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Close Combat
effective strategy is to send small fighter forma-
tions to disrupt and harry the German bombers.
It is a decision that proves correct; the British
conserve valuable fighters while ravaging the
German bomber formations.
On Eagle Day the Luftwaffe loses 45 planes while
the British lose only 13. More importantly, of the
13 planes shot down, six of the pilots return to fly
again; German crews escaping their damaged
planes land on enemy soil and are out of the war.
But over the next week, German bomber and
fighter pilots fly over 5,000 sorties. As August
draws to a close, the scales of victory are tipping
in favor of the Luftwaffe; on August 31, the RAF loses 39 planes while the
Luftwaffe loses 41.
The first week of September proves pivotal in the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe
has succeeded in knocking out many RAF airfields but, perhaps due to intelligence
failures, they inexplicably leave some airfields virtually untouched. Consequently,
the Luftwaffe shifts its bombing efforts to industrial targets. This shift enables the
British to bring some of their airfields back into operation. The Germans continue
night raids against military, industrial, and civilian targets.
On September 3, the operational orders for Operation Sealion, the German
invasion of Great Britain, are cut in Berlin. The invasion is scheduled for
September 21; the decision to go will be made on September 10. The British lose
120 planes in the first week of September, and the Germans lose 148. It appears
that the Germans are still winning the battle of attrition, but the British keep
sending fighters up to meet the Luftwaffe; it is clear the British are not yet beaten.
Between September 7 and 15, the Germans launch several major bombing raids
against targets in Great Britain. The first major daylight raid
500 bombers and
600 fighters
is aimed at London. Another 250 bombers, guided by the fires
started during the day, hit the city at night. British civilians refer to the air raids as
“the Blitz.” To combat these large formations, Spitfire and Hurricane squadrons
are combined into larger forces; these larger fighter groups succeed in breaking up
most of the German formations.
On September 10, Hitler postpones his decision on Operation Sealion. He does not
feel the Luftwaffe has won supremacy in the air. He postpones his decision again
on September 14.
The Germans make another major effort against London on September 15. British
fighters swarm upon the Luftwaffe formations on the incoming and return legs of
the morning and afternoon raids. The battle between fighters is a draw, with both
Agents of the Italian Servizio
Informazione Militare steal the “Black
Code” from the U.S. Embassy in
Rome. This is the code used by the
U.S. Military Attache in Cairo to send
accurate and detailed reports to the
U.S. War Department concerning the
British Eighth Army’s plans. This
intelligence source will prove invalu-
able to Rommel for almost a year.