Battle of Britain - Second Phase
August 19th
- September 5th, 1940
Monday, August 19th : Activity was restricted by weather.
There were many German reconnaissance flights. Raids on Dover, Portsmouth,
Southampton and Pembroke Dock.
Night: Small raids on Sheffield,
Wolverhampton, Nottingham, Hull, Leicester, Derby, Bristol and Southampton
Tuesday, August 20th : Attack on a Dover balloon barrage.
Manston, West Mailing and Eastchurch airfields were hit. Convoys off Welsh and
East Anglian coasts were attacked.
Night: Bombers over south-west England.
Wednesday, August 21st : Before noon 50 barrage ballons were shot down
at Dover. Debden, Eastchurch and Detling airfields were attacked. Biggin Hill
and Hornchurch airfields were badly damaged in the afternoon. All raids were
roughly handled by RAF fighters. Grimbsy, Canterbury, Norwich, Bournemouth,
Southampton and Newmarket were bombed.
Night: Small raids on Firth of Forth,
Hull and Harwich.
Thursday, August 22nd : Manston airfield was bombed. Dover was
bombed. Shipping in Channel was attacked.
Night: Airfields were bombed at Manston,
North Coates, St. Eval and Wick. An aircraft factory at Filton was bombed. A
convoy was attacked at Wick.
Friday, August 23rd : Tangmere, Biggin Hill and Abingdon
airfields were lightly attacked. Portsmouth, Maidstone, St. Albans and Cromer
were visited by bombers. Convoys off Norfolk and Essex coasts were attacked. German
bombs were jettisoned by mistake over London residential areas.
Night: Pembroke Dock and factories in the Midlands were attacked.
Saturday, August 24th : Manston airfield was heavily
damaged. Further attacks on Hornchurch, North Weald, Ramsgate, Portsmouth and
Dover.
Night: Northern England and south-east
England were visited by 170 bombers. Again, by mistake, bombs fell on
London.
Sunday, August 25th : In the mid-afternoon Warmell
airfield was badly damaged. West of England, the Scilly Isles and Pembroke Dock
were bombed. Heavy raids on Thames Estuary and Dover.
Night: South Midlands, south Wales, south
England and Montrose airfield in Scotland were attacked.
Monday, August 26th : Late morning Biggin Hill and Kenley
airfields, Folkstone and Dover balloon barrage were attacked by over 150
aircraft. Six RAF squadrons met and scattered raids. In the afternoon more than
100 enemy planes attempted to bomb Hornchurch and North Weald airfields. The
raid was turned back by RAF fighters but Debden airfield was severely damaged.
Another 150 plane raid was intercepted. Portsmouth, Biggin Hill, Kenley, Debden
and Warmell were attacked.
Night: Bournemouth, Coventry, St. Eval
and Plymouth were bombed.
Tuesday, August 27th : Luftwaffe reconnaissance
flights.
Night: South and south-east England were
visited by bombers.
Wednesday, August 28th : Rochford and Eastchurch were bombed.
German fighter sweeps over the Thames Estuary and Kent were engaged by
RAF.
Night: 150 bombers attacked Derby,
Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Coventry, Sheffield and London.
Thursday, August 29th : Light raids on south and south-east
England .
Night: 130 bombers attacked Liverpool.
Friday, August 30th : Diversionary attacks on shipping in Thames
Estuary. In the morning three raids damaged Biggin Hill. RAF had sixteen
squadrons up in defence. In the afternoon there were raids on Kenley, Biggin
Hill and Shoreham airfields. Rye, Pevensey, Dover, Foreness, Beachy Head,
Forelight and Whitsable radar stations were rendered unserviceable. At 4.00pm,
Biggin Hill and North Weald airfields were attacked. Airfields at Oxford, Luton
and Debden were damaged. Biggin Hill was attacked again by 10 enemy aircraft at
6.00pm.
Night: London, Liverpool and south Wales
were bombed. Single plane attacks on airfields in the south.
Saturday, August 31st : Radar stations at Rye, Pevensey,
Beachy Head, Foreness and Whitstable were damaged. A Dover balloon barrage was
destroyed. North Weald, Hornchurch, Biggin Hill, Croydon and Detling airfields
were attacked. Debden airfield was hit by 100 bombs.
Night: Liverpool was badly damaged. Bristol,
Manchester, Portsmouth, Durham, Gloucester and Worcester were bombed.
Sunday, September 1st : More attacks on airfields.
Eastchurch, Detling, Biggin Hill, Lympne and Hawkinge were all attacked. Docks
at Tilbury and Dover were bombed.
Night: Sheffield, Liverpool, Hull,
Grimsby and Burton were attacked.
Monday, September 2nd : Airfields at Biggin Hill, Rochford,
North Weald, Debden, Eastchurch, Hornchurch, Kenly, Digby and Detling were
attacked. An aircraft factory at Brooklands was bombed.
Night: Liverpool and Birmingham were
bombed. Mines were laid off Welsh coast
Tuesday, September 3rd : Airfields at North Weald, Hornchurch
and Debden were severely hit.
Night: Liverpool, south wales and
south-east England were bombed
Wednesday, September 4th : A Dover ballon barrage was hit.
Lympe and Eastchurch airfields were attacked. Goering decided to attack the
aircraft industry. Brooklands and Rochester aircraft factories were
hit.
Night: Liverpool, Bristol, Newcastle,
Manchester, south Wales, Gravesend, Tilbury and Nottingham were bombed.
Thursday, September 5th : Attacks on airfields at Croydon,
Lympne, North Weald, Biggin Hill and Eastchurch.
Night: Liverpool, London, Manchester and
40 other places were bombed.
Total Aircraft Losses from August 19th to September 5th
:
RAF 278 / Luftwaffe 365