CENTER OF LONDON BATTERED BY HEAVY BOMBS; R.A.F. WREAKS HAVOC IN 3-HOUR RAID ON HAMBURG (9/10/40)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 9/10/40 | James B. Reston, James MacDonald, Percival Knauth, Leland C. Speers, Virginia Cowles

[Homer_J_Simpson]

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
German Fighter Range and British Radar Deployment
Marcks’ Plan, August 5, 1940
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – The Imperial Powers, 1 September 1939

Plus a special guest map from Michael Korda’s, “With Wings Like Eagles,” showing the air defenses of England and Wales, August 1940.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour

[Darkwolf377]

You know, you really need to be congratulated for putting up these threads. Marvelous history and they've helped me on more than one night when I've had to work overnight (I work with kids taken from abusive homes).

But could you please not put the headlines in all caps? I practically have heart failure everytime I see one thinking it's just happened!

No problem if you prefer it this way, but just sayin'. Thanks again for posting these.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Big Buildings Hit – 2-3
R.A.F. Retaliates – 3-4
The International Situation – 4
Berlin Night Raids Shift U.S. Embassy Schedule – 4
Goering Sends out Waves of Raiders – 5
Bonnet’s Peace Aim a Year Ago Cited – 5
Navy Signs Orders to Build 201 Ships for 2-Ocean Fleet – 6-7
Plane Plant Plans $9,000,000 Program – 7
Churchill Proud of British Morale – 8
Squads Labor in Vain to Save Nurse Pinned By Debris of Bomb-Wrecked Hospital Wing – 8
Dutch Worker Sentenced For Derogatory Remark – 8
The Day in Washington – 8
Bombing of London Applauded in Rome – 9
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques Issued by the Belligerents – 10-12

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/sep40/f10sep40.htm

Italians preparing to invade Greece

Tuesday, September 10, 1940 www.onwar.com

In Albania... The Italians begin to increase their force in Albania by 40,000 over the next ten days in preparation for their proposed attack on Greece.

In Berlin... Hitler decides that the Luftwaffe has not yet won clear air supremacy and puts off his decision on Sea Lion until September 14th, which means that the invasion is now scheduled for September 24th.

In Britain... A second German agent, Schmidt, lands by parachute in Oxon.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/10.htm

September 10th, 1940

UNITED KINGDOM:
Battle of Britain:

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. 77 Sqn. 1 aircraft crashed at Hardenburg, Holland. Crew all PoW. 1 aircraft crashed on landing at Linton-on-Ouse. Crew safe. 2 aircraft damaged by Flak. Crew safe.
58 Sqn. 1 aircraft missing over Bremen. Crew PoW.
Bombing - Bremen shipyards - industrial targets at Berlin.
58 Sqn. Six aircraft to Bremen. Weather bad, all bombed alternatives. One FTR. Four aircraft to Berlin. All bombed. Very successful attack.
77 Sqn. Four aircraft to Bremen. Three bombed primary, one bombed alternative. One damaged by Flak. Four aircraft to Berlin. Two got off, both bombed primary and both hit by Flak. One FTR.

RAF Fighter Command: Slight activity. At night London, South Wales, Merseyside are raided. Bomber Command raid on Eindhoven airfield knocks out ten He 111s.

Daylight operations included lone armed reconnaissance flights, convoy attacks off East Anglia, bombing of coastal towns including Great Yarmouth and Hastings and raids on West Malling and Woolwich.

In the late afternoon a build-up is reported over France and about 300 aircraft began crossing between Dover and the North Foreland at 16:55, six were reported to be four-engined bombers with strong fighter escort. They swung west to stream across south London, about 30 entering the IAZ and a small diversion heading towards Salisbury. Opposing them were 24 RAF fighter squadrons.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 4; RAF, 1.

London: Buckingham Palace is slightly damaged by a German bomb.

The British War Cabinet instructs RAF bombers over Germany not to return home with their bombs if they failed to locate their original targets. Instead, they were to drop their bombs “anywhere” if unable to reach their targets. This order was given in light of the destruction and terror inflicted on Londoners during the last two nights by a succession of Luftwaffe bombing raids. (Jack McKillop)

GERMANY:
Daily Keynote from the Reich Press Chief:
The British air raids on Berlin and Hamburg should be played up, magnifying all the details as much as possible, in such a way as to further validate our retaliatory measures in the eyes of the world. Furthermore material from the last few months should be exploited more than it has been so far, to make plain the justification of our measures.

U-105 commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

ALBANIA: During the next 10 days, the Italians will increase their forces in Albania by 40,000 men in preparation for their invasion of Greece.

NORTH AFRICA:
Hurricanes of 274 Squadron (the first to operate in Africa) score their first victories when two Italian SM 79s are destroyed.

[rdl6989]

You know, you really need to be congratulated for putting up these threads

Agreed. I don't often comment but I learn a lot from these threads.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/

Day 376 September 10, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 63. Cloudy, rainy weather returns after days of good flying weather and restricts Luftwaffe to mainly reconnaissance raids in the afternoon. 6 small raids approach London at 5.15 PM, presumably to drop incendiaries as markers, but these are turned back by RAF fighters (2 Dornier bombers shot down). 1 Spitfire is lost in combat (2 more fighters destroyed and 3 damaged in training operations). Overnight, East End of London is again bombed, as well as South Wales, West Midlands and Liverpool.

Royal Navy controls the Straits of Gibraltar; Vichy government has agreed to notify them to ensure safe passage of French ships. At 6 PM, French admiralty informs British Naval Attaché in Madrid that 3 cruisers intend to sail through the Straits next day. Despite this and other warnings, Royal Navy fails to appreciate the significance to the impending Free French landings at Dakar.

Libya, North Africa. Italian 10th Army advances slowly towards the Egyptian border. Troop formations, including the main armored force Maletti Group, get lost or are late leaving their starting points and many of the vehicles required for a rapid advance break down. British light covering forces delay the advance as they fall back, by sowing mines and harassing the Italians.

German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis sinks British steamer Benarty (carrying lead, zinc and tungsten from Rangoon, India, to Liverpool) in the Indian Ocean 1250 miles East of Madagascar. All 49 crew are taken prisoner.

British submarine HMS Sturgeon attacks U-43 (no damage) 50 miles Southwest of Southern Norway.

[CougarGA7]

Battle of Britain Campaign Diary

Date: 10th September 1940

• Weather: Generally cloudy, some rain.
• Day: Single-aircraft raids on airfields during the afternoon.
• Night: Main attacks against London. Some lesser raids on Merseyside and South Wales.

  Enemy action by day

  Small scale attacks on Portsmouth, Tangmere, Poling and West Malling. Only isolated aircraft appeared in the London area also scattered raids along the South Coast and over Kent. Reconnaissance flights over Convoys.

  East

  One early morning reconnaissance of Humber and Digby and out over Yarmouth. Two reconnaissances of convoys off Norfolk and Lincolnshire, of which one crossed the coast near Mablethorpe. Two raids, of which one identified as a Ju88 along Norfolk Coast, Yarmouth to Harwich, and a further raid reported to have attacked Yarmouth. Cloud conditions prevented fighter contact. At 1550 hours, one aircraft flew West, North of Thames Estuary, crossed London from North to South and then out over Sheppey.

  South

  One early raid penetrated inland near Tangmere. Fighters failed to intercept. Two raids just inland near Hastings and Shoreham during the morning. At 1230 hours one Dornier crossed the coast near Hastings, penetrated to Central London, and flew out East near Clacton. At 1715 hours six small raids coming in between Beachy Head and Dungeness approached London area. Fighters intercepted and two enemy aircraft were destroyed and one probable. The remainder flew out by the same route to Dieppe area.

  1740-1835: Three small raids via Poole to Middle Wallop where track faded.

  Between 1700-1800 hours some raids originating from Cherbourg appeared to attack Poling, Tangmere and Portsmouth, but only two penetrated inland to any extent.

  By night

  Enemy activity commenced with an attack of about 12 raids, coming from Cherbourg via St Catherine's Point and Selsey to Hampshire, some of which penetrated to London area. This wave had all dispersed by 2200 hours.

  A further wave of six raids came from the Somme area crossing the coast between Dungeness and Beachy Head, over Kent and Sussex up to London area. There was a lull in hostile activity between 220 and 2230 hours, at which time raids again came in between Selsey and Dungeness. Between 2100 and 0100 hours, it is estimated that 80 raids crossed the South Coast. Enemy raids gradually ceased to come in over the South Coast, but by 0100 hours a stream of about 30 raids started to come in from the Dutch Islands up the Thames Estuary into the London area, thence out over the South Coast. By 0430 the last of these raids had left the cost by the North Foreland and the whole country was then clear.

  In the West several raids entered between the Needles and Portland, proceeding to South Wales, Western Midlands and Liverpool. One raid reached Liverpool area flying East from the Irish Sea and a further raid came in near Whitby and flew West as far as Kendal, then out East over Hartlepool.

  Minelaying is suspected in the Mersey, South of the Isle of Man, Harwich, Portsmouth area and Thames Estuary.

  

  ________________________________________

  Statistics

  Fighter Command Serviceable Aircraft as at 0900 hours, 10th September 1940

• Blenheim - 47
• Spitfire - 225
• Hurricane - 375
• Defiant - 21
• Gladiator - 8
• Total - 676

  Casualties:

  	Enemy Losses
  	By Fighters
  Destroyed	Probable	Damaged
  1 Do17
  1 Do215	1 Do215
  2	1

• Own:

• 1 Spitfire, pilot safe.

  Patrols:

• Own

• During the night of 9th/10th September - 34 patrols involving 41 sorties.
• During the day of 10th September - 73 patrols involving 224 sorties.

• Enemy

• It is estimated that about 200 enemy aircraft operated over Great Britain during the night 9th/10th September and 50 during the day of 10th September.

  Balloons:

• No report.

  Aerodromes:

• No report.

  Organisation:

• No 66 Squadron from Kenley to Gravesend.
• No 510 Squadron from Gravesend to Kenley.

  Home Security Reports

• General Summary

• Date: Night of 9th/10th September (supplementary)

• Further information on damage done by enemy bombs on this night shows that apart from attacks on railways, bombing appeared wholly indiscriminate and extensive damage was done to private property. Large fires were caused in the City and other fires elsewhere. Charing Cross Station and Fenchurch Street Station were both put out of action and lines were blocked in other places. There was a serious fire at Woolwich where Greenwood & Batley's Ltd cordite shed was blown up and the Royal Arsenal a large building fired. At Westminster part of the Embankment had to be closed and major damage is reported from Lambeth, Southwark, East Ham and West Ham. There were also large fires at warehouses at the Docks.

• Date: 10th September

• Enemy air activity was confined during daylight to scattered raids and bombs were dropped at a few places mostly on the coast, in the South East of England. Damage was done to the Southern Railway's Electricity sub-station at Newhaven and bombs were also dropped at Yarmouth, Hastings and West Malling Aerodrome.
• Several enemy aircraft passed over the London area at different times during the day but except at Woolwich it does not appear that any bombs were dropped.
• An enemy aircraft machine-gunned Tangmere Aerodrome.

• Date: Night of 10th/11th September 1940

• Prolonged raids were again carried out by enemy aircraft. Whilst the London area was again the main target, South and South Eastern England and Cardiff were also visited.
• Reports indicate a great deal of major damage and many serious fires in and near London.

• Detailed Summary

• RAF Stations

• Date: 9th September 1940

• Cambridge: At 2250 hours three incendiary bombs were dropped on the South East side of the landing ground and two KB in open fields outside. No damage.

• Date: 10th September 1940

• West Malling: Bombs were dropped on the Aerodrome at 1732 hours; a slight fire resulted and there was one casualty to personnel.
• Tangmere: At 1605 hours an enemy aircraft Me110 or Do17 fired a few machine-gun rounds along the tarmac.

• Elsewhere

• Date: 10th/11th September 1940

• The major damage in the London area caused by bombs during this night, is reported to be St Katherine's Dock where a raging fire is reported to be out of control, at Islington, in the City (Golden Lane and Aldgate Avenue) at Shadwell where East End Maternity Hospital set on fire, at Stepney a major fire in Cable Street, at London Docks (2 large warehouses on fire), at Milwall (Hydraulic Mains burst), in the Mile End Road a major fire at Durrell's Timber Yard, at Paddington, St Marylebone and Bayswater Road.
• At Brentwood over 1,000 incendiary bombs are reported to have been dropped and serious fires were started at a Convent and a Woolworth's Store.

  Battle of Britain