Shipping in Straits attacked. Night: Minelaying between the Wash and the Tay. Weather: Temperatures high. Fine weather with slight haze in the Channel. Main Activity: At 0800 hours, a formation of Ju 88 bombers was despatched to attack a convoy sailing between Hastings and the North Foreland. Four RAF squadrons were scrambled to intercept including […]
1940
05
Aug
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. Main Activity: At about 0630 hours, Hurricanes of No. 85 Squadron intercepted and shot down a Do 17 of III/KG 3. The Dornier was spotting a convoy east of Lowestoft. German LossesAirmen: 9 […]
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. Main Activity: At 0635 hours, a convoy off Cromer was attacked. Hurricanes of No. 46 Squadron observed […]
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. Main Activity: At 0840 hours, Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers of II and III/StG 1, escorted by Bf 109s of I/JG 27, attacked the convoy codenamed PEEWIT off St Catherine’s Point, sinking the SS Coquetdale and the […]
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. Main Activity: At 1140 hours, a lone He 111 of 7./KG 26 attacked the Sunderland shipyard, killing four civilians and injuring seventy-eight. The bomber was intercepted and shot down by […]
10
Aug
Saturday 10 August 1940
Shipping and overland reconnaissance. Night: Minelaying. Weather: Squally and thundery, some bright intervals. Channel cloudy. Note: This was the date set by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring for the commencement of Adlertag (Eagle Day) but poor weather forced a postponement. Main Activity: At 0730 hours, a lone Do 17 crossed the coast at Pevensey and attacked the […]
11
Aug
Sunday 11 August 1940
Heavy attack on Portland, feints by fighter formations over Dover. Convoy attacks in Thames Estuary and off East Anglia. Night: Harassing attacks on Merseyside. Minelaying. Weather: Fair in morning, cloudy for most of the day. Main Activity: At 0830 hours, seventeen Bf 110 fighter-bombers from Erprobungsgruppe 210 crossed the Channel and bombed Dover Harbour. Little […]
12
Aug
Monday 12 August 1940
Heavy raid on Portsmouth. Convoy in Thames Estuary, radar stations and coastal airfields attacked. Night: Widespread harassing raids. Weather: Fine with some mist patches. Main Activity: Shortly after 0900 hours, twenty Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighter-bombers of Erprobungsgruppe 210 attacked the Chain Home radar stations at Dover, Rye, and Pevensey, knocking them out of […]
13
Aug
Tuesday 13 August 1940
Opening of ‘Eagle Day’ misfires. Heavy raid on Eastchurch followed by afternoon raids on Portland, Southampton and airfields in Kent and Hampshire. 1,485 German sorties. Night: Light attacks on Midlands, Wales and the West Country. Weather: Mainly fair. Early morning mist and slight drizzle in places and some cloud in the Channel. Main Activity: Between […]