Sporadic raids on London, Liverpool and the West Country.
Night: London, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Birmingham and Liverpool bombed.
Weather: Mainly cloudy with fog and intermittent rain. Poor visibility.
Main Activity:
Taking advantage of the overcast, single aircraft and small formations of bombers despatched by Luftflotten 2 and 3 reached widely separated targets in England.
Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. the number of raids increased. About sixty machines flying singly flew in from the Continent and dropped bombs on London and the suburbs. About fifteen were detected going to the West Country.
The weather clearly put the British at a disadvantage and in the course of the day Fighter Command squadrons flew only 275 sorties. They lost no aircraft whereas six German planes were destroyed. One of these, a Ju 88 which had been posing as a Blenheim and machine-gunning the airfield at Old Sarum, Hampshire, from a height of about fifty feet, was shot down by Flight Lieutenant F. J. Howell and Pilot Officer S. J. Hill:
Howell dived to decide what it was [says the No. 609 Squadron record book] and even after making sure that it was a Ju 88 with a big cross, was surprised to see the rear gunner signalling with smoke cartridges. Both pilots attacked in turn and after an unusual chase above and below the tree-tops the enemy aircraft hit the ground and blew up near Lymington.
Excerpt from The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood & Derek Dempster
German Losses
Airmen: 10 | Aircraft: 7
British Losses
Airmen: 2 | Aircraft: 2
Hurricane P3657, No. 245 Squadron
Sgt. E.G. Greenwood missing. Dived into Loch Neagh and exploded. Cause unknown.
Spitfire X4265, No. 266 Squadron
P/O W.S. Williams killed. Landed at Stradishall to refuel and crashed on take-off.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/WilliamsWS.htm
Photo Descriptions:
- An RAF sergeant introduces Czech fitters to the inner workings of a Hurricane Mk I of No. 310 Squadron at RAF Duxford in October 1940. The gravity fuel tank in front of the instrument panel provided no form of protection for the pilot and was the cause of cockpit fires if ignited during combat. The Hurricane Rash was of such concern that Hawker was made to retrofit the fuselage tanks with a self-expanding rubber coating called Linatex. © IWM (CH 1433)
- Accordion players and singers playing at the Aldwych tube station on 21 October 1940. The troupe traveled from station to station each night.