Weather: showery.
The German attack against coastal shipping had started at the beginning of July. However, the official date of the beginning of the Battle was fixed on July 10th. The first German aircraft picked up by radar were reconnaissance planes looking for convoys which could be attacked. There were also the long range aircraft whose job was to fly deep into the Atlantic ascertaining what kind of weather could be expected over Britain in a day or so. The action began in the morning with an attack on a convoy and a sharp attack on Swansea which resulted in some 30 civilian deaths. This was followed by serious action in the afternoon. Around 1.30pm the tell-tale blips indicating a large concentration of Luftwaffe aircraft had begun to appear on the cathode ray tubes of the receiving sets in the radar scanning huts in which WAAFs were on the lookout for exactly this kind of warning. What they indicated was a flight of some 26 Dornier 17 bombers accompanied by 26 Me109 fighters plus 40 Me110s.
The convoy was being patrolled by half a dozen Hurricanes. The latter were soon to be joined by elements of 4 squadrons from 11 Group. In the fight which followed the Luftwaffe lost 4 planes shot down. The RAF lost 3 Hurricanes, one of which collided with a German bomber losing half its wing and crashing into the sea. The damage was one coastal ship sunk.
The tally for the day was 13 Luftwaffe aircraft shot down at the cost of 7 RAF fighters lost. The RAF had flown 609 sorties in the day and had managed to achieve a two to one victory over the enemy. Not bad in its first encounter with its much more experienced adversary. A particular feature of the day was the relatively indifferent performance of the twin-engine fighter, the Me110. These aircraft had been forced to fly in a tight circle to defend themselves, relying on their rear gunners. But it also became clear that the RAF was going to be outnumbered in the Battle to follow. They were only going to be able to intercept many of the raids of the Luftwaffe by flying a large number of sorties each day.
54 Squadron Operational Record Book, 10 July
As a result of the first phase of the Battle for Britain, the squadron could only muster 8 aircraft and 13 pilots.
242 Squadron Operational Record Book, 10 July
Convoy patrol over sea. First enemy bomber shot down by Squadron in this section. Shot down by Sub-Lt Gardner. 2 others damaged.
Today’s theme: Top Gun Gallery – Stanford Tuck
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July 10, 2010 at 6:48 am
Heather
The opening paragraph kind of implies the Germans deemed the Battle should start on 10 July. Perhaps a better wording might be “Later, however, the official date of the beginning of the Battle was fixed on July 10th.”
Sorry to be pedantic. I’m really enjoying this blog, and the comments. It’s a subject that’s fascinated me since schooldays around the 40th anniversary of the Battle.
July 10, 2010 at 11:07 am
Adrian F
Just to say that I am enjoying reading this and also re-reading your excellent bock,”One Boy’s War”, which I would recommend to one and all.
July 12, 2010 at 9:50 am
Tony Rudd
Thanks very much for your suggestion. Good point. Glad you find it interesting.
Best wishes,
Tony
July 10, 2010 at 7:02 am
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July 10, 2010 at 9:54 am
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[...] of Britain Day by Day – 10 July 1940 Duxford Operations Blog – 9 July 1940 Orwell Diaries – 10 July 1940 Spitfire Site [...]
July 10, 2010 at 10:02 pm
links for 2010-07-10 « Spinneyhead
[...] Day 1 – July 10th 1940 « Battle of Britain Day by Day The German attack against coastal shipping had started at the beginning of July. However, the official date of the beginning of the Battle was fixed on July 10th. The first German aircraft picked up by radar were reconnaissance planes looking for convoys which could be attacked. (tags: WW2) [...]
July 12, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Spitfire Site
Agree with Heather that 10 July as day 1 of the battle is pretty much a matter of a choice, which BTW was agreed upon only recently. I analyse this in closer detail in my own post here:
http://spitfiresite.com/2010/07/battle-of-britain-1940-10-july-has-it-started-yet.html
Enjoying this blog…
/Martin
July 12, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Heather
I think the problem with dates is the very nature of the Battle. There had been nothing like it before, and it sort of started in a small way, built to a crescendo and then sort of petered out into the Blitz.
All of which didn’t fit into the neat, orderly military-type mind!
I take the longer view, and begin to consider the Battle was the result of continuous development from the end of the First World War (as in Wood & Dempster’s The Narrow Margin).
September 23, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Terry McSweeney
Hi Tony, just come across your Blogg, fantastic – here is a little bit of additional information I have just covering the 10 July. – Regards – Terry
10th July 1940
At 05:10 a Do215 was intercepted at 20,000ft over the English Channel by Red Section of 145 Sqn (Dutton, Yule & Newling) and was severely damaged before being lost in a cloud. The aircraft was from Aufklarungs Gruppe Ob. d. L. (K9+)and reportedly crashed and burned out near Le Havre. Lt. Rack, Lt. Blindow and Sonderfuhrer Stift were killed with one NCO wounded. The aircraft which was originally reported as a Do17 was a write-off.
05:30 a Do17P which was from 2(F)/11 was intercepted over the Isle of Wight by Green Section of 145 Sqn. Although the fighters gave what they thought were “short bursts that seemed to have little or no effect” actually caused some serious damage as the aircraft was forced to crash-land at Cherbourg. There were no casualties with the aircraft suffering 30% damage.
08:20 a He111H-2 from III/KG53 (A1+) was engaged by Green Section and shot down by Sub-Lieutenant Gardner of 242 Sqn about 15 miles off Lowestoft over the North Sea. Two NCO’s killed and Lt. Kupfer and another NCO missing.
08:30 Spitfires from 66 Sqn engaged a Do17Z from II/KG3 (5K+) near Great Yarmouth. The crew of the Dornier spotted them began banking and evading manoeuvres to avoid the gunfire from the attacking Spitfires. The Dornier gunners tried, in vain, in fighting off the fighters and as the Spitfires continued to harass the bomber P/O Cooke’s windscreen (N3042) was hit and a hole developed in the canopy. One of the Spitfires managed to come up from under the Dornier firing with all eight Browning’s. The Dornier went into a banking glide emitting smoke until it hit the sea between Yarmouth and Harwich. Shot down by Cooke, Studd & Robertson. Oblt. Bott and one NCO killed and Lt. Schroeder and one NCO missing. All three Spitfires returned to their base at RAF Coltishall safely with no casualties.
At approximately 1100 hours a convoy was attacked off Manston by a single Do17P which was escorted by 10 Bf109′s but were driven off by two fighter squadrons. They suffered losses of 1 Me109 confirmed and 4 Me109s (I/JG51)probable. While attacking the convoy off Manston, Spitfires approached firing range on the Dornier and opened fire scoring hits on the front cockpit of the bomber which exploded in smoke and flame. The Dornier went down low towards sea level and headed towards French Coast and belly landed near Boulogne, this was attributed to FO Mungo-Park of 74 Sqn. However, the RAF also encountered some damage during the engagement. These were; Sgt Mould (P9446) of 74 Sqn (damaged by Hptm. Tietzen of 5/JG51) who crash-landed at RAF Manston – aircraft damaged but repairable, P.O. Freeborn (K9863) of 74 Sqn (damaged by Lt. Lessing of 5/JG51) who also force landed at RAF Manston – aircraft damaged but repairable, Sqn. Ldr. Smith (DW-D, L1000) of 610 Sqn (damaged by Oblt. Priller of 6/JG51) was hit in the port mainplane and crashed upon landing at RAF Hawkinge – aircraft damaged but repairable. All RAF aircrew involved were not injured.
At approx 13:25 hours a large force of about 120 enemy aircraft assembled behind Calais and approached a convoy between Dover and Dungeness. Fighter interception by five squadrons resulted in 6 Me110s, 1 Me109, 1 Do17 and 1 Do215 being confirmed as having been shot down, and 2 Me110s, 5 Me109s and 4 Do215s as probable casualties. The Do17Z was from I/KG2 (3M+) and was attacked by 32 Sqn (attacked by Humpherson, Bayley and Pearce) while attacking convoy “Bread”. Force landed near Marquise with one killed, two wounded and the aircraft 70% damaged. One of the Bf110C-2′s belonged to III/ZG26 (3U+) and was attacked by Sub-Lieutenant Dawson-Paul of 64 Sqn over the Channel. The crew made it back to base with no injuries and slight damage to the aircraft which was repairable.
At 14:00 while he was attacking a Do17Z of 3/KG2, PO Higgs (111 Sqn) was also being attacked by Oblt. Oesau of 7/JG51. Possibly, because of the distraction of the attacking Bf109, he misjudged his distances to the target Dornier and while still firing his machine guns clipped the enemy aircraft and lost a wing from his Hurricane at 6,000ft sending both aircraft crashing into the sea. Higgs managed to bale out but was killed and his body was recovered when it was washed ashore at Noordwijk on 15/8/40 – the Hurricane (P3671) was destroyed. The Do17Z (U5+FL) crashed near the Dungeness Buoy with Hptmn. Krieger and Oberfw. Thalman being captured and Fw. Umkelmann and Fw. Osinsky missing.