin.

Day 381 of World War II, September 15th 1940

Battle of Britain

Sunday September 15th 1940, was not only the turning point of the Battle of Britain, it was the turning point of the whole war. For Adolf Hitler and the German commanders, time was now running out. If an invasion was to take place on 17 September as planned, the lead-up would have to commence no later than today. The weather had shown, just how quickly it could turn at this time of year, and with winter not too far away, the German forces would have to take advantage of the better conditions that now seemed to prevail. Göring had sent out the instructions the day previous to all bomber and fighter bases that preparations for an all out assault on England was to be made on this day. Bomber units were given times and flight paths of their attack. Over the last few weeks, the Luftwaffe had experimented with different flying formations. Needless to say, none had really been successful, losses had still been high, but they had discovered that on the occasions that they had kept at high altitudes, they had on a number of occasions surprised Fighter Command.

This was mainly due to the fact that the British radar was ineffective above 20,000 feet, and by flying at a height above this level they could cross the Channel undetected, but, the Germans did not know this. All that they were aware of, was the fact that those formations that flew at higher altitudes were not intercepted until they were usually well over the English coast. The most logical reason for this, thought the Germans, was due to the fact that it took the British fighters much longer to gain the required height to intercept. The sending of advance Ju 87 and Bf 110 units to bomb the radar stations along the southern coastline was, in the opinion of the Luftwaffe, a waste of time. As fast as they seemed to be destroyed, they were back in operational use again, and mobile units too were brought in to replace any radar station damaged. Over the last few days, the Germans had practiced at electronic jamming. This they believed was successful and plans were made to intensify the jamming procedure in an effort to further reduce detection.

The spirit of the German aircrews was still far from high. Time and time again, they had been told that the 'Glorious Luftwaffe' was ready to strike the final blow. But they had been told that in July, and again in August when 'Alderangriff' had been announced, and it was to be repeated yet again. Early in the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe aircrews were told that the Royal Air Force would be wiped out in two or three weeks. Now, whenever they flew over the British countryside they were still met with masses of British fighters in the hands of pilots that were gaining in skill and techniques. Many firmly believed that they were no nearer victory than they were two months previous. Commented Adolph Galland;

"Failure to achieve any notable success, constantly changing orders betraying lack of purpose and obvious misjudgment of the situation by the Command, and unjustified accusation had a most demoralizing effect on us fighter pilots, who were already overtaxed by physical and mental strain."

In Britain, things were slightly different. Most of the pilots were relatively fresh unlike their German counterparts. Combat action had been very infrequent, with only one really heavy day. Fighter Command was now stronger than it had been for weeks, aerodromes repaired, planes and personnel had replaced many that had been shot down and the radar stations were all functioning at 100%.

Heavy cloud and rain overnight was expected to clear and the forecast for the day was fine in most areas with patchy cloud. No rain was forecast but some areas could expect an odd shower to develop. The cloud was expected to clear during the afternoon giving way to a fine and clear evening. It was not long after breakfast that AVM Keith Park knew that today was to be different from all the others. For the first time in a week, he had been notified that there was a build up of German formations along the enemy coast.

"This, I think is what we have been waiting for. I think that it is about to happen."

Unaware of what was about to unfold within Fighter Command, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife decided that he would call upon AVM Park at 11 Group Headquarters at Uxbridge.

AVM Park took his visitors to the operations room, and as he began to explain some of the complexities of the operations, a radar report had come through that a number of German aircraft had been detected building up in the vicinity of Dieppe and another smaller formation had been detected over the Channel off the coast near Dover. Park told the Prime Minister that he was lucky because it looked like that he could witness the activities of operations because a couple of German formations had been spotted. Winston Churchill replied that he would let the C-in-C carry on with his job and that he would just sit and watch.

By 0930 hours the two formations had spread themselves out and were detected near the coasts off Dover, Harwich and in the Thames Estuary. RAF Squadrons were dispatched from Hornchurch, Gravesend and Croydon. But most of the German formations were ordered to turn back. The Fighter Command squadrons were recalled. The only other activity was just off the Devon coast where a lone reconnaissance aircraft was detected and a flight from RAF No.87 Squadron (Hurricanes) was scrambled. It turned out to be a He111 on weather reconnaissance and was shot down by P/O D.T. Jay.

By late morning the weather cleared and an all out attack was ordered by Göring. New formations were detected at 10:30 hours positioned between the towns of Calais and Boulogne. It appeared that the German formations were in no great hurry and were forming up very slowly. This worked to the advantage of Keith Park as it gave him the chance to organize his defense forces.

"This, Mr. Prime Minister looks like the big one."

said Park.

At 1100 hours the first wave of German bombers - hundreds of Ju 88s and Do 17s - flew across the Channel and up the Thames towards London. Just as the first Fighter Command squadrons approached the southern coast of Kent, the leaders of the German formation still had a few miles to go before they crossed the tall cliffs of the British coastline. The German bombers consisted of practically the whole of I./KG 76 flying Dornier Do 17s. These had met up with the Do 17s of III./KG 76 and KG 3 behind Calais and now the combined force, escorted by Bf 109 formed a vast armada almost two miles wide crossing the coast. All the Luftwaffe aircraft departed from bases in the Brussels and Antwerp areas. The heights of the German formations were between 15,000 and 26,000 feet and the Observer Corps reported that they were crossing the coast just north of Dungeness, to the south of Dover and at Ramsgate.

Thirty minutes later the first wave of bombers consisting of twenty-five Do 17s from KG 2 and KG 76 with the He-111s of KG 26 and KG 53 and twenty-one Bf 109 Jabos from II.(Schlacht)./LG 2 escorted by 150 fighters, crossed the Kent coast. The bombers came across the coastline in a number of vic formations. Some of these consisted of three aircraft, some in five while others were in vics of seven, but as they crossed the tall cliffs they looked something like a giant herringbone. The bombers, which consisted of Dorniers, Heinkels and Junkers were escorted by Bf 110 aircraft flying in close support while the Bf 109s flew top cover high above the bombers. Hundreds streamed across the Channel, many of them decorated with insignia as colorful as any air force had ever boasted . . . the green dragon signifying Hptm. Hans von Hahn's I./JG 3, Major Adolf Galland's Mickey Mouse, armed with gun and hatchet, puffing a cigar strangely like Galland's own, the eagle's head of Werner Mölders, Major von Cramon-Taubadel's jet-black ace of spades, the green heart of Major Trautloft's JG 54, the white and red lightning flashes of KG 3, the poised black sledgehammer that marked Oberst Johannes Fink's Dorniers and the bared shark's teeth of II./ZG 76.

Almost every RAF squadron from 11 Group was committed and soon more from 12 Group, known as the 'Duxford Wing', were scrambled. The German formation was making slow progress and RAF No.72 Squadron (Spitfires) and RAF No.92 Squadron (Spitfires) were vectored to intercept the bombers between Maidstone and Ashford. Some of the other squadrons that had been vectored further south were now re-vectored. These included the Hurricanes of RAF No.253 Squadron and RAF No.501 Squadron, with the Spitfires of RAF No.66 Squadron, RAF No.603 Squadron and RAF No.609 Squadron and within minutes were reinforced with RAF No.72 and RAF No.92 Squadrons. Soon after the initial interception, RAF No.229 Squadron (Hurricanes) and RAF No.303 Squadron (Hurricanes) met the raiders between Rochester and South London while RAF No.17 Squadron and RAF No.73 Squadron (Hurricanes) met the bombers over Maidstone. The heavy bomber formation was still stepped between 15,000 and 25,000 feet with a massive Bf 109 fighter escort above and slightly to the rear of the main formation.

Great air battles ensued when the British fighters and German bombers and fighters clashed over the English countryside. The combat action was exceptionally heavy, and most of the defending British fighters managed to keep the Messerschmitt escorts from providing the cover for the bombers. The Spitfires harassed the Bf 109s, criss-crossing them at every opportunity, and one by one they were sent spiraling towards earth trailing plumes of smoke. The Bf 109s tried to continue to escort the bombers who now were being attacked by the Hurricane squadrons. The British fighter pilots were slowly breaking up the formation with a steady application of force causing the bombers to straggle out of formation. Luftwaffe Do 17 Front Gunner Hans Zonderlind reported,

"From the time that we had been over Maidstone until reaching the outskirts of London, we had been under extreme pressure. The British fighters had been with us since we had first crossed the English coast and had gathered in intensity all the time. Our escort had been doing a grand job with the Spitfires at keeping them away from us, and we thought that should things remain like this, then this bombing run would be made easy. We saw the Hurricanes coming towards us and it seemed that the whole of the RAF was there, we had never seen so many British fighters coming at us at once. I saw a couple of our comrades go down, and we got hit once but it did no great damage. All around us were dogfights as the fighters went after each other, then as we were getting ready for our approach to the target, we saw what must have been a hundred RAF fighters coming at us. We thought that this must have been all the RAF planes were up at once, but where were they coming from, as we had been told that the RAF fighters were very close to extinction. We could not keep our present course, we turned to starboard and done all that we could to avoid the fighters and after a while I am sure we had lost our bearings, so we just dropped our bombs and made our retreat."

One particular pilot engaged several Do17s over London during the action, which was to be immortalised in the movie "The Battle of Britain". Over central London, a Do 17 of 1./KG 76 piloted by Oblt. Robert Zehbe was hit by gunfire from several fighters and caught fire. As Sgt. Ray Holmes of RAF No.504 Sqd vectored in for a last shot, the two planes collided. Sgt. Holmes managed to free himself and jumped, the parachute breaking his fall just twenty feet or so above the rooftops of some houses in fashionable Chelsea. His backside hit the sloping roof of one of the houses, and he began to slide down the roof, fall off over the guttering and straight down into the garden below, into a garbage bin. The Dornier came down about a mile away crashing into the forecourt of Victoria Station, practically demolishing a small tobacconist's shop.

The hundreds of Bf 109s covered a wide area and they too were having their successes. Two Hurricanes of RAF No.229 Sqd were shot down over the Sevenoaks area, with P/O Doutrepont's aircraft being shot up badly and he was killed as the Hurricane went down and crashed on Staplehurst Railway Station. Another member of the squadron, P/O R. Smith managed to bale out of his bullet riddled aircraft also over Sevenoaks and he suffered severe leg injuries. Over Tunbridge Wells, F/O A.D. Nesbitt of 1 (RCAF) Squadron was swooped on by Bf 109s and he baled out as his aircraft spiraled to earth. F/O R. Smither was not so lucky, as he went down with his aircraft also over Tunbridge Wells. The combat now covered a wide area, and as the minutes ticked by, the intensity of the battle increased as more fighters of Fighter Command arrived on the scene. RAF No.501 Sqd (Hurricanes) was one of them. They intercepted the Germans over northern Kent and mixed it with both bombers and fighter escort.

The Bf 109s were being held over the northern area of Kent with only a few managing to escape the onslaught by the Spitfires. The bombers were being harassed by the Hurricanes, and one by one they began to turn away smoke trailing from engines and desperately trying to evade any further attack by the British fighters. Others dropped their bombs at random. Some of the more courageous tried in vain to make it to their target, riddled with bullets, crewmen either dead or injured at their posts. But more was in store for them as they approached London. Keith Park's timing of requesting the 'Duxford Wing' to cover the airfields of Hornchurch and North Weald was to perfection, as was everything else that was taking place. It seemed that Fighter Command could do no wrong.

As the German bomber formation, with about only one third of its Bf 109 escorts, approached the outskirts of London, the Luftwaffe was in disarray. The Bf 109s peeled away one by one. Some had sustained damage but most were now low on fuel. With the city now in their sights, they were confronted by the awesome sight of the four squadrons of the 'Big Wing'. Where everything was running in favor of 11 Group, as for once, Douglas Bader's 'Big Wing' also ran to perfection and in unison. The squadrons were able to take off as ordered, and the formation had collected perfectly over Duxford and fifty-six fighter aircraft made the steady climb towards their vectored area, and had time to position themselves at the correct height and head towards Gravesend. As they approached the Thames, the Hurricanes were stepped between 25,000 and 26,000 feet. As the 'Big Wing' closed in, they were joined by RAF No.41 Sqd (Spitfires), RAF No.46 Sqd (Hurricanes), RAF No.504 Sqd (Hurricanes) and RAF No.609 Sqd (Spitfires). The Bombers were confronted by British fighters on all sides, and one of the biggest combat actions ever seen over London developed.

Perfectly positioned, with the bombers 3,000 feet below them they were about to make their attack, when a formation of Bf 109s came out of the sun. Bader immediately ordered the Spitfires of RAF No.19 and RAF No.611 Sqds to take on the German fighters, which they did, scattering them by a surprise attack so effectively that they left the bomber formation and flew off to the south-east. While the 'Big Wing' were holding, the Hurricanes of RAF No.257 Sqd and RAF No.504 Sqd (Hurricanes) attacked the German bombers. Bader waited for them to complete their sweep, then instructed his three Hurricane squadrons to fall into line astern and attack. Bader selected the most westerly of the three German formations, while RAF No.302 Sqd took on the middle formation while the remaining formation was left to RAF No.310 Sqd.

Hurricanes came in to deal with the bombers in an unusual way, head-on in a shallow climb, claiming three of the bombers. Others joined in, and in such numbers and with such aggression that it was like gulls mobbing an albatross. Seven more Dorniers were claimed as destroyed before the 'Big Wing', in all its multiple glory, hurled itself into the whirling melee. The raid had now entirely broke up over south London, and any idea the bomb-aimers had of identifying let alone attacking their assigned target had disappeared, like so many of their own kind.

There was not much for the bombers to do, the pressure on them was that intense. They would be attacked by a couple of squadrons of RAF fighters, then as soon as they broke off the engagement, another couple of squadrons were ready to pounce at an already decimated bomber force. The bombers began to drop their bomb loads at random, hoping that this would lighten their load and they could make as hasty retreat as possible without any further damage to their aircraft. South London was the worst affected, with Lewisham, Lambeth, Camberwell and a couple of the bridges across the River Thames all recording bomb damage. One high explosive bomb fell in the grounds of Buckingham Palace causing slight structural damage to the building but a bigger hole was made in the lawns at the rear as the bomb failed to explode. A power station in Beckenham was also hit.

The German formations headed out towards the west, turning south near Weybridge. RAF No.609 Sqd (Spitfires) chased them as they headed for the coast and took on fifteen Dornier Do17s. A formation of Bf 109s saw the desperate situation that their bombers were in and joined in as did a few Bf 110s. Over Ewhurst in Surrey, RAF No.605 Sqd (Hurricanes) came in to assist and as the fierce action continued over the town of Billingshurst just west of Horsham they were joined by RCAF No.1 Sqd (Hurricanes) who took on the troublesome Bf 109s. In the other direction, some eighty German bombers were trying to make good their escape towards the Thames Estuary. Fighter Command attacked in large numbers with squadrons attacking any of the escorts while others took on the merciless bombers.

The first morning battle had been a disaster for the Luftwaffe, as many aircraft crashed, and others blew up in mid-air, while the remainder struggled for the safety of the French coast. For the Germans, after about ten minutes over London, there was now no such thing as a formation. German bombers were at all levels of altitude and most were scattered over an area fifteen miles wide. To give an example of the intensity of this morning battle, the combat area was approximately eighty miles long by thirty-eight miles wide, and up to six miles high. Because of the intensity and aggression shown by the pilots of Fighter Command, the bombers dropped most of their bombs randomly over a wide area. Damage was done, but not as much as was intended by the Luftwaffe commanders. For the Luftwaffe, the raid was doomed to failure the moment that the first formations had crossed the Channel. This time, everything had gone right for Fighter Command and 11 Group. Timing, position and height was all on the side of the RAF. AVM Park and his pilots had won the first round of the day.

As the clocks in Britain showed 1230 hours, the first battle of the day had finished. Most of the German bombers who had intentions of again dropping hundreds of tons of bombs on the city had been fought off by Fighter Command. In scattered areas of Kent and Sussex the odd skirmish still took place as patrolling squadrons observed a few Dorniers and Heinkels desperately trying to make their way back to their bases in northern France and Belgium. The pilots of the Hurricanes and Spitfires showed no mercy. It made no difference whether the bombers were crippled or not. Some, which it was obvious that they would never make it back, were shot down, the broken hulks of German aircraft could be seen from the outskirts of London to the Channel coast.

By 1300 hours the radar stations along the Kent coast picked up new movements across the Channel. It was the commencement of German bombers busily forming up for yet another raid on the British capital. Fighter Command was notified, but as there was no indication yet that the bombers were heading across the coast, it was just a 'wait and see' game. All RAF squadrons that had been involved with the mornings action, were again placed at readiness and this included the 'Duxford Wing' and the two squadrons from 10 Group. As time progressed, radar had reported that the formation had broke up into three distinct groups, and that it was possible that each group was following a short distance behind another. The first of the bomber formations crossed the Kent coast between Dungeness and Dover at 14:15 hours, with the other formations behind and flying at 15 minute intervals. The German formations were made up of three distinct formations. All consisted of Dornier Do 17s, Heinkel He 111s and Do 215s from KG 2, KG 53 and KG 76. Smaller Gruppen came from KG 1, KG 4 and KG 26 which made up a total bomber force of 170 aircraft. These were supported by Bf 110 and Bf 109s from JG 26 and JG 54 among others as escorts and their number was in excess of 300. Most of the bomber formations had come from airfields in the Beauvais and Antwerp areas. In total, there was a combined force of 600 plus aircraft heading north towards London on a front some thirty miles wide.

Even though all the RAF squadrons had been brought to readiness, some squadrons, especially those some distance from London were still being re-armed and refueled, and quite a few pilots were not with their squadrons. These had been shot down or baled out of their stricken aircraft and had made their way to other airfields and had telephoned in to their home bases, while some were being ferried back but had not yet arrived. Those that had got back, found the time to have a bit of lunch while their aircraft were in the hands of the ground crews. This was one of the reasons that the Luftwaffe had made this second raid so soon after midday, as they knew that it would take Fighter Command to take at least two hours to get all their squadrons back to full strength. The hoped that by the time that they crossed the coast that most of the RAF fighters would still be on the ground.

AVM Park scrambled squadrons in almost the same order as he had done so only three hours earlier, but because the German formation had taken less time in forming up the 11 Group commander had less time to get his fighters into the air, coupled with the fact that some squadrons were still re-arming and refueling, the efficiency was not as good as it had been during the morning period. 12 Group were called up by 11 Group who again requested maximum assistance just as they had done during the morning. The same applied to 10 Group. The only change that Park made that differed from the morning attack, was that he held more of his fighters back, giving orders that they patrol areas to the east, south and west of London. The squadrons that were vectored to the forward areas were mainly instructed to attack the German escort fighters. This was due to the fact that by forcing the German escorts into combat early, they would use up far more fuel, and the morning raid had showed him that the bombers were far more vulnerable when they reached the outskirts of London, and the net result was that Fighter Command inflicted far more damage to aircraft over London than over the Kent coast.

The first engagements took place over Kent. Squadrons from Hornchurch intercepted a large formation of Dorniers south of Canterbury. Diving down in line astern they managed to destroy two of the bombers and another couple as they were wheeling away leaving behind a trail of thick black smoke. But they were jumped upon by Bf 109s and intense combat took place between the fighters of both sides allowing the Do 17s to continue their journey. The Bf 109s, of JG 26 led by Adolf Galland and of JG 54 led by Hannes Trautloft, engaged the RAF fighters before they had to return low on fuel. Two aircraft of the Hornchurch squadrons were damaged.

Another formation consisting of Dornier Do 17s and Heinkel He 111s was detected south of Maidstone, and without any Bf 109 protection, they became the targets for RAF No.73 Sqd (Hurricanes) who managed to destroy three of the bombers without loss to themselves. West of this attack near Dartford, RAF No.66 Sqd (Spitfires) and RAF No.72 Sqd (Spitfires) intercepted another column of German aircraft where again the combat action was intense. The Spitfires weaved in and out of the bombers managing to avoid collision in the huge traffic jam that was forming. Bombers started to take evasive action by banking either left or right. Just as another bomber formation was approaching from the south, the melee was joined by RAF No.249 Sqd (Hurricanes) and RAF No.504 Sqd (Hurricanes) and the large colossus of Luftwaffe bombers went into a frantic flight pattern. RAF No.73 Sqd who had engaged the formation from the outset, had now been entwined into the huge dogfight as well as RAF No.253 Sqd (Hurricanes).

The western flank saw Do 17s, He 111s and Ju 88s which numbered about eighty curve right from Kent, across the outskirts of Surrey and head towards the western side of London. A terrific battle ensued as fighters from RAF No.213 Sqd (Hurricanes) and RAF No.607 Sqd (Hurricanes) which had been vectored to cover Biggin Hill intercepted the large formation. Again, Bf 109s were seen to the south of London, but decided not to come to the aid of the bomber formation which managed to get mauled by the Hurricane squadrons. This was one of the most intense battles of the day. The British fighters tore into the Germans like hungry cats to a flock of wounded birds.

Even though most of the attacking bombers had been thrown off their planned flight path, many of them managed to get through to the southern areas of London. If they thought that most of Fighter Commands fighters were behind them and still engaged in combat over Kent and Surrey, they were in for a big surprise. Wing Commander Woodall at Duxford, had scrambled his 'Duxford Wing' which comprised RAF No.19 Sqd (Spitfires), 242 Sqd (Hurricanes), 302 Sqd (Hurricanes), 310 Sqd (Hurricanes) and 611 Sqd (Spitfires). Now, as in the morning session, the Luftwaffe were met by forty-nine fighters of Bader's "Big Wing". Combined with a number of other squadrons that had followed the leading bombers and two other squadrons that had just joined the action, a total of some 150 more fighters awaited them. Again, Bader ordered the Spitfires to attack the Bf 109s, who for some strange reason had not left their bombers early as on previous occasions, while the Hurricanes attacked the bombers. They were at a disadvantage as they were still climbing and had not had the time to get into position. The "Duxford Wing" leader complained later that it was the case again of being called on far too late, but the real reason this time was that the Germans had formed up much quicker this time and that almost caught even Keith Park off guard. The 'Wing' was scrambled again to patrol North Weald, and Bader led them through a gap in the clouds. At 16,000 feet, flak burst ahead, and in moments he saw the bombers; about forty of them, some 4,000 feet above the Hurricanes. But Bf 109s were diving on them and he yelled as he steep-turned, "Break up!" Around him the sky was full of wheeling Hurricanes and Bf109s. A yellow spinner was sitting behind his tail, and as he yanked hard back on the stick an aeroplane shot by, feet away. Bader hit its slipstream and the Hurricane shuddered, stalled and spun off the turn. He let it spin a few turns to shake off the 109 and came out of it at 5,000 feet. When Bader had first spun out, he almost collided with P/O Denis Crowley-Milling, and it was while in Crowley-Milling's slipstream that he went into the spin and did not pull out until 5,000 feet. He was unable to reach the bombers.

The combat action over the southern and south western areas of London was extreme. The formation that had been intercepted as far away as Maidstone somehow managed to straggle through, many of the Bf 109s managed to stay as long as they could, but with fuel tanks getting into the danger zone, they had to break off and leave many of the bombers at the mercy of the British fighters. The German bombers, who had intended to drop their bomb loads on London itself, had jettisoned them in scattered areas in London's eastern and southern suburbs that suffered most. The most severe damage was done in West Ham, East Ham, Stratford, Stepney, Hackney, Erith, Dartford and Penge. Fighter Command now had everything that they possessed in the air.

Squadron leader John Sample RAF No.501 Squadron Kenley;

"I started to chase one Dornier which was flying through the tops of the clouds. Did you ever see that film "Hells Angels?" You'll remember how the Zeppelin came so slowly out of the cloud. Well, this Dornier reminded me of that. I attacked him four times altogether. When he first appeared through the cloud - you know how clouds go up and down like foam on water - I fired at him from the left, swung over to the right, turned in towards another hollow in the cloud, where I expected him to reappear, and fired at him again. After my fourth attack he dived down headlong into a clump of trees in front of a house, and I saw one or two cars parked in the gravel drive in front. I wondered whether there was anyone in the doorway watching the bomber crash. Then I climbed up again to look for some more trouble and found it in the shape of a Heinkel III which was being attacked by three Hurricanes and a couple of Spitfires. I had a few cracks at the thing before it made a perfect landing on an RAF aerodrome. The Heinkels undercarriage collapsed and the pilot pulled up, after skidding 50 yards in a cloud of dust. I saw a tall man get out of the right-hand side of the aircraft, and when I turned back he was helping a small man across the aerodrome towards a hangar."

RAF No.303 Sqd had been ordered up at Northolt at 1420 hours and were vectored to cover the north Kent coast along the Thames. The squadron consisted of nine Hurricanes and was led by S/L R. Kellett when they sighted a large formation coming towards them. Interception was made over Gravesend. RAF No.303 Sqd was in the air just one hour and ten minutes before they returned back to Northolt. In this time, they had destroyed three Dornier Do 215's, two Messerschmitt Bf 110's and one Bf 109. One Do 215 was seen to break away from the combat action trailing smoke and losing altitude, but its fate was not known and the squadron was also credited with a probable. But only seven of the nine Hurricanes returned, with one pilot missing and another Hurricane crashing near Dartford with the pilot managing to bale out of his aircraft.

One of the Luftwaffe pilots who had to make a rather ungracious landing was the veteran Obstlt Dr. Hasso von Wedel. Like most of the Bf 109 pilots, he stayed with the Dorniers as long as possible, but the fuel situation forced him to leave early, leaving the bombers in a very vulnerable position. On the return journey, his flight of Bf 109s were attacked by RAF No. 605 Sqd, RCAF No.1 Sqd and RAF No.229 Sqd all flying Hurricanes. It is believed that one of the Hurricanes of RCAF No.1 Sqd followed von Wedel down, the veteran not being able to out maneuver the Hurricane. He was hit and his Bf 109 lost its controls. He tried in vain to make a landing on Romney Marsh, but the controls did not respond, and he made a heavy wheels up landing at a farmhouse, destroying a shed in which a mother and daughter were sitting in a car awaiting the father who was about to take them out on a Sunday drive. Both mother and daughter were killed instantly. A local policeman arrived on the scene to find a battered and bruised von Wedel wandering around in an almost tearful state, and as he apologized to the policeman for what he had done, the constable simply asked " would you like a cup of tea sir?".

The bulk of the fighting took place over London and its outskirts from Dartford westward, where five pairs of squadrons from 11 Group and the wing from 12 Group were all in action between ten minutes to three and a quarter past, mainly with the third formation but probably also with survivors of the other two. Again retiring by two distinct routes, the attackers were engaged on the way out by another four squadrons, including two from 10 Group. Guns of the inner artillery zone and the Thames and Medway defences were also in action and claimed a number of successes. Flight Lieutenant W.G.Clouston of RAF No.19 Sqd Duxford (Spitfires) took the two sections of his squadron to attack a formation of Do17s over Shoeburyness. Making their attack in line astern they made their attacks before any Bf109s arrived. F/L Couston lined up one, and gave a series of short bursts, one of the engines of the Dornier exploded in flame and smoke. Before he lost sight of it, ten feet of the bombers wing broke away and fell earthwards causing the bomber to roll over and spiral down to a watery grave below.

For the German bomber crews, it was now a no win situation. They were outnumbered over their target area, so much so that accurate bombing was virtually impossible. More and more fighter squadrons were moving into areas to cut off any retreat so that when they did decide to abort, trying to get into the protection of the cloud cover would be their only hope of survival.

As the last of the bombers were being chased back across the Channel, and many of the squadrons who had fought one of the heaviest air combats of the Battle of Britain retired to their respective aerodromes, another small raid had been detected and was approaching the Dorset town of Portland. It was just a small force of about ten He 111s from II./KG 55 and 10 Group scrambled RAF No.152 Sqd (Spitfires), RAF No.607 Sqd (Hurricanes) and RAF No.609 Sqd (Spitfires). The German target was the Woolston Spitfire factory which was hit. The bombing was not accurate and severe damage was kept to a minimum. RAF No.602 and RAF No.609 Squadrons both intercepted after the bombers attacked their target, and both claimed that they had destroyed two aircraft each. One bomber crashed in the Channel and another on its return to Villacoublay.

A small formation of Bf 110s from Epr.Gr 210, once the crack dive bombing Gruppe of the Luftwaffe, made an attack again on the Woolston factory complex at 1800 hours. Most of the British fighters that had been up on constant sorties during the afternoon had returned to their bases and by this time were busy being rearmed, refueled and many were undergoing their usual repairs from damage sustained during the hectic afternoon. Therefore the Bf 110s were free from any attack or interception by Hurricanes or Spitfires. The task of defense was by the AA gun batteries who put up a tremendous fight in defense with accurate gunfire, which although they did not shoot down any German aircraft, the barrage that they put up was so aggressive that not a single bomb was dropped onto the Spitfire factory.

As the afternoon attack came slowly to an end, one by one the often tired and exhausted pilots from both sides returned to their bases. By evening, ninety-nine bombers and fighters were counted as shot down from the German formations including Lt. Julius Haase, the Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 53 with five victories, who was shot down and killed. Numerous German pilots were shot down and taken prisoner by the British. Six victory Experte Lt Hans Berthel, the Gruppe-Adjutant of I./JG 52 baled out of his crippled Bf 109 following combat and was taken prisoner. Uffz. August Klick of 3.(J)/LG 2 and Uffz. Andreas Walburger of 2./JG 27 were both shot down and made POWs. This attrition rate of bombers and fighters forced Hitler to consider postponing "Unternehmen Seelöwe" and halting anymore daylight raids on London. It was clear to all Luftwaffe aircrews on this day that RAF Fighter Command was far from being a spent force and without air superiority the invasion could not proceed.

Fighter Command lost thirty-six aircraft damaged or destroyed, ten pilots killed or missing and thirteen wounded. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, watching the battle with Air Marshal Park at the command room at Uxbridge, declared that the “fifteenth of September 1940 was the day of our Victory!” This day was to belong to the Royal Air Force Fighter Command, and in future years was to become known as "Battle of Britain Day".

During the night the main German raids were centered on London with others on Liverpool, the Midlands, South Wales and Bristol. London continued to bear the brunt of the attack. The first hostile raids were plotted leaving the French Coast at Le Havre at about 2000 hours. They crossed the Coast at Shoreham and penetrated to the London area which was to be the main objective throughout the night. At about 2230 hours raids to London started to come from the Dieppe area crossing the coast between Selsey Bill and Dover. Another raid on London was conducted by He 111s of II./KG 27 around 2330 hours. Between 0100 and 0300 hours raids were coming in via the Thames Estuary and Essex. About fifteen raids were plotted out of the Cherbourg area to South Wales and the Bristol Channel, some of which penetrated to the Midlands and others to Liverpool. By 0130 hours these raids had withdrawn but the activity over London and the South-east continued until about 05:00 hours.

Over Belgium Sgt John Hannah (1921-47), a wireless operator and air gunner in Hampden P 1355 of No. 83 Squadron, was terribly burnt putting out a fire aboard his flak-ridden bomber, which returned to base safely after attacking Antwerp. (Victoria Cross)

Just after 1000 hours, nineteen Dornier 17s of III./KG 76 took off from their airfield at Cormeilles-En-Vexin, near Paris. Once the Dorniers had formed up, they headed northwest towards London, to take part in what would be the fifth daylight bombing raid on the capital. The aiming point for the bombers was to be the maze of railway lines between the Thames and Clapham Common. Amongst the III Gruppe Dorniers was Werk Nr 2555, F1+FS, of the 8th Staffel, flown by Fw. R Heitsch. With him were Fw. S Schmid, Fw. H Pfeiffer, and Fw. M Sauter. Also on board was a new ‘secret weapon’. An infantry flamethrower had been fitted in the Dornier’s fuselage, facing rearwards. Any RAF fighter attacking from close behind was going to be assured of a warm reception, or so it was intended. Controlled by the radio operator, Fw Schmid, the new weapon would see action for the first time. If it didn’t set the attackers on fire, it might at least deter them from getting too close. Should it prove successful, the weapon would be introduced on other bombers.

The Dorniers reached the outskirts of London without loss. The escorting fighters, and the advance guard of fighters ‘free hunting’ ahead, had done their job well. In the rear of the formation was Werk Nr 2555, it’s secret weapon as yet unused. Soon Fw. Schmid reported a British fighter closing in from behind. Sgt Ray Holmes, in his RAF No 504 Sqdn Hurricane, closed in to four hundred yards before opening fire. As he did so, his windscreen was suddenly coated in black oil, which completely blocked his view. The flamethrower, obviously intended for use on the ground, was not working properly at 16,000 feet, giving a jet of flame only some 100 yards long. A lot of the oil had not caught fire, and it was this that had found it’s way onto the Hurricane. Knowing that the airflow would clear the oil away, Ray Holmes waited for his view to be restored. As his windscreen cleared Ray realised that he was dangerously close to the Dornier, and ramming the stick forward, passed beneath the bomber.

If Ray Holmes had escaped the clutches of the secret weapon without damage, the same could not be said of the Dornier. The starboard engine had been hit by machine gun fire, forcing Rolf Heitsch to feather the propeller and leaving him to struggle with the controls. With one engine out, Rolf was forced to drop out of the bomber formation. Below was a bank of cloud, and he headed the Dornier towards it, knowing that it would shield him from enemy fighters. Before they could reach the enveloping cloud, they came under attack from several RAF fighters. Each time one approached, the flamethrower was triggered, but perversely it seemed to have the wrong effect! To the RAF pilots, the jet of flame and smoke made the Dornier look as if it was on fire, and sensing an easy victory they went in to attack! Several pilots reported attacking the Dornier. Sgt Robinson, of RAF No 257 Sqdn reported that the Dornier ‘caught fire in the rear’.

Propaganda: The RAF met successive waves of German aircraft on the 15th September and came off best, although not as decisively as the contemporary propaganda suggested.



Eventually, the flamethrower’s operator, Fw Schmid was hit by machine gun fire, and severely wounded, which put an end to its use. It was obvious that all hope of reaching France had gone. With the radio operator badly wounded, there was no question of bailing out, and leaving him behind, a forced landing was the only option. The Dornier came to rest, undercarriage up, on the brow of a field above Castle Farm, on the outskirts of Shoreham Village, Kent, narrowly missing the high-tension cables that ran over the field. Having released the escape hatch, the crew of the Dornier carefully brought the unconscious Stefan Schmid out of the cockpit, and laid him on the grass. The radio operator was badly wounded in the chest, and Rolf Heitsch, who had trained as a doctor before the war, could see that there was nothing that could be done to save him. Fw Martin Sauter, and the observer, Fw Pfeiffer had also been wounded, but less seriously. Schmid was taken to Sevenoaks Hospital, but was found to be dead on arrival. The Castle Farm Dornier turned up at Lowestoft in late October 1940, when it was exhibited on the Crown Meadow in aid of the local Spitfire fund.

Photo: Robert Zehbe's Dornier Do 17 bomber of bomber group Kampfgeschwader 76, brought down. It crashes onto London Victoria Station. This image was taken by an anonymous civilian.



Air War over Europe

Bomber Command focuses on the invasion ports.

During an attack on the barges at Antwerp, 18-year-old radio operator/gunner Sergeant John Hannah fights a fire in a Hampden bomber. His actions allow the pilot to return to base. Hannah receives the Victoria Cross. The citation notes that not only did Hannah put out the fire, receiving burns to his face and eyes, but he also retrieves the log and maps of the navigator (who had parachuted out) for the pilot.

Battle of the Atlantic

After several days of little activity, the U-boat fleet strikes again. A wolfpack has gathered around Convoy SC 3 west of the Hebrides. Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Bleichrodt in U-48 gets several victories, while Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer in U-99 also gets a victory during a wild coordinated attack on the convoy. Kretschmer is not only one of the most successful U-boat commanders, he also is without question the most imaginative and daring commander who creates opportunities for others.

Kretschmer starts things off. A few minutes past midnight, U-99 surfaces and shells 1780 ton Canadian freighter Kenordoc in Convoy SC 3. The ship survives long enough for escorts to take off 13 survivors. The escorts later scuttle the burning ship. There are 7 deaths.

Taking advantage of the confusion, U-48 then torpedoes and sinks one of the escorts of Convoy SC 3, 1,060 ton sloop HMS Dundee at 00:25. There are 83 survivors and 12 deaths.

About an hour later, U-48 strikes again. At 01:23, it torpedoes and sinks 4343 ton Greek freighter Alexandros. The Alexandros normally would sink right away, but its freight is timber, which keeps it afloat for a while and enables one of the escorts to grab the survivors in the dark. There are 23 survivors, with 5 deaths.

U-48 waits until 03:00, then strikes again. It torpedoes and sinks 5319 ton British freighter Empire Volunteer. There are 33 survivors and six crew perish.

U-48 also attacks British freighter Empire Soldier, but misses.

Another convoy not far away (about 90 miles from Rockall, Convoy HX 70, also is attacked late in the day. U-65 (Kapitänleutnant Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen), on its fourth patrol and operating out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 4950 ton Norwegian freighter Hird at 22:30. Everybody survives, rescued by Icelandic trawler Icelandic Þórólfur (English: Thorolf). The attack is difficult, with the first torpedo around an hour earlier missing but seen by the freighter's crew. The Hird thus begins zig-zagging at full speed. Stockhausen, however, exercises extreme patience, and the zig-zagging allows him to keep up with the freighter.

The Luftwaffe also gets a couple of victories, and the day is a good example of the multi-faceted blockade the Germans are imposing on Great Britain.

The Luftwaffe bombs 5548 ton British wheat freighter Nailsea River about 4 miles off Montrose, Angus in the North Sea. The Nailsea River is in Convoy SL 45, and everybody aboard is rescued.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 1264 ton British freighter Halland about 15 km east of Dunbar, East Lothian in the North Sea. This time, everybody aboard, 17 men, perishes. The merchant marine really is a lottery, with entire crews living or dying based solely on the circumstances of how and where they are attacked.

The Luftwaffe also damages British freighter Stanwold at Southampton and Dutch freighter Veerhaven at the London docks.

The Bismarck departs from its home anchorage for the first time and moves down the Kiel Canal. She is being put into position to assist with Operation Sealion should Hitler approve the invasion. En route, the battleship collides with the bow tug "Atlantik" but shrugs it off. During the night, while anchored at Brunsbüttel roads, she gets more anti-aircraft practice, but does not score any hits on the attacking British bombers.

German torpedo boats lay minefield Bernhard in the Dover Strait in preparation for Operation Sealion.

Convoy MS, part of Operation Menace, arrives at Freetown.

Convoy FN 281 departs from Southend, Convoy MT 170 departs from Methil, Convoy FS 282 departs from the Tyne, Convoy OB 214 departs from Liverpool,

Photo:  Bismarck moves down the Kiel Canal



Photo: another photo of the Bismarck taken on September 15th 1940



Battle of the Mediterranean

The Italians advancing down Halfaya Pass link up with the troops advancing along the coast. The British, reinforced with a company of Free French marines and the 11th Hussars, retreat to Alam Hamid. The British destroy the coast road as they retreat, causing the Italians problems since that is their sole route of advance.

The British Long Range Patrol Unit (the "Desert Rats") operate far out in the desert to the south of the Italian invasion. "W" patrol ascertains that the Italian effort is solely along the coast road and engage in harassing activities such as blowing up Italian supplies and capturing an Italian convoy to Kufra. "T" Patrol performs reconnaissance in the direction of Uweinat in eastern Libya.

British submarine Pandora unsuccessfully attacks an Italian freighter off Benghazi, Libya.

At Malta, Bf 109 fighters are spotted for the first time. Six of them escort (along with 10 CR 42 biplanes) a formation of 20 Junkers Ju 87 Stukas on a 08:00 air raid. The Stukas bomb Hal Far airfield, injuring nine people. There are 17 unexploded bombs at the airfield which turn out to have delayed-action fuzes. Fortunately for the British, they are in an unnecessary portion of the field. This is a major expansion of the German presence in the Mediterranean.

Anglo/US Relations

A group of five formerly US destroyers departs from St. John, New Brunswick, headed for Belfast.

German/Spanish Relations

Hitler requests that the Spanish grant the Germans bases in the Canary Islands and its other possessions. Franco does not respond immediately.

Canadian Military

Conscription is imposed on single men aged 21-24.

The British Ministry of Supply submits a request for Canada to build a factory to produce phosgene gas. Phosgene was the most deadly poison gas used in World War I, accounting for 85% of the 100,000 poison-gas deaths in that conflict. Poison gas is outlawed by international law, specifically the 1925 Geneva Protocol, and its use would be a war crime.

German Military: Lieutenant Colonel Bernhard von Lossberg submits a report that becomes known as the Lossberg study to Colonel General Alfred Jodl at OKW. A plan for Operation Barbarossa, it gives priority to the northward axis of attack in the Soviet Union. This is due to good communications, important objectives and Finnish cooperation. Hitler approves the northward orientation, which is maintained throughout the planning process and the ultimate invasion.

Soviet Military

Military conscription is imposed on 19- and 20-year-olds.

Japanese Military

Japanese carrier Soryu transfers its air units to carrier Hiryu while it undergoes a refit.

Photo: Japanese B1-type I-15 submarine at initial sea trials




Sweden

The Swedish Social Democratic Party receives over half the votes in national elections.

China

Chungking is bombed again by Japanese Nakajima B5N "Kate" bombers of the 12th Naval Air Group based in Yichang, Hubei Province.

At the continuing Battle of South Kwangsi, Chinese forces attack the lines of communication for the Japanese 22nd Army around Nanning and Lungchin. The Japanese have withdrawn the elite 5th Infantry Division from the area to spearhead the projected invasion of French Indochina, planned to begin in a week's time.

Day 383 of World War II, September 17th 1940

Battle of Britain

During the morning, just as the Luftflotten commanders were giving instruction of the impending days raids, and the crews were being briefed, a communiqué came through stating that "Unternehmen Seelöwe" had yet again been postponed. It was due to the present circumstances, and the message was obviously under the direction of Hitler, he being the only one who could announce such a decision. Later, the German General Staff sent a message by radio to the commanding officer handling the loading and supply of troop-carrying aircraft in Holland. It gave the commanding officer the authorization to dismantle all of the air-loading equipment at all the Dutch airfields. Without this vital equipment, there could be no such invasion, and by the withdrawal of the air-loading equipment and possibly the barges at Antwerp, it appeared that this postponement was more like an abandonment.

In the deciphering rooms at Bletchley Park, the message was intercepted by Ultra loud and clear. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Cyril Newhall stated to his ministry that with this great news of the air-loading equipment being ordered to disband, and with the unreliable weather conditions that could be expected for the remainder of the year, any planned invasion would now not take place, not in 1940 anyway. In Germany, Hitler's new directive stated that "Unternehmen Seelöwe" could still be expected, even as late as October, but only if the air and weather conditions permitted, otherwise such an invasion could not now take place until 1941.

There was very little activity during the morning period. Radar had picked up several small blips over the Channel, but these being either German aircraft flying singularly or in pairs were ignored by Fighter Command as they were probably just weather or photo-reconnaissance aircraft and caused no threat. One German bomber came very close over the town of Dover and the air raid warning sounded but the bomber flew along the coastline for a while before turning back out over the Channel towards its base.

The weather was unsuitable for mass raids on London and in accordance with Goring's directive of the 16th September, Luftflotte 2 sent waves of fighters across, with a few bombers as bait, in the hope of luring 11 Group into an unprofitable battle.

In the afternoon a formation of Ju 88s was detected heading in a northerly direction over Bristol. Their target was believed to be the factory areas of north of Bristol. RAF No.152 Sqd (Spitfires) was scrambled to intercept. One of the Ju 88s was hit and it was further harassed by the Spitfires until it crashed near Warminster south-east of Bath. The pilot was killed while three others were captured, one of them being a Gruppenkommandeur. With the brightening of the weather allowing better visibility, another large formation was detected crossing the Channel from Calais. As they crossed the coastline between Dover and Dungeness, the Observer Corps had trouble identifying them. The German formation was only flying at 15,000 feet, but they were a large contingent of Bf 109s consisting of units from JG 26, JG 27 and JG 53, heading across the Kent coast.

11 Group dispatched at varying times a number of squadrons, most of them Hurricanes while No 12 Group had 5 Squadrons patrolling at 15,000 to 20,000 feet north of the Estuary. RAF No.17 Sqd, 73 Sqd, and 253 Sqd and the all Hurricane squadrons from Debden were vectored to the Hendon and Northolt area. The formation of Bf 109s, accompanied by a small number of Ju 88 bombers were heading in the general direction of Sheerness and Tilbury, and over the Kent countryside, quite a number of bombs were dropped indiscriminately indicating that a number of the Bf 109s had taken to the new role of carrying bombs. But over various areas of mid Kent, furious dogfights broke out involving Hurricanes of RAF Nos. 17, 303, 501, 504 and 607 Squadrons and Spitfires of RAF Nos. 19, 41 and 611 Squadrons.

One of the combat areas was in the Dover area. Heavily involved was RAF No.41 Sqd who took on a large formation of Bf 109s. Two of the Messerschmitts became sandwiched between RAF No.41 Sqd Spitfires and trailing smoke, dived down to low levels in a bid to make good their escape. Both of these managed to return to Wissant without any further attack being made on them. But three other Bf 109s were not so lucky. Two were shot down and crashed into the Channel, another was destroyed when it crashed near Deal, but not after RAF No.41 Sqd sustained some bruising from the German fighters. At 1535 hours, F/O J.G. Boyle's Spitfire was hit by gunfire from a Bf 109 over Manston, and had to return to Hornchurch. At 1540 hours, P/O J.N. Mackenzie's Spitfire was severely damaged and while the pilot was unhurt, his aircraft was beyond repair after it crash landed. P/O H.H. Chalder was another who had to return to base while P/O H.C. Baker of RAF No.41 Sqd had to make a forced landing at Stelling Minnis after he took a hit while in combat over Manston.

Over "Hells Corner" another Bf 109 broke away and attempted to return to its base after receiving damage, but the damage was too severe and it had to make a forced landing. This may have been the Bf 109E-1 of Uffz. Heinz Bock of 7./JG 26 who force-landed his machine with engine damage near Rye.

RAF No.501 Sqd took on some Bf 109s over Ashford but were not as lucky as RAF No.41 Sqd. 501 Squadron was to lose two Hurricanes in this engagement while claiming one victory. One of them was Sgt J.H. Lacey who managed to bale out of his stricken aircraft, while the other was Sgt E.J. Egan who went down with his Hurricane that had burst into flames. One of the Luftwaffe victors was Hptm. Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke of Stab III./JG 53 who claimed a Hurricane over Ashford. Hptm. Eduard Neumann of Stab I./JG 27 claimed two Hurricanes over Gatwick. P/O Bennions of RAF No.501 Sqd described their only success of the day:

"After the commencement of the engagement, I found myself about 2,000 feet below a section of 5 Me109s. Two of the Me109s dived down onto me and I evaded by turning sharply right; then one dived away and as I turned to follow three more came down on me. After turning and twisting violently, I spun out and, on pulling out I found that one only had followed me down. I turned to engage and he disappeared into the clouds. I climbed back to 15,000 feet and sighted a loose formation of four Me109s circling. I attacked the rear one from the inside of a left hand turn and, after a short burst, I saw pieces fly off the aircraft, which then rolled over and spun inverted for about 8,000 feet and then dive straight into the ground midway between Canterbury and Herne Bay, near a very large wood."

RAF No.19 Sqd also got into the action and over north Kent was credited with two destroyed Messerschmitts. As it turned out, both were shot down by Sub Lt "Tony" Blake, who as it happens turned out to be the Navy's highest scoring fighter pilot. Oblt. Jakob Stoll of 9./JG 53 went missing in action and with fourteen victories, was presumed dead. The engine of 7./JG 26's Uffz. Karl-Heinz Bock's Messerschmitt seized and he force landed at Rye to become a prisoner of war.

Later at 1800 hours Hurricanes of RAF No. 151 Squadron scrambled from Digby, intercepted a He111.

The usual night raids began to commence at about 2000 hours. London was bombed again along with raids on Liverpool, South Wales, East Anglia, Middlesborough and Glasgow. Mines were dropped in the Thames Estuary and off the coasts of Kent and Suffolk. The first raids were on London where continuous waves of bombers pounded the city. Several He 111s of III./KG 27 returned over London with a midnight raid. Later in the evening, Junkers Ju 88s went on a bombing spree over Merseyside. The Dornier Do 17s of KGr 606 flying out of Brest targeted Liverpool. Again, the bombing was either not accurate or the Germans just dropped their bombs anywhere as long as they were over the city. There were plenty of industrial and dock areas that could be bombed, but the residential areas were also taking a beating and again, many lives were lost. The cities of Newcastle and Durham were also hit, but many houses were damaged and destroyed. Reports of bombs landing in open country were again reported well away from towns and cities. One HE was dropped in a field south of Southbrook Farm and West of Catcote Farm, West Hartlepool. Cattle were grazing in the field with the result that one was seriously injured and another slightly injured. Windows at Southbrook Farm and in adjacent residential property were damaged.

Night raiders use the 1000-kg blast bombs for the first time. Adapted from sea mines these cylindrical objects are about eight feet long and two feet in diameter. Each descends suspended from a 27-foot diameter silk parachute. Thin case and large charge combine to produce a colossal hollow bang, tremendous shock waves and extensive blast damage over a quarter mile radius.

Fireman Harry Errington (b. 1910) rescued two trapped colleagues after a direct hit on a building which was being used as a shelter by auxiliary firemen. (George Cross).

Photo: A wide view of the bomb-damaged shell of the John Lewis department store on London's Oxford Street, following an air raid in September 1940.




Germany

Because it appears unlikely that the Luftwaffe will gain air superiority over England before winter weather restricts operations, Hitler decides to postpone Operation Seelöwe. Hitler postponed the invasion via order Nr. 00 761/40 g. Kdos., ordering that no new barges would arrive, but those that were already there (1700 barges and 200 ships, capable of carrying 500,000 men) would remain. By the time he comes to reconsider the chance will have been lost. Nevertheless Hitler still has his shipbuilding industry working on invasion barges and trawlers rather than capital ships such as the battleship “Tirpitz” and the desperately needed new and repaired U-boats. Hermann Göring was allowed to continue the aerial attacks on Britain. British intelligence would continue to think that a German invasion was still probable. As a result, Churchill announced to the Parliament on this date that the next few weeks would be "grave and anxious". Churchill also announced that 2,000 civilians were killed and 8,000 were wounded during the Blitz thus far.

General Paulus, the Deputy Chief of the Army General Staff, presents a further plan for the attack on the Soviet Union. This version envisages three thrusts for Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev, but the emphasis is still on the central advance to the Soviet capital. Further consideration over the coming weeks confirms to the General Staff that this priority is correct.

Battleship “Bismarck” exited the Kiel Canal at 1448 hours, then arrived at Scheerhafen, Kiel.

Asia

Franco-Japanese negotiations for Indochina re-opened. The Japanese increased their demands and openly threatened France with military action.

Western Front

The German invasion flotillas are attacked during the night by RAF Bomber Command and a fair degree of damage is done.

North Africa

Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham’s taskforce arrives in the British colony of Freetown, Sierra Leone.

British Swordfish torpedo bombers from carrier HMS “Illustrious” escorted by the battleship “Valiant”, attacked the port of Benghazi, Libya, bombing shipping and laying mines. 9 aircraft from 815 Squadron bomb shipping while 6 aircraft from 819 Squadron lay mines in the harbour. Italian destroyer "Aquilone" hits a mine and sinks. Italian destroyer “Borea” was sunk by torpedoes. Italian merchant ships “Gloria Stella” and “Maria Eugenia” were also sunk. British cruiser HMS “Kent” is detached from the force while returning to Alexandria in order to shell Bardia was damaged by a torpedo launched by an Italian aircraft at 1155 hours, killing 31.

British destroyers HMS “Janus” and HMS “Juno” departed Alexandria, Egypt and bombarded Italian positions at Sidi Barrani, Egypt at 1100 hours. At 1130 hours, British gunboat HMS “Ladybird” bombarded the coastal highway near Sollum, Egypt. The coastal road is critical to the Italian supply lines.

Vichy French Toulon task force reinforced by the Dakar naval squadron departs for Libreville, Gabon; Douala, Cameroon and Pointe Noire, Congo with orders to reestablish Vichy authority in French Equatorial Africa.

Atlantic Ocean

German submarine U-48 attacked British passenger liner “City of Benares” 400 miles west of Scotland. “City of Benares” was evacuating 90 British children and their families to Canada but this fact was unknown to the German captain. Both torpedoes missed and U-48 would continue to stalk her prey.

200 miles West of the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, U-65 and U-99 each sink a British steamer in convoy HX-71 from Halifax, Nova Scotia. German submarines U-99 sank British ship “Crown Arun” 200 miles west of the Isle of Lewis, Scotland at 0832 hours. The entire crew of 25 were rescued by destroyer HMS “Winchelsea”. German submarines U-65 sank British ship “Tregenna” of Allied convoy HX-71 at 1626 hours; 33 were killed and 4 were rescued by British ship “Filleigh”.

Day 385 of World War II, September 19th 1940

Battle of Britain

Heavy cloud was expected to continue throughout the day and rain periods, heavy at times was expected over most of Britain. The Channel areas could expect a very low cloud base with early morning fog and mist patches in coastal districts. Ironically, it was not on the south coast that the first attacks of the day occurred. A small formation made a surprise attack on Liverpool. No serious damage was done as most of the German aircraft were flying in singly or in pairs. Later in the morning, a number of Ju 88s were heading towards London. These were met by RAF No.249 Sqd (Hurricanes) and RAF No.302 Sqd (Hurricanes) over north Kent. The Ju 88s scattered and were turned back with one of the bombers being shot down by F/O J. Kowalski of RAF No.302 Sqd at 1130 hours and it crashed near Bury St Edmunds. Another was to sustain engine damage and crash landed near Cambridge.

During the rest of the day, the Luftwaffe made a number of reconnaissance flights over the Channel and off the English east coast over the North Sea. One of the aircraft, a Ju 88 was spotted crossing the coast near Harwich at 1045 hours and was soon intercepted by British fighters and it crashed on the coast near Orfordness. Everything was rather quiet up until 1600 hours when radar picked up small blips off the coast near Swanage.

RAF No.152 Sqd consisting of two Spitfires, was scrambled from Warmwell. Not long afterwards a bomber was sighted over the Channel. The German plane, a Ju 88, disappeared into the murk but moments later it reappeared about two miles in front. The squadron closed in, making alternate quarter attacks from left and right, aiming first at the gunners positions and then at each engine. The Ju 88 was badly battered and it dived into the sea. This downed Ju 88 was probably one from 1./KG 51 that was recorded as being shot down by British fighters off Britain's south coast, although the cause of crash was stated to be "Cause Unknown". Those killed were Obfw. Luckard and Uffz. Henker while Fw. Walter and Gefr. Roeder were listed as missing.

Across the Channel, the Germans were busy during the day cleaning up the Channel ports from Calais to Antwerp after Wellingtons, Hampdens and Whitleys unleashed another successful night attack on the barges during the night of the 18th/19th September. It was the biggest operation yet by Bomber Command on the barge installations when 194 bombers were involved. Of these, 187 crews reported that their mission was successful. The German invasion fleet started to pull out of the Channel ports to avoid further damage from Bomber Command.

Inclement weather conditions in the evening, curtailed many German operations although scattered attacks did occur. Mine laying continued along the coastline, Northumberland and County Durham were bombed although no serious damage was reported. Liverpool prepared for night raids and many sirens sounded, but it appears that German aircraft kept well out into the Irish Sea as no attack was made on the city. A formation of German bombers was detected off the Welsh coast at 1950 hours and appeared to be heading for the port of Liverpool, but they were lost and there was no record of them reaching Liverpool. The London area came under warning signals at 1955 hours and a number of separate raids on the capital commenced at 2100 hours, and damage was done at Heston aerodrome in Middlesex when bombs destroyed a hangar and a number of buildings. Thirteen aircraft were damaged, some seriously. These included Spitfires of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, a Wellington bomber that was 'just visiting' and the famous Lockheed 12A that was used by the famous war photographer Sidney Cotton. In London, a bomb exploded at the entrance to a large air raid shelter in the borough of Tottenham and estimates put the casualty count at about seventy. Bombs fell at Edmonton, Golders Green and Willesden, but damage was not serious. By 2100 hours, much of the heavy cloud cover either thinned out or cleared, especially in the North Wales and north west coast of England and a number of German aircraft were spotted. Most came under AA gunfire, but there were no reports of any of the bombers being brought down.

The weather seriously hampered Bomber Commands operations. Only a handful of Blenheims left for a raid on Dunkirk Harbour bombing German shipping and buildings.

In general, it was a day of spasmodic and scattered raids, quite often only consisting of a single German bomber. It was just the second time during the battle that Fighter Command did not suffer any casualties with the exception that one aircraft of RAF No.257 Sqd suffered engine failure while on convoy patrol but landed safely. But the Luftwaffe did sustain a number of casualties. Excluding about six Luftwaffe bombers that crashed on landing on internal flights or crashed on take off, there were a number of them that crashed after being involved in operations against the RAF. One Ju 88 of 4(F)/121 had to make a forced landing at Oakington aerodrome due to engine failure while on a photo-reconnaissance flight and was involved with British fighters and its crew captured. Another Ju 88 of 5(F)/122 was involved in a British fighter attack and had to return to base carrying one dead and one seriously injured crewmember. A Do17 of 7./KG 2 was attacked by Spitfires over southern England and although it managed to return to France it crashed. Another Do17 of 2./KG 3 was believed to have suffered damage from AA gunfire and crashed on landing causing minor damage to the aircraft. 3./KG 55 also lost a He 111 to anti-aircraft fire during the raid on London and it crashed in Essex. A Ju 88 was shot down by fighters over London with all the crew either killed or missing. A He 111 of 4./KG 4 was pursued by Hurricanes over the Thames Estuary and was last seen heading out towards the North Sea and was presumed to have crashed into the sea. The crew of a He111 were captured after their aircraft was brought down by AA gunfire near Bishops Stortford in Herefordshire.

RAF No. 71 was formed at RAF Church Fenton with Brewster Buffalos. These were unsuitable for European conditions and Hawker Hurricanes replaced them from November. The RAF picked an Englishman, W. M. Churchill, to be Squadron Leader. The squadron became operational at RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey on 5 February 1941 but moved in April to RAF Martlesham Heath. The squadron's first confirmed victory came on 21 July 1941 during a bomber escort mission when Pilot Officer Dunn destroyed a Bf 109F over Lille.

Photo: German invasion barges waiting at Boulogne Harbour, France



German Government

Hitler formally announced that "under the present circumstances it is not possible to contemplate any invasion plans against England" and ordered the assembly of the invasion fleet to be stopped, and the shipping in the Channel ports to be dispersed "so that the loss of shipping space caused by enemy air attacks may be reduced to a minimum". The invasion was now postponed indefinitely and there would be no further discussion on the matter until the spring when the weather conditions would more suited to any implementation of an invasion. Plans were put into place where the majority of German troops, that had been placed in readiness for an invasion of Britain, were now given fresh orders and were posted to alternative fronts. Most of them were to go to the east in preparation for "Operation Barbarossa" that was to take place the following year, some had been sent to Crete while the remaining troops dismantled all the barges at the various ports along the Channel coast.

Of course this news did not reach Britain, as they remained unaware of the situation. But what was making news in Germany, was the headlines in most of the German newspapers. They accused RAF Bomber Command of murdering twenty-one deficient children at Bethel and stated that this bloody act was cause for revenge. Yet these same newspapers drowned in their own glee in reporting that German bombers had attacked London with devastating results killing thousands of civilians which included hundreds of children. Another newspaper, The Diplo stated that Germany was waging war with clean weapons and in a chivalrous manner.

But although all plans now had been postponed, that was not say that hostilities against Britain were to cease. Air attacks were to continue, especially at night. The regular daylight sortie was still to occur which kept Fighter Command busy, but the continuous bombing of British cities and towns was to achieve nothing, except that Hitler hoped that it would demoralize the people. But in actual effect it had the opposite. The more the Luftwaffe bombed Britain, the stronger the people became.

Photo: A Panzer III Tauchpanzer under test



Battle of the Atlantic

First successful U-boat Wolf-pack operation: three of the 'ace' commanders - Schepke (U-100), Prien (U-47) and Kretschmer (U-99) - scatter Convoy HX.72 in the Northwestern Approaches and sink ships over the course of a three day period. Altogether 12 ships of 78,000 tons are sunk, seven of them during the night of September 20-22 by Schepke's U-100 without him even being detected by the convoy escorts.

German submarine U-A sank Panamanian collier “Tuira” 400 miles west of Ireland at 0027 hours, killing 2. German submarine U-46 torpedoed and damaged Greek ship “Leonidas M. Valmas” 50 miles northwest of Ireland at 2150 hours. She would not sink due to its cargo of wood, but 16 crew members died in the fire; 2 survivors were rescued by British destroyer HMS “Arrow”. 10 miles north of Malin Head, Ireland, German submarine U-138 fired three torpedoes at Allied convoy OB-216 between 2120 and 2126 hours; all three torpedoes hit, sinking Yugoslavian collier “Boka” was sunk (8 killed, 26 survived) and British passenger liner “City of Simla” (3 killed, 182 crew and 165 passengers survived); British whale factory ship “New Sevilla” was damaged but would remain afloat until the next day (2 killed, 282 survived).

Battle of the Indian Ocean

German armed merchant cruiser “Atlantis” sank French passenger liner “Commissaire Ramel” in the Indian Ocean about halfway between Madagascar and Australia, killing 3. 63 crew members, mostly Australians, were imprisoned aboard “Atlantis”. Fregattenkapitän Rogge of Atlantis had wanted to transfer his 230 prisoners to “Commissaire Ramel” and send the French ship back to German as a prize ship, but situation did not allow him to do so. On the same day, the British Royal Navy formed a task force composed of Australian cruiser HMAS “Canberra”, Australian armed merchant cruiser “Westralia”, British cruiser HMS “Capetown”, and British cruiser HMS “Durban” to find and sink “Atlantis”.

Asia

During the Imperial Conference, Prince Hiroyasu of Fushimi expressed concerns regarding the alliance between Japan and Germany.



Japan notifies Indochina that their forces would cross the border.

Day 387 of World War II, September 21st 1940

YouTube (The Brits teach the Germans to bugger off!)



Battle of Britain

Early morning dawned with cloudless skies with no sign of the Luftwaffe and it was to remain that way for most of the day. Radar picked up an occasional aircraft, but these were believed to be on reconnaissance flights as they kept clear of the English coast. This was to be one of the quietest days of the battle, with more action being seen behind the scenes than in the air. But just as the Battle of Britain in the air seemed to be slowing down, so was the possibility of any German invasion for at least this year. Now, almost into the month of October, the days would be becoming shorter, the weather would soon deteriorate with the waters of the Channel becoming rougher and the signs from the German held Channel ports indicated that Bomber Command had all but destroyed any hope of the German infantry using the ports as a dispersal point for the Channel crossing.

In general, this was an exceptionally quiet day. Small nuisance raids by small formations of German aircraft had attacked both Kenley and Biggin Hill aerodromes but these were thwarted by fighters from Kenley, Biggin Hill and Croydon. The Hawker Aircraft Factory was bombed and machine-gunned at 0833 hours by a Ju 88 of LG 1. The boiler house was hit and unexploded bombs were in the dope shop and main shop. The effect on production was small and only slight casualties were reported. Small raids were made against targets at Weybridge, Ramsgate and Rye and many more reconnaissance flights across southern England. The only large raid during daylight materialized at about 1800 hours when over 200 aircraft crossed the coast in several waves and made for the airfields south of London. All five squadrons of the 'Duxford Wing' were scrambled along with Spitfires of RAF No. 41, 72, 92 and 603 Squadrons and Hurricanes of RAF No. 253 and 501 Squadrons to intercept the raid.

RAF No.238 Sqd accounted for one aircraft destroyed, a Ju 88 near Tangmere just before 1500 hours, while the Spitfires of RAF No.602 and RAF No.611 Squadrons accounted for one each destroyed. One of the Do17s damaged by RAF No.802 Sqd managed to get back to the French coast, but was to crash land at Landerneau, killing all on board. Major Galland, the Kommodore of JG 26, gained the Luftwaffe's only success, a Spitfire west of Ashford from RAF No. 92 Sqd which force-landed near Hildenborough. It was his thirty-seventh victory.

The usual night raids continued on London and Liverpool which was now becoming a regular occurrence. Bombing was again chiefly directed against the East End and the Dock areas where very serious fires resulted. Although the East End of London still came under constant bombardment, other targets in and around London were now being hit. Grand Union Canal was bombed at 1030 hours and the explosion cracked the wall of Limehouse Cut and also damaged part of a warehouse. Liverpool and adjoining areas were also the scenes of bombing resulting in several fires. Mines were dropped in the Thames Estuary, off the Yorkshire coast, in the Tyne area and off the East coast of Scotland. The raids dropped a mine on Hornchurch's landing ground which failed to explode, seriously damaged Bethnal Green medical works and started a fire in Howard's Timber Yard, Poplar, attended by 80 pumps.

A parachute mine that delivered itself into central Ipswich could not be defused and had to be blown in-situ. The controlled explosion produced a crater 50 feet wide and 25 feet deep, demolished 70 houses, damaged 750 and broke windows 650 yards away.

Lt. John MacMillan Stevenson Patton (b. 1915), Royal Canadian Engineers, towed a bomb from an aircraft factory to a bomb crater, where it went off harmlessly. (George Cross). Lt-Cdr Richard John Hammersley Ryan (b. 1903) and his assistant, CPO Reginald Vincent Ellingworth (b. 1898), who had shared many dangerous assignments, were killed when a sensitive magnetic mine, which was dangling from a parachute in a warehouse, went off as they tackled it. (George Cross for both). Mr. Leonard John Miles, ARP, saved several lives when he left his air-raid shelter to warn others nearby of an unexploded bomb. He was fatally wounded when it went off. (George Cross).

Photo: The Palace of Westminster silhouetted against light from fires caused by bombings.



United Kingdom

The British government officially sanctioned the usage of the Tube underground rail stations as air raid shelters, though this usage had already been in place for some time; many stations had already been equipped with first aid stations, food canteens, bunks, and toilets. The Tube tunnel near the Aldwych branch of the Piccadilly Line was reinforced with concrete and was used to store antiques and artifacts from the British Museum such as the Elgin Marbles.

Western Front

Over the past 17 days, British aircraft have sunk 12.5 percent of 1865 German transport vessels preparing for an invasion of England. The German invasion fleet in Channel ports now totals 155 steamers, 1,277 barges, 471 tugs and 1,161 motor boats.

Atlantic ocean

German submarine U-138 attacked Allied convoy OB-216 10 miles off Malin Head, Ireland at 0227 hours, damaging British ship “Empire Adventure”, killing 21. “Empire Adventure” was taken in tow, but would sink on 23 Sep.

Convoy HX-72 (41 merchant ships from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Britain, protected by 4 Royal Navy destroyers, 1 sloop and 2 corvettes) is mauled by a wolf pack of 9 U-boats, 400 miles West of Ireland. German submarine U-47 detected Allied convoy HX-72 400 miles west of Ireland. With only one torpedo left and seeing so many potential targets, commanding officer of U-47 Günther Prien radioed the finding to eight other German submarines. Between 0312 and 0447 hours, German submarine U-99 sank British tanker “Invershannon” (16 killed, 32 survived), British ship “Baron Blythswood” (entire crew of 34 killed), and British ship “Elmbank” (2 killed, 54 survived). At 0614 hours, German submarine U-48 sank British ship “Blairangus” (6 killed, 28 survived). At 2310 hours, German submarine U-100 sank British ship “Canonesa” (1 killed, 62 survived), British ship “Dalcairn” (entire crew of 48 survived), and British tanker “Torinia” (entire crew of 55 survived). At 2338 hours, U-48 struck again, damaging British ship “Broompark” (1 killed).

North Africa

British carrier HMS “Ark Royal”, battleship HMS “Barham”, battleship HMS “Resolution”, cruiser HMS “Devonshire”, French sloop “Commandant Domine”, French sloop “Commandant Duboc”, and French sloop “Savorgnan De Brazza”, and several destroyers and troop transports departed Freetown, West Africa for Dakar.

South Pacific

In Australia the election results are declared. Menzies remains prime minister. Labor is the largest party in both the House and the Senate but has no overall majority. Also, it is announced that the 9th Australian Division will be raised.