Battle of Britain diary

[stona]

Monday 25 September

Fine weather but noticeably cooler in most areas.

Today the Luftwaffe would continue to attack the British aircraft industry. The Bristol Works in Filton, in the northern outskirts of Bristol was the target for today. Located nearly 100 kilometres north of the coast at Portsmouth this was an operation that could not be escorted by any other aircraft than the Bf 110. It was beyond the range of the Bf 109. The Luftwaffe was encouraged by recent reconnaissance which showed, correctly for once, that there were no fighters on the airfield at Filton.

Shortly after 11.00 the British detected a small raid crossing the coast. This was a diversionary raid, carried out by 11 Bf 110s of Epgr 210 on Portland. Fighter Command was not drawn, a much larger raid had been detected by RDF, forming up behind this one. Epgr 210 was not intercepted. British reports show that 15 houses were destroyed, telephone lines disrupted and the main road to Portland blocked.

The main German force crossed the Channel at 11.20 This consisted of 58 Heinkel 111s from KG 55, escorted by fifty Bf 110s from ZG 26 and II./ZG 76. Robert Goetz, the gunner aboard one of the He 111s, afterwards wrote down his impressions when the aircraft set off out over the English Channel.

“We are assigned three full Zerstorer Gruppen as fighter escort! Above Cherbourg, they suddenly appear, high above us. It is reassuring to see so many twin-engined fighters up there, with their shark jaws and other similar symbols painted on the planes. These are able to follow us much further inland than the single-engined ‘109s, and they also have terrific firepower.”

Air Vice-Marshal Christopher Brand, 10 Group’s commander, judged that this raid was heading for the Westland works at Yeovil and scrambled three squadrons to protect it. As a result of his misjudgement the raid flew almost unopposed to Filton. Only No 152 Squadron managed to engage before they attacked the Bristol works. P/O Eric Marrs remembered.

“We climbed up to 16,000 ft and saw a tremendous cloud of aircraft just round Yeovil way going North. There were two large groups of bombers consisting of about 40 bombers each. Milling around and above and behind them were numerous Me 110s acting as guard. Well the two of us proceeded North, passed the enemy and came round in front of them. We waited just South of Bristol for them. Then we attacked. We went head-on straight for the middle of the foremost group of bombers firing as we went, we cut through the heart of them like a knife through cheese; but they wouldn’t break.”

At 11.45 81.5 tonnes of HE bombs and 6 tonnes of incendiaries started to fall on Filton. 132 people were killed, of which 91 were Bristol employees, and a further 315 were injured. 8 completed aircraft destroyed. Doris Botterill was a young woman working on engine assembly in the Rodney works.

“As I reached the air-raid shelter and sat down, we were thrown from side to side in quick succession, by the bomb blasts. There was quite a lot of shouting and screaming and confusion. We were soon to realise that we would be very lucky to get out alive, but a very astute foreman named Fred Hemmings pulled me out and a lot of my workmates too.
When we were pulled out, it was to a scene of devastation that had gone on all around us. There were planes on fire, bombs still exploding; and people killed by the blast, lying around everywhere. As we made our way up the hill to the Filton Canteen the scene was utter chaos, and needless to say we felt we had no stomachs left. Our names were taken, and the dead and parts of the dead were taken to Filton Church to be identified later.”

Production was severely curtailed. Lord Beaverbrook, the British Minister for Aircraft Production wrote.

“We lost the Rodney works, with complete stoppage of engine output for one week. The effect on airframe production at the plant represents a loss of two or three weeks’ output of Beauforts and Beaufighters.”

1 He 111 and 1 Bf 110 had been lost to anti-aircraft fire. As the Luftwaffe withdrew Nos 152 and 238 Squadrons engaged. 2 more He 111s were shot down and another damaged. The RAF had lost 3 fighters with another 5 damaged.

This had been a rare success for the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe magazine, ‘Der Adler’ soon proclaimed that

“This factory will not produce many more aircraft.”

Major Friederich Kless, who led the attack, was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 14 October.

Today the Bf 109s of Luftflotte 3, which had been moved to the Pas de Calais to cover Operation Sealion, returned to their bases in Brittany and Normandy. The British also noticed for the first time that the concentrations of barges around Calais were dispersing. It was the first sure sign that the threat of invasion in 1940 was receding.

There was a significant effort by the Luftwaffe tonight, 219 sorties being flown, London was again the primary target.

Bomber Command was also in action tonight.

“117 aircraft to Channel ports, Kiel docks and to six other German targets. No losses.”

[stona]

Tuesday 26 September

Mainly fair but with clouds.

The day started with Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights over England and then raids by single aircraft on towns in the South East but also as far apart as Coventry and Whitby.

In a classic case of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, No 504 Squadron was moved from Hendon to Filton today.

The main effort of the day was once again an attack on the British aircraft industry, this time the target was the Supermarine works at Woolston. KG 55 and ZG 26 again played the main role. Fifty-nine He 111s moved out over the Channel, escorted by seventy Bf 110s from ZG 26. Twelve RAF squadrons went up to meet the Germans, but again they ended up in the wrong place. The raid arrived over Southampton at 17.45 without interception and 70 tonnes of bombs fell on the Supermarine works. This time, unlike the ‘precision’ attacks of Epgr 210, some of whom joined this raid, both the factory sites were almost completely destroyed. Thirty people were killed, three completed Spitfires were destroyed and another twenty two damaged. Production was completely halted.

As the raid withdrew Fighter Command arrived, Nos 229, 238, 152, 607, 303, 602 and 609 Squadrons all got into the action. For the most part they tangled with the Bf 110s of ZG 76, receiving something of a mauling at the hands of the Germans. Several Zerstorer aces played a prominent role in the air combat. Oberstleutnant Johannes Schalk achieved his 10th victory, Oberleutnant Sophus Baagoe recorded his 12th, Oberfahnrich Alfred Wehmeyer and Unteroffizier Richard Heller their 5th, and Feldwebel Helmut Haugk his 6th. The Bf 109s of JGs 2 and 53 also turned up to cover the withdrawal, though they accounted for just one of the RAF fighters lost in this action.

Today the Fighter Command had lost or written off 6 aircraft in this action alone, plus another two in unrelated action against the Luftwaffe. It had another 9 aircraft damaged. The Luftwaffe had lost just 1 He 111 and 2 Bf 110s in the Woolston raid. Another He 111 returned damaged. This did not stop the RAF overclaiming by a factor of 13! Of the thirty-nine reported kills only seven were not confirmed. The greatest successes were attributed to 303 (Polish) Squadron, which accounted for one third of the victory claims (all of which were confirmed). It is doubtful that the Poles of No 303 Squadron shot anything down today, some have attributed their excessive over claiming today to enthusiasm caused by a visit by none other than King George VI, but No 303 Squadron were serial over claimers, adding not a little to their legendary status today.

There is no doubt that this raid, like that of the day before had been a success for the Luftwaffe. The Germans did not appreciate that Spitfire production would continue elsewhere, nor just how quickly the Southampton production would be dispersed and resumed. Supermarine employee Cyril Russell recalled,

“By the following Monday we were all back on the job in garages, laundries, car show rooms, etc., all over Southampton. It was a magnificent achievement and I should think still unparalleled in speed.”

Tonight, the Luftwaffe was back, but not in great force. As usual London was the principle target. It is pertinent that the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory was easily within range of these nocturnal raids, but due to poor intelligence was not targeted and would eventually make up the bulk of Spitfire production..

Bomber Command flew 77 sorties tonight, most once again to the Channel ports, but targets in Dortmund and Kiel were also attacked. 2 aircraft were lost.

[Guest]

A little snippet on how life was then. At night.

The Morrison Shelter which was a huge metal frame. Mum baby sister & I slept in it. It was placed in the sitting room & used as a table during the day. Looks barbaric despite being young I still have vague memories. Like all things providing your mum is there all is OK. Dad was always out on incendary fire duty. Maker of RAF launches by day Aux. Fireman at night.

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Later we had an Anderson Shelter. Half in the ground made of concrete above ground corrugated steel. Covered with earth. Dad was a carpenter so he rigged it out with bunks. Actually it was comfortable & with all four of us in there very cosy. For pee, Po a series of them.

My wife's aunt & uncle had the Anderson Shelter in the back garden. My wife's family lived just a few doors away. This was in Morden on the outskirts of west London.

Towards the end of the B of B, not sure of the date, & the siren blared that night. The siren a chilling continous moan which seemed to go on for an eternity.

All families crawled into their Anderson. Pulled the door too & listened as German Aircraft droned above in the darkened sky. A lot of bangs etc as was the usual. The siren blared out the all clear. A series of short blasts, the friendly bit.

Aunty & Uncle, with their 3 year old nipper, crawled out of the shelter into the cool night air.

Their house had disappeared. Just a pile of bricks & broken timber. However Anderson Shelter saved them that is for certain.

For us kids this was all normal. Holes in the rows of houses every where. However for mothers & fathers it must have been hell on earth looking after their pride & joy. Their kids.

This was similar to our shelter. But dad being dad smoothed the ouside & grew grass over the whole thing & kept it mowed :tongue-out:


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[stillp]

I must find the old photo of the Anderson at my grandparents' house in Cardiff. I have some of my mother and colleagues on fire watch from the roof of their office building, which is now a 'boutique' hotel.
Pete

[stona]

My late sister in law and her husband moved into what I suppose would be described as a townhouse in a well know ex-cotton town in Lancashire. This would have been during the eighties from memory. In the cellar was an unassembled Anderson shelter (also several respirators in original if decaying cardboard boxes). Clearly whoever had lived there during the war had never bothered to assemble/install the shelter despite there being a substantial garden. It was a nice house and I imagine whoever lived there during the war had an annual income above £250, meaning they would have paid £7 for the shelter.
The house was sold following her death and I've never asked either of her sons what happened to the shelter, I will now! I bet it's still there :smiling3:

[Guest]

(also several respirators in original if decaying cardboard boxes).

Wow respirators. Blinking heck These are the kiddies ones. Obviously designed to kid the kiddies they were not so bad. Oh dear they were. Scary things.

Imagine putting those on a young kid. They smelt of this awful rubber. Claustrophobic your voice sounded weird & so did your mothers when talking to you. Thanks god we only had to carry them around & not wear them

Every school child had these brown covered boxes on their shoulder with a mask in. Not those below a grown up one ha ha. Gee what a weird world.

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And a babies mask which I remember lying around ready for my sister

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[stona]

The one the woman is wearing in the Life photo is the civilian version, with the one piece eye piece. It's similar to the ones found with the shelter.

[Tim Marlow]

Mum’s family had a Morrison shelter, but after the first few weeks it wasn’t used by the household because Salisbury wasn’t targeted and for the occasional alert they preferred the communal shelter just up the road. Apparently the dog used to sleep in it, and the kids used it as a stage....
She hated the gas masks though, and her sister struggled with one because she suffered with asthma.

[Guest]

Just remembered the young kiddies gas mask was called Mickey Mouse.

[JR]

Great reading the reports from Steve, and the personal stories of life from Laurie, Tim and Peter.
Thanks guys .

[Guest]

Mum’s family had a Morrison shelter, but after the first few weeks it wasn’t used by the household because Salisbury wasn’t targeted and for the occasional alert they preferred the communal shelter just up the road. Apparently the dog used to sleep in it, and the kids used it as a stage....
She hated the gas masks though, and her sister struggled with one because she suffered with asthma.

Not surprised she hated them Tim. They were pretty revolting the smell of the rubber alone. Plus not as easy to breath as you were fighting with exhaling air through the valve then in haling through the filter.

Actually they would probably have made a rustic type model maker's mask :smiling:

[Tim Marlow]

I haven’t handled one, but I assume they were natural rubber rather than the synthetic stuff we have these days? If so, I can imagine how bad the smell was! Quite a logistical exercise though to make, distribute, and assign a gas mask for every individual!

[stona]

Wednesday 27 September

Fair in the south, but with cloud in the Channel.

Today would see a level of fighting not seen since Battle of Britain Day. It would be another decisive day in the battle, arguably one of the three most important of the Battle. This entry will again have to be split into several sections, covering the three major actions of the day.

After the successes of the last two days the Luftwaffe would make a large effort today. The Bristol works at Filton would be targeted again, a sensible follow up raid to ensure that production was further disrupted or halted, but London would also be the target for two daylight raids. It would be the first time a significant force had been sent in daylight, against London, for many days.

The day started badly for the Luftwaffe when a Ju 88 reconnaissance plane from 2.(F)/123 which had been sent out to reconnoitre before the main attack was intercepted and shot down by a Spitfire. P/O Eric Marrs of No 152 Squadron was the victorious British pilot.

“I set the ball rolling by finding a lone Ju 88 at 23,000 ft. I had a long running fight during which we came down to 50ft and skimmed the hills of Devon. I did continuous quarter attacks aiming at his engines and was able to hit both of them. Glycol streamed forth and I hovered around waiting. As I expected, both engines soon stopped. He made for the South coast of the Bristol Channel and landed about 20 yds from the beach. I circled around and watched the crew get out. They waved to me and I waved back and then hordes of civilians came rushing up. I watched the crew taken prisoner, beat up the beach and then climbed away.”

First attack on London:

In the morning the Germans dispatched twenty-nine bombers against London, divided into several smaller bomber formations, Ju 88s from II./KG 76, escorted by JG 52 and JG 54, Ju 88s of KG 77 and He 111s from KG 53. Fighter Command countered them with twenty squadrons with over two hundred Spitfires and Hurricanes. The majority of these were concentrated against the fifteen Ju 88s from I./KG 77. These had been provided with a close escort of twenty-three Bf 110s from V.(Z)/LG 1 and ZG 76. Forty Bf 109s from JG 27 flew ‘extended escort’. Twelve Hurricanes from No 213 Squadron were the first to attack. They got past the Bf 109s and went for the Ju 88s at full speed. The Bf 110s, however, caught them and shot down one of the British machines. In the confusion that arose, the ten Bf 110s from V.(Z)/LG 1 lost contact with the bombers and the other Zerstorers and flew northwest instead of towards London. This had disastrous consequences. V.(Z)/LG 1 immediately drew the attention of the RAF air controllers who ordered several squadrons against them. In the ensuing battle one of the Bf 110s would be shot down, No 303 Squadron would lose three of its Hurricanes. ZG 76, heading towards London further east, was attacked by twenty three Spitfires from 72 and 92 squadrons but managed to shoot down one of the attackers without any losses. Then the Spitfire pilots got into a difficult battle with the Bf 109s from JG 27 and JG 54. Both sides lost fighters, JG 27 two of its Bf 109s, JG 54 one. Nos 253 and 602 Squadrons, each with ten Hurricanes and Spitfires, also had joined the attacks on this formation when a second Bf 110 from V.(Z)/LG 1 was shot down. At Redhill, twenty-four more Hurricanes from 17 and 249 squadrons came in to attack the Bf 110s. Shortly afterwards, near Biggin Hill, another two dozen Spitfires and Hurricanes from 66 and 605 squadrons turned on the last seven Bf 110s of V.(Z)/LG 1. Several of them chased the Bf 110 which was flown by the commander of 15./LG 1, Oberleutnant Ulrich Freiherr von Gravenreuth. The German pilot flew low to escape his pursuers and did not notice he was coming in over Gatwick airfield, where several anti-aircraft guns and machine guns hit his Bf 110 with devastating effect. The Messerschmitt exploded, and the burning wreckage rained over the airfield.

The Bf 109s, with their limited endurance now began to turn for home with dwindling fuel loads, and there was not much that II./ZG 76 could do to rescue the remaining crews from V.(Z)/LG 1. Oberstleutnant Walter Grabmann, the commander of ZG 76, said,

“Over London we came under concentrated attacks by superior numbers of enemy fighters, which separated us from the bombers. The thirteen aircraft in ZG 76, I led the formation, flew in a defensive circle over London for more than twenty minutes.”

The aircraft of ZG 76 were pinned down by twenty-four Hurricanes from Nos 73 and 501 Squadrons which reported combat with ‘30-40 Me 110s flying in circles at 18,000ft over London’. In this protracted clash three Hurricanes and a Bf 110 were shot down. No 303 Squadron’s pilots launched an attack on the Ju 88s, which then broke off and turned southwards, four were shot down along with another Bf 110. Spitfire pilots from 602 Squadron who had taken off from Westhampnett, joined in and also attacked the bombers. None of the German units was in as much trouble as V.(Z)/LG 1 which finally turned and fled back towards the coast, it had been almost annihilated, with only three Bf 110s remaining. One of the pilots, Unteroffizier Peter Voelskow said,

“I did the only possible thing: low-level flight at a few metres over willows, hedges and the occasional houses. As I did so I made repeated quick, steep turns very near the ground in order to give my pursuers a more difficult target. Once one of them went too high and lost sight of us under his engine cowling. My radio operator Kurt Schwarz fired at him. The Hurricane rolled to the right and I almost rammed it as I had also just made a right turn and was flying roughly parallel to a slope. Then my other two pursuers lost sight of me, they fired over the crest of the hill. I continued to stay low at maximum speed until the middle of the Channel, when Kurt Schwarz pounded on my shoulders with his fist and screamed: “Let up!” The Hurricanes had not followed us any further.”

Having lost eight of its aircraft and crews, V.(Z)/LG 1 joined the German units that were taken out of combat. The morning had not gone well for the Luftwaffe. Its next effort would be against the Bristol works at Filton.

[stona]

Wednesday 27 September-Part two

Attack on Filton:

This attack would be undertaken by the aircraft of Luftflotte 3. Detailed to the raid were Thirty He 111s from I. and II./KG 55 and nineteen Messerschmitt 110 fighter-bombers from Erprobungsgruppe 210, escorted by the Bf 110s of I. and II./ZG 26. This time Air Vice-Marshal Christopher Brand was not fooled and correctly guessed that the raid was heading for Bristol. 10 Group met the Heinkels and their escort with five squadrons, making such a violent attack that the bomber formation was torn to pieces. The bombers jettisoned their bombs, mostly in the Sherbourne area, and headed for the protection of ZG 26, which was flying a defensive circle over Swanage, but the zerstorers were themselves under attack from No 609 Squadron, up from Middle Wallop.

The Bf 110s of Epgr forced on towards Filton and now attracted the attention of the 10 Group controller. The Observer Corps posts accurately tracked the movements of the Bf 110s for the entire 80 kilometres to Bristol. The German report reads,

“Five kilometres before the target we were attacked by fifteen Hurricanes in a closed formation, which interfered with the accuracy of the bombing.”

These Hurricanes belonged to No. 504 Squadron, which had moved to Filton following the previous raid on the Bristol works, and despite the twenty Zerstorers that escorted Epgr 210 having the advantage of both height and numbers, the Hurricane pilots quickly managed to gain the upper hand. They shot down four Bf 110s without any own losses. Then twelve Hurricanes from 56 Squadron joined in and shot down two more, also without any losses. I. and II./ZG 26 not only lost three of their Bf 110s, but they also failed completely to protect the assault planes. Of the nineteen crews in Eprg 210 four were lost. The Gruppenkommandeur, Hauptmann Martin Lutz and the ‘experten’ Oberleutnant Wilhelm Richard Rossiger and their crews were all killed. Forty of the Gruppe’s aircrew, including its last three Gruppenkommandeurs (Rubensdorffer, von Boltenstern and Lutz) and four Staffel commanders, had not returned in the last thirteen weeks of effort. As Epgr 210 was bleeding to death in the skies of SW England Luftflotte 2 was starting its second operation, against London.

Second attack on London:

There were two separate parts to this raid.

The first wave followed the orders that small bomber forces should be escorted by large numbers of fighters. The 30 He 111 bombers from II./KG 53 which would carry out the attack were covered by no less than 200 Bf 109s and Bf 110s. Park responded by ordering up twenty squadrons. While the fighters on both sides clashed, the Heinkels were able to reach London and drop their bombs across London, though no major damage was reported. All the He 111s returned to their bases with just two reported as damaged. For once the bombers had got through.

The second wave was not so successful. The units returned under orders to meet and escort a large formation of Do 17s and Ju 88s to London. The fighter pilots climbed above the agreed rendezvous point to wait for the bombers, but never found them. There was no wireless communication between the fighter and bomber units. The 55 bombers of KG 77 took off into cloud. Some crews tried to climb above the clouds, some tried to take a detour around them, others lost orientation in the poor visibility. As the bombers emerged from the clouds the unit commanders desperately tried to assemble their crews but when KG 77 eventually moved off towards England, the unit was stretched out in a long stream that allowed fighter attacks from all angles and reduced the mutual support of the fire from the bombers. When the Luftwaffe fighters finally made contact with the bombers they were already low on fuel. The debacle was concluded when almost 200 British fighters attacked. Many of the Bf 109s were attacked as they sought to withdraw to France and KG 77 lost eight of its Ju 88s. The unit’s losses for the day now totalled 12 Ju 88s. This action was once again an unequivocal victory for the defenders.

[stona]

Wednesday 27 September-Part three

The reckoning:

In total the Luftwaffe carried out 1,173 sorties over England in daylight today with almost no success. Less than 30 aircraft had scattered bombs across London and the Bristol factory was unscathed. For this it had lost 56 aircraft with a further 10 damaged. All of the crews from the aircraft shot down were either dead or prisoners of war. For its part, Fighter Command had lost 28 fighters with 11 pilots listed as killed or missing. Among those killed was No 303 Squadron’s P/O Ludwik Paszkiewwicz, the first of the Poles to shoot down an enemy aircraft when supposedly on a training flight, back on 30 August.

Today Adolf Galland was not flying. He had been summoned to Germany to receive the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross. He was hunting with Goering at his East Prussian estate. According to Galland (who is not an always reliable source) Goering left to study the report of today’s actions in the evening. Shortly after Galland was summoned to the Reichsmarschall’s study.

“…an Unteroffizier came and took me to the Reichsmarschall’s study. Instead of my jovial host from the breakfast table, I saw before me a broken man. With a tired gesture he showed me the latest reports. It was disastrous news. Deeply shaken, Goering asked me to tell him the truth without any euphemisms. He couldn’t understand why our bomber losses kept increasing. I told him about the same as I told Hitler… my admiration for the opponent and what I thought of exaggerated reports in the press and radio.”

The British were sure that they had won another victory. Churchill would say,

“27 September ranks with 15 September and 15 August as the third great and victorious day of the Fighter Command during the course of the Battle of Britain.”

On this day Fighter Command’s controllers had managed to lead 513 fighter pilots into combat with the enemy, the second highest figure since the record of 550 on 15 September. It should be emphasised that the Germans carried out almost twice as many fighter sorties on 27 September, a total of 998, which was in accordance with the new tactics, escorting bombers with overwhelming escorts. They had not worked, this time they were simply defeated by the RAF. No less than 36 Messerschmitt fighters had been shot down. The scale of losses in some units was unsustainable. V.(Z)/LG 1, which had been in the front line the whole time, had lost 42 Bf 110s in combat since the beginning of July 1940. In less than ten combat missions over the English Channel II./JG 52 suffered a loss of 13 aircraft and as many pilots. Oberleutnant Johannes Steinhoff, who at the time served as Staffelkapitan of 4./JG 52, explained how this affected the mood of II./JG 52.

“It had a great impact on the pilots’ strength. Our morale was badly affected and many simply couldn’t take it psychologically. We felt helpless and confused.”

Ulrich Steinhilper from I./JG 52, the only Gruppe in JG 52 that performed well during operations over the Channel, wrote a letter to his mother. He had led the Gruppe for the first time today, just 13 Bf 109s was all it could muster.

“It seems that you don’t think it will be over by Christmas. I believe there is still a chance. If not, then all of our missions which have hit the British fighter defences really hard will have been for nothing.”

These are not the words of men who see victory within their grasp.

On a lighter note, the dozens of aircraft crashing across southern counties provided opportunity for some, particularly the unidentified eleven year old boy in this Sussex Constabulary report. The aircraft concerned is a Bf 110 of LG1 which came down at Coppice Farm in East Sussex.

“Despite repeated police warnings that any person who took parts of crashed aircraft was guilty of theft and would be prosecuted, souvenir hunters were soon on the scene. One man took the spark-plugs out of one of the engines and used them in his own car. Mrs Message, on whose land the aircraft had crashed, had one of its wheels and kept it in a wheelbarrow in her back garden. One eleven year old boy got a set of spanners and dismantled two machine guns. That evening two policemen, Sgt Hibbs and PC Howard went to his house and took them away saying ‘If we don’t want them we will let you have them back’.

Good lad! I bet he didn’t get the machine guns back.

The Luftwaffe was back tonight, bombs again fell across central London. There were reports of bombing from all but one region of the country. An estimated 25 bombers attacked Liverpool. One bomb landed in the ground of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. For its part Bomber Command dispatched 86 sorties, mainly to the Channel ports, but railway targets in the Ruhr and the U-boat base at Lorient were also attacked. 1 aircraft was lost.