Posted on 08/26/2010 4:46:54 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Plus a special guest map from Michael Korda’s, “With Wings Like Eagles,” showing the air defenses of England and Wales, August 1940.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Michael Korda, With Wings Like Eagles: The Untold Story of the Battle of Britain
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/aug40/f26aug40.htm
RAF airfields targeted by Germans
Monday, August 26, 1940 www.onwar.com
Over Britain... The German attacks continue. They send three major raids against RAF airfields and one on Portsmouth. One of the airfield raids gets through almost undamaged but all the others are heavily engaged by the RAF. The day’s losses are 31 RAF fighters and 19 German bombers and 26 fighters. According to the original timetable Hitler ought to decide now whether the invasion should be attempted.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/26.htm
August 26th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - industrial targets at Turin and Milan.
10 Sqn. Six aircraft to Milan. Five bombed primary, one FTR.
77 Sqn. Seven aircraft to Turin. Five bombed primary.
Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command:
Fierce and effective raids on airfields (especially Debden) mark the period of Fighter Command’s greatest strain.
Dover and Folkestone are attacked.
Ineffective attacks on Hornchurch and Portsmouth.
At night Coventry, Birmingham and Plymouth are bombed heavily.
The day is marked by three major Luftwaffe operations.
The first comprising of five distinct raids over Kent, starts at 11:37 with intrusions by around 50 bombers and 80 fighters, some of which strafed east Kent targets. Some 40 Hurricanes and 30 Spitfires of 11 Group rose to defend their bases.
He 111s bombed Folkestone killing two and injuring 22. Seven 616 Squadron Spitfires arriving to protect Folkestone ran into a large Bf109 escort, despite being soon joined by five more Spitfires there was little the Yorkshire squadron could do and it loses seven aircraft and two pilots.
Warned of an intended attack on its base, Hornchurch, 264 Squadron hastened away to engage KG 3s Do17s over Herne Bay. Although the Defiants assembled in their specified battle formation for bomber interception they were no match for the escorting Bf109s which claimed three. In return the Defiants shot down six Do17s and a fighter. The struggle did reduce the Bf109s fuel forcing them to leave. The Do17s decided it was unwise to continue unprotected and jettisoned their loads.
The second major operation starts shortly after 13:00 when eight raids develop.
78 Do17s of II/KG 2 and III/KG 3 escorted by Bf110s of ZG 26 and ZG 76 and Bf109s assemble over Lille. Intelligence sources already knew their destinations to be Debden, North Weald and Hornchurch. Seven 11 Group squadrons scrambled in case a London raid developed and thwarted the attack by engaging the escorting Bf109s which quickly became short of fuel. The bombs fell widely on Kent including 32 on Broadstairs and more on Manston. 39 Do17s escorted by long-range tanked Bf 110s, continued to the Blackwater estuary then turned towards Debden. Colchester’s AA guns caused several to turn away.
Lone pirate raids continued throughout the day. One placed four HEs on Harwell, killing six, injuring ten and damaging two Wellingtons. Whitleys later landed at Harwell to refuel for a long flight to Torino and these seem to have been the intended target. They are engaged by No. 1 Sqn. RCAF making its first combat fighting with 11 Group. They down two Bf110s and 1 Do17. but lose their Sqn. Ldr N.E. McNab.
Dave Wadman adds: At approximately 3.25p.m. Hurricanes of the Sqn intercepted a formation of 7th Staffel of KG2. S/Ldr McNab’s Hurricane P3069 was damaged but he was unhurt, F/O R.L.Edwards flying P3874 was shot down and killed (the first Canadian pilot serving with a Canadian fighter sqn to be KIA in WW2), F/O Desloges’ Hurricane P3872 was severely damaged but repairable - he was unhurt, a fourth Hurricane from the sqn - P3869 was also damaged but the pilot was unhurt.
The first Canadian fighter pilot serving with a Canadian fighter squadron during WW2 is killed in action
over SE England. Flying Officer R.L.Edwards of No.1 Sqn. R.C.A.F. (later No.401 Sqn R.C.A.F) of Coburg, Ontario was shot down at approximately 1530hrs by a Dornier Do17 of KG2 following an attack on RAF station Debden, his Hurricane crashing near Thaxted, Essex. F/O Edwards is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery.
The third operation, directed against Portsmouth and Southampton started in the late afternoon and was the last large-scale day raid mounted by Luftlotte 3. About 50 He-111s of I and II/KG 55 were escorted by Bf109s and Bf110s. Eight fighter squadrons were ordered to engage and 43, 602 and 235 Squadrons went into action, preventing the bombing of Southampton and shooting down four He-111s and four Bf109s for the loss of four fighters and three pilots wounded. Some bombs dropped on Portsmouth damaging Langstone Harbour, destroying Fort Cumberland and causing a fire at Hilsea gas works. Later, an escorted rescue He59 was shot down south of the Isle of Wight.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 41; RAF, 31.
Croydon, Surrey. 2nd Lt Wallace Launcelot Andrews (1908-44), Royal Engineers, was blown some distance when a bomb blew up as he tried to defuse it. (Empire Gallantry Medal)
Corvette HMS Fleur de Lys commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
ÉIRE: Dublin: Ireland’s neutrality, assiduously preserved by the premier, Eamon de Valera, has not won immunity from German air raids. Luftwaffe bombs hit four places in County Wexford today, 130 miles from the border. Two of the three young women killed while working at a creamery were sisters. The third, a blast victim, was found sitting at a dining table, knife and fork in hand. The motive for the attack is not clear, for Ireland, like neutral Spain and Turkey, is an intelligence goldmine for the Germans. Dublin’s representative in Berlin has protested.
GERMANY: U-704 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
CHAD: Abeche: Chad declares its allegiance to Free France and General de Gaulle. French Equatorial Africa is the latest French colony to support General de Gaulle’s Free French. Governor Eboue of Chad, France’s first black governor in Africa, said today that he refused to accept capitulation. The other Equatorial territories will make similar statements in the coming days. Elsewhere in French Africa, recent weeks have seen the replacement of pro-Allied officials with Vichy supporters, although the Ivory Coast rallied to de Gaulle on 26 July. The first colony to back de Gaulle was the New Hebrides in the Pacific on 22 July.
CANADA: US President Franklin D Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister W L MacKenzie King signed the Ogdensburg Agreement calling for a permanent board for the defence of Canada and the US 8-days ago and The Permanent Joint Board on defence holds its first meeting in Ottawa, Ontario today. The US representatives are (1) Fiorello H LaGuardia, the mayor of New York City, who is also President of the US Conference of Mayors; (2) Lieutenant General Stanley D Embick, US Army, Commanding General Fourth Corps Area; (3) Captain Henry W Hill and Commander Forrest Sherman, US Navy, of the War Plans Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; (4) Colonel Joseph T McNarney, Army Air Corps, of the Joint Army-Navy Planning Committee; and (5) John D Hickerson, Assistant Chief, Division of European Affairs, US State Department. (Jack McKillop)
Bangor Class minesweepers ordered for RCN: HMCS Melville, Granby, Noranda, Lachine, Digby, Truro, Trois Rivieres (ex-Three Rivers), Brockville, Transcona and Esquimalt.
Armed yacht HMCS Lynx (ex-Ramona) commissioned. Built by Newport News S.B. Co., Newport News Va., 495/22, 181x24x9ft, 10kts., crew 5/35, 1-4in, converted to p/v by George T. Davies and Sons Levis, Province of Quebec, 26 Aug 40, #172357, She was plagued by chronic mechanical problems that were made worse by a lack of spare parts. Sold Jul 43, Post WW.II, Banana trader in Caribbean, Lost near Sydney, Australia under the name Rican Star. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: The Cadillac Division of the General Motors Corporation announces that they are discontinuing the manufacture of the LaSalle automobile after fourteen years of production. The LaSalle had been introduced as a moderately priced alternative to the expensive Cadillac. (Jack McKillop)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 361 August 26, 1940
Battle of Britain Day 48. Another day of fine weather and Luftwaffe sends 3 major raids. At noon, 150 aircraft come across the Straits of Dover from Calais. Spitfires of 616 Squadron at Kenley are late getting aloft and are decimated by Bf109’s, as are Defiants of 264 Squadron. Coastal towns in Kent and airfields at Biggin Hill and Kenley are bombed. At 3 PM, another 170 aircraft fly up the Thames estuary. Most are turned back but 6 Do17s bomb RAF Debden, doing considerable damage. A raid 150 aircraft coming across the English Channel at 4 PM is turned back by RAF fighters and low cloud. It is a bad day for both sides. RAF loses 28 fighters. Germans lose 22 bombers and 24 fighters. In contrast, only 6 British airmen killed or missing while most German aircrews are killed or crash on British soil and are taken prisoner.
Italian submarine Dandolo sinks British steamer Ilvington Court (8 lives lost). 2 British steamers are attacked by German torpedo bombers (4 He-115s & 8 Ju-88’s), 10 miles East of Kinnaird Head, Scotland, having detached from convoy HX-65 and heading for London. Passenger and frozen food ship Remuera is hit by aerial torpedoes and sinks while Cape York is badly damaged and will sink the next day. Crews from both ships are safely rescued.
At 5.48 PM off Madagascar, the Arado seaplane from German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin fires on Norwegian tanker Filefjell (carrying 10,000 tons of petrol and 500 tons of oil from the Persian Gulf to Capetown). Pinguin pulls alongside and sends a prize crew aboard while Filejell’s crew is taken prisoner.
The Battle of Britain news in the Times is kind of disappointing, but that’s the nature of the air war. The correspondent isn’t in the air with the pilots and they are not in any of the sector stations to see the plots. So we aren’t getting a very good picture of how the battle is progressing. We only get the reports of the sporadic bombing of the inhabited areas, and not reports of the raids on the airfields, which is where this fight is really being waged.
The next two weeks is as close as the Germans will come to winning the battle. Their attacks on No. 11 Group airfields in southeast England are wearing down fighter command. German losses are heavy, but they can bear theirs while over the long term, the British cannot. We are not getting a sense of this in the reports, although the news reports are always going to have some delay in reporting what the situation really is. I recall the news stories on the Battle for France. The reader of the Times only got glimpses of how bad the fight was going for the French, and those were obscured by favorable reports.
Sorry I haven’t participated as much lately, but finishing a basement is really time consuming. Don’t do it unless you are really bored or just like aggravating yourself to no end.
This was the turning point of the war.
The Germans were having success with their tactical bombing, but their response to the bombing of Berlin was a change to terror bombing of civilian targets, which gave relief to the military installations.
Big mistake.
Date: 26th August 1940
Enemy action by day
After a number of reconnaissance flights between Harwich and Land's End, some of which penetrated inland, three major attacks by large formations developed in the following areas:
These raiders were engaged by our fighters and casualties inflicted.
East Coast
At 1252 hours, a raid plotted near Martlesham flew along the coast and was active in the Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth area. A number of reconnaissance raids were plotted between the North Foreland and Cromer.
South East Coast
During the day, reconnaissance flights were plotted in the Straits and round to Beachy Head.
At 1137 hours, five raids, totalling some 100 aircraft collected in the Gris Nez area. They approached to attack objectives in the Folkestone-Dover area and inland at Biggin Hill and Kenley. By 1250 hours, the attack was dispersed.
A second attack on the South-East of England developed at approximately 1422 hours when some eight raids totalling 190+ collected in the Calais - St Omer area. They crossed the coast in waves between Lympne and the mouth of the Blackwater and appeared to have as their objectives aerodromes in South-East England from Duxford southwards. At 1540 hours, some 250 aircraft were estimated to be north and south of the Estuary between Bury St Edmunds and Dungeness.
South and West
A number of reconnaissance flights were plotted along the South Coast to Land's End. One raid penetrated towards Oxford and is reported to have had Harwell as a target. Other raids were engaged on reconnaissances of the Portsmouth - Southampton, Shoreham - Tangemere and Middle Wallop - Yeovil areas.
At approximately 1600 hours, a major raid approached Portsmouth on a 30-mile front at 15,000 feet. This was followed by two other raids, and attacks developed in the Portsmouth - Southampton area. These raids were engaged and by 1700 hours commenced to disperse. A raid of 9 aircraft, reported to consist of a flying boat with fighter escort, was later plotted on various courses south of the Isle of Wight, probably looking for casualties; a twin-engined seaplane was intercepted and destroyed by our fighters about this time.
By night
Enemy activity has been on an exceptionally heavy and continuous scale all night. The main route of enemy aircraft has been from Beachy Head, over London and on to Birmingham and Coventry, starting at about 2125 hours and continuing until after 0300 hours. During all this period, London Central was under red warning.
As the night progressed, enemy aircraft crossed from France at many other points all along the South Coast.
Although the main attacks appear to have been on Birmingham and Coventry, there have been almost continuous raids over the Midlands area generally, Devon, Bristol and South Wales. Visits to the Newcastle and Middlesborough areas are also reported.
Enemy aircraft from the Dutch coast have been repeatedly active off the East Anglian Coast, presumably minelaying, and this is also suspected off Plymouth, Whitby and Tyne, between the Orkneys and the Mainland and off Kinnaird's Head, where a convoy was attacked.
________________________________________
Statistics
Fighter Command Serviceable Aircraft as at 0900 hours, 26th August 1940
Casualties:
| Enemy Losses | ||
| By Fighters | ||
| Destroyed | Probable | Damaged |
| 20 Me109 | 5 Me109 | 2 Me109 |
| 3 Me110 | 2 Me110 | 1 Me110 |
| 9 Do17 | 4 Do17 | |
| 7 Do215 | 4 Do215 | |
| 5 He111 | 5 He111 | |
| 1 He59 | 1 Ju88 | |
| 45 | 7 | 17 |
| By Anti-Aircraft | ||
| Destroyed | Probable | Damaged |
| 1 Me110 | 2 Me110 | |
| 1 | 2 |
Patrols:
Balloons:
Aerodromes:
Organisation:
Air Intelligence Reports
Home Security Reports
Corrigendum
Click cover to read
The air operations are definately harder for follow. Like you said, its not practical to have a reporter up in the air with the aircraft and reporting is reduced to targets on ground hit, and distorted numbers of planes shot down. The land battles are always easier to follow if for nothing else, there is a tangible line of progress. You can draw on a map where the battle lines are and the progress of the units in the battle. It’s a task that is just impossible in the air. Naval engagements have a similar problem, but with them there are smaller numbers of larger craft that makes grasping the scope of “ships sunk” in terms of progress towards victory or defeat. When a report of 5 ships being sunk comes across, that’s significant, but when there’s a report of 42 aircraft being shot down the reader is left wondering what that means.
Good luck finishing up that basement. We don’t have one to deal with here thankfully.
Glad you're back. I was afraid we had offended you somehow. I'm glad it was just the basement.
I have a friend who looked at his basement wall (this house is built against a hillside.) and envisioned a home theatre. So he took a maul and shovel and dug a new underground room, which he eventually finished as a spiffy theatre. He had to move the dirt by wheelbarrow about a hundred yards down the road to dump it. I suspect his wheelbarrow may be a little unbalanced, if you get my meaning.
I just looked a little closer at that LIFE cover. We got a kid trying to butch up with a pipe handing a girl a ten dollar bill. Wonder what the sawbuck is for?
Has Hugh Dowding’s name appeared in any articles? I don’t read these as thoroughly as I should but I haven’t seen it mentioned once. If this is their finest hour, Dowding is the man of the hour. He devised the strategy Fighter Command is using to keep control of the air. He is largely responsible for the command and control infrastructure that was put in place starting years before the war began and is proving so effective now. But he appears to be the best kept secret of this phase of the war. I suppose his rope-a-dope, sandbagging tactics fool the Anglo-American press as well as Luftwaffe intelligence.
You know, I don’t remember seeing him mentioned either now that I think of it.
Following the anniversary and commemoration of the Aug 26th 1940 attack on Ireland (not Eire please) I am trying to find the units of the Luftwaffe which were responsible .
Two Heinkel 111s were seen but not identified.
Anyone with access to Luftwaffe records?
Not me. But we can ask the usual suspects.
There is a huge amount of Nazi German records on file at the U.S. National Archives, which is one of the sources I'm using for my research. This includes documentation on the Luftwaffe.
The collection you are looking for is known as the Von Rohden Collection of Research Materials on the Role of the German Air Force in World War II, 1911-47. This is all on microfiche at the Archives II facility in College Park, Maryland.
Here are the rolls (there's 73 in all) that I think have the best possibility of having what you want.
Roll 1: August 1940-December 1941 – 4376/32 Air Force High Command/Chief of General Staff/Sect. 8 – “Aerial Warfare against England”. Graphic presentation of the operation of the German Air Force in the battle against England.
Roll 4: 12 August 1940-31 December 1942 – 4376/205c Preliminary study to aerial warfare history, Volume 10 – “Aerial Warfare Against England”. Statistical data concerning the employment of GAF against England, 1940/42.
Roll 16: 1 August 1940-30 June 1941 – 4407/42 Air Force Hq. Intelligence – “Aerial Warfare against England” an appendix to combat calendar. Tables showing daily operations against land and sea targets
Also on this roll: 15 July-18 September 1940 – 4407/43 Corps Headquarters I Air Force Corps – Appendix to War Journal Operations Records – Issues
Hope that helps.
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