Shipping attacks off Dover and Swanage.
Night: Bristol area, Isle of Wight, Kent and Suffolk raided.
Weather: Fair all day.
Enemy Action by Day
Despite clear skies and ideal flying conditions across southern England, Luftwaffe operations on 14 July 1940 remained limited and disjointed throughout the morning. Early activity focused on locating and attacking coastal convoys in the Channel, but these efforts were largely unsuccessful due to the presence of RAF standing patrols and timely interceptions.
German efforts intensified against shipping during the afternoon. Fighter Command responded in force, with Nos. 151, 610 and 615 Squadrons engaging German dive-bombers and their fighter escorts off Dover. Although the RAF inflicted several losses, the attacks sank one merchant vessel, damaged two others and caused further casualties aboard shipping elsewhere in the Channel.
09:00 Hours: Initial Fighting
At approximately 09:00 hours, Blenheim TR-C of No. 59 Squadron was attacked by four Bf 109s about forty miles south of Selsey Bill. The navigator, Sergeant C.W. West, was wounded, and the aircraft was badly damaged. Pilot Officer L.D. Sandes nevertheless succeeded in returning to Thorney Island, where the Blenheim crashed on landing. Sandes, West and Sergeant G.S. Gates all survived.
11:00 Hours: Morning Skirmish off Manston
At approximately 11:00 hours, a lone Dornier Do 17, escorted by around ten Bf 109s, was detected approaching a coastal convoy near Manston. Spitfires of No. 65 Squadron intercepted the formation and drove it away before it reached the ships. No confirmed aircraft losses were recorded on either side.
14:58–16:48 Hours: Major Assault on Convoy Booty near Dover
Shortly before 15:00 hours, more than forty Ju 87 dive-bombers of IV.(St)/LG 1 attacked Convoy Booty off Dover. The Stukas were protected by Bf 109s of II./JG 51 and III./JG 3. Twelve Spitfires of No. 610 Squadron, twelve Hurricanes of No. 615 Squadron and ten Hurricanes of No. 151 Squadron were scrambled to intercept.
No. 615 Squadron concentrated on the dive-bombers. Flying Officers J.R.H. Gayner and P. Collard each claimed a Ju 87 destroyed, while Pilot Officer P.H. Hugo claimed another probably destroyed. German records confirm the loss of two Ju 87s of 11.(St)/LG 1. Oberleutnant Kurt Sonnberg, Unteroffizier Fritz Donath, Unteroffizier Sebastian Huber and Unteroffizier Heinz Hecke were all killed.
Spitfires of No. 610 Squadron and Hurricanes of No. 151 Squadron engaged the fighter escort. Pilot Officer P. Litchfield of No. 610 Squadron claimed one Bf 109 destroyed and another probably destroyed. Squadron Leader E.M. Donaldson and Pilot Officer J.R. Hamar of No. 151 Squadron each claimed a Bf 109 destroyed, while Flight Lieutenant R.L. Smith, flying the cannon-armed Spitfire L1750, claimed another probably destroyed.
One Bf 109 of 8./JG 3 was lost, its badly wounded pilot successfully baling out, while a second aircraft from the same Staffel returned to Wissant severely damaged and crash-landed.
The RAF lost one Hurricane during the engagement. Pilot Officer Michael Robert Mudie of No. 615 Squadron, flying Hurricane L1584, was struck by British anti-aircraft fire and baled out seriously wounded. He was rescued from the sea by the Royal Navy but died from his injuries the following day.
The German fighter pilots submitted three claims during the battle. Hauptmann Horst Tietzen of 5./JG 51 claimed a Hurricane at approximately 16:10 hours, Oberleutnant Josef Priller of 6./JG 51 claimed another at 16:25 hours, and Oberfeldwebel Johann Illner of 4./JG 51 claimed a third at 16:35 hours. These claims exceeded the single RAF fighter actually lost.
The 779-ton British coaster SS Island Queen, the commodore ship of the convoy, received two direct bomb hits and was set on fire. The chief officer and an able seaman were killed on the bridge, while another crewman was also killed. The damaged vessel was taken in tow by the trawler Kingston Alalite but subsequently sank near the Folkestone Light Vessel.
The British coaster SS Mons was damaged by near misses that affected her engine room. The Norwegian steamer Balder was badly damaged and set on fire, killing one crewman and seriously wounding another. She was subsequently towed into harbour by the salvage tug Lady Brassey.
The action was witnessed from the cliffs above Dover by BBC radio reporter Charles Gardner, whose live broadcast became one of the most famous moments of the Battle of Britain. Wearing a tin helmet and padding the roof of his car with a mattress, Gardner narrated the air battle in real time. His breathless commentary described a “Junkers 87” crashing into the sea—actually Mudie’s Hurricane—and conveyed the chaos and intensity of the swirling dogfight overhead. Though widely heard and remembered, the broadcast provoked criticism for its excited tone, which some felt trivialised the grim realities of combat. Yet for many listeners, Gardner’s report captured the immediacy of the aerial struggle and brought the war home in a way no other coverage had yet achieved. The full broadcast can be heard here.
Further Attacks on Shipping
As part of Operation Fish, the transfer of Britain’s gold reserves to North America, the 13,837-ton armed merchant cruiser HMS Esperance Bay departed Plymouth carrying £10 million in gold bullion. Her movements were detected, and German aircraft subjected the ship to an attack lasting approximately fifty-five minutes.
Between forty and fifty bombs were dropped, while the ship was repeatedly machine-gunned. One bomb struck the superstructure aft of the six-inch gun and penetrated the decks before exploding in the hospital. An officer and six ratings were killed. Despite the damage, Esperance Bay returned to Plymouth with her valuable cargo intact.
In Scotland, Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft approached the Montrose area during the afternoon, but no incursions were made inland, and no interceptions occurred.
In Scotland, Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft approached the Montrose area during the afternoon, but no incursions were made inland, and no interceptions occurred.
Enemy Action by Night
Luftwaffe activity escalated after nightfall. Shortly before midnight, Heinkel He 111s of I./KG 55 conducted a coordinated night raid targeting strategic infrastructure in and around Bristol. Oil storage tanks at Avonmouth, searchlight emplacements, and the National Smelting Works were struck. A railway line, nearby docks, and a signal box also sustained damage in the Avonmouth area.
Simultaneous night raids were plotted over Kent, Suffolk, and the Isle of Wight. In the Bristol region, bombs fell across the city and surrounding districts, causing scattered damage and temporary blackouts.
Along the Thames Estuary and around Harwich, radar stations and observer posts recorded up to eighteen separate tracks—most likely minelaying aircraft operating over key maritime approaches. Incendiary bombs were also reported dropped across County Durham, particularly in the areas of Bridgehill, Seaton Snook, and Graythorp. While some fires were ignited, material damage was minimal, and there were no reports of fatalities.
A Fighter Interception Unit Blenheim equipped with airborne interception radar was directed towards an enemy aircraft approximately ten miles off Selsey Bill. Aircraftman First Class Edward Byrne established radar contact and guided the pilot, believed to have been Flight Lieutenant Robert Ker-Ramsay, into a position astern of the target. The Blenheim maintained contact towards the French coast but lacked the speed and altitude needed to close within firing range, and the pursuit was eventually abandoned.
A Blenheim of No. 53 Squadron, N3551, failed to return from a night sortie to Brussels after being hit by anti-aircraft fire. Flying Officer Alistair Panton, DFC, and Sergeant A.E. Farrow survived and were taken prisoner, but Sergeant Leslie H. Stride was killed when he became trapped in the burning gun turret. Panton suffered severe burns and remained in hospital until the end of the year.
Wellington L7792 of No. 37 Squadron was also lost to anti-aircraft fire during a raid on Hamburg. Sergeants J.F. McCauley, S.C. Kirkbride and C.E. Read were killed, while Sergeants T. Johnson and G.J.W. Grimson survived and were taken prisoner.
German Losses:
Airmen: 3 | Aircraft: 3
British Losses:
Airmen: 1 | Aircraft: 1
Hurricane L1584, No. 615 Squadron. Crashed into sea.
P/O M.R. Mudie died of injuries. Baled out badly injured, rescued by Navy, died on July 15th 1940.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Mudie.htm
Photo Descriptions
- A British convoy under air attack by German dive-bombers on 14 July 1940.
- Bombs falling away from a Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive-bomber, 1940.
- Spitfires of No. 610 Squadron land over the western end of ‘The Bump’, as Biggin Hill airfield was known, July 1940. © IWM (HU 87412)