Convoy raids off North Foreland and Dover. Night: The east coast, home counties and western Scotland attacked. Weather: Showery in south-east England and Channel. Continuous rain elsewhere. Main Activity: At approximately 1100 hours, the convoy with the codename BREAD rounded the North Foreland while traveling westward. It was detected by a Do 17 reconnaissance aircraft […]
1940
10
Jul
11
Jul
Thursday 11 July 1940
Convoys attacked off Suffolk. Portland harbour raided. Night: Activity over south-west England, East Anglia, Yorkshire coast and Portsmouth. Weather: Channel overcast. Cloud base 5,000ft, Visibility fair. Thunderstorms and bright intervals in the midlands and north. Main Activity: Shortly after 0700 hours, ten Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers from IV/LG 1, escorted by Bf 109s from III/JG […]
12
Jul
Friday 12 July 1940
Attacks on convoy off Norfolk-Suffolk coast, shipping off the Isle of Wight and Aberdeen. Night: South Wales and Bristol areas. Weather: Mainly cloudy with early-morning fog in the Channel. Thunderstorms in many districts. Main Activity: At 0800 hours, a large formation comprising He 111s from III/KG 53 and Do 17s from II/KG 2 was detected […]
13
Jul
Saturday 13 July 1940
Shipping attacks off Dover and Portland. Night: Minelaying in Thames Estuary. Weather: Early morning fog in southern England clearing by mid-morning. Main Activity: At 1500 hours, twelve Hurricanes of No. 238 Squadron and three Spitfires of No. 609 Squadron were sent from Warmwell to patrol over a convoy in Lyme Bay. Failing to find the […]
14
Jul
Sunday 14 July 1940
Shipping attacks off Dover and Swanage. Night: Bristol area, Isle of Wight, Kent and Suffolk raided. Weather: Fair all day. Main Activity: At about 1500 hours, Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers of IV/LG 1, escorted by Bf 109s of III/JG 3 and II/JG 51, were despatched to attack the convoy codenamed BOOTY off Eastbourne. They were […]
15
Jul
Monday 15 July 1940
Shipping attacked off Norfolk coast and the Channel. Yeovil bombed. Night: Minelaying. Weather: Low cloud. Main Activity: At 1130 hours, two Spitfires from No. 603 Squadron shot down an He 111 from 2./KG 26, which had been despatched from Norway to bomb an airfield just north of the Firth of Forth. The bomber crashed into […]
16
Jul
Tuesday 16 July 1940
Very little activity. Weather: Fog in France, the Straits and south-east England. Note: On this day, Hitler issued Directive No. 16 ordering the preparation of an invasion plan to ‘eliminate the English motherland as a base from which war against Germany can be continued and, if this should become unavoidable, to occupy it to the […]
17
Jul
Wednesday 17 July 1940
Search for shipping off Scottish and east coasts. Night: Targets attacked in south-west. Minelaying. Weather: Dull with occasional rain. Main Activity: At around 1400 hours, twelve Spitfires of No. 64 Squadron on patrol over Beachy Head were bounced by Bf 109s of 3./JG 2. One Spitfire was shot down. At 1530 hours, six Hurricanes of […]
18
Jul
Thursday 18 July 1940
Shipping off south and east coasts attacked. Night: Very little activity. Weather: Occasional rain in southern districts. Straits of Dover cloudy. Cool. Main Activity: At 0930 hours, fifteen Spitfires of Nos. 152 and 610 Squadrons were scrambled to intercept a large raid heading towards a convoy near Deal. The enemy formation turned out to be […]
19
Jul
Friday 19 July 1940
Dover raided. Defiant squadron largely destroyed. Weather: Showery with bright intervals in most cases. Channel winds light – fair. Night: Some activity between Isle of Wight and Plymouth, Thames Estuary and Harwich. Main Activity: At 1245 hours, nine Defiants of No. 141 Squadron were bounced by Bf 109s of III/JG 51 south of Folkestone. Six […]