East and south coast shipping attacked. Night: South Wales and midlands targets. Minelaying in Thames Estuary and north-east coast Scottish coast. Weather: Fair in most districts with Straits and Channel overcast. Low cloud dispersing during the day. Warmer. The day opened under largely fair skies across much of Britain, though the Channel and Straits remained […]
1940
01
Aug
02
Aug
Friday 2 August 1940
Shipping attacked in Channel and east coast. Night: South Wales and the Midlands. Weather: Mainly fine in the north but cloudy in the east. Channel cloudy. Drizzle in Dover Straits. Enemy Action by Day The day began with mixed meteorological conditions across the British Isles. While the north experienced largely fine weather, the eastern counties […]
03
Aug
Saturday 3 August 1940
Mainly shipping reconnaissance in Channel. Night: South Wales, with some raids continuing to Liverpool, Crewe and Bradford areas. Weather: Mainly dull with bright patches. Cloud base 4,000ft. Visibility two to five miles. On this day, the Luftwaffe General Staff formalised its operational plan for the aerial destruction of RAF Fighter Command, known as Adlerangriff (Eagle […]
04
Aug
Sunday 4 August 1940
Reconnaissance along the south coast and Bristol Channel. Night: Little activity. Weather: Fair to fine early. Cloudy with bright intervals at midday, clearing in the evening. Enemy Action by Day Luftwaffe activity on 4 August 1940 remained relatively limited, likely restrained by weather conditions affecting both the Channel and northern France. During daylight hours, German […]
05
Aug
Monday 5 August 1940
Shipping in Straits attacked. Night: Minelaying between the Wash and the Tay. Weather: Temperatures high. Fine weather with slight haze in the Channel. Enemy Action by Day The return of fine weather on 5 August 1940 brought renewed Luftwaffe activity across Britain’s skies. With clear conditions and only light haze over the Channel, reconnaissance flights […]
05
Aug
Air Attack On Dover Harbour
Newsreel footage “Air Attack On Dover Harbour”, 5 August 1940. Source: British Pathé
06
Aug
Tuesday 6 August 1940
Little activity Night: Minelaying off east and south-east coasts. Weather: Generally cloudy with fairly strong winds. Cloud ceiling 3,000 – 5,000 ft. Enemy Action by Day Luftwaffe operations on 6 August were again muted due to persistent cloud cover and moderate winds. The morning opened with a low-level bombing raid on RAF Llandow, a satellite […]
07
Aug
Wednesday 7 August 1940
Convoy reconnaissances. Convoy off Cromer attacked. Night: Widespread raids from Thames Estuary to Aberdeen and from Poole, Dorset, to Land’s End and Liverpool. Weather: Mainly fair with cloud and thunderstorms in eastern districts. South-eastern districts cloudy. Winds variable. Enemy Action by Day The main Luftwaffe action during the day centred on convoy reconnaissance and one […]
08
Aug
Thursday 8 August 1940
Three major attacks on a Channel convoy. Night: Small raids and minelaying. Weather: Showers and bright intervals. Channel cloudy. Enemy Action by Day Thursday, 8 August 1940 marked the beginning of the second phase of the Battle of Britain. This new stage saw the Luftwaffe intensify its campaign to disrupt British coastal shipping and provoke […]
09
Aug
Friday 9 August 1940
Quiet with isolated raids on east coast shipping. Night: Minelaying and attacks off east coast. Weather: Cloudy with showers, some bright intervals. Channel still cloudy. Following the intense and costly actions of 8 August, the Luftwaffe scaled back its daylight operations on 9 August, likely due to poor weather and the need to regroup after […]