Raids on convoys in Channel and Straits of Dover.
Night: Targets chiefly at Merseyside.
Weather: Fine and fair early, clouding over during the morning. Fair in the evening.
Enemy Action by Day
Weather across the operational areas was mixed. The Straits of Dover experienced fair conditions, while the Channel was mostly cloudy. Light westerly winds prevailed in both areas, with bright intervals breaking through intermittent showers over eastern England.
Cloud cover restricted the scale of the Luftwaffe’s daylight activity, and much of the day was characterised by isolated reconnaissance flights and nuisance attacks against coastal targets.
03:25–05:15 Hours: Fighting off the East Coast
At 03:25 hours, Pilot Officer A.J. Hodgkinson of No. 219 Squadron was flying Blenheim L1236 west of Church Fenton when it was attacked and damaged by an unidentified aircraft. Hodgkinson succeeded in bringing the damaged fighter back safely.
At approximately 05:15 hours, a Sunderland flying boat was attacked by Bf 109s of 8./JG 77. Oberleutnant Lorenz Weber claimed the Sunderland destroyed but was himself shot down and killed by the flying boat’s defensive fire. No corresponding Sunderland loss was recorded.
07:30 Hours: Reconnaissance Aircraft Shot Down off Selsey
At approximately 07:30 hours, three Hurricanes of No. 145 Squadron, led by Flight Lieutenant A.H. “Ginger” Boyd, intercepted a Dornier Do 17P reconnaissance aircraft of 4.(F)/121 approximately twenty miles south of Selsey. Boyd, Flying Officer P.W. Dunning-White and Pilot Officer A.N.C. Weir attacked the Dornier and shot it down into the Channel.
The aircraft, Do 17P 7A+DM, was destroyed. Leutnant Erwin Reichardt and Feldwebel Reinhard Rowe were killed, while the pilot, Leutnant Gert Bormann, was rescued from the sea by a British motor torpedo boat with minor injuries.
09:22 Hours: Bombing of Duff House
At 09:22 hours, bombs struck Duff House at Banff in north-eastern Scotland. The building had been requisitioned as a prisoner-of-war camp and housed German submariners captured from U-26. Six prisoners and two British guards were killed, while eighteen other prisoners were injured. Duff House itself was severely damaged.
The identity of the attacking aircraft remains uncertain, although the raid may have been carried out by Ju 88 4D+FK of 2./KG 30. The Junkers subsequently crashed at Narvik during its operational sortie, killing Feldwebel Max Schet, Unteroffizier Heinz Bellmann, Unteroffizier Hermann Böhrkircher and Feldwebel Oswald Gotthardt.
A separate high-altitude bomber formation passed over the Sussex coast around mid-day. The aircraft flew too high for RAF fighters to intercept, and no damage or casualties were reported. Elsewhere, convoy and coastal protection patrols were flown consistently by RAF fighters, which may have contributed to the Luftwaffe’s apparent reluctance to engage targets with force.
Naval Defence and Anti-Aircraft Action
In addition to RAF operations, naval anti-aircraft crews remained active. The destroyer HMS Beagle claimed a Ju 87 dive-bomber shot down with pom-pom fire while patrolling the Channel, although no corresponding German loss has been identified. No other shipping damage was recorded during daylight hours.
17:35 Hours: Operational Accident
At 17:35 hours, Pilot Officer J.L. Bickerdike of No. 85 Squadron crashed during approach to Castle Camps satellite airfield. Flying Hurricane P3895, he was killed in the accident.
Three Spitfires and a Coastal Command Blenheim were also damaged in flying accidents during the day, but Bickerdike’s crash was the only fatal Fighter Command accident recorded.
Enemy Action by Night
Nightfall brought a sharp escalation in enemy operations. Beginning shortly after 21:00 hours, Luftwaffe aircraft flying from the Boulogne–Calais area and from Cherbourg initiated minelaying sorties and inland bombing raids. Aircraft were observed turning northward off Cherbourg toward the English coast, indicating likely mine deployment routes near Portland, Land’s End, and the Bristol Channel.
From 22:00 to 02:00 hours, a significant number of raids were plotted approaching the northeast, east, and southeast coasts. Many of these were presumed to be minelaying operations, particularly in the Thames Estuary, the Humber, the Tyne, and off the Norfolk coast. Additional groups—believed to originate from Norway—reached as far north as Edinburgh and Drem.
Bombs were reported in multiple districts, including North Kent, South Essex, Norfolk, Kidderminster, Welshpool, Brough, and South Wales. At 22:30 hours, between fifteen and twenty high-explosive bombs fell near Manston aerodrome. Five minutes later, Margate suffered a concentrated attack, with eight bombs striking the area. One house was demolished, gas mains were ruptured, and the electrical supply was disrupted.
At 22:35 hours, Ju 88 bombers from Stab and I./KG 51 targeted the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton. The exact damage from this raid was not immediately clear. Around the same time, Luftwaffe aircraft dropped bombs on Maldon in Essex and Skipsea in East Yorkshire. The latter attack caused damage to a farm’s electricity supply. Uniquely, the ordnance dropped was described as a “supposed new type containing petrol, paraffin, and other oils.”
Radar-Guided Night Interception
At 23:00 hours, Blenheim Mk IF L6836 of the Fighter Interception Unit took off on a night patrol from Tangmere. The aircraft was flown by Flying Officer Glyn Ashfield, accompanied by Pilot Officer Geoffrey Morris as observer and Sergeant Reginald Leyland as airborne-interception radar operator.
Shortly before 23:30 hours, ground control directed the Blenheim towards an unidentified aircraft south of the Sussex coast. Leyland obtained contact with the target using the aircraft’s AI radar and guided Ashfield into visual range. Morris then sighted an aircraft below and to port, silhouetted against the moon.
Believing the aircraft to be a Dornier Do 17, Ashfield approached from astern and opened fire at approximately 400 to 500 yards. He continued firing as the range closed, reporting numerous strikes before the target lurched to starboard and descended towards the sea. Oil from the damaged aircraft covered the Blenheim’s windscreen, and Ashfield temporarily lost control while attempting to follow it down, recovering at approximately 700 feet.
The crew initially received credit for destroying a Dornier, and the engagement was celebrated as the first successful radar-guided night interception by an RAF fighter. No corresponding German loss can be identified, however, and the aircraft attacked was almost certainly Blenheim L9414 of No. 107 Squadron, which was returning from a raid against Creil airfield.
Blenheim L9414 crashed into the Channel with the loss of Pilot Officer Peter Watson, Sergeant Charles Holland and Sergeant William O’Heney. Holland’s body was later recovered near Littlehampton and buried at Tangmere; Watson and O’Heney remained missing.
Other reports came from Edinburgh, where a fire damaged storage buildings, and from Leith, where four high-explosive bombs and many incendiaries caused substantial damage to a fire station and a pressure main. A 1,000 lb bomb fell near the Albert Dock, damaging rail sidings and water mains. One person was killed and six others injured.
Minelaying off Plymouth
Five Ju 88s of 7./KG 30, led by Staffelkapitän Hauptmann Hajo Herrmann, were dispatched from Zwischenahn to lay mines in the approaches to Plymouth. Each aircraft carried two 1,100 lb mines.
During the raid, Herrmann’s Ju 88 nearly collided with a barrage balloon while taking evasive action and stalled as he attempted to avoid it. The aircraft came down on top of the balloon before sliding off, overturning and falling out of control. Herrmann regained control at low altitude, restarted the engines and ordered his crew—whom he had initially told to bale out—to remain aboard.
Despite being illuminated by searchlights and coming under anti-aircraft fire, Herrmann dropped both mines before escaping across the Channel. He subsequently landed the damaged Ju 88 safely at Soesterberg in the Netherlands.
Coastal Defence and Airfield Disruption
Elsewhere, slight damage was reported to Sheerness Pier at 01:28 hours on 23 July, while bombs were also dropped at Milford Haven, Emsworth, and Cleethorpes. These did not cause casualties or major structural damage.
Manston aerodrome remained operational despite the nearby bombing, and no major installations were reported destroyed.
A Whitley of No. 58 Squadron was also lost during the night. Whitley N1472, flown by Sergeant J.B. Jones, failed to return after encountering anti-aircraft fire. Jones, Pilot Officer J.D. Smith and Sergeants J.W. Candlish, J.K. Easton and E. Hill were killed.
Unit Movements and Operational Updates
No. 804 Squadron, operating Sea Gladiators, flew its first Battle of Britain sortie from Wick under No. 13 Group’s control. Meanwhile, No. 301 (Polish) Bomber Squadron was officially formed at Bramcote, Warwickshire, with Polish personnel supported by a limited number of British supervisory officers and airmen. The unit was equipped with sixteen aircraft and marked a further integration of Polish forces into Bomber Command’s structure.
Göring’s Directive and Strategic Developments
On this same day, Göring issued a directive mandating the mining and bombardment of key British ports including Dover, Plymouth, Portland, and Portsmouth. He instructed that installations deemed necessary for future German military use should not be attacked. He emphasised small-scale attacks and ordered better integration of Luftflotte resources, signalling the increasing strategic refinement of the Luftwaffe’s operations.
German Losses:
Airmen: 19 | Aircraft: 12
British Losses:
Airmen: 1 | Aircraft: 2
Hurricane P3973, No. 43 Squadron. Aircraft destroyed.
P/O R.A. DeMancha. Certified as missing. Collided with Bf 109 and crashed into Channel.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/DeMancha.htm
Photo Descriptions
- A Dornier Do 17Z bomber of Kampfgeschwader 3, 1940. Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-343-0679-06A / Gentsch / CC-BY-SA 3.0.
- Messerschmitt Bf 110 C-5 (5F+CM, W.Nr. 2177) of the reconnaissance unit 4.(F)/14. This aircraft was shot down by Red Section of No. 238 Squadron on 21 July 1940 at Goodwood. The pilot, Oblt. Friedrich Karl Runde managed to put it down in relatively good condition. It was repaired at Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough with parts from Me 110 2N+EP of 9./ZG76 (Oblt. Gerhard Kadow) that was shot down near Wareham on 11 July 1940. It was flown for the first time again on 15 February 1941. Later it was tested at RAE Duxford, painted in RAF colours (RAF serial AX772). It was assigned to No. 1426 Squadron after the end of the trials. Stored in November 1945, it was scrapped in November 1947.
- P/O John S Wigglesworth of No. 238 Squadron RAF perks up in Hurricane Mk I VK-I at RAF Middle Wallop. The 19-year-old pilot shared in the destruction of a Do 17 and a Bf 110 on 21 July 1940.