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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 2280.PDF
124 AUGUST 15, 1940 WAR IN THE AIR (CONTINU€D) credible audacity" of the British cruisers. The same words might justly be applied to the attack of H Squadron. No doubt the squadron adopted the regular tactics of sending one formation to hold off the fighters while the remainder attacked the bombers. The dog fight up above resulted in the Hurricanes shooting down three Me 109s and losing two of their own number. Down below the other Hurricanes shot down six Ju 87s. This fight took place about 9 a.m. Gains and Losses '"THE second air fight began about 11.30 a.m. and lasted •*• for an hour and a half. H Squadron was in it again, and so were other squadrons of Hurricanes and Spitfires. Finally, between 4 and 5 p.m., the Germans sent some 150 bombers and fighters against the convoy, and another fierce fight resulted. H Squadron was engaged for the third time, and in the course of the day it destroyed 21 German machines. The total German losses for the day were 24 Ju 87 dive-bombers, 27 Me 109s and nine Me 110s, making a total of 60 machines in all. We lost 19 of our fighters. Two small ships were sunk by bombs and seven more were damaged but reached harbour. It will be noticed that the enemy lost 36 fighters and only 24 bombers, which shows the value which he is gain- ing from being able to use fighter escorts when operating near his bases. In the early morning battle the Messer- 'schmitts were not able to prevent the bombers losing heavily; that is to say, heavily in proportion to the number of Hurricanes which were engaged. On the whole day this preponderance of Junkers losses over Messer- schmitt losses was not maintained. We may speculate as to how many bombers our fellows would have shot down if they had not had to give much of their time to engaging the fighters. As a demonstration of the superiority of the R.A.F. over the Luftwaffe, the day's work was as convincing as it well could be. The Germans have still a much greater number of machines than we have, but if they ever imag- ined, as they probably did, that their numbers would give them mastery of the air, that idea must have been rudely upset by Thursday's fights. When we gain superiority in numbers, as we shall do in good time, there is every reason to hope that we shall attain a real mastery in the air, which should be a great step forward to national victory. Stories of the Fighting HERE are some of the stories of the fighting. One of thepilots of H Squadron is a Pole, who does not speak much English. Describing his experiences in the early morning battle, "I was attacked," he said, "by three Heinkel 113s, who seemed to be working to a plan. One was flying alone and the other two as a pair. If you attack the pair the single one tries to get on your tail." He tackled the single Heinkel 113 and watched it go down smoking, though he was not able to see the final crash. The other two flew off. It was during the last battle of the afternoon that this Polish pilot got his first Messer- schmitt 109. The CO. of H Squadron described the early morning action in these words: "We climbed to 16,000ft.," he said, " and, looking down, saw a large formation of Junkers 87s approaching from the south, with Messerschmitt 109s stepped up behind to 20,000ft. We approached unob- served out of the sun and went in to attack the rear Junkers 87s before the enemy fighters could interfere. I gave a five-seconds burst to one bomber and broke off to engage two Messerschmitt 109s. There was a dog fight. The enemy fighters, who were painted silver, were half rolling and diving and zooming in climbing turns. I fired two five-second bursts at one and saw it dive into the sea. Then I followed another 11$. in a zoom and got him as he stalled." A Flight Lieutenant in &e same squadron managed to bring down two Junkers 87s, though his engine had stopped. "I was forced to retire owing to engine failure, but dived down on a Junkers 87," he said. " After a three- or four-seconds burst it went into an inverted dive and crashed into the sea. My engine started again, so I went after another Junkers 87 and attacked him before he was able to make his dive-bombing attack on the convoy. He dived into the sea at high speed. After this second attack my engine stopped for good and I only just got back to England." During the midday fight a Spitfire squadron chased seven Me 109s over the Channel to the French coast and shot down six of them. The pilot of one of the British fighters that was lost, by his last act prevented his burning machine from falling in the centre of a South-East Coast town. With black smoke pouring from it, the fighter burst into flames, and, blazing from stem to stern, looked as though it must in- evitably crash into some buildings. He was rapidly losing height, but the pilot remained at his controls until the machine dived into the sea 50 yards from the shore. Motor- boats went to the spot but found no trace of the pilot's body. Sunday's Great Fight £ A SECOND equally fierce and perhaps even more suc-cessful air battle took place on Sunday, Aug. 11, in which we destroyed no fewer than 61 enemy aircraft for the loss of 26 fighter machines on our side. Though our losses were higher than on the Thursday, the Germans were even less successful in achieving their objects, and so we may count this as a more successful day. The Germans had three objectives. In the early morning they made another attack on Dover, apparently with the particular object of damaging the balloon barrage which would hamper their dive-bombers. Actually they only shot one balloon down. It seems that the A.A. guns played the chief part in driving off this attack, actually shooting down three Messerschmitts, but Spitfires joined in and took their toll. Repeated attacks continued for some hours. Soon after 10 a.m. a German force, estimated at about 200 bombers and fighters, at- tacked Portland. There they did slight .damage to two warships, which were hit by splinters. Weymouth was also attacked, and a good deal of damage was done to house property. An oil tank was set on fire, but it was soon extinguished. A hospital was bombed, but there were few serious casualties or deaths. There was yet another attack on a convoy off the East Anglian coast, and in the evening stray bombers were met off the East Coast, and a Dornier 17 and a Junkers 88 were destroyed. A Spitfire Squadron :- ONE Spitfire squadron fought four times in the day.When over the convoy it surprised. 40 Me Jaguars (i.e., Me 110s carrying bombs), which tried to form a defen- sive circle, as the F.E.s used to do in the last war when attacked by Albatross fighters, but the Spitfires were too quick for them and shot down ten into the sea. The Portland fight proved the most expensive to the Germans, as there they lost about 40 machines. As usual, we only count successes when art enemy aircraft is seen to fall ,' those which limp away damaged may fall into the sea or may sometimes get home, but they do not enter into our calculations. We admit as losses machines which are shot down of do not return to their stations, but of these not all mean the less of the f>ik>t. In-a proportion of cases he proves afterwards to be safe, and is available for further service. The success of our defences, A.A. guns as well as fighter aircraft, increases our confidence about our ability to meet the invasion which may come at any moment. The Ger- mans prefer daylight for serious attacks, and that gives us a good chance of intercepting. The more that the Germans send, the more we shall shoot down.
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