Battle of Britain diary

[adt70hk]

Steve

Yet again brilliantly put together. thank you so much for doing this it really has been fascinating to read.

All the best.

Andrew

 

[Tim Marlow]

Superb read.

 

[minitnkr]

I'm really enjoying this. Great writing! PaulE

 

[colin m]

Brilliant work Steve. This is real 'on the edge of my seat' reading.

 

[stona]

Thanks to one and all.

I'm enjoying doing it and I have the luxury of time due to the current situation. It's been quite an eye opener for me too! You think you are reasonably knowledgeable about something until you start really looking into it in a day by day way like this.

For example, I had no idea how dodgy the weather was during the current period, it was definitely on our side.

I've particularly enjoyed reading the first hand accounts, only a few of which I can include for obvious reasons. Many, maybe half, of the British ones come from Dilip Sarkar's 'The Few'. I would not recommend it as a history of the Battle, there are better for your money, but it is highly recommended if you enjoy first hand accounts, with which it is replete.

Since there is absolutely no chance of mass gatherings any time soon I should have the time to continue for a while yet

 

[Deleted member 5496]

I have first hand knowledge, as I am getting to be one of the few, of the Battle of Britain.

At the time I was was two & a bit. Hitler tried but missed. Of course at that age although in it I can only remember little bits.

As I became older in that war I can remember very fully what happened. 50% of the windows in my sister & my bedroom were filled with lino. Glass sucked out by bomb blasts. We were near Marconi, KLG Davis submarine equip. & a little bit futher away Vickers. The sight of these windows became as normal.

Our home at night. Quite cosy. 6 foot square. A hole in the ground in the garden surrounded with concrete with a curved roof on top of corrugated iron topped with earth. An Anderson shelter. But my mum & dad acted as normal but must of been scared stiff for me & my sister..

Just remembered my first memory. We slept under a table in the sitting room during a raid. A Morrison shelter table reinforced. The Anderson shelter came later.

A memory never to be forgotten. The siren. Before a raid it went off, they were all over the place. Must have sounded monotonously for 2 minutes. The raid went on.
The raid finished the siren wailed again. This time more friendly . It started stopped started & went on in that fashion for 2 minutes.

Food was short. We had 12 chickens at the bottom of the garden. Carrots turnips & swedes growing around the shelter. The front garden dug up & filled with potatoes. The chicken feed meal was swapped for the eggs in the ration book. How di i know that at my age then but I did.

When I started school. Sorry bit off B of B. siren went we all made our way, in English lines no rush no panic, to these big shelters dug into the play ground. We then sang & sang until the siren sounded the "all clear". We boys then rushed out into the playground. Arms wide running around like lunatics. What were we we were Hurricanes & Spitfires. Not a 109 among them.

I have to admit I had a good war. My first 7 years of life. So do not moan just enjoy what you have.

Laurie

 

[Tim Marlow]

You had a better war than my mother then Laurie. She was seven during the battle. She has told me several stories, including being strafed by German planes and has described being caught in a raid on Hasting, trying to get home to Ore village. When they got there they found their home had been blitzed and they had lost all their possessions. They were evacuated several times because Hastings was an invasion target, going to Somerset, Cambridge, and finally Wiltshire. As a consequence they lost contact with several branches of their family, which was irrevocably splintered. She was scared of beaches for many years, imagining they were always covered in barbed wire and mines. Not such a good war really.

 

[Deleted member 5496]

Just add. My wife's aunty & uncle, a few doors from the family of my wife (my god my life may have taken a turn,) they retired to theri Anderson Shelter.

They lived in Morden Surrey.

Came out on the siren all clear. Their house. All the bricks were there but all nicely stacked in a pile. The house demolished completely.

Became normal to see gaps between houses. Interesting as the gaps had all been cleared of the demolished material.

Just after the war we would travel up to London to get a train form King's Cross up to Hull & my gran & grandad. The holes between buildings were normal to see.
They were every where. It was a very desolate scene.

I started my career in architecture in 1956. I can say there were even then a lot of large parcels of land in London which we slowly were filling with new buildings.



Laurie

 

[Deleted member 5496]

I think the most incredible story of WW11 is that of Hugh Dowding. Commander of Fighter Command at the time of the B of B.

He took the birth child of Sir Henry Tizzard, Radar, & developed the net work over the British Isles to provide knowledge of any predators in the air.

With his organization of Radar & the centers controlling Fighter Command he was able to control the battle in an incredible way.

Dowding realized & knew that Fighter Command lacked the ability to attack the Luftwaffe. The RAF lacked the fighters & experienced pilots to conduct an aggressive campaign. So it had to be a defensive campaign. He had to conserve the pilots & aircraft.

He realized that with radar & with the organization of control centers that he was able to conduct a campaign where the German raiders were met at their most vulnerable.
When they could be attacked by the RAF fighters at points identified by radar. They did not have to roam the skies to find thir foe. The RAF pilots met their foe at specific points with full fuel tanks.

Dowding & Parks his deputy carefully preserved the British Fighters to attack at the the most opportunist time. Preserving RAF aircraft & pilots.

His Spitfires one third Hurricanes two thirds of his force.

He realised that the German 109 had only about 10 minutes over Britain . The Spitfires would eat that time enabling the Hurricanes to set upon the the 110 & German bombers as the 109 returned to their bases.

That was the theory. However it certainly in the main worked. Dowding preserved his "chicks" for the right time at the right moment.

And he won.

Also add that he refused Churchill's demand to send more squardrons to France before the B Of B. Who would do that. Stuffy Dowding a hero in my book.

Laurie

 

[Deleted member 5496]

You had a better war than my mother then Laurie. She was seven during the battle. She has told me several stories, including being strafed by German planes and has described being caught in a raid on Hasting, trying to get home to Ore village. When they got there they found their home had been blitzed and they had lost all their possessions. They were evacuated several times because Hastings was an invasion target, going to Somerset, Cambridge, and finally Wiltshire. As a consequence they lost contact with several branches of their family, which was irrevocably splintered. She was scared of beaches for many years, imagining they were always covered in barbed wire and mines. Not such a good war really.

Interesting facts Tim.

I moved to Jersey Channel Isles, just for on year, 59 years ago.

Jersey was bombed strafed by the Germans prior to B of B.

Then Jersey, with all of the Channel Isles, was occupied by the Nazis, the only parts of the British Isles as such.

A great portion of the Islands people, all of Alderney, were taken to England before the Germans took control. The males joined the British forces to fight for their Islands.

There are two bookswritten about all of that. One by a Guernsey Wellington Pilot the other a Jersey Officer in the army.

Just to totally digress. Another book by a Jersey Doctor. An obstetrician. He sent his family to England but remained to look after Jersey expectant mothers..
He played the Germans at their own game .

Normandy landings bypassed the Channel Isles they were left occupied by the Germans. Food ran short bizarrely more for the Germans. The Doctor had a cow. He hoisted it to the first floor of his house. This was knowing the Germans would visit to take any food they could lay their hands on.

Apologies for digressing from the subject. (not really )
















.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Another story my Mum tells is from slightly earlier than the battle, probably during the sitzkreig period.. Apparently there were a couple of old sisters living a couple of doors away that were Hitler worshippers. They had swastika decorations in the front room, a picture of Hitler on the wall and a special chair, again decorated, for when “He” came to visit. They used to shine torches out of the window at night to “signal to his submarines “. They were obviously “Batchy“ as they say in Hastings and were just tolerated by their neighbours, being visited for tea as was the custom in those days. Eventually though they disappeared, so were probably removed by the authorities.

 

[stona]

They used to shine torches out of the window at night to “signal to his submarines “. They were obviously “Batchy“ as they say in Hastings and were just tolerated by their neighbours, being visited for tea as was the custom in those days. Eventually though they disappeared, so were probably removed by the authorities.

It's great to read some personal reminiscences from Laurie and yourself. We sometimes lose sight of the fact that on the ground, far beneath all the aerial excitement, were ordinary people trying to get on with their lives in difficult times.

Showing a light inadvertently would get you fined. They even used to charge people with an additional offence of wasting electricity by having a light on! Typical fines were from £1-£5 pounds, the latter for repeat offenders, which was a substantial amount during the war. One of my grandparents' neighbours was fined 30s. It was my nan who told me that 30s [£1.50 if there is any young person reading this] was a lot for an ordinary family to find, but it shows how seriously the black-out was taken and enforced.

Showing a light deliberately or intentionally was a whole different ball game. That could see you end up in prison and, even, theoretically at least, on the end of a rope.

 

[stona]

Sunday 8 September

The day dawned clear but soon the cloud rolled in.

Even the weather now seemed to be on the side of the British. Richard Barclay of No 249 Squadron, which had suffered badly the previous day, wrote in his diary,

“The weather was bad today, thank goodness, so we had a reasonable rest. I think we were all still a bit shaken after yesterday.”

The Luftwaffe too needed to draw breath after its effort on the previous day. The attack on London had raised Luftwaffe morale. Ulrich Steinhilper of JG 52 wrote to his mother today.

“Yesterday we worked our greatest magic so far over London. During half an hour, more than 500,000 Kg of bombs were dropped on London. We were flying fighter escort and, at the moment, I am leading the squadron because the ‘Chief’ has a stomach upset. Right now we have only four aircraft which are fully airworthy but that’s fine.”

Dowding took advantage of the lull to rotate some of his most battered squadrons out of the line. Nos 43, 111 and 79 were all moved to safer areas, Nos 607 and 92 moved into the line. P/O Harry Welford remembered 607’s arrival at Tangmere.

“We were to relieve 43 Squadron, which had barely half the intended complement of pilots left capable of operational duties. Of course it was a tragedy so far as my fiancée was concerned and, though I felt the same, we were trained fighters. This was the beginning of the end, and, as we all climbed into our Hurricanes, having bid our adieus that fine Sunday morning, I wondered how many of us would see Usworth or Newcastle again. Strange as it may seem, dirty, smoky old Newcastle was suddenly a seventh heaven compared to the green fields of southern England.
We arrived at a completely blitzed aerodrome and were greeted by the remains of 43 Squadron, some on crutches, others with arms in slings, and yet another with his head swathed in bandages having had his face torn by an exploding enemy cannon shell. Though they had so many casualties it was amazing to see them walking about. “

The Luftwaffe finally got into action at 11.30 as the first RDF plots were made. No 41 Squadron was on a routine patrol when it was vectored to Dover, intercepting a heavily escorted formation of Do 17s. These were the aircraft of KG 2. Oberfeldwebel Borner from II./KG 2 remembered,

“Our unit was escorted by three full Jagdgeschwader. It is an impressive force that makes us feel pretty safe. By all accounts the enemy’s defence has also weakened.”

Heavily out numbered, 41 Squadron’s Hurricanes were caught in a dogfight with the escort. No 46 Squadron was next to arrive followed by others and finally the raid was broken up and turned east. Bombs were dropped or jettisoned over Kent. Several smaller raids crossed the coast during the next few hours but with limited success. Three bombers were claimed by London’s AAA defences, matching three Do 17s lost by KG 2.

Today the British had lost just 4 aircraft (a fifth would be lost tonight) and the Luftwaffe 7.

Crucially for Fighter Command only 11 squadrons had been used. About one quarter of the number of sorties were flown today, compared to yesterday. It was the first time in ten days that all of 11 Group’s squadrons had not been at readiness for the entire day.

The optimistic German assessments of Fighter Command’s strength were reinforced by the appearance of relatively few British fighters today. Goering issued an order to continue the attacks on London, which had been divided into two target areas: Area ‘A’ was the eastern districts with the port facilities and area ‘B’ was the western part with the large power and supply facilities. Air raid sirens sounded in London at 19.30 and over the next nine hours, 170 German bombers were in action over the capital. The city’s power plants and railway lines were targets for a total of 1,700 high-explosive bombs with a total weight of 207 tons, supplemented by several thousand incendiary bombs. When 9 September dawned fires once again raged in London. All rail lines to and from the city to the south and the southeast had been cut and a further 1,150 people had been killed or injured.

As Fighter Command, almost powerless at night, recovered, London burned again.

 

[BattleshipBob]

Such an enjoyable read! Look forward to reading this every morning!

On a personal note, my late grandad was an ambulance man (i think of him as a early paramedic) he was given a reserved job.

My dad said there was a few snide comments made that he was not doing his bit and had a easy life. However when Cardiff was bombed on many occasions these idiots soon shut up.

My late dad said with immense pride that as the sirens started and the bombs fell he put on his uniform, tin hat and bag of bandages etc and walked towards the horror while hundreds fled.

He never talked about what he saw but he had great admiration for the Salvation Army who always turned up offering tea, buns and comfort. What he saw must have been awful, he stayed with the ambulance service until he retired and i am so proud of him. He had many awards and a medal from St Johns but all have vanished.

One of the many unsung heros

 

[Deleted member 5496]

While all this was happening my father a carpenter & joiner just as coal miners was directed to use his talent.

He with others were producing the RAF rescue launches. Taggs Island on the Thames near Hampton Court..

Later, I must have been four I went to work with my dad on a Saturday. I would be sent up the blunt end (some call it forrard end) with a brush to sweep out the shavings & sawdust. Cannot remember being paid. However I can remember all the workmen who looked after me as if I was a prince.

Another thing that I remember. Railings, the one with the spikes, were all even on the smallest of houses installed. Englishman's Castle syndrome. During the war all were cut down & removed as steel was short.

Another the cinemas. Open through out the war. Saw my first films when about 3 may be 4 (sorry off topic again but just a bit) Wizard of Oz scared me to death had nightmares.

But the second. Lassie come Home. The story of a dog who went with his master a pilot on a mission. The aircraft was shot down the dog lost. The film was about Lassie finding her way back home to England. I just loved it I laughed & cried.

Laurie

 

[stona]

I was involved in a history project in the late '90s, trying to gather and preserve the memories of local people from WW2.

Laurie's memory of bomb sights, houses simply missing from terraces, etc., reminded me of a word I heard several times, the origin of which I have never been able to discover.

In Birmingham such sites were called 'pecks'. Several gentlemen (and a few ladies) remembered playing on 'bomb pecks' during and after the war. It seems to have been a word used commonly in Birmingham and what is now the West Midlands.

If anyone has any ideas about where this word came from I would love to hear, however odd the theory may be

 

[Deleted member 5496]

Fascinating Steve. We used to play on the bomed sites cricket & football mad keen at that time cowboys & indians. Malnly as they were flat.

Our expression was"let's go down to the bommy". That was Kingston Surrey jargin.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Interesting Laurie, to me a bommy was the bonfire night centrepiece.
Another story passed down as family folklore involves my mother’s’ uncle. He had lost his left arm in the first war, and in the second war used to carry out fire watches overnight, as many others did. Anyway, he was once questioned about his duties as a fire watcher by a pompous individual who was like Captain Square from Dad’s army. The blimp blustered on for a few minutes and then said “well my good man, what steps would you take if you post was on fire”. The uncle, who by then was really cheesed off with the whole thing and who never suffered fools gladly, said “bloody great long ones”......the Square then harrumphed loudly, stuttering “what, what! you would desert your post?” to which the uncle said “well, you don’t think I’d stay there when place was on fire do you”.... and walked out. Still makes me chuckle

 

[Jim F]

I was involved in a history project in the late '90s, trying to gather and preserve the memories of local people from WW2.

Laurie's memory of bomb sights, houses simply missing from terraces, etc., reminded me of a word I heard several times, the origin of which I have never been able to discover.

In Birmingham such sites were called 'pecks'. Several gentlemen (and a few ladies) remembered playing on 'bomb pecks' during and after the war. It seems to have been a word used commonly in Birmingham and what is now the West Midlands.

If anyone has any ideas about where this word came from I would love to hear, however odd the theory may be

Hi Steve, have a look at comment 26 in this link https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/bomb-pecks.36/page-2 regards Jim

 

[Deleted member 5496]

Interesting Laurie, to me a bommy was the bonfire night centrepiece.
Another story passed down as family folklore involves my mother’s’ uncle. He had lost his left arm in the first war, and in the second war used to carry out fire watches overnight, as many others did. Anyway, he was once questioned about his duties as a fire watcher by a pompous individual who was like Captain Square from Dad’s army. The blimp blustered on for a few minutes and then said “well my good man, what steps would you take if you post was on fire”. The uncle, who by then was really cheesed off with the whole thing and who never suffered fools gladly, said “bloody great long ones”......the Square then harrumphed loudly, stuttering “what, what! you would desert your post?” to which the uncle said “well, you don’t think I’d stay there when place was on fire do you”.... and walked out. Still makes me chuckle

Our kneck of the woods Tim a "bonny" for an outside garen fire etc.