The Battle of Britain (23 page)

At about 1630hrs, Luftflotte 3 returned in force to where ‘Peewit' was reassembling off St. Catherine's Point. This time there were 82 Ju 87s
escorted by 68 Bf 109s and 110s. No. 10 Group had kept a constant fighter presence over the convoy, and Nos. 43 and 145 Sqns were scrambled to intercept in sufficient time to gain both height and position, and launched a devastating attack, although this was not enough to save the shipping from further losses.

British losses in the day's convoy actions were heavy: 13 Hurricanes were lost, one force landed, and three more were damaged, while one Spitfire was lost and a further two damaged. No fewer than 12 pilots were killed, and three slightly hurt; all of them in Hurricanes. No. 145 Sqn fared worst, losing five aircraft and pilots, two of them in the early morning action. Luftwaffe losses were also heavy. Eight Bf 109s, one 110, and seven Ju 87s were lost. Five more Ju 87s force landed, and two 109s, five 110s, and six 87s suffered various degrees of damage. Of these, one 109, two 110s, and three 87s were past repair. Bf 110 casualties were relatively light, because they had adopted their standard tactic of going into a defensive circle when attacked. (Later, Goering ordered this to be renamed the offensive circle; the change passed unnoticed by RAF Fighter Command!) Two Gruppe Kommandeurs ended in the water on this day; Hptm Werner Andres of III/JG 27 and Hptm Plewig of II/StG 77.

There was no major activity on August 9, although the Luftwaffe flew many reconnaissance sorties, and a few bombs were dropped by single aircraft and small formations. They were taking a breather before
Adlerangriffe
, the all-out assault planned for the next day. It was not realised in Britain that the ‘Peewit' battles of August 8 were not planned, but had been very much ad hoc ventures at a target of opportunity. But when August 10 dawned, thundery squalls combined with an adverse weather forecast caused a postponement. Numerous reconnaissance and minelaying sorties were flown, but surprisingly neither side suffered combat casualties, the last day for many weeks that this would happen.

Sunday, August 11, dawned fine, and the first attack came from Jagdbomberflieger, or Jabos, of EprGr 210, which raided Dover harbour. This was followed by three Luftwaffe fighter sweeps in quick succession, then a series of incursions by German fighters in Staffel strength over Kent and Sussex. Combat was generally refused by the British, but some inconclusive skirmishes took place.

At 0945hrs, Ventnor radar detected a large build-up near Cherbourg, France. This emerged as 54 Ju 88s of I and III/KG 54, and 20 He 111s of KG 27, escorted by 60-plus Bf 110s of II and III/ZG 2, and about 30 Bf 109s of III/JG 2. it was the biggest raid yet seen, and a total of 74 Hurricanes and Spitfires from eight squadrons were scrambled as the German formation moved inexorably towards Portland naval base. Many of the British fighters became entangled with the escorts, and fighter losses were high on both sides.

Things would have been worse for the Germans had it not been for the arrival of more Bf 109s from JG 27 to cover the withdrawal. The Zerstörers' defensive circle failed to save them on this occasion; they lost six aircraft, including that of Major Ott, the Gruppe Kommandeur of I/ZG 2, and five more were damaged.

Meanwhile, the Jabos of EprGr 210 were busy again, this time leading eight Dorniers of 9/KG 2 against convoy ‘Booty', off Harwich. They were met by elements of Nos. 17, 74, and 85 Sqns, who handled them roughly, despite the efforts of their escorts, the Bf 110s of I/ZG 26.

As they withdrew, a further raid was building up. About 45 Dorniers of II and III/KG 2, accompanied by a handful of Stukas and escorted by 109s, headed for another convoy in the Thames Estuary. They were intercepted by Spitfires of No. 74 Sqn. Nos. 54 and 111 Sqns also attempted to engage, but rapidly deteriorating weather conditions rendered further action abortive.

German combat losses on the day were 15 Bf 109s, 10 Bf 110s, one Do 17Z, six Ju 88s, two Ju 87s, and two He 59s. In addition, one Bf 109, two 110s, and one Ju 88 force landed on return, while one Bf 109, five 110s and five Do 17s returned in various states of disrepair. British losses were also heavy; six Spitfires and 21 Hurricanes were shot down; a further Spitfire and four Hurricanes force landed; two Spitfires and nine Hurricanes were damaged. This was not an adequate exchange rate. Even worse, 26 RAF pilots were missing, a rate that could not long be sustained by Fighter Command.

German fighter sweeps started the ball rolling on the morning of August 12, followed by the most serious development yet; a coordinated attack on the British coastal radar chain. This was carried out by EprGr 210, commanded by Hptm Walter Rubensdorffer, who attacked Dover, Pevensey, Rye and Dunkirk in quick succession. They were difficult targets, and though the first three were temporarily put off the air, no lasting damage was done.

Minor convoy attacks followed, and a few aerial skirmishes took place. But at 1145hr Poling radar detected a 200-plus German force south of Brighton. It was the Ju 88s of KG 51, escorted by the Bf 110s of ZG 2 and 76, plus top cover of about two dozen Bf 109s from JG 53. As this armada steamrollered its way westwards, 58 fighters were scrambled to meet it. Somewhere off Selsey Bill, the German formation split into two groups. The larger of the two raided Portsmouth, causing heavy damage to both the town and naval installations, while the other struck at Ventnor radar, putting it out of action for many weeks. KG 51 paid heavily, with 10 Ju 88s shot down, two force landed in France, and a further two damaged. The Geschwader Kommodore, Oberst Dr Fisser, paid for his success at Ventnor with his life.

In the afternoon came another serious development; fighter airfields in England were attacked for the first time. Manston was hit by EprGr 210 at about 13.00hrs; this was followed by a raid by Dorniers of KG 2, although these were identified as Heinkels in the station diary. In the late afternoon, Lympne and Hawkinge were damaged by Ju 88s of II/KG 76. On all three airfields, the damage was heavy but not critical. The day ended with heavy bombing raids on several Kent coastal towns.

By contrast with the events of the previous two days, Adler Tag was an anticlimax. The initial raid was to have been by 74 Dorniers of Oberst Johannes Fink's KG 2, escorted by about 60 Bf 110s of ZG 26, which was commanded by the wooden legged veteran of WW I, Hans Joachim Huth.

In the event, weather conditions forced a postponement, but Fink was not informed in time, and he pressed on through the cloud banks unescorted. His targets were the naval base at Sheerness and the Coastal Command airfield at Eastchurch. By a strange coincidence, Spitfires of No. 266 Sqn and a flight from No. 19 Sqn were based there, this being about the only time in the Battle that fighters were present on this airfield. KG 2 was intercepted by Nos. 74, 111 and 151 (North Weald) Sqns, but now the clouds became the Dorniers' shield, and losses were light.

Meanwhile, other units had missed the postponement order. Fighter sweeps were mounted by I/JG 2, while Ju 88s of KG 54 crossed the coast to strike at Odiham and Farnborough airfields; neither of them operated by RAF Fighter Command. A combination of interception (by fighters from Tangmere and Northolt) and bad weather rendered this attack abortive. Yet another shambles was enacted further west when the Bf 110s
of I/ZG 2 flew out to rendezvous with more Ju 88s of KG 54, which had by now learned of the postponement. The only rendezvous for the Zerstörers was with two squadrons of British fighters off Portland.

One of the most interesting points of this day's operations was that most of the radar stations were back on the air; only Ventnor was still out, and this fact was concealed by transmitting dummy signals, while the gap in the coverage was partly closed by a mobile radar set.

During the afternoon the weather improved, and radar detected raids on a wide front approaching the south coast. The various fomations involved were 120 Ju 88s of KG 54 and LG 1, escorted by 30 Bf 110s of V/LG 1 to the west, and 77 Ju 87s drawn from II/StG 2 and StG 77 escorted by a mass of Bf 109s from JG 27 on the east side. Sweeping ahead of the bombers came 30 Bf 109s of III/JG 53. On reaching the Dorset coast they were intercepted by No. 609 Sqn, losing three aircraft.

Most of LG 1 penetrated as far as Southampton by about 1600hrs, and caused heavy damage to both the docks and the city, although the Spitfire factory at Woolston emerged unscathed. Luftwaffe intelligence thought it made bombers! The remainder of LG 1's Ju 88s headed for the airfield at Andover. Meanwhile the Ju 88s of KG 54 attacked Portland, but were intercepted by Nos. 152, 213 and 601 Sqns. At the same time, some of the Ju 87s made for Middle Wallop when they were intercepted by the Spitfires of No. 609 Sqn, who were returning to base low on fuel and ammunition.

Shortly after 1700hrs, Ju 87s of II/StG 1 struck at Rochester, Kent, where Short Bros manufactured bombers, but failed to find the target. Intercepted by Hurricanes of No. 56 Sqn, they turned back, jettisoning their bombs. Meanwhile, Ju 87s IV(St)/LG 1 badly damaged the Coastal Command airfield at Detling, near Maidstone, demolishing the Operations block and all the hangars. A fighter sweep in strength by JG 26 gave cover in the area at this time.

The scoreboard was in favour of the British on this day. Six Bf 109s, nine Bf 110s, five Ju 87s, seven Ju 88s, six Do 17s and one He 111 were shot down, while three 109s, nine 110s and three 88s force landed in France. Of these, three 110s and one 88 were written off. On the British side, 12 Hurricanes and one Spitfire were lost, two of each force landed; and eight Hurricanes and three Spitfires were damaged. A heartening feature was that only three RAF pilots were killed, and two wounded severely enough to take them off strength. This was in stark contrast to the events of August 11.

As darkness fell (after 2200hrs) on August 13, the night offensive started, with bombers roaming the length and breadth of the British Isles, bombing targets as far apart as Norwich, Aberdeen, Swansea, Liverpool, and Belfast, where Short Bros' bomber factory was hit. Otherwise there was little damage except to the rail network.

Daylight raids continued the next morning, although hampered by poor weather. Middle Wallop was hit by three Heinkels of KG 55 but they lost their Geschwaderkommodore Oberst Alois Stoeckl, a poor return for a damaged hangar.

The weather forecast for Thursday August 15 was not good, and major operations were postponed, while Reichsmarschall Goering summoned a conference of his senior commanders. A rapid improvement in conditions allowed the planned operations to proceed by late morning, the order for the attack being given by Oberst Paul Deichmann, Chief of Staff of II Fliegerkorps, in the absence of anyone more senior.

The raid traces on the British radar displays were so large that it became impossible to distinguish between individual formations. First into the fray were the Ju 87s of II/StG 1 and IV(St)/LG 1, attacking Hawkinge and Lympne. Heavy damage was caused at both airfields, and Lympne was put out of action for three days. Even more serious was the fact that power supplies to the radar stations at Dover, Rye, and Foreness were cut, putting them off the air for several hours. Nos. 54 and 501 Sqns intervened, but were overrun by the escorting 109s. As the German aircraft withdrew, Manston was strafed by Bf 110s of II/ZG 76.

At this point, events shifted to the north-east. In the early afternoon, the Newcastle/Sunderland area was raided by 65 He 111s of KG 26 escorted by 34 Bf 110s of I/ZG 76 from Norway, while airfields in Yorkshire were attacked by 50 unescorted Ju 88s of KG 30 from Denmark. Both raids were detected well out to sea, and fighters from 72, 605 and 609 Sqns intercepted them. German losses (eight He 111s, eight Ju 88s, eight 110s) were too heavy to be borne, and mass daylight attacks by Luftflotte 5 were never again tried.

Back in the south-east, further raids took EprGr 210 (mix of bomb-carrying 110s and 109s) to the fighter airfield at Martlesham Heath, reducing its operational effectiveness for the next few days. Next 88 Dornier 17s of KG 3 headed for Rochester and Eastchurch, joining with a strong fighter escort en route consisting of over 130 Bf 109s drawn from JG 51, 52 and 54. At the same time, 60 Bf 109s of JG 26 carried out a
fighter sweep over Kent. No fewer than seven British squadrons were directed against this raid, but failed to penetrate the screen of escorts. Short Bros' aircraft factory, making Stirling bombers, was hard hit. Amid the confusion, small formations from KG 1 and KG 2 attacked Hawkinge and other targets, under cover of a Bf 109 fighter sweep by I/LG 2. Fighting was both heavy and confused.

Meanwhile, far to the West, two raids were plotted, one approaching Selsey Bill, the other approaching Portland. The first consisted of about 60 Ju 88s, escorted by 40 Bf 110s. Attacked by four British squadrons in turn, they penetrated the defences and attacked airfields at Middle Wallop, Odiham, and Worthy Down, causing little damage, although two hangars were hit at Wallop. Further westwards, Stukas strongly escorted by Bf 109s and 110s were attacking Portland again, opposed by one Spitfire and two Hurricane squadrons.

The day was far from over. Back in Kent, various Dornier units were taking full advantage of the general confusion, while JG 26 Bf 109s mounted a fighter sweep in the area. One Dornier Gruppe was headed for the sector station at Biggin Hill, while the indefatigable EprGr 210 was to raid another sector station at Kenley. These were the first attacks launched at these vital targets.

Edging around to come in from the north, Rubensdorffer led his men into the attack, but the sun was low and visibility hazy. The airfield that he actually attacked was Croydon, a few miles from Kenley, and the Hurricanes of No. 32 Sqn from Biggin Hill were waiting to greet him. One hangar was destroyed and two others damaged; many buildings were hit, and Croydon was rendered non-operational for two days. EprGr 210 paid a heavy price, however, losing five Bf 110s and a 109; Rubensdorffer himself went down in Sussex.

Meanwhile the Dorniers heading for Biggin Hill had also boobed, raiding West Malling instead, causing considerable damage. West Malling was a fighter airfield, but did not effectively become operational until the last day of the Battle, and so the effects of this raid were unimportant.