Weather: fine; some cloud on the south coast

Fighter Command Serviceable Aircraft as at 0900 hours:

  • Blenheim – 61
  • Spitfire – 214
  • Hurricane – 387
  • Defiant – 21
  • Gladiator – 8
  • Total – 691

From mid-afternoon onwards Luftflotte 3 delivered a raid on Southampton. This was followed by several raids on London by Luftflotte 2. As well as hitting London, aircraft attacked Biggin Hill, Kenley and Brooklands. Later that day raids also came in from the Cherbourg peninsula which once again ended up bombing Southampton and Portsmouth. There were also raids by Me109s which attacked Kenley, Detling and a convoy heading its way round the Kent coast. That day the RAF flew 678 sorties and lost 29 aircraft with 17 pilots killed. The Germans lost 25 aircraft.

Meanwhile there was intense speculation concerning the imminence of invasion. All this, however, was conditional on air superiority being achieved. At the same time it was noted by German aircrews that despite the losses inflicted on the RAF, the latter still appeared to have undiminished strength. Victory was still eluding the Luftwaffe.

That night Bomber Command hit French ports and damaged German invasion craft whilst the Luftwaffe continued to target London hitting Crystal Palace station and once again setting the Docks alight.

249 Squadron Operational Record Book – 11 September
Brought to readiness at 16:10 hours and ordered to patrol London Docks and Thames Estuary. Large formations of He111s with fighter escorts intercepted East of London. For the first time, it was possible to carry out a head-on attack, this resulted in 2 He111s being destroyed and 1 probable. Sgt Davis was wounded during this battle and had to bale out at Beneden owing to fire in his aircraft. Squadron patrolled Dover at 18:15 hours, and although a number of enemy fighters were seen high above, it was not possible to make contact. A stick of bombs was seen to fall slap outside the entrance to Dover harbour in the sea but no-one could see the enemy aircraft from which they were dropped.
Enemy casualties: 2 destroyed, 1 probable, 1 damaged

Reported Casualties (RAF Campaign Diary 11th September 1940):

*  Enemy: 89 confirmed, 34 probable, 52 damaged
*  Own: 28 aircraft with 17 pilots killed or missing

Today’s theme: Top Gun Gallery – Eric Lock