Some fighter sweeps in east Kent.
Night: London and Merseyside attacked.
Weather: Mainly fine.
Enemy Action by Day
The weather over Britain on 21 September 1940 was mainly fine, with clear skies in the morning. This relative calm marked one of the quietest days of the Battle of Britain to date in terms of daytime aerial combat, although there was a noticeable shift behind the scenes. German invasion preparations had stalled. Bomber Command had inflicted enough damage on German-held Channel ports to disrupt any realistic plans for a cross-Channel invasion before the onset of autumn. Despite the quieter skies, reconnaissance flights and scattered daylight attacks continued, while the Luftwaffe maintained its pattern of intensified night raids, with London and Liverpool again the principal targets.
Morning and Midday Activity: Reconnaissance and Isolated Attacks
In the early morning hours, radar detected scattered enemy aircraft across the south and east coasts. These were mostly lone reconnaissance aircraft, avoiding deeper penetration inland. At 08:23 hours, enemy aircraft attacked Weybridge. One Ju 88 from Lehrgeschwader 1 targeted the Hawker Aircraft Factory, damaging the boiler house and leaving unexploded bombs in both the dope shop and the main shop. Casualties were minimal, and production was only slightly affected.
Small-scale attacks and reconnaissance missions followed, including efforts to strike targets at Ramsgate and Rye, each of which was unsuccessful. Enemy aircraft were also observed over Hastings, Dungeness, Redhill, and Tonbridge, though RAF attempts to intercept these sorties failed. At 11:40 hours, an enemy aircraft dive-bombed the military camp at Hookwood near Horley, setting a store ablaze and causing fifteen casualties.
Further reconnaissance was reported over Thorney Island, Tangmere, Kenley, Middle Wallop, Spithead, and parts of South Wales. One Ju 88 was destroyed near Tangmere by No. 238 Squadron, while another enemy aircraft was brought down in South Wales. A Do 17, damaged earlier by No. 802 Squadron, crash-landed at Landerneau, killing all onboard.
Evening Fighter Sweep: Limited Engagements Despite Large Numbers
At 17:50 hours, radar stations detected seven separate enemy formations crossing the English coast between Dungeness and North Foreland. These were followed by additional waves, until nearly 200 German aircraft were reported over southern England. This massed force was composed primarily of fighters, including formations from JG 26 and JG 51. Some aircraft penetrated as far as the eastern boundary of central London. Twenty RAF squadrons were scrambled to meet the threat, including Spitfires of Nos. 41, 72, 92, and 603 Squadrons, and Hurricanes of Nos. 253 and 501 Squadrons. All five squadrons of the ‘Duxford Wing’ were also launched.
Combat was less intense than anticipated. Major Adolf Galland, Kommodore of JG 26, achieved the Luftwaffe’s only confirmed success, downing a No. 92 Squadron Spitfire west of Ashford and forcing it to crash-land near Hildenborough—marking his thirty-seventh victory. Fighter Command claimed two enemy aircraft destroyed, one probable, and six damaged.
Enemy Action by Night
Enemy air activity intensified after nightfall. London Central received a red warning at 20:09 hours, and enemy aircraft began arriving steadily from both Holland and Le Havre. The formations from Holland entered over East Anglia and approached London from the north, while those from France crossed near Shoreham and moved up from the south. Later in the night, bombers from the Belgian coast, Dieppe, and Le Havre entered over Beachy Head and Dungeness, targeting South London, Biggin Hill, and Kenley.
Although not as intense as earlier nights, the raids caused serious damage. The East End of London suffered major fires, particularly in the docklands. At 22:50 hours, bombs fell on Biggin Hill aerodrome, but the fires were quickly extinguished. A parachute mine landed on Hornchurch’s landing ground, failing to detonate but disrupting operations. Other bombs struck RAF stations at Hunsdon and Middle Wallop, though neither sustained damage.
At 23:10 hours, Hunsdon was targeted again, without result. In the London area, the Grand Union Canal was bombed at 10:30 hours, cracking the Limehouse Cut’s wall and damaging a warehouse. Navigation was halted between the Thames and Britannia Bridge. In Bethnal Green, Allen & Hanbury’s factory suffered major damage, particularly to surgical and pharmaceutical departments.
In Poplar, a massive blaze at Howard’s Timber Yard required eighty pumps to control. Further damage was reported at Lambeth’s South Metropolitan Gas Co., where over fifty casualties were recorded. At West Ham, fires broke out at J. Rank’s flour mills and the Corporation’s Electricity Supply. In Shoreditch, a direct hit demolished a railway arch and caused a canal embankment collapse. A parachute mine in central Ipswich had to be detonated in place, creating a massive crater, destroying seventy houses and damaging hundreds more.
Heroic acts during the night included those of Lieutenant John MacMillan Stevenson Patton, Royal Canadian Engineers, who earned the George Cross for towing a bomb to safety. Lieutenant-Commander Richard Ryan and CPO Reginald Ellingworth were posthumously awarded the George Cross after being killed defusing a magnetic mine in a warehouse. Mr. Leonard Miles, an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) warden, also received the George Cross after warning others of an unexploded bomb before being fatally wounded.
Attacks across the North and Midlands
Enemy aircraft also operated over the Bristol Channel and Wales, reaching Liverpool, which was again heavily bombed. Several fires were reported in the city and surrounding areas. Further attacks targeted the Lancashire coast, areas north of the Tyne and the Midlands near Derby and Sheffield. Two raids were plotted off the Scottish coast south of Aberdeen. Four or five aircraft were observed over two convoys north of the Tyne, where two aerial torpedoes were dropped, though no damage was reported.
Minelaying was suspected in the Thames Estuary, off Yorkshire, the Tyne, and the Firth of Forth. A mine was discovered at the Fairey Aviation aerodrome at Heathrow, and unexploded bombs were reported between Malden and Raynes Park Station, as well as along the Southern Railway west of the Kingston Bypass. In Brentford, an unexploded bomb was found on a shelter capable of accommodating 350 people.
Strategic Developments and Civilian Impact
Permission was officially granted for London Underground stations to be used as air raid shelters, a significant development as the nightly bombing of the capital continued. While RAF Fighter Command suffered no losses in combat during the day, eleven Luftwaffe aircraft were confirmed destroyed across all operations. Civilian casualties, particularly in London, were mounting, with vital infrastructure and housing suffering extensive damage.
The Luftwaffe’s strategy of night bombing appeared firmly entrenched by this point in the campaign. Although daylight operations were being scaled back or reshaped into high-speed fighter-bomber attacks, the pressure on Britain’s urban centres and civilian population remained relentless.
German Losses:
Airmen: 14 | Aircraft: 11
British Losses:
Airmen: 1 | Aircraft: 1
Hurricane L1894, No. 601 Squadron
F/O J. Topolnicki killed. Crashed and burned out on take-off on training flight.
https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Topolnicki.htm
Photo Descriptions
- The tail section of Oberleutnant Robert Zehbe’s Dornier Do 17 bomber landed on a London rooftop shown 21 September 1940.
- The Palace of Westminster silhouetted against light from fires caused by bombings.