Wednesday 28 August 1940

Mossley Hill Parish church in Liverpool (the Church of St. Matthew and St. James) It is bombed during the night of 28/29 August 1940 - the first church bombing in England.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues to avoid bombing London. However, that doesn't mean they are completely avoiding English cities, as discussed below, and the British have been "triggered" (to use a 21st Century idiom) into bombing German cities themselves. The slippery slope toward unrestricted aerial warfare is getting greasier on a daily basis as of 28 August 1940.

The RAF raids Berlin for the second time, killing 8-10 civilians and injuring 21-29 others. Among other things, they bomb the Görlitzer railway station. This kind of obvious damage to public infrastructure is causing the government to lose face, and Hitler is still deliberating about how to respond. People are starting to recall Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering's words at the start of the war in September 1939:

Wenn auch nur ein englischer Bomber die Ruhr erreicht, will ich nicht mehr Hermann Göring, sondern Hermann Meyer heißen. (If even one British bomber reaches the Ruhr, I don't want to be called Hermann Göring any more, but rather Hermann Meyer.)

Note that, contrary to every legend about Goering, he never said anything about Berlin not being bombed. However, this statement invariably is mistranslated and bastardized to, "If the enemy ever bombs Berlin, you may call me Meyer," which is a lot pithier (This is similar to Captain Kirk never actually saying "Beam me up, Scotty" on Star Trek, but that is how it comes down in history). Loosely interpreted, Goering has been boasting in his usual bombastic fashion that his Luftwaffe is so powerful and almighty that he stakes his entire reputation on completely overwhelming and destroying the RAF before it can strike back and hurt Germans.

Incidentally, let's clear one other thing up while we're at it. Goering was not making an anti-Semitic reference here, though that is claimed far and wide now. Meyer was and is a common German name. "Panzer" Meyer would have been highly offended if you claimed that "Meyer" was a Jewish name. Goering simply was intimating that he was staking everything on the claim - which makes the whole incident more ironic in retrospect.

While this jest (using a common German idiom) explicitly refers to the industrial region of the Ruhr, virtually everyone in Germany interprets it as really meaning Berlin. Since Berlin is now being bombed, it becomes a catchphrase for the failures of the Luftwaffe (of which there is an increasing number). It is one of the classic ill-fated predictions of the war. This phrase will haunt Goering to the last days of the war, but among much of the public, he remains a popular figure. Despite all of his other many and varied faults, Goering is perhaps the only top German with any kind of sense of humor, which is badly needed during the dark days of World War II. People already are starting to call the ubiquitous air raid sirens "Meyer's trumpets" with typical German sardonic wit as a way to poke fun at the fat man and his farcically bellicose rhetoric.

"Call me Meyer."

Battle of Britain: Air Vice Marshall Keith Park of No. 11 Group continues to ride the whirlwind. The Luftwaffe is singling out his airfields in southeastern England for devastation, and his forces are weakening though not breaking. Some of his jealous fellow commanders (No. 11 Group is the most prestigious command in England) are secretly delighting in Park's discomfiture (though they would never admit any such thing, would deny it to the death, and the regular history books would never even hint as such an interpretation).

There are three major Luftwaffe raids against England forces during the daylight hours:

1. At 09:00, raids against various points in Kent;
2. Around 11:00, raids targeting RAF Rochford;
3. During the afternoon, a massive fighter sweep swooping down from Kent to the Thames estuary.

The first raid results in massive dogfights between JG 51 and RAF Nos. 79, 85 and 264 Squadrons. Dornier Do 17s of I,/KG 3 bomb RAF Eastchurch with 100 bombs, while Heinkel He 111s from KG 53 bomb RAF Rochford. The damage is significant in both airfields, particularly Eastchurch.

The second raid by KG 2 Dorniers hits RAF Rochford again with about 30 bombs. However, the damage to the airfield is slight despite it being hit for the second time, and it remains operational. There is some fancy flying, with a Bf 109 heading for home and the pursuing Spitfires of No. 54 Squadron flying so low themselves that one of them returns to its base with leaves and branches stuck in its wing.

The third raid is a standard Luftwaffe fighter sweep, or Freie Jagd, over a large swathe of England from north to south. It is a massive sweep, including elements of JG 2, 3, 26, 27, 51, 54 and Epr.Gr 210 (Bf 110s). The Luftwaffe fighter pilots love these opportunities to act unrestricted by escort obligations, and, having the initiative, they generally begin the battles with the altitude advantage. Both sides lose 16 fighters in this action, which somewhat vindicates the fighter pilots' argument that the Freie Jagds are a good way to wear down the RAF. Keith Park, meanwhile, is furious that his weary fighters are being baited like this and forbids any similar interceptions in the future.

After dark, another slide down the slippery slope toward all-out bombing occurs when the Luftwaffe raids Liverpool for the first time. KG 27, LG 1 and KGr 806 send across about 160 bombers. The raid experiences navigational errors and bombs land seemingly everywhere in the general vicinity. Another raid by 23 Dorniers hits Bristol, but Bristol gets hit every night and that raid is barely noticed. The bombs dropping on houses in Liverpool do get everyone's attention.

A Morris Quad towing a 25-pounder field gun, 28 August 1940.

The day's losses sum up to about 30 Luftwaffe losses and 20 RAF ones. There are clear signs of frustration on both sides to just get on with it and move on to the next stage, but Hitler continues to ponder a decision to resort to outright mass terror bombing.

In addition, RAF Fighter Command is forced to come to some hard truths about part of its force which is completely inadequate. During the afternoon raid, the remaining Boulton Paul Defiants are like sitting ducks, and one after another - five in all - goes down in flames. Along with the planes, nine crew perish. At long last, Fighter Command transfers the remaining planes to night operations. In this way, there is a parallel to the Bf 110s, but they remain at least viable during the daytime, if not particularly threatening.

Luftwaffe top-scoring ace Werner Mölders gets two victories but loses his wingman, who is captured. His new wingman is Oberleutnant Georg Claus.

In a weird "wrong way Corrigan" type of flight, a Luftwaffe Gotha Go 145 biplane (not a World War I plane as often claimed, these were built starting in 1935) used for communications gets seriously lost and, instead of flying east from Cherbourg to Strasbourg, somehow flies north to England. It lands at Lewes horse track and becomes an odd exhibit in the "Rafwaffe," the RAF No. 1426 Squadron of captured enemy aircraft.

British Prime Minister Churchill watches the afternoon air battles over Dover from Dover Castle, where he inspects "Hellfire Corner." Afterward, he visits some bombed buildings in Ramsgate, then tours a nearby bombed airfields and, concerned about the damage, orders more manpower devoted to airfield repairs. This has not really been an issue for the RAF, and bomb craters are easily filled in. It is an instance of Churchill's good intentions leading to intervention that would have been better off avoided.

Winston Churchill inspects air raid damage at Ramsgate in Kent, 28 August 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-101 (Kptlt. Fritz Frauenheim), operating out of Kiel, stalks Convoy SC 1 west of Ireland. At 04:25, it torpedoes and sinks 3868-ton Finnish freighter Elle. There are 27 survivors and 2 crew perish. The ship doesn't sink right away, so sloop HMS Leith sinks it with gunfire.

U-28 (Kptlt. Günter Kuhnke), on its fifth patrol, is about 200 nautical miles west of the Outer Hebrides stalking Convoy HX 66. At 21:00, it torpedoes and sinks 3946-ton British freighter Kyno. There are 32 survivors and 5 crew perish.

Dutch grain freighter SS Driebergen is sailing with the daily food convoy from Methil to the Tyne when it sinks off Northumberland in the North Sea after colliding with British freighter Port Darwin, perhaps trying to avoid Luftwaffe attack. Everybody survives, and the damaged Port Darwin makes it to port.

British 202 ton trawler Flavia goes missing in the North Sea, perhaps hitting a mine - both sides are heavily mining the area.

Convoy FN 265 departs from Southend, Convoy MT 153 departs from Methil, Convoy FS 265 departs from the Tyne, Convoy HX 69 departs from Halifax and other ports,

British minelayers HMS Plover and Willem van der Zaan lay minefield BS 36 in the North Sea, while four other minelayers put down a field in the St. George's Channel.

U-94 is commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Eglington (L 87, Commander Emile F. V. Dechaineux) is commissioned.

This Ju 88 A-1 of I/KG 54 just made it back to France and crashed near Dieppe on August 28, 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: British submarine HMS Pandora, which has been delivering supplies to Malta, torpedoes and sinks Italian cargo ship Famiglia about just east of Haniya, Libya.

Italian bombers raid  El Qantara and Port Said during the night.

At Malta, there are two air raid alerts, but, as is often the case, the Italian planes turn back before getting close to the coastline. In other news, Governor Dobbie and the War Office continue wrangling over additional anti-aircraft guns for the island, with the War Office dragging its feet despite hinting at big plans for upgraded air forces there.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The British know there is a German raider operating in the Indian Ocean - one of its victims' recent distress signal was even picked up in New York - but they don't know which one or exactly where it is. Ships are out looking for it, without success so far. The Italian Navy also has destroyers Pantera and Tigre operating in the Red Sea.

German Government: Adolf Hitler is keeping a close eye on Romania, which has been seething over losing territory to its neighbors such as the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, and Hungary. He cautions the Wehrmacht to be prepared to intervene if necessary as the situation develops and perhaps occupy the country.

Vichy France: The government broadcasts that laws providing special protections to Jews - such as there are any - have been revoked. Marshal Petain has complete power and discretion over the entire government, but Pierre Laval is actually running day-to-day operations.

In between stops at Dover and then Ramsgate on 28 August 1940, Winston Churchill noticed a crashed plane and asked to stop and visit. It is a Messerschmitt Bf 109E on Church Farm at Church Whitfield near Dover. His personal bodyguard, Inspector W H Thompson, is on the right.

French Cameroon: Captain Leclerc, who occupied the Presidential Palace on the 27th, travels by train to Youande to accept the country's surrender from the nominal Vichy authorities. This is a major coup for Charles de Gaulle's "Free France" movement, which has not been accomplishing much recently.

Oubangui (Central African Republic): At French-controlled Bangui, Governor de Saint Mart follows Captain Leclerc's lead in Cameroon and announces for Free France also. He promises the local Vichy garrison that they will be taken to the Vichy base at Dakar if they wish.

Finland: Famed sniper Simo "Simuna" Häyhä, horribly injured on 6 March 1940 during the closing stages of the Winter War, receives a promotion direct from Marshal Mannerheim. He is elevated from alikersantti (Corporal) to vänrikki (Second lieutenant). Häyhä is still recovering from his disfiguring wounds but improving.

Latin America: Heavy cruisers USS Wichita and Quincy continue their "Show the flag" mission and depart Montevideo, Uruguay for Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is the area that ignited the request for the mission in the first place.

Burma: The British lock up radical nationalist Ba Maw.

American Homefront: The last refugee ship from Petsamo in northern Finland arrives in New York City. It carries Crown Princess Martha and a 40mm Bofors gun which the Finns did not wish to fall into Soviet hands.

"Rhythm on the River" starring Bing Crosby and Mary Martin (the mother of Larry Hagman of "Dallas" who at this time is 8 years old) opens today.

August 1940

August 1, 1940: Two RN Subs Lost
August 2, 1940: Operation Hurry
August 3, 1940: Italians Attack British Somaliland
August 4, 1940: Dueling Legends in the US
August 5, 1940: First Plan for Barbarossa
August 6, 1940: Wipe Out The RAF
August 7, 1940: Burning Oil Plants
August 8, 1940: True Start of Battle of Britain
August 9, 1940: Aufbau Ost
August 10, 1940: Romania Clamps Down On Jews
August 11, 1940: Huge Aerial Losses
August 12, 1940: Attacks on Radar
August 13, 1940: Adler Tag
August 14, 1940: Sir Henry's Mission
August 15, 1940: Luftwaffe's Black Thursday
August 16, 1940: Wolfpack Time
August 17, 1940: Blockade of Britain
August 18, 1940: The Hardest Day
August 19, 1940: Enter The Zero
August 20, 1940: So Much Owed By So Many
August 21, 1940: Anglo Saxon Incident
August 22, 1940: Hellfire Corner
August 23, 1940: Seaplanes Attack
August 24, 1940: Slippery Slope
August 25, 1940: RAF Bombs Berlin
August 26, 1940: Troops Moved for Barbarossa
August 27, 1940: Air Base in Iceland
August 28, 1940: Call Me Meyer
August 29, 1940: Schepke's Big Day
August 30, 1940: RAF's Bad Day
August 31, 1940: Texel Disaster

2020

Tuesday 6 August 1940

P/O Juliusz "Topola" Topolnicki of No 601 Squadron RAF sits in readiness near Hurricane Mk I UF-N in a revetment at RAF Tangmere. August 1940.

Battle of Britain: Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering finally gets serious about the aerial assault on England on 6 August 1940 and calls a conference at his grandiose hunting lodge Carinhall north of Berlin. The subject is Hitler's Fuhrer Directive No. 17. While it has been about three weeks since that directive was issued, the weather in between was poor, so large operations were difficult if not impossible. Now, however, the weather has cleared and there appears to be a long period of fine flying weather approaching. So, time to get down to business and see if the RAF can be broken. The main attendees are:

• Inspector General, Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch;
• the commander of Luftflotte 5, Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen Stumpff;
• Luftflotte 2's Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring; and
• Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle of Luftflotte 3. 

The issue is the overall strategy, about which there is no consensus. The basic positions of the main protagonists are:

• Goering wishes to destroys RAF airfields, factories, other infrastructure and beat the RAF into submission through direct attacks;
• Kesselring, perhaps based on his experiences at Warsaw and Rotterdam, pushes for a massive terror raid on London;
• Sperrle advocates attacks on ports to intensify the blockade.

As with virtually all German staff meetings, it doesn't really matter what any subordinates want, though their suggestions often plant the seeds for future orders by the decisionmakers.

Goering orders (it is not a democracy) that the attacks on the RAF and its infrastructure are to commence on a date to be chosen, designated Adler Tag ("Day of Eagles"). The entire operation, which Goering projects to take four weeks in order for Operation Sealion to take place around 15 September, is given the codename Adlerangriff ("Operation Eagle Attack"). Unlike the others, Goering is privy to plans to attack the Soviet Union in 1941, so he has every reason to try to settle things with England now in an all-out do-or-die series of aerial battles.

Current Luftwaffe forces include about 484 bombers of KG 27, KG 51, 54, KG 55, LG 1, KGr 100, KGr 606, and KGr 806. The Luftwaffe's fighter force outnumbers the RAF by roughly 2-1.

Overall, it is not a bad plan or at least as bad as histories tend to recite. However, it is a campaign of attrition, and as such must be pursued to the end, otherwise it is all for naught. It would be ineffective to switch from, say, Goering's attrition campaign to Kesselring's terror campaign before the RAF is completely neutralized.

Heinkel He 111 A1+BP of 6./KG 53 seen here in "Sandsackbox" camouflage during August 1940 in Vendeville (south of Lille, Nord-Pas-de-Calais) at the height of the Battle of Britain.

The day is clear and windy, with clouds and intermittent sunshine. The Luftwaffe attacks are small and sporadic. For instance, a lone bomber attacks RAF Llandow in South Wales. Shipping attacks few until around 16:30, at which time a large Luftwaffe force bombs a convoy off Clacton without making any hits. The RAF does not make any interceptions of note, perhaps because of the iffy flying conditions, and the only victory of the day on either side is when RAF No. 85 Squadron downs a Dornier Do 17  if III,/KG3 off East Anglia which is stalking a convoy.

The relentless wear and tear on the RAF continue to extort a price, however. A New Zealand pilot of RAF No. 234 Squadron crashes while attempting to land after a night patrol, and a Spitfire of RAF No. 72 Squadron does the same at RAF Acklington. In addition, a Blenheim crashes at Catterick when it hits some barrage balloon cables. Three Spitfires of RAF No. 616 Squadron sustain damage after an unsuccessful interception of a fast Junkers Ju 88 bomber off of Flamborough Head. The Luftwaffe also sustains damage to a Bf 109 of JG 3 upon landing.

For its part, RAF Bomber Command sends only a few small missions to the Continent, attacking Le Bourget airfield at Paris and some other airfields in northwestern Europe.

The history books tend to say that the RAF once again "won the day" with its solo shootdown of the Dornier. However, a closer examination shows that factoring in the non-combat losses, the RAF came off much the worse.

For the general tenor of the time, here is the entry for the day in the operations book of RAF No. 249 Squadron at Fenton:

During the last few days a considerable amount of practice flying has been carried out and much attention paid to beam attacks and dogfighting practice. There seems to be very little activity in the North now, but things are boiling up in the South of England and attacks are being carried out by large numbers of e/a on convoys and South Coast ports. We are all hoping to get a move South.

Southern Rhodesian pilots (SRAF) arrive today to help the RAF defense.

In preparation for Adler Tag, the Luftwaffe accelerates the process of moving fighter formations to forward airfields. Two Gruppen of JG 52 leave Nordholz, Germany and set up operations at Peupelinge on the Pas de Calais. I,/JG 54 moves from Eindhoven, Belgium to Guines-En-Calaisis, while II./JG 54 moves from Harlinghem to Campagne-les-Guines and III,/JG 54 joins them from Soesterberg, Holland. Anyone seeing these moves would realize that something big is in the offing.

Sergeant Rudolf Zíma is posted to No 310 Squadron RAF at RAF Duxford on 6 August 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: British submarine Sealion attacks a convoy southwest of Stavanger, Norway. After it misses with some torpedoes, the Kriegsmarine escorts spot it. A patrol boat rams it, perhaps inadvertently, causing extensive damage to the conning tower.

British destroyers Express, Esk, Icarus, Impulsive and Intrepid (Destroyer Flotilla 20) lay minefield CBX 4 off the Dutch coast.

British destroyers (HMS Inglefield and Anthony) seize two Dutch patrol boats in the Pentland Firth and send them to Kirkwall for interrogation.

Convoy WS 2 ("Winston Special") departs from the Clyde and Liverpool, bound for the Middle East. These will be semi-regular convoys to reinforce depleted British garrisons in the Indian Ocean and Egypt.

Convoy FN 224 departs from Southend, Convoy MT 132 departs from Methil, Convoy FS 244 departs from the Tyne, Convoy OB 194 departs from Liverpool, Convoy BN 2A departs from Aden for Suez.

Focke Wulf FW 200 "Condor" long-range bombers begin operating out of France, attacking British convoys in the Atlantic.

A Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condor.

Battle of the Mediterranean: There is another Italian raid on Haifa, Palestine which causes little damage, and also one at Sollum.

Some Italian forces cross the border from Libya into Egypt, causing dramatic news announcements on the BBC.

The Italians have been spotting British ships in the Strait of Sicily (between Tunisia and Sicily), so destroyers Pigafetta and Zeno escort minelayers to mine the area near the fortified island of Pantelleria. The strait is about 145 km (90 miles) wide.

Operation Tube, a submarine supply mission to Malta, concludes successfully when HMS Pandora arrives from Gibraltar with equipment for the Hurricanes which arrived via Operation Hurry.

Cairo announces that the new Long Range Patrol Unit (LRP), formed on 3 July 1940 by Major Ralph Bagnold, has been successfully infiltrating Italian Libya. The LRP is composed largely of New Zealand farmers taken from volunteers in the 2nd New Zealand Division. These are the first patrols of the so-called "Desert Rats."

At Malta, the RAF organizes its new Hurricanes into RAF No. 261 Squadron. This formation includes the remaining Gloster Gladiators. The day is very quiet, with only reconnaissance missions by both sides.

British Somaliland: The western of the three Italian columns (Lt. General Bertoldi) is in the port of Zeila, screening French Somaliland and preventing any attacks from that quarter. The central column (Lt. General Carlo De Simone) consolidates at the port of Hargeisa. The easternmost column (Brigadier Bertello) takes Odweina. The light British forces under General Reginald Chater are in full retreat and trying to set up a defensive perimeter in the east at Tug Argan.

The 2nd Black Watch Battalion (73rd Regiment) begins the journey from Palestine to join the forces in British Somaliland.

German/Japanese Relations: The Reich sells 7744-ton freighter Fulda to the Japanese, who rename it Taai Maru.

US Military: US destroyers USS Wake and Wainwright make port at Santos, São Paulo, Brazil as part of the "Show the Flag" effort.

Destroyer USS Madison (DD 425, Lt. Commander Thomas E. Boyce) is commissioned.

US Government: Congress debates the merits of a conscription bill. Senator Claude Pepper calls isolationist Charles Lindbergh a "Fifth Columnist."

Free France: Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque aka "Captain Leclerc" departs from London for Lisbon on the first stage of a journey to French colonies in Africa to promote the Free French cause.

Finland: American refugees from throughout Scandinavia and points further south are concentrated at Petsamo, Finland in the far north. US Army Transport American Legion docks there to transport them to the United States.

Baltic States: Another puppet government ratifies the decision to make the nation the Soviet Socialist Republic of Lithuania.

India: Mahatma Gandhi proposes the use of non-violence against the Germans.

Burma: The government arrests pro-Japanese agitator Ba Maw for questioning the government's tilt toward Great Britain.

Belgian Homefront: The British blockade is not just hurting the German war effort, it also is decreasing civilian food supplies throughout the Low Countries. US Ambassador John Cudahy suggests that the US deliver food supplies, an idea which the British find offensive.

British Homefront: Invasion fears remain high, stoked by German propagandist Lord Haw-Haw with his nightly broadcasts.

William Joyce aka Lord Haw-Haw. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he broadcast German propaganda throughout the war.

August 1940


August 1, 1940: Two RN Subs Lost
August 2, 1940: Operation Hurry
August 3, 1940: Italians Attack British Somaliland
August 4, 1940: Dueling Legends in the US
August 5, 1940: First Plan for Barbarossa
August 6, 1940: Wipe Out The RAF
August 7, 1940: Burning Oil Plants
August 8, 1940: True Start of Battle of Britain
August 9, 1940: Aufbau Ost
August 10, 1940: Romania Clamps Down On Jews
August 11, 1940: Huge Aerial Losses
August 12, 1940: Attacks on Radar
August 13, 1940: Adler Tag
August 14, 1940: Sir Henry's Mission
August 15, 1940: Luftwaffe's Black Thursday
August 16, 1940: Wolfpack Time
August 17, 1940: Blockade of Britain
August 18, 1940: The Hardest Day
August 19, 1940: Enter The Zero
August 20, 1940: So Much Owed By So Many
August 21, 1940: Anglo Saxon Incident
August 22, 1940: Hellfire Corner
August 23, 1940: Seaplanes Attack
August 24, 1940: Slippery Slope
August 25, 1940: RAF Bombs Berlin
August 26, 1940: Troops Moved for Barbarossa
August 27, 1940: Air Base in Iceland
August 28, 1940: Call Me Meyer
August 29, 1940: Schepke's Big Day
August 30, 1940: RAF's Bad Day
August 31, 1940: Texel Disaster

2020