September 15th – Battle of Britain Day

Rather than share my own thoughts, I’m going to copy/paste a good friend of mine’s Facebook status updates for this morning. It’s too good not to share.

On September 15, the Luftwaffe launched an all-out attack on London. At 9:30 in the morning, over 300 German aircraft began to form up over Calais and Boulogne. British radar detected the large masses of aircraft almost immediately, and reports were relayed to 11 Group Headquarters, responsible for the defense of London. Winston Churchill had, on an impulse, stopped in to visit again, as he had in August.

During the ninety minutes it took the German formations to get organized over France, six mentally ill people would be murdered in Germany as part of Aktion T4, the Nazi plan to eradicate the crippled, the mentally ill, and those with birth defects. These killings would continue, one every fifteen minutes, throughout 1940. That year, 35,000 adults and children were killed under the auspices of the program; 70,000 mentally ill or infirm people would be killed during its totality, along with another 130,000 in the death camps after 1941. Franz Stangl, one of the participants of the program remarked after the war of his victims that: “They were so weak; they allowed everything to happen, to be done to them. They were people with whom there was no common ground, no possibility of communication…”

Back in Britain, as the size of the impending German attack became evident, the normally boisterous Churchill quietly remarked to Air Vice Marshall Sir Keith Park, the officer commanding 11 Group, that “there appear to be many aircraft coming in.”

Park replied: “and we are ready for them. There’ll be someone there to meet them.”

As the Germans passed out of France and over the channel, twelve RAF Squadrons were scrambled to intercept them: eight of Hurricanes, and four of Spitfires. Park also put in a call to his emergency reserve: the cumbersome “big wing” of 12 Group in the midlands, five squadrons lead by the double-amputee ace Douglas Bader. If the big wing could get into position, it had the potential to be decisive. But it had never been able to properly intercept an enemy formation in time to prevent heavy damage to London.

The Germans passed into England over the white cliffs of Dover, a massive formation of bombers in a series of V formations, looking like an immense black herringbone stretched across the sky. Along the coastline, hundreds, if not thousands of civilian observers had turned out to see the Germans approach; the Battle of Britain was possibly witnessed by more non-participants than any previous battle in human history.

As the Germans passed over Canterbury, the RAF struck. 72 Squadron and 92 Squadron, both equipped with Spitfires, had scrambled from Biggin Hill aerodrome at the first reports of the incoming bombers. Now, for once, they had managed to climb far above not only the German bombers, but also their escorting fighters. They fell upon the escorting Bf109s, knocking five out of the sky in their first pass, then went for the bombers. As the German fighters turned to follow, 603 Squadron’s Spitfires arrived, followed hard after by two squadrons of Hurricanes.

The situation became confused. A large number of British aircraft were now attacking the German formation, in full view of thousands of eyewitnesses along the ground. In the swirling melee, a Hurricane collided with a Bf109.

The Germans pressed on doggedly for London, their fighter cover now thinned, but still present. Elsewhere, Group Captain Stanley Vincent, the station commander at Northolt Aerodrome and a WWI flying ace, became so impassioned at the thought of “his” Poles of 303 (Polish) Squadron in action against the Germans, that he requisitioned a Hurricane for himself and went up alone, his blood more than a little up.

As the Germans pressed closer to London, more and more RAF squadrons were thrown into the fray, peeling away their escorting Bf109s and Bf110s, but failing, as of yet, to to stop the bombers.

“Where are your reserves?” asked Churchill of Park, seeing that all of 11 Group’s fighters were now committed to battle.

“There are none,” replied Park. This was almost identical to the reply that Churchill had received in May of 1940, when he had asked the French General Gamelin if he had reserves enough to stem the German offensive. “The Prime Minister,” said Park later, “looked grave.”

The German bombers managed to bull through 11 Group’s fighters to reach the outskirts of London. The city stretched out before them; much of it was still burning from the previous week of attacks. There was no sign of any RAF aircraft.

Then, sweeping in out of the sun, came the fifty-six Spitfires and Hurricanes of Bader’s big wing, for once–for once–in position and ready to strike. It was too much for the remaining German aircraft. They jettisoned their bombs and fled, going all-out for France.

Group Captain Vincent, meanwhile, intercepted a group of eight Dornier 17s heading independently for London. Apparently insensate to danger, he charged them headlong, guns blazing, scattering them and causing them to flee; he chased them all the way to the English Channel.

Sergeant Ray Holmes of 504 Squadron spotted a Dornier making a low-level attack run over central London; as he dived on it, his machineguns jammed. Unhesitatingly, he rammed it with his Hurricane, chopping its tail off. Later Holmes would remark “There was no time to weight up the situation. His aeroplane looked so flimsy, I didn’t think of it as solid and substantial. I just went on and hit it for six.”

On September 15, 1940, the RAF shot down 56 German aircraft, for the loss of twenty-six of its own planes. The following RAF pilots were killed:
P/O G.L.D. Doutrepont
F/O R. Smither
P/O R.A. Marchand
P/O G.N.Gaunt
P/O G.A.Langley
P/O A.E.A von den Hove d’Ertsenrijck
P/O J.T.Gurteen
Fl/Lt T.P.Chlopik
F/O M. Jebb
Sgt L. Pidd
Sgt M. Brzezowski
F/O A.P. Pease
Sgt T.R. Tweed

If I may editorialize for a moment, spare them a thought today. Unknowingly, they died for all of us.

The Few. Heres to them and all they stand for. Never forget.

Have any of the news channels today made reference to this most significant day?
May be it’s not “PC” to make reference to “winning” in regard to a fellow European neighbour:(

We must never forget….Grateful thanks to the few….

“this may not be the end, but it may be the beginning of the end” to quote the Great Man…of what was a World conflict..

I only wish more people realised that, Slicer.

Mo

To the few, never too far away from my thoughts.