Shipping off south and east coasts attacked.
Night: Very little activity.
Weather: Occasional rain in southern districts. Straits of Dover cloudy. Cool.
Enemy Action by Day
Following several days of unsettled weather, 18 July saw a modest increase in Luftwaffe activity despite continued rain and overcast conditions in the southern counties. Fighter Command remained on alert as reconnaissance and harassment attacks intensified along the south and east coasts. While no major raids materialised, multiple engagements occurred, and both sides suffered losses. The day also marked the continuation of German minelaying operations and sporadic bombing, including incidents that caused both civilian and RAF casualties.
Morning Reconnaissance and Channel Engagements
Between 07:40 and 08:30 hours, four German raids crossed the coast between Portland Bill and Bournemouth, penetrating inland as far as the railway junctions at Castle Cary and Bruton in Somerset, and northwards to Netheravon, Upavon, Abingdon, and Upper Heyford. These incursions appeared to be probing attacks or reconnaissance missions, and no bombs were dropped.
At 09:30 hours, a formation of thirty Messerschmitt Bf 109s from JG 51 assembled behind Calais and crossed into the Channel. Spitfires from Nos. 610 and 152 Squadrons were scrambled and engaged the enemy fighters in a swirling dogfight over Beachy Head. Pilot Officer P. Litchfield of No. 610 Squadron was killed when his Spitfire (P9452) was shot down near Calais by Hauptmann Horst Tietzen of 5./JG 51, marking Tietzen’s tenth confirmed kill. Two other Spitfires from No. 152 Squadron were damaged but returned to base.
Midday Raids Across Southern England
At approximately 11:45 hours, a lone Junkers Ju 88 penetrated British airspace as far as Cardiff and Penarth. Bombs were dropped on Penarth, damaging houses, telephone lines, and water mains. RAF fighters intercepted the bomber and are believed to have killed the rear gunner, but the aircraft escaped across the coast.
Shortly after midday, attacks intensified along the southern coast. At around 13:00 hours, six Spitfires from No. 145 Squadron engaged Heinkel He 111s from KG 27, shooting down one bomber twenty miles south of Bognor Regis. Later, at 15:15 hours, six Spitfires from No. 609 Squadron intercepted Ju 88s from II./LG 1 off the Isle of Wight, destroying one and damaging another. The engagement came at a cost: two Spitfires were lost to return fire. Flying Officer A.R. Edge, in Spitfire R6636, force-landed on Studland Beach and was rescued by a Royal Navy launch. Flight Lieutenant Frank J. Howell, flying Spitfire R6634, bailed out and was recovered by a Royal Navy auxiliary vessel.
At about 15:20 hours, No. 111 Squadron intercepted and likely brought down a Henschel Hs 126 over the Channel.
Bombs were reported at Alverstoke near Gosport, as well as near Ringwood and Newport, though no significant damage was recorded. However, RAF St Athan Aerodrome in South Wales suffered a direct hit, resulting in one fatality, three serious injuries, and several minor casualties. Additional bomb damage was reported at Burnham-on-Sea and Axbridge.
A Heinkel He 111 was reported shot down near Christchurch, though this claim remained unconfirmed by nightfall.
Raids and Bombing in Scotland
At 09:42 hours, a Heinkel He 111 made a low-level bombing run on RAF Montrose, descending to just 500 feet. The aircraft dropped eighteen high-explosive bombs and eight incendiaries. Several parked aircraft suffered splinter damage, and five RAF personnel were injured, two fatally. A second bombing run on Montrose was reported at 10:30 hours.
Between 13:00 and 18:00 hours, four additional raids appeared off the north-east Scottish coast, with activity reported until 21:00 hours. A coastal convoy was repeatedly harassed, and minelaying in the area is suspected. Bombs were dropped on Anstruther RDF Station and the town of Crail, south of Fifeness. No interceptions were made in this sector.
East Coast Reconnaissance
At around 15:00 hours, fifteen enemy aircraft were plotted east of Bawdsey conducting reconnaissance over shipping lanes. Dive-bombing attacks on trawlers were reported, though no confirmed damage was recorded, and the raids were not engaged by RAF fighters.
Western Front Engagements
At 12:30 hours, three Bristol Blenheims were shot down over the French coast north of Le Havre. The Luftwaffe fighters responsible included aircraft from JG 2 and JG 54. Confirmed kills were credited to Hauptmann Wolfgang Schellmann (Stab II./JG 2), Unteroffizier Willi Melchert (5./JG 2), and Feldwebel Georg Kiening (6./JG 54). The RAF suffered six aircrew killed from Nos. 235 and 236 Squadrons. Later in the evening, between 19:00 and 19:12 hours, twenty-four British fighters escorted eighteen Blenheims on a strike against Boulogne. No German fighters engaged the formation.
Enemy Action by Night
German aerial activity resumed after 23:50 hours, concentrating north of the Humber–Liverpool line. Ten to twelve separate raids were plotted. Several crossed the coast, dropping mines off Cumberland, Westmorland, and as far south as Liverpool, before returning east. Others appeared to conduct minelaying off the Yorkshire coast and further south, including the Straits of Dover, Norfolk, and Suffolk. One raid reached as far inland as King’s Lynn.
Bombs were dropped at Leith at 19:27 hours, causing minor damage to docks and telephone cables. Repair crews were immediately dispatched. In Gillingham, four houses were destroyed during an earlier raid at 01:10 hours, while in Jersey Marine, near Swansea, bombs fell at 02:00 hours, damaging a railway, level crossing, electric cables, and telegraph lines. A separate late-night track approached St Abb’s Head and was later picked up off Belfast Lough, possibly indicating minelaying in the Irish Sea.
German Losses:
Airmen: 16 | Aircraft: 6
British Losses:
Airmen: 8 | Aircraft: 5
Spitfire P9452, No. 610 Squadron. Aircraft destroyed.
P/O P. Litchfield Killed. Shot down by Bf 109 over Channel. Body never recovered.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Litchfield.htm
Blenheim N3541, No. 235 Squadron. Aircraft lost.
P/O R.L. Patterson, Sgt R.Y. Tucker, and Sgt L.H.M. Reece. Certified as missing. Failed to return from operational flight.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/PattersonRL.htm
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/TuckerRY.htm
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/ReeceRHM.htm
Blenheim L6779, No. 236 Squadron. Aircraft destroyed.
P/O C.R.D. Thomas and Sgt H.D.B. Elsdon. Both killed. Shot down during photo-recon mission over Le Havre, France.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/ThomasCRD.htm
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/ElsdonHDB.htm
Blenheim L6639, No. 236 Squadron. Aircraft destroyed.
P/O R.H. Rigby and Sgt D.D. Mackinnon. Both killed. Shot down by Bf 109 during photo-recon mission over Le Havre, France
http://bbm.org.uk/airmen/Rigby.htm
http://bbm.org.uk/airmen/MacKinnonDD.htm
Photo Descriptions
- Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L9446 of No. 235 Squadron
- Spitfires of No. 610 Squadron, based at Biggin Hill, banking left, July 1940. © IWM CH 734