London is the main target with additional raids on Southampton and Portsmouth. Night: London, Liverpool and Manchester are the main targets. Weather: Mainly fair, but generally cloudy. Main Activity: German patrols began to appear between Beachy Head and Southwold from about seven in the morning. They gave no trouble but at 10.45 a force of […]
1940
01
Oct
02
Oct
Wednesday 2 October 1940
Fighter sweeps on south-east London and Biggin Hill. Night: London once again is the main target. Manchester, Usworth and Aberdeen also raided. Weather: Blue skies during the day with cloud building up later. Main Activity: The first warning came through at 8.30 a.m. when aircraft of Luftflotte 2 began to mass over Cap Gris Nez. […]
03
Oct
Thursday 3 October 1940
Scattered raids on East Anglia and southern England. Night: London and its suburbs attacked. Weather: Rain and drizzle in the Channel. Visibility down to 500 yards in places. Main Activity: Routine patrols and reconnaissance flights off the east coast opened the action for the day. Later raiders coming singly or in pairs, mostly from Belgian […]
04
Oct
Friday 4 October 1940
Stream of single raiders on London and the south-east. Night: Continuing raids on London. Liverpool also bombed. Weather: Mist, rain and poor visibility throughout the day. Fog at night. Main Activity: Seelöwe was still very much in Hitler’s mind, but he was reluctant to come to a decision despite Army and Navy recommendations to call […]
05
Oct
Saturday 5 October 1940
Targets in Kent and Southampton attacked. Night: Raids on London and East Anglian airfields. Weather: Local showers in most parts, bright periods. Winds light and variable. Main Activity: Thirty raiders flying singly at 10,000–15,000 feet were plotted off the coast before 9 a.m. Half an hour later another raid began to boil up at Calais […]
06
Oct
Sunday 6 October 1940
Small formations attacked London and East Anglia. Night: Very quiet. Weather: Dull with continuous rain all day. Main Activity: Early in the morning a large raid formed up across the Straits, but whatever the Luftwaffe’s original intention the weather did not lend itself to serious business. Only single raiders and small formations dashed to the […]
07
Oct
Monday 7 October 1940
Mixed force of bombers and fighters attacked Yeovil. Night: Major raids on London and Merseyside. Lesser attacks from Harwich to Newcastle and the Firth of Forth. Weather: Occasional showers. Visibility fair with variable cloud. Main Activity: In the morning 127 German planes were engaged by eighteen No. 11 Group squadrons over Kent and Sussex. The […]
08
Oct
Tuesday 8 October 1940
Further raids on London. Night: Widespread raids on London and its suburbs. Weather: Cloudy in the south-east but fair. High winds. Main Activity: After the usual morning patrols and reconnaissance flights, two formations of fifty and 100 aircraft penetrated inland from Dymchurch and approached London via Kenley and Biggin Hill at 8.30 a.m. Bombs fell […]
09
Oct
Wednesday 9 October 1940
London and airfields bombed. Night: Heavy raid on London. Weather: Cloudy in the Channel with rain in northern France and the Straits of Dover. Main Activity: Targets in Kent and London were again on the Luftwaffe’s agenda and from 11 a.m. until 1.15 p.m. 120 Bf 109s flew in. By 2.20 p.m. they had returned […]
10
Oct
Thursday 10 October 1940
Raids over Kent, London suburbs and Weymouth. Night: London, Manchester and fifteen airfields attacked. Weather: Showery with bright intervals. Haze in the Thames Estuary and East Anglia. Main Activity: Having failed to get through en masse the Luftwaffe was now infiltrating in continuous streams. These tactics were difficult to combat and the decrease in the […]