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 took over.
The planes were bomb-carrying Bf 110s escorted by Bf 109s. Harried by fighters from Dungeness to the outskirts of London they scattered their bombs indiscriminately.
Some Bf 109s stuck tenaciously to the London area. They had orders to protect two succeeding formations of Do 17s and Ju 88s, but the bombers did not make the rendezvous. 11 Group was ready for them and they were intercepted over the coast by a powerful assembly of Spitfires and Hurricanes which broke up the tidy German formations and compelled them to jettison their bombs.
Badly mauled, the Messerschmitt pilots over London were obliged to split up and dive for the safety of a ground-level retreat.
Having failed to clear the skies by sending fighters ahead of the bombers in the first assault, the Germans reverted at 11.30 to a split raid, sending eighty aircraft to Bristol and 300 to London.
No. 10 Group squadrons fought the Bristol raiders across the West Country and only ten Bf 110s and some 109s managed to get through. These were intercepted on the outskirts of Bristol by the Nottingham squadron, which compelled them to release their bombs unprofitably on the suburbs. The survivors were harried all the way back to the coast and out to sea.
The majority of the London raiders got no further than the middle of Kent where they were so severely mauled that they retreated in confusion. Some reached the outskirts of the city and twenty slipped through to the centre.
With fifty-five German aircraft missing (including twenty-one bombers) the Channel was alive with air-sea rescue planes and boats in the evening. Most of the twenty-eight British planes lost came down on land.
Excerpt from The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood & Derek Dempster
German Losses
Airmen: 81 | Aircraft: 57
British Losses
Airmen: 20 | Aircraft: 28
Hurricane P3647, No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron
F/O O.J. Peterson killed. Shot down in combat with Ju 88s and Bf 110s over North Kent.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Peterson.htm
Spitfire X4352, No. 19 Squadron
P/O E. Burgoyne killed. Shot down by Bf 109s in combat over Canterbury.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Burgoyne.htm
Spitfire X4032, No. 64 Squadron
Sgt. L.A. Dyke. Listed as missing. Failed to return from a sector patrol. Cause unknown.
http://bbm.org.uk/airmen/Dyke.htm
Spitfire X4340, No. 72 Squadron
P/O E.E. Males killed. Shot down in combat with Bf 109s over Sevenoaks.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Males.htm
Spitfire N3068, No. 72 Squadron
F/O P.J. Davies-Cooke killed. Shot down by a Bf 109 over Sevenoaks. Pilot baled out but fell dead near Hayes Station.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Davies-Cooke.htm
Spitfire X4422, No. 92 Squadron
F/O J.A. Paterson killed. Shot down in flames by Bf 109s near Maidstone.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/PatersonJA.htm
Spitfire R6767, No. 92 Squadron
Sgt. C. Sydney killed. Shot down in combat with enemy aircraft.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/sydney.htm
Spitfire R6622, No. 92 Squadron
Sgt. T.G. Oldfield killed. Aircraft crashed onto Hesketh Park in Dartford.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/as-oldfield.htm
Hurricane N2401, No. 213 Squadron
F/Lt. L.H. Schwind killed. Shot down in combat with enemy fighters over Gatwick.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Schwind.htm
Spitfire P9364, No. 222 Squadron
Sgt. E. Scott. Listed as missing. Failed to return from an operational sortie in the afternoon.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/ScottE.htm
Hurricane V6782, No. 229 Squadron
F/Lt. R.F. Rimmer killed. Shot down in combat with Bf 109s. Aircraft exploded over Franchise Manor Farm, Burwash.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Rimmer.htm
Hurricane P2967, No. 242 Squadron
F/O M.G. Homer killed. Shot down in combat with Bf 109s.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Homer.htm
Hurricane V6683, No. 249 Squadron
F/O P.R.F. Burton killed. Collided with Bf 110 during combat over Redhill area.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/BurtonPRF.htm
Hurricane P3834, No. 249 Squadron
P/O J.R.B. Meaker killed. Shot down by return fire from a Ju 88. Pilot baled out but fell dead at Warren Field, Brightling Park.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Meaker.htm
Hurricane L1696, No. 303 Squadron
F/O L.W. Paszkiewicz killed. Shot down in combat with enemy aircraft.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Paszkiewicz.htm
Hurricane V7246, No. 303 Squadron
Sgt. T. Andruszkow killed. Shot down over Horsham.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Andruszkow.htm
Hurricane V6645, No. 501 Squadron
P/O E.M. Gunter killed. Shot down while attacking Do 17s. Pilot baled out but was killed when parachute failed to open.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Gunter.htm
Spitfire N3244, No. 603 Squadron
P/O P.M. Cardell killed. Baled out over Channel but parachute failed to open.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Cardell.htm
Spitfire X4107, No. 609 Squadron
P/O R.F.G. Miller killed. Collided with a Bf 110 over Chesilbourne, near Kingscombe.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/MillerRFG.htm
Spitfire R6702, No. 616 Squadron
F/O D.S. Smith. Died of injuries 28/09/40. Shot down by Bf 109s whilst acting as a weaver.
http://bbm.org.uk/airmen/SmithDS.htm
Photo Descriptions:
- Armourer Fred Roberts re-arms Spitfire X4474 while the pilot, Sergeant B J Jennings, has a word with his mechanic. Manor Farm can be seen in the background.
- Sergeant B J Jennings of No. 19 Squadron climbs into the cockpit of Supermarine Spitfire Mark IA, X4474 QV-I, at Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire, late September 1940.
- Spitfire X4474 being moved into takeoff position with the help of the ground crew, late September 1940.
- Spitfire X4474 taking off from Fowlmere, with Sergeant B J Jennings at the controls, late September 1940.
- Spitfire X4474 flown by Sergeant B J Jennings, late September 1940.
- Flight Sergeant George ‘Grumpy’ Unwin of No. 19 Squadron with Flash the Squadron mascot at Fowlmere, September 1940. Unwin shot down 14.5 enemy aircraft between May and September 1940 including a Bf 109 destroyed on 27 September. © IWM (CH 1343)
- London Irish Rifles soldiers guard a Junkers Ju 88A-1 bomber (3Z+EL) of 3.Staffel/KG 77, which crash-landed on Graveney Marsh in Kent on 27 September 1940. The four German crew had armed themselves with machine guns and exchanged fire with the British soldiers. After one German airman was shot in the foot, the crew surrendered and were taken prisoner. This incident became known as the Battle of Graveney Marsh and was the last action between British and foreign military forces on British mainland soil.