The Hardest Day
Encyclopedia
The Hardest Day was the name of a Second World War
air battle fought during the Battle of Britain
on 18 August 1940, by the Luftwaffe
and British
Royal Air Force
(RAF). By June 1940 the Allies
had been defeated in Western Europe
and Scandinavia
. Rather than come to terms with Germany, Britain rejected all overtures for a negotiated peace resulting in Adolf Hitler
issuing the German armed forces (Wehrmacht
) Directive No. 16
ordering the invasion of the United Kingdom.
The invasion of the United Kingdom was codenamed Operation Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelöwe) however before this could be carried out, air superiority or air supremacy
was required. The Luftwaffe was to destroy the RAF in order to prevent it from attacking the invasion fleet or providing protection to the Royal Navy
's Home Fleet that might attempt to intercept a landing by sea
. Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief, Reichsmarschall
(Empire's Marshal) Hermann Göring
and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe
(High Command of the Air Force) to prepare for the assault.
The primary target was RAF Fighter Command
: the destruction of which, would deny the British their air superiority asset. In July 1940, the Luftwaffe began military operations to destroy the RAF. Throughout July and early August the Germans targeted convoys in the English Channel
and occasionally RAF airfields. On 13 August a major German effort, known as Adlertag (Eagle Day), was made against RAF airfields but failed. The failure did not deter the Germans from persisting with air raids against the RAF or its infrastructure.
On 18 August 1940 the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to severely damage Fighter Command. The air battles that took place on this date were amongst the largest aerial engagements in history at that time. Both sides suffered very heavy losses. The British outperformed the Luftwaffe in the air, achieving a favourable ratio of 2:1. However, a number of RAF aircraft, including around six to eight fighters, were caught and destroyed on the ground, equalling the total losses of both sides. Further large aerial battles would take place, with heavy casualties being suffered, but both sides lost more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign, including Battle of Britain Day
, generally considered the climax of the campaign. For this reason, the air battles of the 18 August 1940 became known as The Hardest Day.
Until the Luftwaffe was ready to begin operations over the mainland, the first phase of the German air offensive targeted British shipping in the Channel. The raids rarely involved attacks against RAF airfields inland, but encouraged RAF units to engage in battle by attacking British Channel convoys. These operations would last from 10 July to 8 August 1940. The attacks against shipping were not very successful, and only 24,500 Grt was sunk. Mine laying from aircraft had proved more profitable, sinking 38,000 tons. The impact on Fighter Command was minimal. It had lost 74 fighter pilots killed or missing and 48 wounded in July but British strength rose to 1,429 by 3 August. By that date, it was only short of 124 pilots. Still, the attacks succeeded in forcing the British to abandon the Channel convoy route and to redirect shipping to ports in north-eastern Britain. With this achieved the Luftwaffe began the second phase of its air offensive, attacking RAF airfields and supporting structures on the British mainland.
The first major raid inland and against RAF airfields came on 12 August and the Luftwaffe quickly escalated its offensive. The Germans did not achieve a degree of success commensurate with their exertions on this date. Nevertheless, in the belief they were having considerable effect on Fighter Command, they prepared to launch their all-out assault on the RAF the following day. By 13 August, German air strength had reached acceptable levels. After bringing its serviceable rates up, the Luftwaffe carried out heavy attacks under the codename Adlertag (or Eagle Day) with 71 per cent of its bomber force, 85 per cent of its Bf 109 units, and 83 per cent of its Bf 110 units operational. The day went badly for the Germans, who failed to impair Fighter Command and its bases or command and control system. The failure was due in large part to poor intelligence which failed to identify Fighter Command airfields and distinguish them from Bomber and Coastal Commands. Still, the Germans pursued their strategy against Fighter Command on 15 August, suffering 76 losses. Undeterred, they prepared to make another large-scale attack on RAF bases on 18 August. The month of August would witness an escalation in air combat as the Germans made a concentrated effort against Fighter Command.
German intelligence suggested that the RAF was down to just 300 serviceable fighters on 17 August 1940, taking into consideration German pilots' claims and their estimates of British production capabilities. In fact there were 855 machines serviceable with 289 at storage units and another 84 at training units. This gave a total of 1,438 fighters, twice as many as at the beginning of July 1940. Expecting weakening opposition, the Luftwaffe prepared for a major action against RAF Sector Stations on the 18 August.
The Luftwaffes plan of attack was simple. German bombers were to strike at the RAF airfields situated in the south-east corner of England. The most important airfields in this region, under the command of AOC (Air Officer Commanding) Keith Park
and his No. 11 Group RAF
, were the Sector Stations at RAF Kenley
, Biggin Hill, Hornchurch
, North Weald, Northolt
, Tangmere
and Debden
. The first five were on the periphery of Greater London
. Tangmere was in the south near the coast at Chichester
; Debden was in the north near Saffron Walden
. Each of these airfields housed two to three squadrons and had its own sector operations room. From there its fighters were directed from its satellite airfields into combat. There were six satellite airfields at Westhampnett
, Croydon, Gravesend
, Manston
, Rochford and RAF Martlesham Heath
; Manston and Martlesham Heath each housed two squadrons, the remainder each housed one. Finally, there was RAF Hawkinge
, just inland from Folkestone
. Not all of these airfields were targeted on 18 August.
Despite the failure of Adlertag and considerable loss rates on the 15, 16 and 17 August, Kesselring convinced Göring that the only sound strategy was to continue to send heavily escorted bombers to destroy British airfields. Kesselring also advocated the use of Jagdgeschwader (Fighter Wings) in free-chase tactics. Messerschmitt Bf 109
single-engine fighters were to be sent out in advance of the main raids to force the British fighter forces into large-scale air battles which, in theory, would destroy RAF aircraft in combat and deplete British defences. However, this time, Kesselring changed his operational methods. In consultation with Hugo Sperrle
, commanding Luftflotte 3
(Air Fleet 3), he chose not to scatter his effort against a large amount of targets. Instead, he narrowed down the targets into a short list in order to concentrate his strength and strike power against worthy targets. Sector stations RAF Kenley, North Weald, Hornchurch and Biggin Hill were the prime targets.
s were used, they would be fighting at the limits of their range.
It was also doubted that fast fighter aircraft could engage in dogfight
s. The g-force
effect on the human body also seemed to suggest the prospect of air-to-air combat between fighters was impractical anyway. The threat they saw related only to the return-fire of the bomber's gunners. Before the war the effectiveness of return, or cross-fire, from bombers had been exaggerated by the Air Staff and Air Ministry
.
This short-sighted belief had a detrimental impact on the tactical effectiveness of RAF Fighter Command until the summer, 1940. With German bombers perceived as the only prey, AOC Fighter Command Hugh Dowding and his planners devised a system and tactics which used unwieldy and tight fighter formations to bring the RAF fighters into combat with bombers, followed by set-piece tactics for the engagement. Because the bomber's return fire was considered so dangerous, fighter pilots were trained to open fire at long range, 300 to 400 yards, then break away without closing to short-range. These tactics, practised so thoroughly over the years, proved totally useless to the battle situation facing them over Britain in 1940.
The tactics were unsuitable for fighter-versus-fighter combat. Packed in tight formation, the RAF pilots were more concerned with keeping their position and not colliding with each other than they were keeping watch for the enemy. It made them vulnerable to surprise attacks by Bf 109s and Bf 110s. Even if the British fighters reached the bombers without interception, the chaos of modern aerial combat made it impossible to concentrate attacks with large, rigid formations. Pilots were also forced into paying far too much respect to the bomber's defensive capabilities. Attacks were broken off far too early and caused little damage to bombers. These tactical failures were evident during the battles in Belgium
and France
. Moreover, rushed training with pilots who were barely able to use the old tactical methods meant that airmen could not cope with much needed radical changes.
The V formation was developed in June, which made a greater emphasis on each pilot looking for the enemy, search capability and avoiding being taken by surprise. Still, it was inferior to German fighter tactics.
German fighter tactics were more flexible. In the Spanish Civil War
, Werner Mölders
developed a new system of fighter tactics. The primary deployment was to use large numbers of Bf 109s on free-hunting missions, or sweeps, over the battle area. Instead of flying the standard V formation, used by many air forces, the Germans paired their fighters into Rotte. It consisted of two fighters; a pilot and his wingman 200 yards abreast. Flying this way meant each could cover the others blind spots. If an enemy made an attack, the other could move in behind it to protect the other Rotte member. The Rotte could be expanded into a Schwarm (Swarm or Flight). The formation was eventually given the name "Finger-four
". It offered maximum protection and all members of a Schwarm were on the lookout for threats and targets.
By the summer, 1940, the Chain Home radar stations along the English and Scottish
coasts was able to track incoming aircraft from continental Europe at all but the lowest altitudes. The best detection altitude was 20,000 feet. Aircraft at this height could be detected over 100 miles away. To assess their identity, IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) could, by means of a distinctive blip on radar screens, distinguish German and British aircraft.
The radar technology was not flawless. It struggled to gauge heights of incoming formations above 25,000 feet and could not measure their numerical strength. It could also take several minutes to assess the line of advance for aircraft on a zigzag course. Moreover, the radar looked out to sea and was unable to track aircraft overland. That was the job of the Royal Observer Corps
. Tens of thousands of volunteers, the length and breadth of Britain tracked the German formations over land. They were connected to Sector airfields by landline and could communicate intelligence in real time.
The detection and interception of incoming raids was as follows:
Most of the heavy artillery defences were located around London
and the Thames Estuary
. Others concentrated around Dover
, Folkestone
, Harwich
, Ipswich
, Portsmouth
and Southampton
docks.
For low-level defence the Bofors 40 mm was used which had a rate of fire around 120 rounds a minute. The two pound shells were highly effective against low flying aircraft, capable of blowing a hole big enough for a man to fit through. However, there were only a few to go around. More than twice as many were needed to protect RAF Kenley and Biggin Hill. To make up the difference 3 inch guns, firing over open sights from 1918 were used. They could fire only 15 rounds per minute.
However there was an unusual defence weapon that had been designed for use at Kenley on 18 August; the parachute-and-cable. On the north side of the airfield at 60-foot intervals they were fired vertically upwards by a rocket in salvoes of nine or more. As enemy aircraft came in at low-altitude the parachute device deployed and held a 480-foot long steel cable from an altitude of 600 feet. An enemy aircraft would hopefully fly through it. If it struck, the second parachute deployed and the unfortunate victim was left towing away the contraption. If the cable was picked up on the wing, there was a good chance that the aircraft would go down out of control. This device had not been used before 18 August 1940. To support them, Barrage balloon
s with cutting cables capable of tearing off bombers' wings were also used.
, Albert Kesselring commanding Luftflotte 2
(Air Fleet 2) directed the Geschwader (Wings) under his command to carry out attacks on targets Nos. 1017 and 10118 in the Luftwaffe catalogue; Biggin Hill and Kenley. Biggin Hill was handed over to KG 1 which was to send 60 Heinkel He 111
s from its base in Amiens
to conduct a high-level attack. RAF Kenley was the responsibility of KG 76 based in airfields to the north of Paris
. The Kampfgeschwader
(Bomber Wing) consisted of a mixed formation of 48 Dornier Do 17
s and Junkers Ju 88
s. The force attacking Kenley was smaller numerically than the one hitting Biggin Hill and the Ju 88 and Do 17 carried only two-thirds the bomb-load of a He 111. The planners reasoned a more accurate low-level strike carried out by a staffel from KG 76 would compensate for the weaker firepower of KG 76s main formations. Fighter escort was provided by Jagdgeschwader 3
(JG 3), Jagdgeschwader 26
(JG 26), Jagdgeschwader 51
(JG 51), Jagdgeschwader 52
(JG 52), Jagdgeschwader 54
(JG 54) and Zerstörergeschwader 26
(ZG 26). The Jagdgeschwader would carry out free-hunting and close escort from bases in the Pas-de-Calais.
Both of these airfields contained Sector Operations rooms from which the British fighters were directed into action. These airfields were selected by the Luftwaffe because they were the largest ones known to be operating RAF fighters. The German intelligence had no knowledge of the Sector Operations rooms there. The rooms were above ground and had little protection. If those poorly protected buildings could be hit, and those inside killed or wounded, it would be a serious blow to the control system in the region.
At their airfield at Cormeilles-en-Vexin, 9 Staffel (Squadron) KG 76 were briefed by their commander Hauptmann
(Captain) Joachim Roth. The Staffel was to conduct a low-level attack against Kenley with Roth flying as a navigator in the lead aircraft. The unit had specialised in low-level attacks in France with great success. The nine Do 17s were to head across the Channel and make landfall at Beachy Head
. From there they were to follow the Brighton
-London rail line north-east to the target area. The crews were ordered to concentrate their attacks against buildings and hangars on the southern end of the airfield.
The Dorniers were to carry twenty 110-lb bombs each fitted with a fuse that would allow for function if released from 50 feet or higher; the type of bomb previously used by the Staffel had to release from twice this height, making the unit's Do 17s correspondingly more vulnerable to ground fire.
The attack was to be part of a coordinated pincer movement against the airfields. Ju 88s from II./KG 76 were to dive-bomb buildings and hangars from high-altitude first. Five minutes later, 27 Do 17s from I. and II./KG 76 would level-bomb from high altitude to crater the runways and landing grounds while knocking out its defences. 9 Staffel KG 76, the specialist low-level strike unit, would go in and finish off any buildings still standing. It was a bold and imaginative plan. If it worked, it would wreck Kenley from end-to-end. The high-flying bombers would have full fighter escort but the low-flying bombers would have to use stealth to avoid interception to and from the target area. The operation began at 09:00 but was postponed because of heavy haze reducing visibility up to 4,000 feet.
In the intermediate time, a few skirmishes took place between RAF fighters and German reconnaissance aircraft. A Lehrgeschwader 2
(LG 2) Bf 110 was shot down in the morning. At 11:00 KG 1's formations took off and the main formations headed out to sea. The form-up was more difficult for KG 76 and its Do 17s and Ju 88s. Their bases in and around Calais
were covered in 8/10ths cloud cover with a base of 6,500 feet which reached to 10,000 feet. As the bombers climbed through the haze the formation soon lost cohesion. Valuable time was lost as they reformed. Unfortunately the Do 17s of I. and III./KG 76 had overtaken the III./KG 76 Ju 88s which should have been ahead of them by five minutes. These delay would have serious consequences for 9 Staffel KG 76.
Meanwhile Gerhard Schöpfel
, leading III./JG 26 and Bf 109s from JG 3, 40 in total, were already crossing the Dover straights to sweep the skies clear of the main raid. Some 25 miles behind him were the 27 Do 17s of I. and III./KG 76 escorted by 20 Bf 110s that were to strike Kenley. Close by the Dorniers were the Ju 88s of III./KG 76 escorted by Bf 109s from JG 51. This formation should have been 15 miles in front. Some 15 miles to the rear of the Ju88s, KG 1's He 111s were bound for Biggin Hill, escorted by 40 Bf 109s from JG 54. The formations were moving at around three miles per minute, at 12,000 feet. Around 50 miles to the south-west, the nine Do 17s of 9 Staffel were at wave-top height, half way between Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
and Beachy Head, intent on sneaking under British radar beams unobserved. Altogether, the raiding force contained 108 bombers and 150 fighters.
At RAF Uxbridge
, AOC No. 11 Group RAF
Keith Park
and his controllers directed No. 501 Squadron RAF
and its 12 Hawker Hurricane
s, already in the air, to Canterbury
at 20,000 feet. They had been on their way back to RAF Gravesend
having spent most of the morning on patrol operating from RAF Hawkinge
near Folkestone
. Within minutes eight more Squadrons were dispatched to meet them; two from Kenley, two from Biggin Hill and one each from North Weald, Martlesham, Heath, Manston and Rochford.
Within a short time the fighters assigned to engage were all airborne. Five Squadrons; No. 17, No. 54, No. 56
, No. 65
, and 501 with 17 Supermarine Spitfire
s and 36 Hurricanes were moving to patrol the Canterbury-Margate
line to block any attack on the Thames Estuary
ports of the airfields to the north of it. Four Squadrons; No. 32, No. 64
, No. 601
, and No. 615
, with 23 Spitfires and 27 Hurricanes went into position above Kenley and Biggin Hill. A total of 97 RAF fighters were to meet the attack.
Park did not send all of his forces aloft, and he held a reserve. Three Squadrons at RAF Tangmere
were kept and made ready to meet more attacks from the south. Six more were in reserve to meet a possible follow-up to the coming raid.
As the advance led by Gerhard Schöpfel made their way past the coast it spotted the vic-formation of RAF fighters. They were Hurricanes of 501 Squadron which were conducting wide spirals to gain height. Schöpfel bounced them and shot down four in two minutes killing one pilot and wounding three others. As he departed other members of his Geschwader (Wing) dived on the Squadron and an inconclusive dogfight ensued. Schöpfel's victims were Donald McKay and Pilot Officer
s J.W Bland, Kenneth Lee and F. Kozlowski. Bland was the only one killed.
Both the Do 17s and Ju 88s of the III./KG 76 were engaged by AAA defences as they crossed Dover. The Do 17s were escorted by ZG 26 while III./JG 51 led by Hannes Trautloft
escorted the Ju 88s. Trautloft remarked on the impressive numerical strength of the German formations. Fortunately the German bombers had flown too far east of Canterbury and thus avoided the main concentration of fighters on the Canterbury-Margate line. At 13:01 they passed over Ashford
and had a clear 40 mile run before they reached Biggin Hill and its four defending Squadrons.
As 9 Staffel crossed the coast they were fired at by Royal Navy
patrol boats. The machine gun
fire was ineffective. However, the Royal Observer Corps
Post K3, situated on top of Beach Head, spotted the Dorniers. They immediately telephoned a warning to Observer Group Headquarters at Horsham
and fighter sector stations in the area, including RAF Kenley. Wing Commander
Thomas Prickman, the station commander at Kenley, noticed the low-flying Dornier plot appear on his situation map. They appeared to be heading away towards the west, and was unsure of their target. His controllers were organising Nos. 64 and 615 Squadrons to meet the high-altitude raid. Roth headed past Lewes
until he picked up the rail line, Brighton-London. He then turned north-west.
With the Observer Corps passing a steady stream of reports regarding approaching German formations they soon realised a coordinated attack was underway. The two Squadrons approaching the high-altitude attack could not be diverted and no fighters had been asked to engage the 9 Staffel. The only Squadron on the ground in the area was No. 111 Squadron RAF
that had 12 Hurricanes at RAF Croydon. Although usually the responsibility of Park, the controllers took the matter into their own hands and ordered all aircraft into the air. Even those that were not in combat condition were flown north-east, to avoid them being caught on the ground.
No. 111 Squadron managed to get into position above Kenley at 3,000 feet. With luck they could intercept 9 Staffel. Biggin Hill soon took the same precaution of ordering all fighters into the air by order of Group Captain
Richard Grice. At 13:10 the German bombers were within 40 miles of the BBC
high-power transmitter at Hatfield, Hertfordshire
. In accordance with policy, it was shut down to deny the Germans the opportunity to use it as direction-finding beacon and the BBC Home Service
was kicked off air in the process. Using the railway lines, Roth, in the lead Do 17, homed in on Kenley from the south. They were now just six miles away.
Joachim Roth's low-level navigation had been extremely accurate. He had navigated his unit to within two minutes flying time from the target without interception, over unfamiliar enemy territory, on time and exactly on the planned route. But as the Dorniers neared the airfield they noticed that there was no smoke, or signs of damage. They expected to be polishing off a damaged fighter station. As the Germans burst over the airfield the air was suddenly filled with tracer rounds as the Dornier's gunners engaged the Bofors and British AAA defences.
Some of No. 111 Squadron dove onto the Dorniers, but one Hurricane was shot down, either by the Dorniers or British ground fire. Pilot Flight Lieutenant
Stanley Connors was killed. The rest pulled up and away to avoid friendly fire. They flew to the northern edge of the airfield to catch the raiders as they emerged. Two Hurricanes from No. 615 were taking off under the attack.
Within minutes all the Dorniers had been hit. Feldwebel
Johannes Petersen's Do 17 was flying higher than the others. It was hit, and caught fire, but carried on. Günter Unger lined up his Do 17 in order to attack a hangar and released his 20 110-lb bombs before his starboard engine was knocked out. Unteroffizier
(Junior Officer or NCO
) Schumacher watched as three hangars were destroyed by Unger’s bombs. Unger’s Dornier was then was hit by something. It bled black smoke and lost speed. Unger was engaged by No. 111s Harry Newton. Newton was shot down by accurate return fire and bailed out. However, Newton fired a burst of machine gun fire at the Dornier in frustration before leaving the Hurricane. He damaged the Dornier, but Unger flew on. Oberleutnant
(First Lieutenant
) Hermann Magin was lining up a hangar when he was hit and slumped over. The quick reactions of the navigator, 28 year old Wilhelm-Friedrich Illg, saved the crew. He took control and climbed out of the defensive fire before ordering the crew to abandon the aircraft.
As the bombers worked over the airfield, Aircraftman D. Roberts waited for them on the northern boundary with his Parachute-and-cable launchers
. Three Do 17s were heading towards him, climbing slowly. When they were in range he fired the cables. Nine rockets flew upwards. Wilhelm Raab saw the rockets go up. Although he did not understand what they were, he banked the Do 17 to avoid the lines of smoke that may or may not have concealed something. Because the Dornier banked, one of the cables that hit his bomber slid off the wing before the lower parachute had time to deploy. Pilot Petersen's Dornier was not that lucky. Already on fire it ran into the cable which dragged it out of the sky. The Do 17 crashed killing all five crewmen. Oberleutnant Rudolf Lamberty (carrying Joachim Roth) also managed to avoid a collision, but before he could do so fire hit his Dornier destroying the fuel tanks. The bomber caught fire and he was barely able to keep control. Eventually it crash-landed at Leaves Green
in Kent after being shot down by No. 111 Squadron Hurricanes. Roth was killed, but Lamberty survived with burns.
Of the bombers that evaded the defences and No. 111 Squadron, two ditched into the sea and two more crash-landed in France. The German crew was picked up by Kriegsmarine
ships. Out of the nine Do 17s, four were lost, two damaged in crash landings and all were at least damaged. Wilhelm-Friedrich Illg was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
for helping the wounded pilot Hermann Magin guide his Do 17 back home. Magin died of wounds soon after.
For their efforts, 9 Staffel destroyed at least three hangars, hit several other buildings and destroyed eight Hurricanes on the ground. According to other sources, 10 hangars were destroyed, six damaged, the operations room put out of action, and many buildings were destroyed. It would have been worse had the bombs been released higher. A lot of bombs landed horizontally and did not explode on impact. To achieve this level of damage, KG 76 dropped nine tons of bombs. At the end of the day just one hangar was left operational at Kenley. The low-level raid put the airfield out of commission for two hours. In combat, two Hurricanes were shot down by the Dornier's return fire. In return 9 Staffel lost four Do 17s, three slightly damaged and two seriously damaged. Low-level attacks were abandoned after The Hardest Day.
Nos. 610, 615 and 32 Squadrons were guarding the air space near Biggin Hill. Operating at about 25,000 feet they were waiting for the high-altitude force to reach the area. Unfortunately, the German escort fighters had climbed much higher and they were taken by surprise. JG 3's Bf 109s had been flying extended cover for the 12 Ju 88s and 27 Do 17s of KG 76. They spotted No. 615 below them and bounced the RAF fighters. Oberleutnant Lothar Keller and Leutnants Helmut Meckel
and Helmut Landry each destroyed a Hurricane. While 615 had taken grievous losses, it had served an important purpose by keeping the escorting German fighters busy. While they engaged JG 3, Squadron Leader
Michael Crossley led No. 32 Squadron against I. and III./KG 76 bombers without having to worry about enemy fighter aircraft.
ZG 26's Bf 110s were flying near the formation, and tried to offer JG 3 support by intercepting Crossley's fighters but failed. Crossley led a head-on attack and downed one Do 17 while his squadron damaged several others. So close had the RAF fighters pressed home their attacks that the bombers had to move and jink to avoid their fire. It put the bomb-aimers off their aim. The Dorniers were already too close to their targets and the pilots could not realign before the formation was over and passed the aiming point. Having been thwarted from bombing their official targets they aimed for rail tracks to the north and east of the airfield. Some of the unit targeted RAF Croydon, three miles north-west of Biggin Hill. Others turned around without releasing their bombs. The crews that bombed the rail lines found they were a difficult target to hit at 15,000 feet. Some released their bombs at intervals in the hope of hitting their targets, however some bombs fell on residential property.
Crossley attempted a second pass on the bombers soon after. This time, the Bf 110s succeeded in getting in between the bombers and 32 Squadron. One Bf 110 was damaged while their gunners shot down and wounded Flight Lieutenant 'Humph' Russell. Seconds later, No. 64 Squadron's eight Spitfires turned up, led by Squadron Leader Donald MacDonell. They dived on the Dorniers from high-altitude. Some of the Squadron, including MacDonell himself were attacked the Bf 110s, believing them to be Dorniers. MacDonell damaged a Bf 110 flown by Ruediger. Proske crash-landed as was taken prisoner. Several confusing dogfights broke out and lasted for some time.
The Ju 88s arrived over the target at Kenley to find a smoke pall hanging over the target. It was impossible to begin dive-bombing attacks under those conditions. Given the amount of damage to Kenley, it also seemed unnecessary to the bomber crews. As they were deciding what action to take, they were attacked. The Bf 109s led by Hannes Trautloft
had a difficult job of defending the Ju 88s. After passing Biggin Hill on their way to RAF West Malling
British AAA fire began targeting the formation. One Ju 88 was hit, and Trautloft gave it special protection. As he manoeuvred himself into position, the formation was jumped by Spitfires and Hurricanes. One Ju 88 was lost to 32 Squadron's Pilot Officer
Boleslaw Wlasnowolski. As they attack began, the Ju 88s turned to West Malling, and began dive-bombing attacks as an alternate target.
KG 1, meanwhile, had a clear run to its target. The battles with KG 76 had drawn in four of the five RAF Squadrons. Still, the British sent No. 615 Squadron and its 15 Spitfires to deal with KG 1. They were confronted with a large number of Bf 109s from JG 54, escorting the He 111s. The German fighters successfully defended their charges and the RAF fighters could not break through to the bombers, which were flying in stepped-up waves from 12 to 15,000 feet. Most of the German bomber crews noted the absence of fighter opposition and speculated that the RAF might be at the end of its tether. Most of the personnel at Biggin Hill had time to take cover before the bombers arrived. KG 1 lost only one He 111 and one another damaged but failed to damage Biggin Hill. It is likely the losses sustained by KG 1 were inflicted by Spitfires from No. 65 Squadron RAF
which stumbled across of their He 111s while 615 and JG 54 were locked in combat.
Thus far, the German fighters had performed well, but now it came to the most difficult part of the operation: withdrawing under attack. The German fighters were low on fuel and could only do so much to protect the bombers. Damaged stragglers lagged behind the main bomber streams and were easy prey for RAF fighters if they could be found. The four German raiding formations were all heading in different directions by 13:30: 9 Staffel were well clear to the south, heading back over Beachy Head; KG 1 were completing their bomb run while the Spitfires of 610 were being held at arms length by JG 54 Bf 109s; the Ju 88s of KG 76 had attacked West Malling and their escorts were battling Nos. 32, 64, 501 and 615 Squadrons. The Dorniers were heading home under attack by elements of 32, 64 and 615 Squadrons. However, further to the east, Nos. 1
, 17, 54, 56 and 266 Squadrons
totalling 23 Spitfires and 36 Hurricanes were moving in to meet the main formations during their withdrawal.
RAF controllers faced difficulties of their own. Thickening haze made it impossible for the Observer Corps to plot the route of German formations. A concentrated force of RAF fighters, should it be able to engage the main formations, might be able to inflict serious damage. However, the thickening haze might enable the Germans to slip by and leave the concentrated force of RAF fighters near Canterbury striking at thin air. Instead of adopting an "all or nothing" approach, Park ordered the fighters to spread out and engage singly if needed.
Park's plan paid dividends. Bf 110s from ZG 26 were soon discovered by No. 56 Squadron and quickly found themselves under attack. In the short and sharp engagement, ZG 26 lost five Bf 110s and another damaged to No. 56 Squadron. Worse was follow when No. 54 and 501 engaged the Messerschmitts. ZG 26 lost a further two shot down and two damaged to No. 54 Squadron. None of the RAF Squadrons reported any losses in these engagements. The Geschwader would lose other machines to No. 151
and No. 46 Squadrons
who arrived to join the battle. According to one source, the total losses of ZG 26 amounted to 12 destroyed and seven damaged throughout the entire day. Another source gives a list of 15 Bf 110s written off; 13 destroyed, two written off and six damaged on 18 August 1940. Whatever the actual losses, The Hardest Day marked the start of a decline in Bf 110 operations. Production was not keeping pace with losses, and there simply were not enough aircraft to go around.
No. 266 Squadron was the last unit to trade shots with German formations. During the battles five Bf 109s were destroyed; two from JG 26 and three from JG 3. A further three Bf 109s were 60, 70 and 80 percent damaged. Four German pilots were killed, one wounded, one captured and one missing. One made it back to base were the crippled fighter crash-landed. One JG 3 and one JG 26 Bf 109s fell to Spitfires of 266 Squadron. Three fell to Spitfires of No. 54 Squadron. Bomber losses amounted to eight destroyed and ten damaged; including five Do 17s and two Ju 88s destroyed from KG 76 and one KG 1 He 111 lost.
The British suffered casualties as well. No. 17 Squadron lost one Hurricane and one pilot killed. No. 32 Squadron suffered the loss of one Hurricane destroyed; No. 65 Squadron lost one Hurricane shot down and one pilot missing. No. 111 Squadron lost one Hurricane destroyed on the ground and one damaged on the ground and three shot down in aerial combat, but all pilots survived. No. 501 Squadron suffered heavy losses amounting to five Hurricanes destroyed, two pilots killed one seriously wounded. No. 601 lost two Hurricanes and both pilots killed while No. 602 Squadron lost one three Spitfires and one damaged with one pilot wounded. No. 615 Squadron also took crippling casualties. It lost three Hurricanes in aerial with one pilot killed and another wounded. However, a further six of their Hurricanes were destroyed in the Kenley raid by 9 Staffel./KG 76. The casualties of 615 have been challenged by another source which indicates 615 Squadron lost only three on the ground at Kenley (P3158, P3487, R4186).
The main battle was over, but more combats took place as Kesselring sent in even more Bf 109s to support the withdrawing bombers. Jagdgeschwader 2
(JG 2) and Jagdgeschwader 27
(JG 27) engaged RAF fighters near the Isle of Wight
as the bombers left British air space. II./JG 2 lost one Bf 109 destroyed and another damaged in battle with Hurricanes from No. 601 Squadron, suffering one pilot missing and the other wounded. JG 27 lost six Bf 109s (three each from I. and II./JG 27) in action against No. 85 Squadron RAF
. Three pilots were killed, two were posted missing presumed dead and the other was picked up in the Channel by a Heinkel He 59
air-sea rescue aircraft.
's Luftflotte 3
ordered his dive bomber
units to begin operations against the radar stations and airfields on the southern coast of Britain. The targets on the afternoon of 18 August were RAF Ford, RAF Thorney Island and Gosport, all belonging to the Fleet Air Arm
or Coastal Command. Included in the target selection was the radar station at Poling, West Sussex, near Littlehampton
.
Reconnaissance by Junkers Ju 86
aircraft had identified the airfields as fighter bases. The high altitude and poor resolution of the photographs meant the aircraft on the ground could not be identified properly and the Germans mistakenly believed them to be fighter fields. In fact, none of the airfields belonged to Fighter Command. Gosport housed a torpedo development unit, Thorney Island housed No. 59 Squadron RAF
and No. 235 Squadron RAF
with Bristol Blenheim
's assigned to RAF Coastal Command
. Ford was a naval air station and housed No. 829 Squadron Fleet Air Arm which was working up with Fairey Albacore
aircraft at the time. These targets were given to Sturzkampfgeschwader 77
(StG 77 or Dive Bombing Wing 77). The Geschwader committed 109 Junkers Ju 87
Stuka dive-bombers to the raid. It was the largest concentration of Ju 87s to operate over Britain to date.
I./StG 77 were to strike at Thorney Island with 28 Ju 87s; 28 II./StG 77 were assigned to Ford; and 31 III./StG 77 Ju 87s were to destroy Poling radar station. A fourth unit, Sturzkampfgeschwader 3
(StG 3 or Dive Bombing Wing 3), sent 22 Ju 87s to attack Gosport. The dive-bombers were supported by 157 Bf 109s; 70 from JG 27; 32 from JG 53 acting as close escort; and 55 from JG 2 which was to sweep the Portsmouth
area in advance of the main raid independently. The Ju 87s were based around Caen
, too far away for the attacks. So in the morning the Stukas were moved into closer airfields around Cherbourg, right on the Channel coast. There, fuel tanks were filled, bombs loaded, and crews given a final briefing.
At 13:29 the first Ju 87s took off. By 13:45 all were in formation and beginning the 85-mile trip. Major Helmut Bode led III./StG 77 to Poling. He knew nothing of the technicalities of his target. Behind him was Hauptmann Alfons Orthofer's II./StG 77 bound for Ford. After them, Hauptmann Herbert Meisel's III Gruppe was heading on the left of the formation for Thorney Island. Hauptmann Walter Seigel's I./StG 3 headed for Gosport on the extreme left. Each Ju 87 was loaded with 550-lb bombs under the main fuselage and four 11-lb bombs and two under each wing. The Bf 109s would not take off for some time. The long trip and low speed of the Ju 87s meant there was plenty of time to catch up without burning fuel keeping close contact with the Stukas.
At 13:59, Poling radar station picked up the German formations and reported them as 80-strong. Smaller forces ranging from 9 to 20-plus represented the German fighters moving up behind it. The British estimated the Luftwaffe attack force to be 150-aircraft strong. It was an underestimation by half. No. 10 Group RAF
and No. 11 Group alerted their units from their operations rooms at Uxbridge and Box in Wiltshire
. No. 10 and 11 Groups dispatched more Squadrons to support the already airborne 11 Hurricanes from No. 601 Squadron. 10 Group dispatched one Squadron each from RAF Middle Wallop, RAF Exeter and RAF Warmwell
, and one each from No. 11's RAF Tangmere
and RAF Westhampnett
. The RAF order of battle
included; nine Hurricanes of No. 43 Squadron RAF
, led by Squadron Leader Frank Reginald Carey
patrolling Thorney Island; No. 602 Squadron RAF
protected Westhampnett with 12 Spitfires; No. 152 Squadron RAF
and 11 Spitfires patrolled Portsmouth air space; No. 234 Squadron RAF
with 11 Spitfires over the Isles of Wight to engage the attackers; No. 213 Squadron RAF
with 12 Hurricanes which were to move 80 miles eastward from Exeterand patrol St. Catherine's Point. Finally, No. 609 Squadron RAF
and 12 Spitfires remained in reserve around Middle Wallop to meet any unexpected German moves.
Having lost all of its Bristol Blenheim
night fighters in the raid of 16 August, Tangmere dispatched two Hurricanes from the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) fitted with FIU airborne radar to test the device in action. RAF Coastal Command
also joined in, and committed No. 235 Squadron RAF
and its Bristol Blenheim's. The defence was reliant on the 68 Spitfires and Hurricanes. The numerical standing meant a ratio of one RAF fighter to every four German fighters and bombers, or in other words, one British aircraft to every two German fighters. Even had the fighter controllers realised the strength of the raid, there was little that could be done. Other fighters were refuelling and rearming after the attacks on Kenley and Biggin Hill and would not be available.
During the British scramble, Bf 109s from JG 52 which were part of a pre-raid sweep, chanced upon RAF fighters out in the open at RAF Manston
. Twelve Bf 109s from 2 Staffel II./JG 52, led by Hauptmann Wolfgang Ewald
attacked while the British fighters were refuelling. After two passes, the Germans claimed 10 fighters and three Blenheims destroyed. In fact, just two No. 266 Squadron RAF
Spitfires were destroyed with another six Hurricanes damaged but repairable. A single Hurricane was also destroyed.
Poling took severe punishment from very accurate bombing. Since Ventnor radar station had been knocked out already, this attack demonstrated an attack on Fighter Command's command, communication and control system was possible. Emergency equipment had been installed on the site incase of a breakdown, but the information and reading of the radar was significantly less reliable. In fact, Poling was so badly damaged it was out of action for the rest of August. Fortunately the CH chain had a mobile radar station at the Isle of Wight to fill in for it. Another was due to be set up near Poling anyway, so the chain remained unaffected. The damage done to Kenley and Poling were no more than major inconveniences to Park and Dowding. Only one WAAF member was studying the plots at Poling up until the attack. Avis Parsons was awarded the Military Medal
for her actions on 5 September 1940.
As Bode was in action at Poling, Alfons Orthofer's unit attacked Ford. There were only six Lewis machine guns manned at Ford and the Ju 87s were able to attack with complete confidence. Bombs rained down on huts, hangars, building and amongst aircraft drawn up together for maintenance. Early on bombs struck the field's oil tanks and storage compounds causing an enormous blaze which contributed to the crippling damage on the airfield. Gosport also came under attack soon after. Siegel's Ju 87s, with no air opposition, swooped onto their targets causing large-scale damage.
As the Ju 87s began their attack, Spitfires from No. 234 Squadron engaged the 25-strong Bf 109 escort commanded by Hauptmann Karl-Wolfgang Redlich. I./JG 27s commander, Gruppenkommandeur
(Group Commander) Eduard Neumann
heard the battle developing, but communications were poor and he decided to let Redlich, one of his most experienced Staffelkapitän
(Squadron Leaders) fight alone. In the resulting combat, three Bf 109s were shot down.
While three of the four Ju 87 groups reached and bombed their targets without interception, the 28 Stukas of I./StG 77 were attacked by No. 43 and 601 Squadron sporting a force of 18 Hurricanes. The escorting Bf 109s from II./JG 27 were flying too far away and could not stop the Hurricanes making an attack before the Ju 87s made their dives. Three Ju 87s were shot down in exchange for a damaged Hurricane, hit by return fire. The Bf 109s soon came under attack themselves and could not assist the dive-bombers effectively. Still, some Ju 87s made attacks. While they were doing so, some of the German crews saw No. 235 Blenheim's taking off to defend their base. Some hangars were hit by the Ju 87s and much damage done. As the Bf 109 escorts turned to meet the two engaging RAF Squadrons, around 300 aircraft filled a patch of sky 25 miles long, from Gosport
to Bognor Regis
. No. 152, 235 Squadrons engaged the Germans over Thorney Island. No. 602 engaged the Ju 87s that attacked Ford but III./JG 27 bounced No. 602 Squadron, claiming four Spitfires destroyed. Spitfires from No. 234 and Hurricanes from 213 Squadron each destroyed one Bf 109.
The running air battles had cost the Ju 87 units heavily. The lack of protection for I./StG 77 had cost it 10 Ju 87s with one damaged beyond repair. Total manpower losses for the unit amounted to 17 killed or mortally wounded, six wounded and five captured out of 56 men. II./StG 77 lost three Ju 87s to fighter attack and one damaged beyond repair, five crewmen dead and one captured. III./StG 77 also lost two Ju 87s and two damaged with four men killed. StG 77s casualties amounted to 26 killed, six taken prisoner, and six wounded. The battles brought the number of Ju 87s lost thus far in the campaign to 59 with a further 33 damaged. The price was too high and with the exception of sporadic attacks on convoys later in the year, the Ju 87 played no further part in the Battle of Britain. Among the dead was Gruppenkommandeur Hauptmann Herbert Meisel.
The Bf 109s of JG 27 lost six fighters. Two pilots were saved. Another source gives eight Bf 109s destroyed. JG 27 claimed 14 victories, but it is likely this was an exaggeration. Only seven were allowed to stand by the Luftwaffe. RAF casualties in the air battles amounted to five fighters destroyed and four damaged. No. 43 Squadron suffered one damaged Hurricane; 152 Squadron two damaged Spitfires; No. 601 Squadron lost two Hurricanes; No. 602 Squadron lost three Spitfires and one damaged.
s, five Fairey Swordfish
, and two Fairey Albacore
. A further 26 aircraft were damaged but repairable. As well as petrol and oil installations, two hangars, the motor transport hangar, two stores buildings, the ratings' and petty officers' canteens and numerous accommodation buildings were destroyed.
At Gosport, five aircraft were lost and five damaged. Several buildings were wrecked and two hangars damaged. But there were no casualties. The Ju 87 attack had been accurate, and no bombs fell outside the military compounds. In the Gosport area, 10 barrage balloon
s were shot down and two damaged.
The attacks of No. 43 and 601 Squadron disrupted the raid against Thorney Island and damage was not concentrated. Two hangars and two buildings were wrecked. Three aircraft were destroyed: a Blenheim, an Avro Anson
and a Magister. One Vickers Wellington
was also damaged. The only casualties were five civilian workers, injured when a 110-lb bomb landed on their shelter.
The loss of long-range radar station at Poling caused few problems. The Chain Home Low radar there was working and could see almost as far out to sea. Along the surrounding coastline, for 70 miles, another six radar stations gave interlocking stations which provided cover, so there was no hole in the system. Within a few days, mobile units were moved in to wooded areas nearby to provide cover until Poling was repaired.
In the interim, two Bristol Blenheim
of No. 114 Squadron RAF
made an attack on Frecamp and Dieppe. It passed over at high altitude, and dropped its bombs. The Germans recorded no damage at Frecamp, and the attack on Dieppe seems to have gone unnoticed. As the bombers headed home, they passed two Spitfires of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU). These aircraft had their armament removed, stripped of radios and everything not essential for their mission. They were fitted with extra fuel tanks and cameras to carry out their work. To achieve greater speed, the machines were polished to reduce drag. The Spitfires were the fastest aircraft either the RAF or Luftwaffe at that time, achieving a speed of just under 400 mph. Flying at 34,000 feet they usually came and went undetected. They photographed ports and airfields and then returned.
. Some 58 Do 17s of KG 2 were sent to bomb Hornchurch and 51 He 111s of KG 53 were directed to attack North Weald. The two raiding formations were to pass over the coast at the same time; so the He 111s attacking North Weald, with further to go, left 15 minutes earlier. The He 111s were to cross over at Foulness
, the Dorniers at Deal
. Fighter escort was provided by 140 Bf 109s and Bf 110s from JG 3, JG 26, JG 51, JG 54 and ZG 26.
The British correctly estimated the German strength as 250 aircraft. To meet the threat the Fighter Controllers at 11 Group's Uxbridge centre scrambled 13 Squadrons; No. 12 Group at Watnall passed on ordered to four more. Soon, a combined total of 47 Spitfires and 97 Hurricanes were in the air. Ten of the RAF fighters in the air (nine Spitfires from No. 19 Squadron and one Hurricane from No. 151 Squadron) were armed with 20 mm cannon.
No. 11 Group moved No. 32, 54, 56, and 501 Squadrons, totalling 11 Spitfires and 33 Hurricanes, to the Margate
-Canterbury
line to engage the enemy formations first. The remaining units were to climb to altitude and wait over or near the threatened fighter airfields, until a clearer picture emerged of enemy intentions.
and Rochford
. No. 56 Squadron's 12 Hurricanes engaged the bombers, while No. 54 Squadron’s 11 Spitfires engaged the escorting Bf 109s and Bf 110s. In the engagement, at least one Bf 110 was shot down. The line of advance was now clear to the British ground controllers. Five Squadrons: No. 46, 85, 151, 257, and 310 with 61 Hurricanes, were scrambled to intercept the bombers in front of, or over the target. By 17:00 the airfield was covered in 5/10ths stratocumulus
at 5,000 feet. Within thirty minutes the base fell to just 3,500 feet. The German formation leaders soon realised that there was no hope of hitting a target from 12,000 feet, particularly when they could not see it. At 17:40, KG 53 turned away and headed for base. They had lost a single bomber to 56 Squadron. Things were about to change. As they turned around, 28 Hurricanes from Nos. 46, 85, and 151 Squadron prepared for a head-on attack. Meanwhile, 12 Hurricanes from 256 Squadron closed on the Germans from behind.
No. 151's Pilot Officer Richard Milne shot down Gruppenkommandeur of II./KG 53, Major Reinhold Tamm. The He 111 blew up, killing all aboard. The escorting Bf 109s counter-attacked, shooting down two No. 151 Squadron Hurricanes, killing one pilot and wounding the other. No. 257 Squadron also engaged and lost one pilot killed in a crash landing after combat with Bf 110s. No. 46 Squadron—the only 12 Group unit to take part—also engaged. Shortly hence, the 13 Hurricanes from No. 85 Squadron, led by Peter Townsend, struck at the bombers but was blocked by ZG 26 Bf 110s. Bf 109s was also present and inconclusive engagements began. It was likely the Bf 109s belonged to III./JG 51 providing top cover. There were intense combats around the bombers. No. 1 Squadron's leader, David Pemperton, accounted for one JG 3 Bf 109. No. 85 Squadron accounted for one He 111, but lost a Hurricane to the Bf 110s, the pilot, Pilot Officer Paddy Hemmingway, bailed out into the Channel and survived. Another pilot, Flight Lieutenant
Dick Lee, a veteran of the Battle of France
and a flying ace
with nine victories was reported missing in action
. He was last seen chasing three Bf 109s out to sea. His body was never found. Among the few British squadrons left in the fight (owing to fuel and ammunition running low) was No. 54 Squadron. Its commander, Colin Falkland Gray
, destroyed a Bf 110.
As KG 53 retreated out to sea, the German bombers dumped their bombs. Around 32 German bombs fell on the town of Shoeburyness
. Two houses were destroyed and 20 damaged. One bomb landed on an Anderson Air Raid Shelter, killing a man and his wife. Another landed on the railway signal box, killing the signalman. Several bombs fell on a War Department gunnery range, causing no damage. Some 200 German bombs fell on the mud flats and sandbanks off Shoeburyness. Many were delayed-action bombs, and would go off at irregular intervals.
KG 53 had lost only four He 111s destroyed and one damaged. Its personnel losses amounted to 12 dead, two wounded and four prisoners of war. A further five were rescued by British ships, bringing the total number captured to nine. The low losses of the group in the face of fighter attacks were down to the determination of ZG 26. It cost the unit seven Bf 110s and a further six damaged.
. The 15-strong Hurricanes were blocked by escorting Bf 109s. No. 501 came under attack from II./JG 51. One was shot down and its pilot, George E.B. Stoney was killed. His victor was Hauptmann
Josef Foezoe, an Austrian pilot. No. 501 quickly counter attacked, destroying two Bf 109s. One of them was flown by Horst Tietzen
, an ace with 20 victories and the fourth highest claimant in the Luftwaffe at that time. The other victim was Hans-Otto Lessing. Both German pilots were killed. Another Bf 109 fell to Peter Brothers. The Bf 109s 22-year old pilot, Gerhard Mueller was killed. Meanwhile Crossley, Karol Pniak and Alan Ackford shared in the destruction of another Bf 109. The pilot, Walter Blume was severely injured and taken prisoner. Within a short time, the Germans turned the tables, and three Hurricanes (Crossley, Pilot Officer de Grunne and Pilot Officer Pearce) were shot down. All three survived, though Pearce and de Grunne suffered burns. But while the RAF fighters were kept busy by the escort, the Dorniers continued without interception.
As the Dorniers passed Sheerness
, the anti-aircraft defences opened fire to protect the naval yard at Chatham, Kent. Along the south bank of the Thames Estuary
15 gun positions fired six 4.5in of 3.7in heavy shells. The German bombers opened up a little, to spread out. The cloud over the target ruined the German bomb run, and some bombers began the return trip with their loads still on board. While crossing the coast over Deal, Kent
, three attacked the Royal Marines
barracks there. They continued back across the Channel, having made no contact with enemy fighters.
, 27
and 53 to bomb targets at Sheffield
, Leeds
, Hull
, Colchester
, Canvey Island
, Manningtree
and Sealand
. British records mentioned damage only at Sealand. Most bombs were scattered over rural districts. In one incident, a KG 27 He 111, shortly before midnight, attacked the flying and training school at Windrush, in Gloucestershire
, where night flying was in progress. The bomber, piloted by Alfred Dreher, crashed into an Avro Anson
piloted by Sergeant Bruce Hancock. Both aircraft crashed, killing all five men involved.
's from RAF Bomber Command
took off in ones and twos to attack a score of German airfields in the Netherlands
and France
. Its sole success was at Vlissingen, Netherlands, where it damaged two Jagdgeschwader 54
(JG 54) Bf 109s. At the same time four Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
s were attacking the Fiat
works in Turin
, Italy
and 20 more were heading for the aluminium works at Rheinfelden
in southern Germany. The 18 August 1940 would end before either force reached its target.
including only eight fighters.
One German fighter pilot stated that losses were always under reported. Siegfried Bethke pointed out that the German High Command always misled the public about losses. According to him, German aircraft that crashed into the Channel were not counted in the official figures although the loss of the aircraft was total. One aircraft in his unit that was damaged by 88 hits and had to be broken up and taken back to Germany. Bethke intimates it was not added to the loss record.
s, 460 by fighters and 15 by reconnaissance units. Of this total, about 170 of the bomber sorties were flown on the night of 17/18 August; the remainder were flown during the daylight hours on the 18 August. Less than half of the available (or serviceable) aircraft on the Luftflotte 2 and Luftflotte 3 order of battle
were involved in the action that day, so it was clear that the Luftwaffe was not greatly extended in providing forces for the offensive. Luftflotte 5
did not take any part in the fighting, although its reconnaissance aircraft were active over England and Scotland
.
Altogether, the Luftwaffe lost between 69 and 71 aircraft destroyed or damaged beyond repair as a result of its operations over Britain on 18 August 1940. Of this total, 59 were lost to certain or probable action by fighters while two fell to ground fire, four to a combination of both and one collided with a British training aircraft. The remaining three crashed in German-held territory owing to technical failures. Altogether, the losses represented seven per cent of the force committed. Around 29 aircraft crashed in England. Personnel losses were 94 German crews killed, 40 captured and 25 returned with wounds. Some 27 to 31 German aircraft returned with damage.
The gross underestimation of Fighter Command's strength issued to Luftwaffe units meant the British reaction was much stronger than expected. During the 24-hour period, Fighter Command flew 927 sorties, slightly fewer than the Germans. Only 41 of these sorties were flown by night, 28 on 17/18 August and 13 on 18/19 August. The remaining 886 sorties were flown by day, a number almost exactly equal to the 861 serviceable Spitfire, Hurricane, Defiant and Gladiator day fighters available to squadrons.
The average operational sortie rate of one per serviceable fighter was not spread evenly throughout the Command, however. Nos 12 and 13 Groups in the Midlands and north of Britain, with a third of the serviceable fighters between them, put up 129 (or only 15 per cent) of the day sorties, and of these only three made contact with the enemy. No. 11 Group put up one-third of the serviceable fighters in 600 sorties, or more than two-thirds of the total; on average. Each of the serviceable Spitfires and Hurricanes flew 1.7 operational sorties. No. 43 squadron flew the most sorties: 63 operations including five each from the 13 serviceable at the beginning of the day.
Only 403 (45 percent) of the total number of sorties flown by Fighter Command were directed at the three major German raids. A further 56 (or just over 6 per cent) were standing patrols to protect shipping off the coast. Most of the remaining 427 sorties (nearly 50 per cent) were made to engage the reconnaissance aircraft. Usually several half-squadrons were committed. This was not excessive. But by sending more units to counter the flights, German aircraft were forced to fly higher and were denied the opportunity to drop to low altitude to take higher resolution photographs. This contributed to a lack of German intelligence which often failed to distinguish fighter, bomber and naval airfields from each other. Much of the time their strength was directed at non-fighter airfields on this date.
Of the 403 sorties put up by Fighter Command to meet the major German attacks, 320 of those made contact with the enemy, meaning 80 percent of the fighters sent to intercept the bombers did so. The percentage would have been higher, had the bombers on the afternoon raid not turned around short of their targets.
Between 27 and 34 RAF fighters were destroyed. A specialist source of the battle indicated the figure to be 31 destroyed or beyond repair. Of these, 25 fell to German fighters, two to return fire from the bombers. One was shot down by British ground fire in error and the loss of the remainder cannot be established. Some 26 of the fighters lost were Hurricanes, and five were Spitfires. Personnel losses for the RAF amounted to 10 British fighter pilots killed on the day, and another who died of wounds. Around 19 pilots were wounded, 11 so seriously that they did not take part in the rest of the Battle.
Losses on the ground amounted to eight fighters (two Spitfires). Around 28 aircraft of other types were destroyed on the ground. The total destroyed or damaged beyond repair amounted to 68 aircraft, although 17 of these were trainers or non-operational types.
and Adolf Galland
. He was decorating them with the Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds after they had achieved much success in recent weeks. However, Göring took the opportunity to berate them over bomber losses and in particular, what he saw, as a lack of aggression in the Jagdwaffe
. This did not go down well with the two men. Göring moved to quickly reconcile with them by ordering their promotion to Geschwaderkommodore
(Wing Commander) in command of their respective Geschwader (Wings). Göring felt a younger generation of combat leaders would help motivate the force. They were dismissed.
On the 19 August, Göring read the reports on the losses of the 18 August, and unhappy with the extent of the losses, recalled both pilots. Hitler's Directive 17 had ordered the Luftwaffe to achieve air superiority, but remain strong enough for when, or rather if, Sea Lion was launched. Moreover, Göring recognised that the Luftwaffe was his power base. A failure would be bad, but a severe weakening of the Luftwaffe would be far worse. He emphasised to his commanders the need to preserve the Luftwaffe's strength. Essentially, the core theme of the conference was fighter protection. The fighter leaders advocated sweeps to clear the skies in advance of attacks. Other commanders present thought a combination of sweeps and close escort would be more effective in reducing losses. Göring agreed and listed a number of forms that the sweeps may take. The most important tactical change he made was instituting a wholesale purge of older Geschwaderkommodore in favour of younger men. From now on, leaders were to be drawn from the ranks, given responsibility based on skill and experience rather than rank, while allowing them to have a free rein in tactical engagements (a form of aerial Auftragstaktik).
Göring also placed emphasis on correct rendezvous with the bombers, which had been lacking in recent operations (see Adlertag). The longer-range bombers were ordered directly to fighter airfields to pick up their escorts on the way to the target. He determined that as many fighters as possible should remain on sweeps while a smaller number maintained close contact with the bombers. For now, this would be the main tactical arrangement of fighter-bomber cooperation.
German target selection was sound on The Hardest Day. There were four means open to the Luftwaffe for destroying Fighter Command; bombing airfields; destroying the command, control system and radar stations; and attacking aircraft factories producing fighter aircraft.
Luftflotte 2 was well used in this way. Operations against Kenley, Biggin Hill, North Weald and Hornchurch had the potential to destroy 11 Group's major sector stations and impair its defences. It would also draw the defending fighters into battle. The attempt to attack Kenley, however, failed and 9 Staffel KG 76 paid a high price. The weather put paid to any chance of the raids on Hornchurch and North Weald being successful. On the other hand, Luftflotte 3 had poor intelligence, and its raids on the radar stations were ineffective. Radar elimination would enable the Luftwaffe to destroy the command and control system of Fighter Command, but despite the severe damage done to the Poling station, the existence of other stations nearby gave the system plenty of cover. The airfields the Air Fleet attacked at Ford, Gosport and Thorney Island had nothing to do with the main battle as they belonged to Coastal Command and the FAA. Sperrle and his command remained unaware of their errors in intelligence.
The tactical handling of Luftflotte 3 was not good either. The escorting fighters of StG 77 were stretched too far across a 30-mile front. By chance half of the defending fighters went into action against one of the attacking Ju 87 groups with disastrous results for the group concerned. The German fighters, which outnumbered the RAF units by 2:1, were unable to protect the Stuka units. Had the targets been closer together, the concentration of fighters would have allowed the Germans to destroy more RAF fighters in the air, while protecting their charges.
Considering the weight of attack against airfields, hardly any fighters were destroyed on the ground. Figures indicated just two Spitfires and six Hurricanes were lost in this manner. The main reason for this was the high state of readiness of RAF units during daylight. The Command depended on radar and the Observer Corps warning them in advance, giving them plenty of time to get airborne. The successful strafing attack by Bf 109s of JG 52 on Manston depended on a combination of circumstances and chance which would not occur often during the battle.
The attacks on airfields, on this day and throughout the battle, did not cause any real danger to RAF Fighter Command. Biggin Hill was never out of service during the Battle of Britain, and Kenley was out of action for only two hours on 18 August. German medium bombers, usually sent in waves of 50, could carry between 60 and 85 tons of bombs. But this was not enough to destroy an airfield. If the airfield's hangars and buildings were destroyed, work on aircraft could be done in the open in summer periods. Should the craters become to troublesome, RAF units could move to another field, not necessarily an airfield, and operate fighters of it, provided it was 700 yards long and 100 yards wide to allow for operations. The vulnerable operations buildings on some airfields were hidden underground. One flaw was the vulnerability of operations rooms. At Kenley and Biggin the Sector operations buildings were above ground, but they were difficult to hit even had the Luftwaffe known their location. Vital communications (telephone cables) were buried underground, making them vulnerable only to an accidental direct hit.
Attacking and destroying the radar chain was also difficult. The stations were indeed vulnerable to dive bombers and low flying aircraft, however the British had mobile units which could be moved around to cover any gaps. Rapid repair services were also quick. Rarely were radar stations out of action for more than a few days.
A last option was to attack fighter factories, which was not attempted on 18 August. Only the Spitfire factory at Southampton
and the Hawker factory in Surrey
were within range of escorted bombers. Without the Bf 109s, the bombers would suffer heavy casualties attempting to attack factories further north in daylight. Still, the attacks on the southern factories would require large concentrations of bombers and fighters which would be powerful enough to destroy them without sustaining heavy losses.
Overall, each side suffered more losses on this date than on any other day during the Battle of Britain. In terms of the outcome, the battle does not appear to have been strategically favourable to either side. The loss rates were in the British favour, but the both air forces had sustained a level of attrition they could not support for long. Historian Alfred Price:
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
air battle fought during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
on 18 August 1940, by the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
(RAF). By June 1940 the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
had been defeated in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. Rather than come to terms with Germany, Britain rejected all overtures for a negotiated peace resulting in Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
issuing the German armed forces (Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
) Directive No. 16
Führer Directives
The Führer Directives were instructions and strategic plans issued by Adolf Hitler himself. They covered a wide range of subjects from detailed direction of military units in World War II to the governance of occupied territories and their populations...
ordering the invasion of the United Kingdom.
The invasion of the United Kingdom was codenamed Operation Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelöwe) however before this could be carried out, air superiority or air supremacy
Air supremacy
Air supremacy is the complete dominance of the air power of one side's air forces over the other side's, during a military campaign. It is the most favorable state of control of the air...
was required. The Luftwaffe was to destroy the RAF in order to prevent it from attacking the invasion fleet or providing protection to the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
's Home Fleet that might attempt to intercept a landing by sea
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
. Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief, Reichsmarschall
Reichsmarschall
Reichsmarschall literally in ; was the highest rank in the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II after the position of Supreme Commander held by Adolf Hitler....
(Empire's Marshal) Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe
Oberkommando der Luftwaffe
The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe was the air force High Command of the Third Reich.Air Force Commanders-in-Chief* Reich Marshal Hermann Göring * Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim -History:...
(High Command of the Air Force) to prepare for the assault.
The primary target was RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of three functional commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War, gaining recognition in the Battle of Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when...
: the destruction of which, would deny the British their air superiority asset. In July 1940, the Luftwaffe began military operations to destroy the RAF. Throughout July and early August the Germans targeted convoys in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and occasionally RAF airfields. On 13 August a major German effort, known as Adlertag (Eagle Day), was made against RAF airfields but failed. The failure did not deter the Germans from persisting with air raids against the RAF or its infrastructure.
On 18 August 1940 the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to severely damage Fighter Command. The air battles that took place on this date were amongst the largest aerial engagements in history at that time. Both sides suffered very heavy losses. The British outperformed the Luftwaffe in the air, achieving a favourable ratio of 2:1. However, a number of RAF aircraft, including around six to eight fighters, were caught and destroyed on the ground, equalling the total losses of both sides. Further large aerial battles would take place, with heavy casualties being suffered, but both sides lost more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign, including Battle of Britain Day
Battle of Britain Day
The Battle of Britain Day is the name given to the large-scale aerial battle that took place on 15 September 1940, during the Battle of Britain ....
, generally considered the climax of the campaign. For this reason, the air battles of the 18 August 1940 became known as The Hardest Day.
Background
The Luftwaffe was detailed to destroy Fighter Command before the planned invasion of Britain could take place. The OKL hoped that by destroying the British fighter force the British could be brought to terms by air power alone and the very risky Operation Sea Lion would not be needed. The enormous numerical superiority of British sea forces over their German opponents made a crossing of the Channel very dangerous, even under conditions of air superiority. Furthermore, the aircraft losses of the spring campaign had weakened the Luftwaffe before the Battle of Britain and it could not begin its campaign against Fighter Command immediately. The service was forced to wait until it had reached acceptable levels before a main assault against the RAF could be made in August 1940.Until the Luftwaffe was ready to begin operations over the mainland, the first phase of the German air offensive targeted British shipping in the Channel. The raids rarely involved attacks against RAF airfields inland, but encouraged RAF units to engage in battle by attacking British Channel convoys. These operations would last from 10 July to 8 August 1940. The attacks against shipping were not very successful, and only 24,500 Grt was sunk. Mine laying from aircraft had proved more profitable, sinking 38,000 tons. The impact on Fighter Command was minimal. It had lost 74 fighter pilots killed or missing and 48 wounded in July but British strength rose to 1,429 by 3 August. By that date, it was only short of 124 pilots. Still, the attacks succeeded in forcing the British to abandon the Channel convoy route and to redirect shipping to ports in north-eastern Britain. With this achieved the Luftwaffe began the second phase of its air offensive, attacking RAF airfields and supporting structures on the British mainland.
The first major raid inland and against RAF airfields came on 12 August and the Luftwaffe quickly escalated its offensive. The Germans did not achieve a degree of success commensurate with their exertions on this date. Nevertheless, in the belief they were having considerable effect on Fighter Command, they prepared to launch their all-out assault on the RAF the following day. By 13 August, German air strength had reached acceptable levels. After bringing its serviceable rates up, the Luftwaffe carried out heavy attacks under the codename Adlertag (or Eagle Day) with 71 per cent of its bomber force, 85 per cent of its Bf 109 units, and 83 per cent of its Bf 110 units operational. The day went badly for the Germans, who failed to impair Fighter Command and its bases or command and control system. The failure was due in large part to poor intelligence which failed to identify Fighter Command airfields and distinguish them from Bomber and Coastal Commands. Still, the Germans pursued their strategy against Fighter Command on 15 August, suffering 76 losses. Undeterred, they prepared to make another large-scale attack on RAF bases on 18 August. The month of August would witness an escalation in air combat as the Germans made a concentrated effort against Fighter Command.
Rationale
The Luftwaffes plan of attack was simple. German bombers were to strike at the RAF airfields situated in the south-east corner of England. The most important airfields in this region, under the command of AOC (Air Officer Commanding) Keith Park
Keith Park
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park GCB, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC, RAF was a New Zealand soldier, First World War flying ace and Second World War Royal Air Force commander...
and his No. 11 Group RAF
No. 11 Group RAF
No. 11 Group was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century, finally disbanding in 1996. Its most famous service was during 1940 when it defended London and the south-east against the attacks of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.-First World War:No. 11 Group was...
, were the Sector Stations at RAF Kenley
RAF Kenley
The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was a station of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I and the RAF in World War II. It is located near Kenley, London, England.-History:...
, Biggin Hill, Hornchurch
RAF Hornchurch
RAF Hornchurch was an airfield in the south of Hornchurch in what is now the London Borough of Havering. Known as Sutton's Farm during the First World War, it occupied of the farm of the same name and was situated east north-east of Charing Cross...
, North Weald, Northolt
RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
, Tangmere
RAF Tangmere
RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, located at Tangmere village about 3 miles east of Chichester in West Sussex, England. American RAF pilot Billy Fiske died at Tangmere and was the first American aviator to die during World War II...
and Debden
RAF Debden
RAF Debden is a former RAF airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles SE of Saffron Walden and approximately 1 mile north of the village of Debden in North Essex.-RAF Fighter Command:...
. The first five were on the periphery of Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
. Tangmere was in the south near the coast at Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
; Debden was in the north near Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden is a medium-sized market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is located north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and approx north of London...
. Each of these airfields housed two to three squadrons and had its own sector operations room. From there its fighters were directed from its satellite airfields into combat. There were six satellite airfields at Westhampnett
RAF Westhampnett
Royal Air Force Station Westhampnett, more commonly known as RAF Westhampnett, was a Royal Air Force station, located in the village of Westhampnett near Chichester, in the English County of West Sussex....
, Croydon, Gravesend
RAF Gravesend
RAF Gravesend was a Fighter Airfield during the Battle of Britain, and was home to the following Squadrons during the Battle:*No. 610 Squadron RAF from 26 May 1940*No. 604 Squadron RAF from 3 July 1940*No. 501 Squadron RAF from 25 July 1940...
, Manston
RAF Manston
RAF Manston was an RAF station in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site is now split between a commercial airport Kent International Airport and a continuing military use by the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre , following on from a long...
, Rochford and RAF Martlesham Heath
RAF Martlesham Heath
RAF Martlesham Heath is a former Royal Air Force airfield in England. The field is located 1½ miles SW of Woodbridge, Suffolk.- RFC/RAF prewar use:Martlesham Heath was first used as a Royal Flying Corps airfield during World War I...
; Manston and Martlesham Heath each housed two squadrons, the remainder each housed one. Finally, there was RAF Hawkinge
RAF Hawkinge
RAF Hawkinge was an airfield in Kent, near to the south coast and the closest airfield to the French coast.It took part in the Battle of Britain and it was home to No. 79 Squadron RAF. After the war, the station hosted the Home Command Gliding Centre, and is fondly remembered by many Air Cadets as...
, just inland from Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
. Not all of these airfields were targeted on 18 August.
Despite the failure of Adlertag and considerable loss rates on the 15, 16 and 17 August, Kesselring convinced Göring that the only sound strategy was to continue to send heavily escorted bombers to destroy British airfields. Kesselring also advocated the use of Jagdgeschwader (Fighter Wings) in free-chase tactics. Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
single-engine fighters were to be sent out in advance of the main raids to force the British fighter forces into large-scale air battles which, in theory, would destroy RAF aircraft in combat and deplete British defences. However, this time, Kesselring changed his operational methods. In consultation with Hugo Sperrle
Hugo Sperrle
Hugo Sperrle was a German field marshal of the Luftwaffe during World War II. His forces were deployed solely on the Western Front and the Mediterranean throughout the war...
, commanding Luftflotte 3
Luftflotte 3
Luftflotte 3 was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on February 1, 1939 from Luftwaffengruppenkommando 3 in Munich and redesignated Luftwaffenkommando West on September 26, 1944...
(Air Fleet 3), he chose not to scatter his effort against a large amount of targets. Instead, he narrowed down the targets into a short list in order to concentrate his strength and strike power against worthy targets. Sector stations RAF Kenley, North Weald, Hornchurch and Biggin Hill were the prime targets.
Targets
The following targets were chosen for attack on 18 August 1940:| Targets for the 18 August 1940 |
|
|---|---|
| German bomber unit | Target |
| I./Kampfgeschwader 1 Kampfgeschwader 1 Kampfgeschwader 1 was a Luftwaffe bomber unit during the Second World War. Heinkel He 111 and later Heinkel He 177 bombers.-History:... (KG 1) |
RAF Biggin Hill |
| III./Kampfgeschwader 53 Kampfgeschwader 53 Kampfgeschwader 53 "Legion Condor" was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in May 1945... (KG 53) |
RAF Kenley RAF Kenley The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was a station of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I and the RAF in World War II. It is located near Kenley, London, England.-History:... and RAF North Weald |
| I and II./Kampfgeschwader 54 Kampfgeschwader 54 Kampfgeschwader 54 "Totenkopf" was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in May 1945. It operated two of the major German bomber types; the Heinkel He 111 and the Junkers Ju 88... (KG 54) |
Fleet Air Arm Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters... base at RAF Gosport |
| I., II. and III./Kampfgeschwader 76 Kampfgeschwader 76 Kampfgeschwader 76 was a Luftwaffe bomber Group during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre throughout the conflict, and served until the last day of the war... (KG 76) |
RAF Kenley/RAF Biggin Hill |
| I., II., and II./Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 was a Luftwaffe Dive bomber-wing of World War II.-History:Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 was formed on 1 May 1939, I. Group in Brieg, Stab and II. Group in Breslau-Schöngarten . The III. Group was formed from II... (StG 77) |
Poling radar station/RAF Ford/RAF Thorney Island |
| Kampfgeschwader 2 Kampfgeschwader 2 Kampfgeschwader 2 " Holzhammer " was a Luftwaffe bomber unit during the Second World War. The unit was formed in May 1939. The unit operated the Dornier Do 17 light bomber, Dornier Do 217 and Junkers Ju 188 heavy bombers.... (KG 2) |
RAF Hornchurch RAF Hornchurch RAF Hornchurch was an airfield in the south of Hornchurch in what is now the London Borough of Havering. Known as Sutton's Farm during the First World War, it occupied of the farm of the same name and was situated east north-east of Charing Cross... |
| II./Kampfgeschwader 27 Kampfgeschwader 27 Kampfgeschwader 27 “Boelcke” was a Luftwaffe medium bomber wing of the Second World War.- Formation :Formed on 1 May 1939, the Stab and I Gruppe were based in Hanover-Langenhagen, with II and III Gruppe at Wunstorf... (KG 27) |
Liverpool Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880... docks |
| I./Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 | RAF Gosport |
Initial strategy and tactics
Up to the late Spring of 1940, Fighter Command had been preparing to meet a possible air attack on the British Isles coming only from due east, from Germany itself; prior to the German victory in Western Europe. The possibility that France might fall and Britain would continue to fight on had not been considered. An air attack from Germany meant the Luftwaffes bombers would operate beyond the range of their fighters and be vulnerable to attack. If twin-engine fighters, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 110Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten...
s were used, they would be fighting at the limits of their range.
It was also doubted that fast fighter aircraft could engage in dogfight
Dogfight
A dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...
s. The g-force
G-force
The g-force associated with an object is its acceleration relative to free-fall. This acceleration experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of non-gravitational forces acting on an object free to move. The accelerations that are not produced by gravity are termed proper accelerations, and...
effect on the human body also seemed to suggest the prospect of air-to-air combat between fighters was impractical anyway. The threat they saw related only to the return-fire of the bomber's gunners. Before the war the effectiveness of return, or cross-fire, from bombers had been exaggerated by the Air Staff and Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
.
This short-sighted belief had a detrimental impact on the tactical effectiveness of RAF Fighter Command until the summer, 1940. With German bombers perceived as the only prey, AOC Fighter Command Hugh Dowding and his planners devised a system and tactics which used unwieldy and tight fighter formations to bring the RAF fighters into combat with bombers, followed by set-piece tactics for the engagement. Because the bomber's return fire was considered so dangerous, fighter pilots were trained to open fire at long range, 300 to 400 yards, then break away without closing to short-range. These tactics, practised so thoroughly over the years, proved totally useless to the battle situation facing them over Britain in 1940.
The tactics were unsuitable for fighter-versus-fighter combat. Packed in tight formation, the RAF pilots were more concerned with keeping their position and not colliding with each other than they were keeping watch for the enemy. It made them vulnerable to surprise attacks by Bf 109s and Bf 110s. Even if the British fighters reached the bombers without interception, the chaos of modern aerial combat made it impossible to concentrate attacks with large, rigid formations. Pilots were also forced into paying far too much respect to the bomber's defensive capabilities. Attacks were broken off far too early and caused little damage to bombers. These tactical failures were evident during the battles in Belgium
Battle of Belgium
The Battle of Belgium or Belgian Campaign formed part of the greater Battle of France, an offensive campaign by Germany during the Second World War...
and France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
. Moreover, rushed training with pilots who were barely able to use the old tactical methods meant that airmen could not cope with much needed radical changes.
The V formation was developed in June, which made a greater emphasis on each pilot looking for the enemy, search capability and avoiding being taken by surprise. Still, it was inferior to German fighter tactics.
German fighter tactics were more flexible. In the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, Werner Mölders
Werner Mölders
Werner Mölders was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. Mölders became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 100 aerial victories—that is, 100 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft, and was...
developed a new system of fighter tactics. The primary deployment was to use large numbers of Bf 109s on free-hunting missions, or sweeps, over the battle area. Instead of flying the standard V formation, used by many air forces, the Germans paired their fighters into Rotte. It consisted of two fighters; a pilot and his wingman 200 yards abreast. Flying this way meant each could cover the others blind spots. If an enemy made an attack, the other could move in behind it to protect the other Rotte member. The Rotte could be expanded into a Schwarm (Swarm or Flight). The formation was eventually given the name "Finger-four
Finger-four
The "Finger-four" formation , is a flight formation used by fighter aircraft. It consists of four aircraft, and four of these formations can be combined into a squadron formation.- Description :...
". It offered maximum protection and all members of a Schwarm were on the lookout for threats and targets.
C3: Command, communication and control
At the operational level the British fighter defences proved to be far more sophisticated. The RAF defences were not just based on the combat power of Fighter Command. Just as important as the "teeth" of the defence was the "eyes and ears" - its nervous system which carried intelligence and information between them to position the "teeth" to strike.By the summer, 1940, the Chain Home radar stations along the English and Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
coasts was able to track incoming aircraft from continental Europe at all but the lowest altitudes. The best detection altitude was 20,000 feet. Aircraft at this height could be detected over 100 miles away. To assess their identity, IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) could, by means of a distinctive blip on radar screens, distinguish German and British aircraft.
The radar technology was not flawless. It struggled to gauge heights of incoming formations above 25,000 feet and could not measure their numerical strength. It could also take several minutes to assess the line of advance for aircraft on a zigzag course. Moreover, the radar looked out to sea and was unable to track aircraft overland. That was the job of the Royal Observer Corps
Royal Observer Corps
The Royal Observer Corps was a civil defence organisation operating in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December 1995, when the Corps' civilian volunteers were stood down....
. Tens of thousands of volunteers, the length and breadth of Britain tracked the German formations over land. They were connected to Sector airfields by landline and could communicate intelligence in real time.
- Radar detects the enemy aircraft
- Radar plots are dispatched by landline to the filter room at Fighter Command Headquarters, Stanmore Park
- At the filter room enemy plots were compared with known plots of RAF fighters to assess identity to corroborate IFF
- Unidentified or hostile plots were dispatched by landline to fighter group or Sector operations rooms for plotting on situation maps
- No. 11 Groups operations room at RAF UxbridgeRAF UxbridgeRAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force station in Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon. Its grounds covered originally belonging to the Hillingdon House estate, which was purchased by the British Government in 1915, three years before the founding of the RAF...
kept a record of the status of each unidentified or hostile raid, and the state of RAF Squadrons; whether they were refuelling, landing, in combat or scrambling - Fighter controllers at the Sector operations rooms would choose which formations to engage and exactly what and how many Squadrons to scramble and issue the relevant orders to satellite controllers
- Fighter controllers at satellite fields would then bring their Squadrons into the field as directed by Sector controllers
- Squadrons would be loosely deployed across the south east to prevent the enemy slipping through
- Squadron Leaders are then responsible for the combat engagement
Anti-aircraft defences
A number of unusual defence mechanisms were used at RAF bases on 18 August 1940. Among the more conventional was the anti-aircraft artillery piece. The three main types in service were the 4.5 inch, 3.7 inch and 3 inch batteries. The first two were modern and effective over 26,000 feet. The last was a First World War vintage weapon and was effective only to 14,000 feet. Usually batteries were sighted in fours, with a range-finder and predictor which measured the speed and height of the aircraft while taking into account the time the shell took to reach that patch of sky, thus calculating when to detonate the fuse in the shell. As with most artillery, when firing at aircraft, the higher the shell travelled the less effective it became. A shell fired to 5,000 feet would only be half as effective at 10,000 feet and a quarter as accurate at 15,000 feet. The German bombers usually tried to fly around heavy concentrations and if forced to fly through them, chose to fly at heights of around 15,000 feet.Most of the heavy artillery defences were located around London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the Thames Estuary
Thames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
. Others concentrated around Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
, Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
, Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
, Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
docks.
For low-level defence the Bofors 40 mm was used which had a rate of fire around 120 rounds a minute. The two pound shells were highly effective against low flying aircraft, capable of blowing a hole big enough for a man to fit through. However, there were only a few to go around. More than twice as many were needed to protect RAF Kenley and Biggin Hill. To make up the difference 3 inch guns, firing over open sights from 1918 were used. They could fire only 15 rounds per minute.
However there was an unusual defence weapon that had been designed for use at Kenley on 18 August; the parachute-and-cable. On the north side of the airfield at 60-foot intervals they were fired vertically upwards by a rocket in salvoes of nine or more. As enemy aircraft came in at low-altitude the parachute device deployed and held a 480-foot long steel cable from an altitude of 600 feet. An enemy aircraft would hopefully fly through it. If it struck, the second parachute deployed and the unfortunate victim was left towing away the contraption. If the cable was picked up on the wing, there was a good chance that the aircraft would go down out of control. This device had not been used before 18 August 1940. To support them, Barrage balloon
Barrage balloon
A barrage balloon is a large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against low-level aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult. Some versions carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up...
s with cutting cables capable of tearing off bombers' wings were also used.
German build-up
The morning weather was clear and sunny making ideal flying conditions. At his Headquarters in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Albert Kesselring commanding Luftflotte 2
Luftflotte 2
Luftflotte 2 was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed February 1, 1939 in Braunschweig and transferred to Italy on November 15, 1941...
(Air Fleet 2) directed the Geschwader (Wings) under his command to carry out attacks on targets Nos. 1017 and 10118 in the Luftwaffe catalogue; Biggin Hill and Kenley. Biggin Hill was handed over to KG 1 which was to send 60 Heinkel He 111
Heinkel He 111
The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
s from its base in Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
to conduct a high-level attack. RAF Kenley was the responsibility of KG 76 based in airfields to the north of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The Kampfgeschwader
Kampfgeschwader
Kampfgeschwader were specialized bomber units in the Luftstreitkräfte during World War I and the Luftwaffe during World War II.- In World War I :...
(Bomber Wing) consisted of a mixed formation of 48 Dornier Do 17
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
s and Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
s. The force attacking Kenley was smaller numerically than the one hitting Biggin Hill and the Ju 88 and Do 17 carried only two-thirds the bomb-load of a He 111. The planners reasoned a more accurate low-level strike carried out by a staffel from KG 76 would compensate for the weaker firepower of KG 76s main formations. Fighter escort was provided by Jagdgeschwader 3
Jagdgeschwader 3
Jagdgeschwader 3 Udet was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. The Geschwader operated on all the German fronts in the European Theatre of World War II. It was named after Ernst Udet in 1942.-Campaign in the West :...
(JG 3), Jagdgeschwader 26
Jagdgeschwader 26
Jagdgeschwader 26 Schlageter was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. It operated mainly in Western Europe against Great Britain, France the United States but also saw service against Russia. It was named after Albert Leo Schlageter, a World War I veteran and Freikorps member arrested and...
(JG 26), Jagdgeschwader 51
Jagdgeschwader 51
Jagdgeschwader 51 Mölders was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during World War II, named after the fighter ace Werner Mölders in 1942. JG 51's pilots won more Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes than any other Jagdgeschwader, and flew combat from 1939 in all major theatres of war. Flying Bf 109s and then...
(JG 51), Jagdgeschwader 52
Jagdgeschwader 52
Jagdgeschwader 52 of the Luftwaffe, was the most successful fighter-wing of all time, with a claimed total of more than 10,000 victories over enemy aircraft during World War II. It was the unit of the top three scoring Fighter aces of all time, Erich Hartmann, Gerhard Barkhorn and Günther Rall...
(JG 52), Jagdgeschwader 54
Jagdgeschwader 54
Jagdgeschwader 54 Grünherz was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during the Second World War. It was known as the Green Hearts Wing, and it was the second highest scoring wing of all time, JG 52 being the highest...
(JG 54) and Zerstörergeschwader 26
Zerstörergeschwader 26
Zerstörergeschwader 26 "Horst Wessel" was a Luftwaffe heavy/destroyer Fighter Aircraft-wing of World War II.-History:Zerstörergeschwader 26 was formed in early 1936 from the Jagdgeschwader 134 "Horst Wessel". The Geschwaderstab and I. Gruppe was located in Dortmund, II. Gruppe in Werl and III....
(ZG 26). The Jagdgeschwader would carry out free-hunting and close escort from bases in the Pas-de-Calais.
Both of these airfields contained Sector Operations rooms from which the British fighters were directed into action. These airfields were selected by the Luftwaffe because they were the largest ones known to be operating RAF fighters. The German intelligence had no knowledge of the Sector Operations rooms there. The rooms were above ground and had little protection. If those poorly protected buildings could be hit, and those inside killed or wounded, it would be a serious blow to the control system in the region.
At their airfield at Cormeilles-en-Vexin, 9 Staffel (Squadron) KG 76 were briefed by their commander Hauptmann
Hauptmann
Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...
(Captain) Joachim Roth. The Staffel was to conduct a low-level attack against Kenley with Roth flying as a navigator in the lead aircraft. The unit had specialised in low-level attacks in France with great success. The nine Do 17s were to head across the Channel and make landfall at Beachy Head
Beachy Head
Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m above sea level. The peak allows views of the south...
. From there they were to follow the Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
-London rail line north-east to the target area. The crews were ordered to concentrate their attacks against buildings and hangars on the southern end of the airfield.
The Dorniers were to carry twenty 110-lb bombs each fitted with a fuse that would allow for function if released from 50 feet or higher; the type of bomb previously used by the Staffel had to release from twice this height, making the unit's Do 17s correspondingly more vulnerable to ground fire.
The attack was to be part of a coordinated pincer movement against the airfields. Ju 88s from II./KG 76 were to dive-bomb buildings and hangars from high-altitude first. Five minutes later, 27 Do 17s from I. and II./KG 76 would level-bomb from high altitude to crater the runways and landing grounds while knocking out its defences. 9 Staffel KG 76, the specialist low-level strike unit, would go in and finish off any buildings still standing. It was a bold and imaginative plan. If it worked, it would wreck Kenley from end-to-end. The high-flying bombers would have full fighter escort but the low-flying bombers would have to use stealth to avoid interception to and from the target area. The operation began at 09:00 but was postponed because of heavy haze reducing visibility up to 4,000 feet.
In the intermediate time, a few skirmishes took place between RAF fighters and German reconnaissance aircraft. A Lehrgeschwader 2
Lehrgeschwader 2
Lehrgeschwader 2 was a Luftwaffe unit during World War II, operating three fighter, night fighter, reconnaissance and ground support Gruppen ....
(LG 2) Bf 110 was shot down in the morning. At 11:00 KG 1's formations took off and the main formations headed out to sea. The form-up was more difficult for KG 76 and its Do 17s and Ju 88s. Their bases in and around Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
were covered in 8/10ths cloud cover with a base of 6,500 feet which reached to 10,000 feet. As the bombers climbed through the haze the formation soon lost cohesion. Valuable time was lost as they reformed. Unfortunately the Do 17s of I. and III./KG 76 had overtaken the III./KG 76 Ju 88s which should have been ahead of them by five minutes. These delay would have serious consequences for 9 Staffel KG 76.
Meanwhile Gerhard Schöpfel
Gerhard Schöpfel
Gerhard Schöpfel was a German World War II Luftwaffe 45-victory flying ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He held the position of Geschwaderkommodore of fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 26....
, leading III./JG 26 and Bf 109s from JG 3, 40 in total, were already crossing the Dover straights to sweep the skies clear of the main raid. Some 25 miles behind him were the 27 Do 17s of I. and III./KG 76 escorted by 20 Bf 110s that were to strike Kenley. Close by the Dorniers were the Ju 88s of III./KG 76 escorted by Bf 109s from JG 51. This formation should have been 15 miles in front. Some 15 miles to the rear of the Ju88s, KG 1's He 111s were bound for Biggin Hill, escorted by 40 Bf 109s from JG 54. The formations were moving at around three miles per minute, at 12,000 feet. Around 50 miles to the south-west, the nine Do 17s of 9 Staffel were at wave-top height, half way between Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
and Beachy Head, intent on sneaking under British radar beams unobserved. Altogether, the raiding force contained 108 bombers and 150 fighters.
British scramble
The British followed the main raids and were aware of all the approaching aircraft, save for the low-altitude 9 Staffel. The radar station near Dover began reporting a build-up over the Pas-de-Calais area. This activity increased until 12:45 when six separate concentrations were reported. The plotters estimated the strength of the force as 350 aircraft, one-third more than the actual size.At RAF Uxbridge
RAF Uxbridge
RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force station in Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon. Its grounds covered originally belonging to the Hillingdon House estate, which was purchased by the British Government in 1915, three years before the founding of the RAF...
, AOC No. 11 Group RAF
No. 11 Group RAF
No. 11 Group was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century, finally disbanding in 1996. Its most famous service was during 1940 when it defended London and the south-east against the attacks of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.-First World War:No. 11 Group was...
Keith Park
Keith Park
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park GCB, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC, RAF was a New Zealand soldier, First World War flying ace and Second World War Royal Air Force commander...
and his controllers directed No. 501 Squadron RAF
No. 501 Squadron RAF
No 501 Squadron was the fourteenth of the twenty-one flying units in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the volunteer reserve part of the British Royal Air Force. The squadron won seven battle honours, flying Hurricane, Spitfire and Tempest fighter aircraft during World War II, and was one of the most...
and its 12 Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
s, already in the air, to Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
at 20,000 feet. They had been on their way back to RAF Gravesend
RAF Gravesend
RAF Gravesend was a Fighter Airfield during the Battle of Britain, and was home to the following Squadrons during the Battle:*No. 610 Squadron RAF from 26 May 1940*No. 604 Squadron RAF from 3 July 1940*No. 501 Squadron RAF from 25 July 1940...
having spent most of the morning on patrol operating from RAF Hawkinge
RAF Hawkinge
RAF Hawkinge was an airfield in Kent, near to the south coast and the closest airfield to the French coast.It took part in the Battle of Britain and it was home to No. 79 Squadron RAF. After the war, the station hosted the Home Command Gliding Centre, and is fondly remembered by many Air Cadets as...
near Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
. Within minutes eight more Squadrons were dispatched to meet them; two from Kenley, two from Biggin Hill and one each from North Weald, Martlesham, Heath, Manston and Rochford.
Within a short time the fighters assigned to engage were all airborne. Five Squadrons; No. 17, No. 54, No. 56
No. 56 Squadron RAF
Number 56 Squadron is one of the oldest and most successful squadrons of the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of the significant air campaigns of both World War I and World War II...
, No. 65
No. 65 Squadron RAF
No. 65 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force.-World War I:The squadron was first formed at Wyton on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps with a core provided from the training ground at Norwich. By the end of World War I, it had claimed over 200 victories...
, and 501 with 17 Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
s and 36 Hurricanes were moving to patrol the Canterbury-Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
line to block any attack on the Thames Estuary
Thames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
ports of the airfields to the north of it. Four Squadrons; No. 32, No. 64
No. 64 Squadron RAF
No. 64 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was first formed on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. It was last disbanded on 31 January 1991 at RAF Leuchars.- 1916 to 1919 :...
, No. 601
No. 601 Squadron RAF
No. 601 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, based in London. The squadron battle honours most notably include the Battle of Britain and the first Americans to fly in World War II were members of this squadron.-History:...
, and No. 615
No. 615 Squadron RAF
No. 615 Squadron was a unit of the British Auxiliary Air Force and later the Royal Auxiliary Air Force between 1937 and 1957.-Formation and early years:...
, with 23 Spitfires and 27 Hurricanes went into position above Kenley and Biggin Hill. A total of 97 RAF fighters were to meet the attack.
Park did not send all of his forces aloft, and he held a reserve. Three Squadrons at RAF Tangmere
RAF Tangmere
RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, located at Tangmere village about 3 miles east of Chichester in West Sussex, England. American RAF pilot Billy Fiske died at Tangmere and was the first American aviator to die during World War II...
were kept and made ready to meet more attacks from the south. Six more were in reserve to meet a possible follow-up to the coming raid.
9 Staffel KG 76 attacks Kenley
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
s J.W Bland, Kenneth Lee and F. Kozlowski. Bland was the only one killed.
Both the Do 17s and Ju 88s of the III./KG 76 were engaged by AAA defences as they crossed Dover. The Do 17s were escorted by ZG 26 while III./JG 51 led by Hannes Trautloft
Hannes Trautloft
Johannes "Hannes" Trautloft was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1932 until the end of the war and again from 1957-1970. He flew 560 combat sorties and was credited with 58 victories. He was regarded as a very competent leader, and much respected from those...
escorted the Ju 88s. Trautloft remarked on the impressive numerical strength of the German formations. Fortunately the German bombers had flown too far east of Canterbury and thus avoided the main concentration of fighters on the Canterbury-Margate line. At 13:01 they passed over Ashford
Ashford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
and had a clear 40 mile run before they reached Biggin Hill and its four defending Squadrons.
As 9 Staffel crossed the coast they were fired at by Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
patrol boats. The machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
fire was ineffective. However, the Royal Observer Corps
Royal Observer Corps
The Royal Observer Corps was a civil defence organisation operating in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December 1995, when the Corps' civilian volunteers were stood down....
Post K3, situated on top of Beach Head, spotted the Dorniers. They immediately telephoned a warning to Observer Group Headquarters at Horsham
Horsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
and fighter sector stations in the area, including RAF Kenley. Wing Commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
Thomas Prickman, the station commander at Kenley, noticed the low-flying Dornier plot appear on his situation map. They appeared to be heading away towards the west, and was unsure of their target. His controllers were organising Nos. 64 and 615 Squadrons to meet the high-altitude raid. Roth headed past Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
until he picked up the rail line, Brighton-London. He then turned north-west.
With the Observer Corps passing a steady stream of reports regarding approaching German formations they soon realised a coordinated attack was underway. The two Squadrons approaching the high-altitude attack could not be diverted and no fighters had been asked to engage the 9 Staffel. The only Squadron on the ground in the area was No. 111 Squadron RAF
No. 111 Squadron RAF
No. 111 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operated the Panavia Tornado F3 from RAF Leuchars, Scotland until March 2011, when the squadron was disbanded, ending the Tornado F3's RAF service.-In World War I:...
that had 12 Hurricanes at RAF Croydon. Although usually the responsibility of Park, the controllers took the matter into their own hands and ordered all aircraft into the air. Even those that were not in combat condition were flown north-east, to avoid them being caught on the ground.
No. 111 Squadron managed to get into position above Kenley at 3,000 feet. With luck they could intercept 9 Staffel. Biggin Hill soon took the same precaution of ordering all fighters into the air by order of Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
Richard Grice. At 13:10 the German bombers were within 40 miles of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
high-power transmitter at Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It has a population of 29,616, and is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town...
. In accordance with policy, it was shut down to deny the Germans the opportunity to use it as direction-finding beacon and the BBC Home Service
BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was a British national radio station which broadcast from 1939 until 1967.-Development:Between the 1920s and the outbreak of The Second World War, the BBC had developed two nationwide radio services, the BBC National Programme and the BBC Regional Programme...
was kicked off air in the process. Using the railway lines, Roth, in the lead Do 17, homed in on Kenley from the south. They were now just six miles away.
Joachim Roth's low-level navigation had been extremely accurate. He had navigated his unit to within two minutes flying time from the target without interception, over unfamiliar enemy territory, on time and exactly on the planned route. But as the Dorniers neared the airfield they noticed that there was no smoke, or signs of damage. They expected to be polishing off a damaged fighter station. As the Germans burst over the airfield the air was suddenly filled with tracer rounds as the Dornier's gunners engaged the Bofors and British AAA defences.
Some of No. 111 Squadron dove onto the Dorniers, but one Hurricane was shot down, either by the Dorniers or British ground fire. Pilot Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Stanley Connors was killed. The rest pulled up and away to avoid friendly fire. They flew to the northern edge of the airfield to catch the raiders as they emerged. Two Hurricanes from No. 615 were taking off under the attack.
Within minutes all the Dorniers had been hit. Feldwebel
Feldwebel
Feldwebel is a German military rank which has existed since at least the 18th century with usage as a title dating to the Middle Ages. The word Feldwebel is usually translated as sergeant being rated OR-6 in the NATO rank comparison scale, equivalent to the British Army Sergeant and the US Army...
Johannes Petersen's Do 17 was flying higher than the others. It was hit, and caught fire, but carried on. Günter Unger lined up his Do 17 in order to attack a hangar and released his 20 110-lb bombs before his starboard engine was knocked out. Unteroffizier
Unteroffizier
Unteroffizier is both a specific military rank as well as a collective term for non-commissioned officers of the German military that has existed since the 19th century. The rank existed as a title as early as the 17th century with the first widespread usage occurring in the Bavarian Army of the...
(Junior Officer or NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
) Schumacher watched as three hangars were destroyed by Unger’s bombs. Unger’s Dornier was then was hit by something. It bled black smoke and lost speed. Unger was engaged by No. 111s Harry Newton. Newton was shot down by accurate return fire and bailed out. However, Newton fired a burst of machine gun fire at the Dornier in frustration before leaving the Hurricane. He damaged the Dornier, but Unger flew on. Oberleutnant
Oberleutnant
Oberleutnant is a junior officer rank in the militaries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Translated as "Senior Lieutenant", the rank is typically bestowed upon commissioned officers after five to six years of active duty...
(First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
) Hermann Magin was lining up a hangar when he was hit and slumped over. The quick reactions of the navigator, 28 year old Wilhelm-Friedrich Illg, saved the crew. He took control and climbed out of the defensive fire before ordering the crew to abandon the aircraft.
As the bombers worked over the airfield, Aircraftman D. Roberts waited for them on the northern boundary with his Parachute-and-cable launchers
Unrotated Projectile
The Unrotated Projectile, or UP, was a short range rocket-firing anti-aircraft weapon developed for the Royal Navy to supplement the 2 pounder Pom-Pom gun due to a critical lack of close-range anti-aircraft weapons. It was used extensively by British ships during the early days of World War II...
. Three Do 17s were heading towards him, climbing slowly. When they were in range he fired the cables. Nine rockets flew upwards. Wilhelm Raab saw the rockets go up. Although he did not understand what they were, he banked the Do 17 to avoid the lines of smoke that may or may not have concealed something. Because the Dornier banked, one of the cables that hit his bomber slid off the wing before the lower parachute had time to deploy. Pilot Petersen's Dornier was not that lucky. Already on fire it ran into the cable which dragged it out of the sky. The Do 17 crashed killing all five crewmen. Oberleutnant Rudolf Lamberty (carrying Joachim Roth) also managed to avoid a collision, but before he could do so fire hit his Dornier destroying the fuel tanks. The bomber caught fire and he was barely able to keep control. Eventually it crash-landed at Leaves Green
Leaves Green
Leaves Green is a village in the London Borough of Bromley in London, UK.The village lies on the Bromley to Westerham road , adjacent to the north-western perimeter of Biggin Hill Airport. It is some south of Bromley and north of Biggin Hill....
in Kent after being shot down by No. 111 Squadron Hurricanes. Roth was killed, but Lamberty survived with burns.
Of the bombers that evaded the defences and No. 111 Squadron, two ditched into the sea and two more crash-landed in France. The German crew was picked up by Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
ships. Out of the nine Do 17s, four were lost, two damaged in crash landings and all were at least damaged. Wilhelm-Friedrich Illg was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
for helping the wounded pilot Hermann Magin guide his Do 17 back home. Magin died of wounds soon after.
For their efforts, 9 Staffel destroyed at least three hangars, hit several other buildings and destroyed eight Hurricanes on the ground. According to other sources, 10 hangars were destroyed, six damaged, the operations room put out of action, and many buildings were destroyed. It would have been worse had the bombs been released higher. A lot of bombs landed horizontally and did not explode on impact. To achieve this level of damage, KG 76 dropped nine tons of bombs. At the end of the day just one hangar was left operational at Kenley. The low-level raid put the airfield out of commission for two hours. In combat, two Hurricanes were shot down by the Dornier's return fire. In return 9 Staffel lost four Do 17s, three slightly damaged and two seriously damaged. Low-level attacks were abandoned after The Hardest Day.
KG 1 and KG 76 hit Kenley, Biggin Hill and West Malling
Helmut Meckel
Helmut Meckel was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Helmut Meckel was killed on 8 May 1943 in a flying...
and Helmut Landry each destroyed a Hurricane. While 615 had taken grievous losses, it had served an important purpose by keeping the escorting German fighters busy. While they engaged JG 3, Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
Michael Crossley led No. 32 Squadron against I. and III./KG 76 bombers without having to worry about enemy fighter aircraft.
ZG 26's Bf 110s were flying near the formation, and tried to offer JG 3 support by intercepting Crossley's fighters but failed. Crossley led a head-on attack and downed one Do 17 while his squadron damaged several others. So close had the RAF fighters pressed home their attacks that the bombers had to move and jink to avoid their fire. It put the bomb-aimers off their aim. The Dorniers were already too close to their targets and the pilots could not realign before the formation was over and passed the aiming point. Having been thwarted from bombing their official targets they aimed for rail tracks to the north and east of the airfield. Some of the unit targeted RAF Croydon, three miles north-west of Biggin Hill. Others turned around without releasing their bombs. The crews that bombed the rail lines found they were a difficult target to hit at 15,000 feet. Some released their bombs at intervals in the hope of hitting their targets, however some bombs fell on residential property.
Crossley attempted a second pass on the bombers soon after. This time, the Bf 110s succeeded in getting in between the bombers and 32 Squadron. One Bf 110 was damaged while their gunners shot down and wounded Flight Lieutenant 'Humph' Russell. Seconds later, No. 64 Squadron's eight Spitfires turned up, led by Squadron Leader Donald MacDonell. They dived on the Dorniers from high-altitude. Some of the Squadron, including MacDonell himself were attacked the Bf 110s, believing them to be Dorniers. MacDonell damaged a Bf 110 flown by Ruediger. Proske crash-landed as was taken prisoner. Several confusing dogfights broke out and lasted for some time.
The Ju 88s arrived over the target at Kenley to find a smoke pall hanging over the target. It was impossible to begin dive-bombing attacks under those conditions. Given the amount of damage to Kenley, it also seemed unnecessary to the bomber crews. As they were deciding what action to take, they were attacked. The Bf 109s led by Hannes Trautloft
Hannes Trautloft
Johannes "Hannes" Trautloft was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1932 until the end of the war and again from 1957-1970. He flew 560 combat sorties and was credited with 58 victories. He was regarded as a very competent leader, and much respected from those...
had a difficult job of defending the Ju 88s. After passing Biggin Hill on their way to RAF West Malling
RAF West Malling
RAF West Malling was a Royal Air Force station near West Malling in Kent, England.Originally used as a landing area during the first World War, the site opened as a private landing ground and in 1930, then known as Kingshill, home to the Maidstone School of Flying, before being renamed West Malling...
British AAA fire began targeting the formation. One Ju 88 was hit, and Trautloft gave it special protection. As he manoeuvred himself into position, the formation was jumped by Spitfires and Hurricanes. One Ju 88 was lost to 32 Squadron's Pilot Officer
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
Boleslaw Wlasnowolski. As they attack began, the Ju 88s turned to West Malling, and began dive-bombing attacks as an alternate target.
KG 1, meanwhile, had a clear run to its target. The battles with KG 76 had drawn in four of the five RAF Squadrons. Still, the British sent No. 615 Squadron and its 15 Spitfires to deal with KG 1. They were confronted with a large number of Bf 109s from JG 54, escorting the He 111s. The German fighters successfully defended their charges and the RAF fighters could not break through to the bombers, which were flying in stepped-up waves from 12 to 15,000 feet. Most of the German bomber crews noted the absence of fighter opposition and speculated that the RAF might be at the end of its tether. Most of the personnel at Biggin Hill had time to take cover before the bombers arrived. KG 1 lost only one He 111 and one another damaged but failed to damage Biggin Hill. It is likely the losses sustained by KG 1 were inflicted by Spitfires from No. 65 Squadron RAF
No. 65 Squadron RAF
No. 65 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force.-World War I:The squadron was first formed at Wyton on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps with a core provided from the training ground at Norwich. By the end of World War I, it had claimed over 200 victories...
which stumbled across of their He 111s while 615 and JG 54 were locked in combat.
No. 1 Squadron RAF
No. 1 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It operated the Harrier GR9 from RAF Cottesmore until 28 January 2011.The squadron motto is In omnibus princeps , appropriate for the RAF's oldest squadron and one that has been involved in almost every major British military operation since...
, 17, 54, 56 and 266 Squadrons
No. 266 Squadron RAF
-World War I:The squadron was formed from No's 437 and 438 Flights at Mudros, Greece on 27 September 1918 to carry out anti-submarine patrols in that area, flying Short 184s and 320s along with Felixtowe F.3s. In February 1919 it was transferred to the Caucasus on HMS Engadine. It operated from...
totalling 23 Spitfires and 36 Hurricanes were moving in to meet the main formations during their withdrawal.
RAF controllers faced difficulties of their own. Thickening haze made it impossible for the Observer Corps to plot the route of German formations. A concentrated force of RAF fighters, should it be able to engage the main formations, might be able to inflict serious damage. However, the thickening haze might enable the Germans to slip by and leave the concentrated force of RAF fighters near Canterbury striking at thin air. Instead of adopting an "all or nothing" approach, Park ordered the fighters to spread out and engage singly if needed.
Park's plan paid dividends. Bf 110s from ZG 26 were soon discovered by No. 56 Squadron and quickly found themselves under attack. In the short and sharp engagement, ZG 26 lost five Bf 110s and another damaged to No. 56 Squadron. Worse was follow when No. 54 and 501 engaged the Messerschmitts. ZG 26 lost a further two shot down and two damaged to No. 54 Squadron. None of the RAF Squadrons reported any losses in these engagements. The Geschwader would lose other machines to No. 151
No. 151 Squadron RAF
-World War I:No. 151 squadron was founded at Hainault Farm in Essex on 12 June 1918, and was equipped with Sopwith Camel aircraft.During the five months in which 151 Squadron had taken part in hostilities overseas, the total number of hours flown by night was 1443 hrs 26 mins.Sixteen enemy aircraft...
and No. 46 Squadrons
No. 46 Squadron RAF
No. 46 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, formed in 1916, was disbanded and re-formed three times before its last disbandment in 1975. It served in both World War I and World War II.- World War I :...
who arrived to join the battle. According to one source, the total losses of ZG 26 amounted to 12 destroyed and seven damaged throughout the entire day. Another source gives a list of 15 Bf 110s written off; 13 destroyed, two written off and six damaged on 18 August 1940. Whatever the actual losses, The Hardest Day marked the start of a decline in Bf 110 operations. Production was not keeping pace with losses, and there simply were not enough aircraft to go around.
No. 266 Squadron was the last unit to trade shots with German formations. During the battles five Bf 109s were destroyed; two from JG 26 and three from JG 3. A further three Bf 109s were 60, 70 and 80 percent damaged. Four German pilots were killed, one wounded, one captured and one missing. One made it back to base were the crippled fighter crash-landed. One JG 3 and one JG 26 Bf 109s fell to Spitfires of 266 Squadron. Three fell to Spitfires of No. 54 Squadron. Bomber losses amounted to eight destroyed and ten damaged; including five Do 17s and two Ju 88s destroyed from KG 76 and one KG 1 He 111 lost.
The British suffered casualties as well. No. 17 Squadron lost one Hurricane and one pilot killed. No. 32 Squadron suffered the loss of one Hurricane destroyed; No. 65 Squadron lost one Hurricane shot down and one pilot missing. No. 111 Squadron lost one Hurricane destroyed on the ground and one damaged on the ground and three shot down in aerial combat, but all pilots survived. No. 501 Squadron suffered heavy losses amounting to five Hurricanes destroyed, two pilots killed one seriously wounded. No. 601 lost two Hurricanes and both pilots killed while No. 602 Squadron lost one three Spitfires and one damaged with one pilot wounded. No. 615 Squadron also took crippling casualties. It lost three Hurricanes in aerial with one pilot killed and another wounded. However, a further six of their Hurricanes were destroyed in the Kenley raid by 9 Staffel./KG 76. The casualties of 615 have been challenged by another source which indicates 615 Squadron lost only three on the ground at Kenley (P3158, P3487, R4186).
The main battle was over, but more combats took place as Kesselring sent in even more Bf 109s to support the withdrawing bombers. Jagdgeschwader 2
Jagdgeschwader 2
Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" was a World War II Luftwaffe wing. It was named after World War I fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen.-History:...
(JG 2) and Jagdgeschwader 27
Jagdgeschwader 27
Jagdgeschwader 27 Afrika was a World War II Luftwaffe Geschwader. It was most famous for service in the North African Campaign, supporting the Deutsches Afrikakorps.- Formation:...
(JG 27) engaged RAF fighters near the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
as the bombers left British air space. II./JG 2 lost one Bf 109 destroyed and another damaged in battle with Hurricanes from No. 601 Squadron, suffering one pilot missing and the other wounded. JG 27 lost six Bf 109s (three each from I. and II./JG 27) in action against No. 85 Squadron RAF
No. 85 Squadron RAF
No. 85 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It most recently served as No. 85 Squadron based at RAF Church Fenton.-In World War I:...
. Three pilots were killed, two were posted missing presumed dead and the other was picked up in the Channel by a Heinkel He 59
Heinkel He 59
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Green, William.War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Six: Floatplanes. London: Macdonald, 1962.* Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. New York: Doubleday, 1972. ISBN 0-385-05782-2....
air-sea rescue aircraft.
German build up
Hugo SperrleHugo Sperrle
Hugo Sperrle was a German field marshal of the Luftwaffe during World War II. His forces were deployed solely on the Western Front and the Mediterranean throughout the war...
's Luftflotte 3
Luftflotte 3
Luftflotte 3 was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on February 1, 1939 from Luftwaffengruppenkommando 3 in Munich and redesignated Luftwaffenkommando West on September 26, 1944...
ordered his dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
units to begin operations against the radar stations and airfields on the southern coast of Britain. The targets on the afternoon of 18 August were RAF Ford, RAF Thorney Island and Gosport, all belonging to the Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
or Coastal Command. Included in the target selection was the radar station at Poling, West Sussex, near Littlehampton
Littlehampton
Littlehampton is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton and east of the county town of Chichester....
.
Reconnaissance by Junkers Ju 86
Junkers Ju 86
The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry 10 passengers. Two were delivered to Swissair and five to Luft Hansa...
aircraft had identified the airfields as fighter bases. The high altitude and poor resolution of the photographs meant the aircraft on the ground could not be identified properly and the Germans mistakenly believed them to be fighter fields. In fact, none of the airfields belonged to Fighter Command. Gosport housed a torpedo development unit, Thorney Island housed No. 59 Squadron RAF
No. 59 Squadron RAF
No. 59 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force.- History :No.59 Squadron first became operational on 1 August 1916 at Narborough Airfield in Norfolk as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. During the Second World War it was attached to RAF Fighter Command , Bomber Command and Coastal Command...
and No. 235 Squadron RAF
No. 235 Squadron RAF
No. 235 Squadron RAF was an anti-submarine squadron of the Royal Air Force in World War I and in World War II served as a squadron in RAF Coastal Command-Formation and World War I:...
with Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
's assigned to RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...
. Ford was a naval air station and housed No. 829 Squadron Fleet Air Arm which was working up with Fairey Albacore
Fairey Albacore
The Fairey Albacore was a British single-engine carrier-borne biplane torpedo bomber built by Fairey Aviation between 1939 and 1943 for the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and used during the Second World War. It had a three-man crew and was designed for spotting and reconnaissance as well as delivering...
aircraft at the time. These targets were given to Sturzkampfgeschwader 77
Sturzkampfgeschwader 77
Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 was a Luftwaffe Dive bomber-wing of World War II.-History:Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 was formed on 1 May 1939, I. Group in Brieg, Stab and II. Group in Breslau-Schöngarten . The III. Group was formed from II...
(StG 77 or Dive Bombing Wing 77). The Geschwader committed 109 Junkers Ju 87
Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...
Stuka dive-bombers to the raid. It was the largest concentration of Ju 87s to operate over Britain to date.
I./StG 77 were to strike at Thorney Island with 28 Ju 87s; 28 II./StG 77 were assigned to Ford; and 31 III./StG 77 Ju 87s were to destroy Poling radar station. A fourth unit, Sturzkampfgeschwader 3
Sturzkampfgeschwader 3
Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 was a Luftwaffe Dive bomber-wing of World War II. It was formed on 9 July 1940 in Dinard from the Stab/Kampfgeschwader 28 and redesignated to Schlachtgeschwader 3 on 18 October 1943.-Kommodore:...
(StG 3 or Dive Bombing Wing 3), sent 22 Ju 87s to attack Gosport. The dive-bombers were supported by 157 Bf 109s; 70 from JG 27; 32 from JG 53 acting as close escort; and 55 from JG 2 which was to sweep the Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
area in advance of the main raid independently. The Ju 87s were based around Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
, too far away for the attacks. So in the morning the Stukas were moved into closer airfields around Cherbourg, right on the Channel coast. There, fuel tanks were filled, bombs loaded, and crews given a final briefing.
At 13:29 the first Ju 87s took off. By 13:45 all were in formation and beginning the 85-mile trip. Major Helmut Bode led III./StG 77 to Poling. He knew nothing of the technicalities of his target. Behind him was Hauptmann Alfons Orthofer's II./StG 77 bound for Ford. After them, Hauptmann Herbert Meisel's III Gruppe was heading on the left of the formation for Thorney Island. Hauptmann Walter Seigel's I./StG 3 headed for Gosport on the extreme left. Each Ju 87 was loaded with 550-lb bombs under the main fuselage and four 11-lb bombs and two under each wing. The Bf 109s would not take off for some time. The long trip and low speed of the Ju 87s meant there was plenty of time to catch up without burning fuel keeping close contact with the Stukas.
British scramble
No. 10 Group RAF
No. 10 Group of the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918 in No. 2 Area. On 8 May of the next year it was transferred to South-Western Area. In 1919 it was transferred to Coastal Area where it remained until it was disbanded on 18 January 1932....
and No. 11 Group alerted their units from their operations rooms at Uxbridge and Box in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. No. 10 and 11 Groups dispatched more Squadrons to support the already airborne 11 Hurricanes from No. 601 Squadron. 10 Group dispatched one Squadron each from RAF Middle Wallop, RAF Exeter and RAF Warmwell
RAF Warmwell
RAF Warmwell was a Royal Air Force station near Warmwell in Dorset, England from 1937 to 1946, located about 5 miles east-southeast of Dorchester; 100 miles southwest of London....
, and one each from No. 11's RAF Tangmere
RAF Tangmere
RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, located at Tangmere village about 3 miles east of Chichester in West Sussex, England. American RAF pilot Billy Fiske died at Tangmere and was the first American aviator to die during World War II...
and RAF Westhampnett
RAF Westhampnett
Royal Air Force Station Westhampnett, more commonly known as RAF Westhampnett, was a Royal Air Force station, located in the village of Westhampnett near Chichester, in the English County of West Sussex....
. The RAF order of battle
Order of battle
In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...
included; nine Hurricanes of No. 43 Squadron RAF
No. 43 Squadron RAF
No. 43 Squadron was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It last operated the Panavia Tornado F3 from RAF Leuchars, Scotland in the air defence role until disbanded in July 2009.-In World War I:...
, led by Squadron Leader Frank Reginald Carey
Frank Reginald Carey
Group Captain Frank Reginald "Chota" Carey CBE, DFC & Two Bars, AFC, DFM was an English World War II fighter ace with 25 victories, three shared destroyed, four unconfirmed destroyed, four probables and eight damaged...
patrolling Thorney Island; No. 602 Squadron RAF
No. 602 Squadron RAF
No 602 Squadron is a Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron. Originally formed in 1925 as a light bomber squadron, its role changed in 1938 to army co-operation and in 1939 to that of a fighter squadron....
protected Westhampnett with 12 Spitfires; No. 152 Squadron RAF
No. 152 Squadron RAF
No. 152 Squadron of the Royal Air Force .-History:No 152 Squadron was formed on 1 October 1918 at Rochford as a Camel night fighter unit. 30 June 1919, the squadron disbanded....
and 11 Spitfires patrolled Portsmouth air space; No. 234 Squadron RAF
No. 234 Squadron RAF
No. 234 Squadron RAF had a long career within the RAF, being operational on flying boats in World War I and on fighter aircraft in World War II. After the war it remained a fighter unit till 1957. In its last incarnation the squadron was in turn Operational Training Unit , Tactical Weapon Unit and...
with 11 Spitfires over the Isles of Wight to engage the attackers; No. 213 Squadron RAF
No. 213 Squadron RAF
No. 213 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. The squadron was formed on 1 April 1918 from No. 13 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service...
with 12 Hurricanes which were to move 80 miles eastward from Exeterand patrol St. Catherine's Point. Finally, No. 609 Squadron RAF
No. 609 Squadron RAF
No. 609 Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, originally formed as a bomber squadron and in World War II active as fighter squadron, nowadays provides personnel to augment and support the operations of the Royal Air Force. The squadron is no longer a flying Squadron, but instead has the role...
and 12 Spitfires remained in reserve around Middle Wallop to meet any unexpected German moves.
Having lost all of its Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
night fighters in the raid of 16 August, Tangmere dispatched two Hurricanes from the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) fitted with FIU airborne radar to test the device in action. RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...
also joined in, and committed No. 235 Squadron RAF
No. 235 Squadron RAF
No. 235 Squadron RAF was an anti-submarine squadron of the Royal Air Force in World War I and in World War II served as a squadron in RAF Coastal Command-Formation and World War I:...
and its Bristol Blenheim's. The defence was reliant on the 68 Spitfires and Hurricanes. The numerical standing meant a ratio of one RAF fighter to every four German fighters and bombers, or in other words, one British aircraft to every two German fighters. Even had the fighter controllers realised the strength of the raid, there was little that could be done. Other fighters were refuelling and rearming after the attacks on Kenley and Biggin Hill and would not be available.
During the British scramble, Bf 109s from JG 52 which were part of a pre-raid sweep, chanced upon RAF fighters out in the open at RAF Manston
RAF Manston
RAF Manston was an RAF station in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site is now split between a commercial airport Kent International Airport and a continuing military use by the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre , following on from a long...
. Twelve Bf 109s from 2 Staffel II./JG 52, led by Hauptmann Wolfgang Ewald
Wolfgang Ewald
Wolfgang Ewald was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II...
attacked while the British fighters were refuelling. After two passes, the Germans claimed 10 fighters and three Blenheims destroyed. In fact, just two No. 266 Squadron RAF
No. 266 Squadron RAF
-World War I:The squadron was formed from No's 437 and 438 Flights at Mudros, Greece on 27 September 1918 to carry out anti-submarine patrols in that area, flying Short 184s and 320s along with Felixtowe F.3s. In February 1919 it was transferred to the Caucasus on HMS Engadine. It operated from...
Spitfires were destroyed with another six Hurricanes damaged but repairable. A single Hurricane was also destroyed.
Ju 87s attack unopposed
As the Ju 87s reached the coast the respective groups split off and headed for their assigned targets. By this time, some 15 miles off the Isle of Wight, the Bf 109s had caught up and were now zigzagging around the dive-bombers. To bomb accurately, Bode led III./StG 77 to attack from the North West, dead into wind in order to bomb accurately. Usually the Ju 87s attacked in line astern, but Bode chose to attack in groups of three to split the AAA fire. To keep the enemy's heads down he fired his machine guns in an 80 degree dive. He soon left an altitude of 13,000 feet, releasing his bombs and pulling out at 2,275 feet. The rest of his unit followed.Poling took severe punishment from very accurate bombing. Since Ventnor radar station had been knocked out already, this attack demonstrated an attack on Fighter Command's command, communication and control system was possible. Emergency equipment had been installed on the site incase of a breakdown, but the information and reading of the radar was significantly less reliable. In fact, Poling was so badly damaged it was out of action for the rest of August. Fortunately the CH chain had a mobile radar station at the Isle of Wight to fill in for it. Another was due to be set up near Poling anyway, so the chain remained unaffected. The damage done to Kenley and Poling were no more than major inconveniences to Park and Dowding. Only one WAAF member was studying the plots at Poling up until the attack. Avis Parsons was awarded the Military Medal
Military Medal
The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....
for her actions on 5 September 1940.
As Bode was in action at Poling, Alfons Orthofer's unit attacked Ford. There were only six Lewis machine guns manned at Ford and the Ju 87s were able to attack with complete confidence. Bombs rained down on huts, hangars, building and amongst aircraft drawn up together for maintenance. Early on bombs struck the field's oil tanks and storage compounds causing an enormous blaze which contributed to the crippling damage on the airfield. Gosport also came under attack soon after. Siegel's Ju 87s, with no air opposition, swooped onto their targets causing large-scale damage.
As the Ju 87s began their attack, Spitfires from No. 234 Squadron engaged the 25-strong Bf 109 escort commanded by Hauptmann Karl-Wolfgang Redlich. I./JG 27s commander, Gruppenkommandeur
Gruppenkommandeur
Gruppenkommandeur is a Luftwaffe position , that is the equivalent of a commander of a group or wing in other air forces. Gruppenkommandeur usually has the rank of Hauptmann or Major, and commands a Gruppe, which is a sub-division of a Geschwader. A Gruppe usually consists of three or four...
(Group Commander) Eduard Neumann
Eduard Neumann
Eduard 'Edu' Neumann was a German Luftwaffe Officer and commanded the famous Jagdgeschwader 27 ‘Afrika’ during the North African Campaign from 1941 to 1943.-Early life:...
heard the battle developing, but communications were poor and he decided to let Redlich, one of his most experienced Staffelkapitän
Staffelkapitän
Staffelkapitän is a position in flying units of the German Luftwaffe that is the equivalent of RAF/USAF Squadron Commander. Usually today a Staffelkapitän is of Oberstleutnant or Major rank....
(Squadron Leaders) fight alone. In the resulting combat, three Bf 109s were shot down.
Disaster for StG 77
Gosport
Gosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...
to Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...
. No. 152, 235 Squadrons engaged the Germans over Thorney Island. No. 602 engaged the Ju 87s that attacked Ford but III./JG 27 bounced No. 602 Squadron, claiming four Spitfires destroyed. Spitfires from No. 234 and Hurricanes from 213 Squadron each destroyed one Bf 109.
The running air battles had cost the Ju 87 units heavily. The lack of protection for I./StG 77 had cost it 10 Ju 87s with one damaged beyond repair. Total manpower losses for the unit amounted to 17 killed or mortally wounded, six wounded and five captured out of 56 men. II./StG 77 lost three Ju 87s to fighter attack and one damaged beyond repair, five crewmen dead and one captured. III./StG 77 also lost two Ju 87s and two damaged with four men killed. StG 77s casualties amounted to 26 killed, six taken prisoner, and six wounded. The battles brought the number of Ju 87s lost thus far in the campaign to 59 with a further 33 damaged. The price was too high and with the exception of sporadic attacks on convoys later in the year, the Ju 87 played no further part in the Battle of Britain. Among the dead was Gruppenkommandeur Hauptmann Herbert Meisel.
The Bf 109s of JG 27 lost six fighters. Two pilots were saved. Another source gives eight Bf 109s destroyed. JG 27 claimed 14 victories, but it is likely this was an exaggeration. Only seven were allowed to stand by the Luftwaffe. RAF casualties in the air battles amounted to five fighters destroyed and four damaged. No. 43 Squadron suffered one damaged Hurricane; 152 Squadron two damaged Spitfires; No. 601 Squadron lost two Hurricanes; No. 602 Squadron lost three Spitfires and one damaged.
Aftermath
The damage done to Ford was great. The local Fire Brigades helped put out the numerous fires and clear up the dead in and around the station. Mostly foam was used as the main water pipe had burst. Other fire units used water from static water tanks and a ditch which had filled from the fractured pipe. Ford had received less warning than the other targets and suffered heavier casualties: 28 killed and 75 wounded. Some 14 aircraft were destroyed: five Blackburn SharkBlackburn Shark
-Bibliography:* Mason, Francis K. The British Bomber since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.* Shores, Christopher, Brian Cull and Yasuho Izawa. Bloody Shambles:Volume One:The Drift to War to the Fall of Singapore. London:Grub Street, 1992. ISBN 0-948817-50-X.*...
s, five Fairey Swordfish
Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...
, and two Fairey Albacore
Fairey Albacore
The Fairey Albacore was a British single-engine carrier-borne biplane torpedo bomber built by Fairey Aviation between 1939 and 1943 for the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and used during the Second World War. It had a three-man crew and was designed for spotting and reconnaissance as well as delivering...
. A further 26 aircraft were damaged but repairable. As well as petrol and oil installations, two hangars, the motor transport hangar, two stores buildings, the ratings' and petty officers' canteens and numerous accommodation buildings were destroyed.
At Gosport, five aircraft were lost and five damaged. Several buildings were wrecked and two hangars damaged. But there were no casualties. The Ju 87 attack had been accurate, and no bombs fell outside the military compounds. In the Gosport area, 10 barrage balloon
Barrage balloon
A barrage balloon is a large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against low-level aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult. Some versions carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up...
s were shot down and two damaged.
The attacks of No. 43 and 601 Squadron disrupted the raid against Thorney Island and damage was not concentrated. Two hangars and two buildings were wrecked. Three aircraft were destroyed: a Blenheim, an Avro Anson
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm and numerous other air forces prior to, during, and after the Second World War. Named for British Admiral George Anson, it was originally designed for maritime reconnaissance, but was...
and a Magister. One Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
was also damaged. The only casualties were five civilian workers, injured when a 110-lb bomb landed on their shelter.
The loss of long-range radar station at Poling caused few problems. The Chain Home Low radar there was working and could see almost as far out to sea. Along the surrounding coastline, for 70 miles, another six radar stations gave interlocking stations which provided cover, so there was no hole in the system. Within a few days, mobile units were moved in to wooded areas nearby to provide cover until Poling was repaired.
RAF over France
After the second attack there followed several hours of quiet as Nos. 10 and 11 Groups and Luftflotte 2 and 3, tired after considerable exertions, stopped to draw breath. On both sides of the Channel, unit commanders now phoned round frantically, trying to establish whether missing crews and aircraft were safely down elsewhere. It was time to move the dead, wounded and refuel and rearm the aircraft before the next potential mission.In the interim, two Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
of No. 114 Squadron RAF
No. 114 Squadron RAF
-Formation and World War I:No. 114 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed In Lahore, India on 27 Sep 1917. It was equipped with the B.E.2 and Bristol F2B and operated on the North-West Frontier...
made an attack on Frecamp and Dieppe. It passed over at high altitude, and dropped its bombs. The Germans recorded no damage at Frecamp, and the attack on Dieppe seems to have gone unnoticed. As the bombers headed home, they passed two Spitfires of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU). These aircraft had their armament removed, stripped of radios and everything not essential for their mission. They were fitted with extra fuel tanks and cameras to carry out their work. To achieve greater speed, the machines were polished to reduce drag. The Spitfires were the fastest aircraft either the RAF or Luftwaffe at that time, achieving a speed of just under 400 mph. Flying at 34,000 feet they usually came and went undetected. They photographed ports and airfields and then returned.
Fresh German operations
By 17:00, the Luftwaffe was ready to strike again. Radar stations were not plotting more German formations off the Kent coast and over the Pas-de-Calais area. Having attacked Biggin Hill and Kenley, Luftflotte 2 was not going after the Sector Station RAF North Weald and RAF HornchurchRAF Hornchurch
RAF Hornchurch was an airfield in the south of Hornchurch in what is now the London Borough of Havering. Known as Sutton's Farm during the First World War, it occupied of the farm of the same name and was situated east north-east of Charing Cross...
. Some 58 Do 17s of KG 2 were sent to bomb Hornchurch and 51 He 111s of KG 53 were directed to attack North Weald. The two raiding formations were to pass over the coast at the same time; so the He 111s attacking North Weald, with further to go, left 15 minutes earlier. The He 111s were to cross over at Foulness
Foulness
Foulness is an island on the east coast of Essex in England, which is separated from the mainland by narrow creeks. The large island had a usually resident population of 212 people in the 2001 census, who live in the settlements of Churchend and Courtsend, at the north end of Foulness. The island...
, the Dorniers at Deal
Deal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
. Fighter escort was provided by 140 Bf 109s and Bf 110s from JG 3, JG 26, JG 51, JG 54 and ZG 26.
The British correctly estimated the German strength as 250 aircraft. To meet the threat the Fighter Controllers at 11 Group's Uxbridge centre scrambled 13 Squadrons; No. 12 Group at Watnall passed on ordered to four more. Soon, a combined total of 47 Spitfires and 97 Hurricanes were in the air. Ten of the RAF fighters in the air (nine Spitfires from No. 19 Squadron and one Hurricane from No. 151 Squadron) were armed with 20 mm cannon.
No. 11 Group moved No. 32, 54, 56, and 501 Squadrons, totalling 11 Spitfires and 33 Hurricanes, to the Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
-Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
line to engage the enemy formations first. The remaining units were to climb to altitude and wait over or near the threatened fighter airfields, until a clearer picture emerged of enemy intentions.
KG 53 raid
KG 53 approached North Weald from the east between Maldon, EssexMaldon, Essex
Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...
and Rochford
Rochford
Rochford is a small town in the Rochford district of Essex in the East of England. It is sited about 43 miles from Central London and approximately 21 miles from the Essex county town, Chelmsford...
. No. 56 Squadron's 12 Hurricanes engaged the bombers, while No. 54 Squadron’s 11 Spitfires engaged the escorting Bf 109s and Bf 110s. In the engagement, at least one Bf 110 was shot down. The line of advance was now clear to the British ground controllers. Five Squadrons: No. 46, 85, 151, 257, and 310 with 61 Hurricanes, were scrambled to intercept the bombers in front of, or over the target. By 17:00 the airfield was covered in 5/10ths stratocumulus
Stratocumulus cloud
A Stratocumulus cloud belongs to a class of clouds characterized by large dark, rounded masses, usually in groups, lines, or waves, the individual elements being larger than those in altocumuli, and the whole being at a lower altitude, usually below 2,400 m...
at 5,000 feet. Within thirty minutes the base fell to just 3,500 feet. The German formation leaders soon realised that there was no hope of hitting a target from 12,000 feet, particularly when they could not see it. At 17:40, KG 53 turned away and headed for base. They had lost a single bomber to 56 Squadron. Things were about to change. As they turned around, 28 Hurricanes from Nos. 46, 85, and 151 Squadron prepared for a head-on attack. Meanwhile, 12 Hurricanes from 256 Squadron closed on the Germans from behind.
No. 151's Pilot Officer Richard Milne shot down Gruppenkommandeur of II./KG 53, Major Reinhold Tamm. The He 111 blew up, killing all aboard. The escorting Bf 109s counter-attacked, shooting down two No. 151 Squadron Hurricanes, killing one pilot and wounding the other. No. 257 Squadron also engaged and lost one pilot killed in a crash landing after combat with Bf 110s. No. 46 Squadron—the only 12 Group unit to take part—also engaged. Shortly hence, the 13 Hurricanes from No. 85 Squadron, led by Peter Townsend, struck at the bombers but was blocked by ZG 26 Bf 110s. Bf 109s was also present and inconclusive engagements began. It was likely the Bf 109s belonged to III./JG 51 providing top cover. There were intense combats around the bombers. No. 1 Squadron's leader, David Pemperton, accounted for one JG 3 Bf 109. No. 85 Squadron accounted for one He 111, but lost a Hurricane to the Bf 110s, the pilot, Pilot Officer Paddy Hemmingway, bailed out into the Channel and survived. Another pilot, Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Dick Lee, a veteran of the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
and a flying ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
with nine victories was reported missing in action
Missing in action
Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...
. He was last seen chasing three Bf 109s out to sea. His body was never found. Among the few British squadrons left in the fight (owing to fuel and ammunition running low) was No. 54 Squadron. Its commander, Colin Falkland Gray
Colin Falkland Gray
Group Captain Colin Falkland Gray DSO, DFC and Two Bars was the top New Zealand fighter ace of the Second World War. Gray was credited with 27 aerial kills, two shared destroyed, six probable kills, with a further four shared probables.-Early life:He and his twin brother Ken were born in...
, destroyed a Bf 110.
As KG 53 retreated out to sea, the German bombers dumped their bombs. Around 32 German bombs fell on the town of Shoeburyness
Shoeburyness
Shoeburyness is a town in southeast Essex, England, situated at the mouth of the river Thames Estuary. It is within the borough of Southend-on-Sea, and is situated at the far east of the borough, around east of Southend town centre...
. Two houses were destroyed and 20 damaged. One bomb landed on an Anderson Air Raid Shelter, killing a man and his wife. Another landed on the railway signal box, killing the signalman. Several bombs fell on a War Department gunnery range, causing no damage. Some 200 German bombs fell on the mud flats and sandbanks off Shoeburyness. Many were delayed-action bombs, and would go off at irregular intervals.
KG 53 had lost only four He 111s destroyed and one damaged. Its personnel losses amounted to 12 dead, two wounded and four prisoners of war. A further five were rescued by British ships, bringing the total number captured to nine. The low losses of the group in the face of fighter attacks were down to the determination of ZG 26. It cost the unit seven Bf 110s and a further six damaged.
KG 2 raid
Squadron Leader Michael Crossley was back in action with No. 32 Squadron. With No. 501, Crossley's units attempted to engage KG 2 while over Herne BayHerne Bay, Kent
Herne Bay is a seaside town in Kent, South East England, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary, it is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government district...
. The 15-strong Hurricanes were blocked by escorting Bf 109s. No. 501 came under attack from II./JG 51. One was shot down and its pilot, George E.B. Stoney was killed. His victor was Hauptmann
Hauptmann
Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...
Josef Foezoe, an Austrian pilot. No. 501 quickly counter attacked, destroying two Bf 109s. One of them was flown by Horst Tietzen
Horst Tietzen
Horst "Jakob" Tietzen was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Horst Tietzen was shot down over the Thames...
, an ace with 20 victories and the fourth highest claimant in the Luftwaffe at that time. The other victim was Hans-Otto Lessing. Both German pilots were killed. Another Bf 109 fell to Peter Brothers. The Bf 109s 22-year old pilot, Gerhard Mueller was killed. Meanwhile Crossley, Karol Pniak and Alan Ackford shared in the destruction of another Bf 109. The pilot, Walter Blume was severely injured and taken prisoner. Within a short time, the Germans turned the tables, and three Hurricanes (Crossley, Pilot Officer de Grunne and Pilot Officer Pearce) were shot down. All three survived, though Pearce and de Grunne suffered burns. But while the RAF fighters were kept busy by the escort, the Dorniers continued without interception.
As the Dorniers passed Sheerness
Sheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
, the anti-aircraft defences opened fire to protect the naval yard at Chatham, Kent. Along the south bank of the Thames Estuary
Thames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
15 gun positions fired six 4.5in of 3.7in heavy shells. The German bombers opened up a little, to spread out. The cloud over the target ruined the German bomb run, and some bombers began the return trip with their loads still on board. While crossing the coast over Deal, Kent
Deal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
, three attacked the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
barracks there. They continued back across the Channel, having made no contact with enemy fighters.
German
At 18:18 night began to fall. The Luftwaffe sent bombers from KG 1, 2, 3Kampfgeschwader 3
Kampfgeschwader 3 "Blitz" was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in September-October 1944...
, 27
Kampfgeschwader 27
Kampfgeschwader 27 “Boelcke” was a Luftwaffe medium bomber wing of the Second World War.- Formation :Formed on 1 May 1939, the Stab and I Gruppe were based in Hanover-Langenhagen, with II and III Gruppe at Wunstorf...
and 53 to bomb targets at Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, Canvey Island
Canvey Island
Canvey Island is a civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary in England. It is separated from the mainland of south Essex by a network of creeks...
, Manningtree
Manningtree
Manningtree is a town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England, which lies on the River Stour. It adjoins built-up areas of Lawford to the west and Mistley to the east and the three parishes together are sometimes referred to as "Manningtree".Manningtree is a claimant for the...
and Sealand
Sealand
The Principality of Sealand is an unrecognized entity, located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km off the coast of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom ....
. British records mentioned damage only at Sealand. Most bombs were scattered over rural districts. In one incident, a KG 27 He 111, shortly before midnight, attacked the flying and training school at Windrush, in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, where night flying was in progress. The bomber, piloted by Alfred Dreher, crashed into an Avro Anson
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm and numerous other air forces prior to, during, and after the Second World War. Named for British Admiral George Anson, it was originally designed for maritime reconnaissance, but was...
piloted by Sergeant Bruce Hancock. Both aircraft crashed, killing all five men involved.
British
While the Luftwaffe was attacking Britain, 36 Bristol BlenheimBristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
's from RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
took off in ones and twos to attack a score of German airfields in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Its sole success was at Vlissingen, Netherlands, where it damaged two Jagdgeschwader 54
Jagdgeschwader 54
Jagdgeschwader 54 Grünherz was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during the Second World War. It was known as the Green Hearts Wing, and it was the second highest scoring wing of all time, JG 52 being the highest...
(JG 54) Bf 109s. At the same time four Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was one of three British twin-engine, front line medium bomber types in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of the Second World War...
s were attacking the Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
works in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and 20 more were heading for the aluminium works at Rheinfelden
Rheinfelden
Rheinfelden is a municipality in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, seat of the district of Rheinfelden. It is located 15 kilometres east of Basel. The name means the fields of the Rhine, as the town is located on the Hochrhein. It is home to Feldschlösschen, the most popular beer in...
in southern Germany. The 18 August 1940 would end before either force reached its target.
Overclaiming and Propaganda
Overclaiming of aerial victories was not uncommon, and both sides claimed more aircraft shot down than was the case. For the 18 August action, British propaganda claimed 144 German aircraft destroyed, which was over twice the actual figure. In response, the Germans claimed they had only lost 36, a figure which has since been proven to be half the actual figure (69 to 71). The German propaganda elements claimed to have destroyed 147 British aircraft, which was over twice the actual figure. Again, the British admitted to losing only 23, when the actual figure was around 68. Other sources between them insist the RAF's losses were 27–34 fighters destroyed, and 29 aircraft destroyed on the ground,including only eight fighters.
One German fighter pilot stated that losses were always under reported. Siegfried Bethke pointed out that the German High Command always misled the public about losses. According to him, German aircraft that crashed into the Channel were not counted in the official figures although the loss of the aircraft was total. One aircraft in his unit that was damaged by 88 hits and had to be broken up and taken back to Germany. Bethke intimates it was not added to the loss record.
Sorties and losses
During the 18 August 1940, Luftwaffe units flew a total of 970 sorties over Britain: some 495 by medium bomberMedium bomber
A medium bomber is a bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances; the name serves to distinguish them from the larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers...
s, 460 by fighters and 15 by reconnaissance units. Of this total, about 170 of the bomber sorties were flown on the night of 17/18 August; the remainder were flown during the daylight hours on the 18 August. Less than half of the available (or serviceable) aircraft on the Luftflotte 2 and Luftflotte 3 order of battle
Order of battle
In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...
were involved in the action that day, so it was clear that the Luftwaffe was not greatly extended in providing forces for the offensive. Luftflotte 5
Luftflotte 5
Luftflotte 5 was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed 12 April 1940 in Hamburg for the invasion of Norway....
did not take any part in the fighting, although its reconnaissance aircraft were active over England and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Altogether, the Luftwaffe lost between 69 and 71 aircraft destroyed or damaged beyond repair as a result of its operations over Britain on 18 August 1940. Of this total, 59 were lost to certain or probable action by fighters while two fell to ground fire, four to a combination of both and one collided with a British training aircraft. The remaining three crashed in German-held territory owing to technical failures. Altogether, the losses represented seven per cent of the force committed. Around 29 aircraft crashed in England. Personnel losses were 94 German crews killed, 40 captured and 25 returned with wounds. Some 27 to 31 German aircraft returned with damage.
The gross underestimation of Fighter Command's strength issued to Luftwaffe units meant the British reaction was much stronger than expected. During the 24-hour period, Fighter Command flew 927 sorties, slightly fewer than the Germans. Only 41 of these sorties were flown by night, 28 on 17/18 August and 13 on 18/19 August. The remaining 886 sorties were flown by day, a number almost exactly equal to the 861 serviceable Spitfire, Hurricane, Defiant and Gladiator day fighters available to squadrons.
The average operational sortie rate of one per serviceable fighter was not spread evenly throughout the Command, however. Nos 12 and 13 Groups in the Midlands and north of Britain, with a third of the serviceable fighters between them, put up 129 (or only 15 per cent) of the day sorties, and of these only three made contact with the enemy. No. 11 Group put up one-third of the serviceable fighters in 600 sorties, or more than two-thirds of the total; on average. Each of the serviceable Spitfires and Hurricanes flew 1.7 operational sorties. No. 43 squadron flew the most sorties: 63 operations including five each from the 13 serviceable at the beginning of the day.
Only 403 (45 percent) of the total number of sorties flown by Fighter Command were directed at the three major German raids. A further 56 (or just over 6 per cent) were standing patrols to protect shipping off the coast. Most of the remaining 427 sorties (nearly 50 per cent) were made to engage the reconnaissance aircraft. Usually several half-squadrons were committed. This was not excessive. But by sending more units to counter the flights, German aircraft were forced to fly higher and were denied the opportunity to drop to low altitude to take higher resolution photographs. This contributed to a lack of German intelligence which often failed to distinguish fighter, bomber and naval airfields from each other. Much of the time their strength was directed at non-fighter airfields on this date.
Of the 403 sorties put up by Fighter Command to meet the major German attacks, 320 of those made contact with the enemy, meaning 80 percent of the fighters sent to intercept the bombers did so. The percentage would have been higher, had the bombers on the afternoon raid not turned around short of their targets.
Between 27 and 34 RAF fighters were destroyed. A specialist source of the battle indicated the figure to be 31 destroyed or beyond repair. Of these, 25 fell to German fighters, two to return fire from the bombers. One was shot down by British ground fire in error and the loss of the remainder cannot be established. Some 26 of the fighters lost were Hurricanes, and five were Spitfires. Personnel losses for the RAF amounted to 10 British fighter pilots killed on the day, and another who died of wounds. Around 19 pilots were wounded, 11 so seriously that they did not take part in the rest of the Battle.
Losses on the ground amounted to eight fighters (two Spitfires). Around 28 aircraft of other types were destroyed on the ground. The total destroyed or damaged beyond repair amounted to 68 aircraft, although 17 of these were trainers or non-operational types.
Göring, Mölders and Galland
Göring spent The Hardest Day at Karinhall with two of his top fighter pilots, Werner MöldersWerner Mölders
Werner Mölders was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. Mölders became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 100 aerial victories—that is, 100 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft, and was...
and Adolf Galland
Adolf Galland
Adolf "Dolfo" Joseph Ferdinand Galland was a German Luftwaffe General and flying ace who served throughout World War II in Europe. He flew 705 combat missions, and fought on the Western and the Defence of the Reich fronts...
. He was decorating them with the Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds after they had achieved much success in recent weeks. However, Göring took the opportunity to berate them over bomber losses and in particular, what he saw, as a lack of aggression in the Jagdwaffe
Jagdwaffe
Jagdwaffe , was the German Luftwaffes fighter force during World War II.-Aircraft:The Jagdwaffe used many aircraft, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Bf 110 , Me 163, Me 262 and Focke Wulf Fw 190....
. This did not go down well with the two men. Göring moved to quickly reconcile with them by ordering their promotion to Geschwaderkommodore
Geschwaderkommodore
Geschwaderkommodore is a Luftwaffe position , originating during World War II, that is the equivalent of a RAF Group Commander or USAF Wing Commander. A Geschwaderkommodore is usually of Oberstleutnant or Oberst rank...
(Wing Commander) in command of their respective Geschwader (Wings). Göring felt a younger generation of combat leaders would help motivate the force. They were dismissed.
On the 19 August, Göring read the reports on the losses of the 18 August, and unhappy with the extent of the losses, recalled both pilots. Hitler's Directive 17 had ordered the Luftwaffe to achieve air superiority, but remain strong enough for when, or rather if, Sea Lion was launched. Moreover, Göring recognised that the Luftwaffe was his power base. A failure would be bad, but a severe weakening of the Luftwaffe would be far worse. He emphasised to his commanders the need to preserve the Luftwaffe's strength. Essentially, the core theme of the conference was fighter protection. The fighter leaders advocated sweeps to clear the skies in advance of attacks. Other commanders present thought a combination of sweeps and close escort would be more effective in reducing losses. Göring agreed and listed a number of forms that the sweeps may take. The most important tactical change he made was instituting a wholesale purge of older Geschwaderkommodore in favour of younger men. From now on, leaders were to be drawn from the ranks, given responsibility based on skill and experience rather than rank, while allowing them to have a free rein in tactical engagements (a form of aerial Auftragstaktik).
Göring also placed emphasis on correct rendezvous with the bombers, which had been lacking in recent operations (see Adlertag). The longer-range bombers were ordered directly to fighter airfields to pick up their escorts on the way to the target. He determined that as many fighters as possible should remain on sweeps while a smaller number maintained close contact with the bombers. For now, this would be the main tactical arrangement of fighter-bomber cooperation.
Outcome
Luftflotte 2 was well used in this way. Operations against Kenley, Biggin Hill, North Weald and Hornchurch had the potential to destroy 11 Group's major sector stations and impair its defences. It would also draw the defending fighters into battle. The attempt to attack Kenley, however, failed and 9 Staffel KG 76 paid a high price. The weather put paid to any chance of the raids on Hornchurch and North Weald being successful. On the other hand, Luftflotte 3 had poor intelligence, and its raids on the radar stations were ineffective. Radar elimination would enable the Luftwaffe to destroy the command and control system of Fighter Command, but despite the severe damage done to the Poling station, the existence of other stations nearby gave the system plenty of cover. The airfields the Air Fleet attacked at Ford, Gosport and Thorney Island had nothing to do with the main battle as they belonged to Coastal Command and the FAA. Sperrle and his command remained unaware of their errors in intelligence.
The tactical handling of Luftflotte 3 was not good either. The escorting fighters of StG 77 were stretched too far across a 30-mile front. By chance half of the defending fighters went into action against one of the attacking Ju 87 groups with disastrous results for the group concerned. The German fighters, which outnumbered the RAF units by 2:1, were unable to protect the Stuka units. Had the targets been closer together, the concentration of fighters would have allowed the Germans to destroy more RAF fighters in the air, while protecting their charges.
Considering the weight of attack against airfields, hardly any fighters were destroyed on the ground. Figures indicated just two Spitfires and six Hurricanes were lost in this manner. The main reason for this was the high state of readiness of RAF units during daylight. The Command depended on radar and the Observer Corps warning them in advance, giving them plenty of time to get airborne. The successful strafing attack by Bf 109s of JG 52 on Manston depended on a combination of circumstances and chance which would not occur often during the battle.
The attacks on airfields, on this day and throughout the battle, did not cause any real danger to RAF Fighter Command. Biggin Hill was never out of service during the Battle of Britain, and Kenley was out of action for only two hours on 18 August. German medium bombers, usually sent in waves of 50, could carry between 60 and 85 tons of bombs. But this was not enough to destroy an airfield. If the airfield's hangars and buildings were destroyed, work on aircraft could be done in the open in summer periods. Should the craters become to troublesome, RAF units could move to another field, not necessarily an airfield, and operate fighters of it, provided it was 700 yards long and 100 yards wide to allow for operations. The vulnerable operations buildings on some airfields were hidden underground. One flaw was the vulnerability of operations rooms. At Kenley and Biggin the Sector operations buildings were above ground, but they were difficult to hit even had the Luftwaffe known their location. Vital communications (telephone cables) were buried underground, making them vulnerable only to an accidental direct hit.
Attacking and destroying the radar chain was also difficult. The stations were indeed vulnerable to dive bombers and low flying aircraft, however the British had mobile units which could be moved around to cover any gaps. Rapid repair services were also quick. Rarely were radar stations out of action for more than a few days.
A last option was to attack fighter factories, which was not attempted on 18 August. Only the Spitfire factory at Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
and the Hawker factory in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
were within range of escorted bombers. Without the Bf 109s, the bombers would suffer heavy casualties attempting to attack factories further north in daylight. Still, the attacks on the southern factories would require large concentrations of bombers and fighters which would be powerful enough to destroy them without sustaining heavy losses.
Overall, each side suffered more losses on this date than on any other day during the Battle of Britain. In terms of the outcome, the battle does not appear to have been strategically favourable to either side. The loss rates were in the British favour, but the both air forces had sustained a level of attrition they could not support for long. Historian Alfred Price:
The laurels for the day’s action went to the defenders. The aim of the Luftwaffe was to wear down the Fighter Command without suffering excessive losses in the process, and in this it had failed. It cost the attackers five aircrew killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, for each British pilot casualty. In terms of aircraft, it had cost the Luftwaffe five bombers and fighters for every three Spitfires and Hurricanes destroyed in the air or on the ground. If the battle continued at this rate the Luftwaffe would wreck Fighter Command, but it would come close to wrecking itself in the process.