One major fighter sweep towards London, otherwise reconnaissance only. Night: Raids concentrated on London. Weather: Fair with bright periods, showery. Main Activity: There were few early-morning raids but at 10.30 a.m. the Luftwaffe started massing at Calais. Then twenty planes crossed the coast at Dungeness at 13,000 feet, thirty overflew Dover, at 12,000 feet, and […]
1940
21
Sep
Saturday 21 September 1940
Some fighter sweeps in east Kent. Night: London and Merseyside attacked. Weather: Mainly fine. Main Activity: London, cloaked in haze, enjoyed a relatively quiet day, as did the rest of the country except for isolated attacks and extensive reconnaissance in coastal areas. Among the lone raiders was a Ju 88 which bombed the Hawker works […]
22
Sep
Sunday 22 September 1940
Reduced activity. Night: London attacked. Weather: Dull with fog in morning. Cloudy in afternoon, fair to fine late. Some rain. Main Activity: Twelve single raiders flying high over London and the noise of No. 234 Squadron’s Browning guns shooting down a lone Ju 88 scarcely disturbed this Sunday’s congregations. Even the sound of Merlin engines […]
23
Sep
Monday 23 September 1940
Fighter sweeps towards London. Night: Attacks on London and Merseyside. Weather: Fine. Main Activity: At 9 a.m. a build-up of nearly 200 planes was detected over Calais. Chiefly Bf 109s, they came over in four large and two small waves fanned out beyond Dover. Twenty-four squadrons were up to cut them off and ten intercepted. […]
24
Sep
Tuesday 24 September 1940
Tilbury and Southampton raided. Night: Continued bombing of London and Merseyside. Weather: Early morning fog in northern France. Channel cloudy with haze in the Straits and Thames Estuary. Main Activity: British service chiefs, unaware that Seelöwe had been postponed on September 17th, continued to await the invasion. Equinoctial gales which had swept the Channel earlier […]
25
Sep
Wednesday 25 September 1940
Bristol and Plymouth bombed. Night: London, North Wales and Lancashire attacked. Weather: Fair to fine in most areas. Cool. Main Activity: Apart from the usual reconnaissance flights and the detection of intense activity over France at 8.20 a.m., the morning was quiet. At 11.20 a large raid crossed the coast. Fighter-bombers made diversionary attacks on […]
26
Sep
Thursday 26 September 1940
Supermarine factory at Southampton attacked and wrecked. Night: Raids on London and Merseyside. Weather: Mainly fair to cloudy. Main Activity: It was obvious to the Germans as they studied reconnaissance photographs of Southampton that Supermarine’s Woolston factory remained intact. In the afternoon seventy-six planes – He 111s, Ju 88s and Bf 109s – assembled over […]
27
Sep
Friday 27 September 1940
Heavy attacks on London and Bristol. Night: Further raids on London, Merseyside and the Midlands. Weather: Fair in the extreme south and south-west. Cloudy in the Channel with light rain over southern England. Main Activity: The first sign of German activity appeared on the operations table at No. 11 Group as the 8 a.m. watch […]
28
Sep
Saturday 28 September 1940
Raids on London and the Solent area. Night: Continued attacks on London. Weather: The Channel, Straits and Thames Estuary cloudy otherwise generally fair to fine. Main Activity: Delighted by the results of the 27th, Churchill was moved to send the Secretary of State this message: Pray congratulate the Fighter Command on the results of yesterday. […]
29
Sep
Sunday 29 September 1940
Reduced activity in the south-east and East Anglia. Night: Raids on London and Merseyside. Weather: Fine at the start and end of the day, cloudy in-between. Main Activity: The Germans, after a morning harassing convoys, struck out with several high-flying formations. Nine of their aircraft failed to return home and that night Weybridge A.A. gunners […]