Little activity
Night: Minelaying off east and south-east coasts.
Weather: Generally cloudy with fairly strong winds. Cloud ceiling 3,000 – 5,000 ft.
Enemy Action by Day
Luftwaffe activity was again curtailed by persistent cloud cover and moderate winds. The morning opened with a low-level bombing raid on RAF Llandow, a satellite airfield in South Wales. At approximately 05:40 hours, a lone Ju 88 dropped four bombs on the airfield, causing slight damage to a hangar. Ground fog and poor visibility hindered any effective RAF response, and no casualties were reported.
Meanwhile, along the eastern seaboard, Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights probed British shipping routes. Nine raids by small formations or lone aircraft were plotted from Dungeness to Portland and mid-Channel, but most turned back without delivering attacks. Mist and low cloud ceilings allowed the enemy to evade interception in several instances.
06:30 Hours: Dornier Shot Down off Lowestoft
At approximately 06:30 hours, three Hurricanes of No. 85 Squadron intercepted a Dornier Do 17 of III./KG 3 near a coastal convoy approximately twenty miles east of Lowestoft. Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Allard, Sergeant W.R. Evans and Sergeant J.H.M. Ellis attacked the bomber together and sent it crashing into the sea with the loss of its crew. It was Fighter Command’s only confirmed aerial victory of the day.
12:10 Hours: Heinkel Intercepted near Newcastle
Shortly after midday, Spitfires of No. 72 Squadron intercepted a Heinkel He 111 near Newcastle. Sergeant Robert C.J. Staples attacked the bomber in Spitfire L1078, but defensive fire struck his aircraft at least four times and severed the port aileron control.
With the Spitfire only partially controllable, Staples managed to return to Acklington but struck the port wing on the ground during his landing and crashed. He suffered a cut above one eye, and the aircraft was written off. The Heinkel escaped without serious damage.
One raid ineffectually dropped bombs on shipping off Yarmouth, with no reported damage.
17:07 Hours: Combat off Flamborough Head
At 17:07 hours, three Spitfires of No. 616 Squadron intercepted a Ju 88 approximately twenty miles northeast of Flamborough Head. Squadron Leader Marcus Robinson, flying Spitfire R6702, and Sergeant Marmaduke Ridley attacked the bomber and shared a claim for its probable destruction.
Both Spitfires were struck by debris or defensive fire during the attack but sustained only slight damage and returned to Leconfield at 17:25 hours. Flight Lieutenant Richard O. Hellyer, leading the second section, did not engage the Ju 88. All three pilots returned safely.
Further inland, British radar tracked enemy formations assembling over the Calais-Boulogne region during the late afternoon. Between 18:27 and 18:53 hours, seven formations were plotted flying various patrol patterns over the Straits of Dover, though no attacks developed. Four RAF squadrons were scrambled in response, but persistent cloud prevented contact.
Fighter Command Accidents
At 10:17 hours, Hurricane N2456 of No. 17 Squadron crashed and burned in Debden Park shortly after taking off for an air test. The Hurricane stalled while turning at between 500 and 1,000 feet and entered a spin from which Pilot Officer Henry Wilfred Arthur Britton had insufficient height to recover. Britton was killed.
At 12:10 hours, Magister P2385 of No. 219 Squadron struck high-tension cables during a daylight exercise with searchlights and ground defences in County Durham. The aircraft crashed into a river at Piercebridge, approximately six miles west of Darlington. Pilot Officer Jean Charles Carriere and Sergeant Charles Beveridge sustained facial injuries, and the Magister was written off.
At 13:40 hours, Hurricane V7205 of No. 32 Squadron crashed into a wood approximately 100 yards southwest of Biggin Hill after Pilot Officer Jan Piotr Pfeiffer attempted to take off with the propeller set to coarse pitch. The Hurricane failed to gain sufficient speed, struck the airfield boundary fence and caught fire. Pfeiffer was injured, and the aircraft was destroyed.
Experimental Minelaying Sortie
Flight Lieutenant Francis of the Torpedo Development Unit took Blackburn Botha L6347 on an experimental minelaying sortie towards the French coast, accompanied by Pilot Officer D.H. “Nobby” Clarke of No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit and a volunteer crew.
The heavily laden Botha proved difficult to control and wallowed badly after leaving the Nab Tower. Judging the aircraft unsafe to continue across the Channel, Francis released the experimental mine approximately fifteen miles short of the intended target and returned safely.
Enemy Action by Night
Night activity remained limited. Luftwaffe minelayers operated primarily off East Anglia, the Thames Estuary, and the stretch between Beachy Head and the Isle of Wight. A small number of bombers crossed into British airspace, likely attempting to intercept returning RAF bombers or lay sea mines in coastal waters.
Twelve enemy aircraft flew west from the Cherbourg Peninsula, with several believed to have dropped mines off the Cornish coast and others operating in the Bristol Channel. One of the raids reached as far as Liverpool Bay before returning across the Channel.
Two separate incursions were tracked over northeast Scotland from Norway, with both crossing inland near the Firth of Forth. Low haze and poor visibility in the southeast contributed to the ineffectiveness of RAF detection and interception efforts.
Bomber Command Activity
Twelve Hampdens of No. 49 Squadron were dispatched to lay mines off Frederikshavn, Denmark. German anti-aircraft batteries at Skagen and Frederikshavn opened intermittent fire between 01:00 and 01:30 hours.
At approximately 01:15 hours, Hampden P4377 was seen burning before crashing into the Kattegat between Skagen and Frederikshavn. Sergeant Robert J. Jennings, DFM, Sergeant R.F. Batho, Sergeant J.F. Lindsay and Sergeant J. Jones were killed.
Göring’s Directive and Luftwaffe Reorganisation
While operations over Britain remained light, a significant planning meeting took place at Karinhall, Göring’s private estate. The Luftwaffe high command gathered to formalise the strategic implementation of Hitler’s Directive No. 17, which called for the destruction of the RAF in preparation for Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Britain.
Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle of Luftflotte 3 argued for a strategy centred on Britain’s ports, while Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring of Luftflotte 2 advocated a direct blow against London. Göring overruled both, insisting that Fighter Command and its supporting infrastructure must be neutralised first.
With no start date yet set for Adlerangriff, the Luftwaffe maintained its Kanalkampf attacks. Unit movements nevertheless indicated a clear build-up: several Gruppen of JG 54 transferred from airfields in Holland and Germany to forward bases in the Pas-de-Calais, despite the poor condition of the available runways. Hauptmann Heinz Cramer also assumed command of II./LG 1, replacing Major Kurt Dobratz.
German Losses:
Airmen: 9 | Aircraft: 6
British Losses:
Airmen: 1 | Aircraft: 6
Hurricane N2456, No. 17 Squadron. Aircraft destroyed.
P/O H.W.A Britton killed. Crashed after taking off from Debden and burnt out.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/BrittonHWA.htm
Photo Description
- Hawker Hurricane Mk I flown by Sgt G ‘Sammy’ Allard of No. 85 Squadron, July 1940. © IWM (HU 104492)