Search for shipping off Scottish and east coasts.

Night: Targets attacked in south-west. Minelaying.

Weather: Dull with occasional rain.

Main Activity:

At approximately 1400 hours, twelve Spitfires from No. 64 Squadron, patrolling over Beachy Head, were ambushed by Messerschmitt Bf 109s from 3./JG 2. In the surprise attack, one Spitfire was shot down.

Later, at 1530 hours, six Hurricanes from No. 145 Squadron intercepted a lone Heinkel He 111 from Stab/KG 27. The bomber was heavily damaged in the attack and failed to return to its base.

By 1600 hours, a small group of He 111 bombers from III/KG 26, operating out of Stavanger, Norway, targeted the Imperial Chemical Industries factory at Ardeer, Ayrshire. During their mission, one of the bombers was intercepted and brought down by Spitfires from No. 603 Squadron, 25 miles east of Fraserburgh. Two of the bomber’s crew were seen deploying a rubber raft after the crash. One of the Spitfires sustained damage from return fire but managed to return safely to base.

German Losses
Airmen: 15 | Aircraft: 4

British Losses
Airmen: 1 | Aircraft: 1

Spitfire K9916, No. 603 Squadron. Aircraft lost.
F/O C.D. Peel. Certified as missing. Failed to return from an operational flight.
http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/PeelCD.htm

Photo Descriptions:

  1. Heinkel He 111 bombers in formation. The He 111H was the mainstay of the German bomber force in 1940, with approximately 500 aircraft serving in seventeen Kampfgruppen during the Battle of Britain. © IWM (MH 6547)
  2. This photograph was issued by the Germans with a press release on 17 July 1940. The caption read: “The British even shot at the Red Cross! The Red Crosses on the fuselage and wings can be seen from a large distance. Despite this the British again shot a German rescue seaplane while trying to rescue British crew-members who made an emergency landing at (sic) high seas.”