Very quiet.

Night: Raids on London and Birmingham.

Weather: Overcast and hazy in the Channel, clearing to a starlit night.

Main Activity:

Apart from a few reconnaissance patrols, the morning was quiet. A single raider crossed the coast at Southwold, Suffolk, and penetrated as far as the midlands. It was shot down at St. Neots, Huntingdonshire, on its return flight.

During the afternoon nuisance raids over the southeast and East Anglia kept British pilots on the alert. They flew 476 sorties without loss and shot down two hostile aircraft. The Germans, nevertheless, lost eight operational machines.

Excerpt from The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood & Derek Dempster

German Losses
Airmen: 21 | Aircraft: 12

British Losses
Airmen: 3 | Aircraft: 3

Hurricane V7303, No. 43 Squadron
Sgt. D.R. Stoodley killed. Dusk-flying accident at base. Made six attempts to land cross-wind and finally stalled at 250ft.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Stoodley.htm

Hurricane P3404, No. 87 Squadron
P/O D.T. Jay killed. Collided with P/O Cock during routine patrol. Pilot baled out but believed to have hit the tailplane as he did not pull ripcord.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Jay.htm

Hurricane V6807, No. 303 Squadron
P/P J. Bury-Burzymski killed. Crashed during dog-fight practice.

Photo Descriptions:

  1. Flying Officer Zdzisław Henneberg, Flight Lieutenant John A. Kent “Kentowski” and Flying Officer Marian Pisarek, all from No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron, standing by Hurricane Mk.I (RF-F, V6684) at RAF Leconfield, 24 October 1940. Note the Squadron’s badge over their heads. © IWM (CH 1532)
  2. Pilots of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron walking towards the camera from a Hawker Hurricane (probably Hurricane Mk.I, RF-F, V6684) after returning from a fighter sortie at RAF Leconfield, 24 October 1940. Left to right, in the front row are – Pilot Officer Mirosław “Ox” Ferić; Flight Lieutenant John A. Kent “Kentowski” (the CO of ‘A’ Flight); Flying Officer Bogdan Grzeszczak; Pilot Officer Jerzy Radomski; Pilot Officer Witold “Tolo” Łokuciewski; Pilot Officer Bogusław Mierzwa (obscured by Łokuciewski); Flying Officer Zdzisław Henneberg; Sergeant Jan Rogowski; Sergeant Eugeniusz Szaposznikow. In the centre, to the rear of this group, wearing helmet and goggles is Pilot Officer Jan “Donald Duck” Zumbach.
  3. Pilots of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron during a conversation after returning from a fighter sortie at RAF Leconfield, 24 October 1940. © IWM (CH 1534)
  4. Pilot Officers Jan “Donald Duck” Zumbach (left) and Mirosław “Ox” Ferić, two of its aces, playing with the Squadron’s mascot – a puppy dog. RAF Leconfield, 24 October 1940. © IWM (CH 1537)
  5. Pilots of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron standing by the tail elevator of one of their Hawker Hurricane Mark Is at RAF Leconfield, 24 October 1940. Left to right: Pilot Officer Mirosław “Ox” Ferić, Flying Officer Bogdan Grzeszczak, Pilot Officer Jan “Donald Duck” Zumbach, Flying Officer Zdzisław Henneberg and Flight Lieutenant John A. Kent “Kentowski”, a Canadian who commanded the ‘A’ Flight of the Squadron at that time.
  6. A bomb is fitted to the wings of a British raider prior to the start of an assault on Berlin, on 24 October 1940.