Posted on 07/29/2010 4:34:22 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Judging from reports here the Royal Air Force so far has been unable to do much to hinder these raids, which are directed as much against open sea shipping as they are against fixed land objectives . . .
Background:
Michael Korda, With Wings Like Eagles: The Untold Story of the Battle of Britain
Also from image #2:
The Germans charged that British airmen shot down an unarmed emergency seaplane, marked with the Red Cross, when it attempted to rescue the crew of a plane which had crashed into the sea. According to the official German news agency D.N.B., the Red Cross plane was the fourth that the British have destroyed recently. The news agency asserted that “England does not recognize the Red Cross in sea warfare.”
Background:
Michael Korda, With Wings Like Eagles: The Untold Story of the Battle of Britain
* See reply #3 above
Forgot the ping list again. Contents and note at reply #4.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/jul40/f29jul40.htm
Royal Navy stays out of Channel
Monday, July 29, 1940 www.onwar.com
In the English Channel... Another British destroyer is sunk and the whole eastern half of the Channel is placed out of bounds for Royal Navy destroyers in daylight. Minesweeping operations continue, however, ensuring that access can be gained if necessary.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/29.htm
July 29th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyer HMS Delight is bombed and set on fire escorting a channel convoy off Portland. She manages to make it back to port, but sinks in Portland harbour the next morning. (Alex Gordon)(108)
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - marshalling yards at Hamm and oil plant at Dusseldorf.
58 Sqn. Eight aircraft to Hamm. Weather bad. One bombed primary, seven bombed alternative targets.
102 Sqn. Eight aircraft to Dusseldorf. Weather bad and opposition heavy. Five bombed.
Dover: “Hellfire Corner” was attacked by the Luftwaffe again today as Stuka’s protected by Bf109s attacked shipping at Dover. The concussion of bursting bombs shook buildings and broke windows all along the seafront, while waterspouts dropped tons of water onto ships in the harbour.
RAF fighters tore into enemy formations already heavily engaged by AA defences. 12 out of 80 German planes engaged were downed to three RAF machines.
41 Sqn begin the proceedings with a 07:25 scramble to engage the enemy on his northern flank, leaving ten Hurricanes of 501 Sqn. to race in from the sunward side. As they met the Luftwaffe they realised they were facing one of the largest formations yet of Bf109s escorting two waves of Stukas.
The Stuka’s attacked Dover sinking the previously damaged ‘Gronland’ and starting a fire aboard a submarine depot ship. 41 Sqn. went in after the Stukas but Bf109s bore down upon the Spitfires. The squadron forced to split engaged both, and lost one aircraft in combat and four more in crash landings for the destruction of one Bf109. 64 and 56 Sqns. were vectored to help. 501 Sqn. penetrated to the Stukas, shooting down two into the sea. Incendiaries and HEs which had fallen on the Royal Navy oil depot broke a supply pipe from which split fuel gushed, then blazed upon the water. Dover’s AA guns added to the confusion and claimed 501’s Ju87s.
Soon after midday attention switched to Channel convoys. Off Dungeness one was subjected to a low-level onslaught by Ju88s of KG 76, whose lead aircraft hit a ships balloon cable. Another was claimed by the ships’ gunners. Convoy ‘Agent’ off Essex came under attack by a mixture of 36 fighter and fighter-bomber Bf110s. 151 Sqn engaged. From 45 miles off Felixstowe a reconnaissance Do 17 was chased as far as the Dutch coast, and three pilots of 85 Sqn. had a share in a He-111 approaching ‘Agent’. A few minutes later another He-111 was destroyed off Lowestoft.
Night raids include nine on north-east England. At Hull five shops and a pub were damaged. Near Bury St. Edmunds, soon after midnight a Ju88 crashed .
Corvette HMS Clover laid down.
Destroyer HMS Tetcott laid down.
Corvette HMS (ex-FS) La Malouine commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
BELGIUM: Germany annexes Eupen, Malmedy and Moresnet.
GERMANY: The German navy reports that landings on the British coast cannot take place until mid-September.
Secret Report of the SS Secret Service on German internal affairs, NO. 110 of Monday 29 July 1940 (extract);
V. The economy: The effects of night air raids on industrial production..
...Thus Dortmund reports a falling off in mining production there as a result of overfatigue and diminished resiliency. Many personnel say that they have a long way to go to get to the pits, and as a result they have only a short time to get to sleep at the end of the air raid alert. The consequence is that personnel frequently fall asleep, which is leading increasingly to short shifts. The alertness of personnel is also suffering, so that already additional accidents have occurred.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: On 21 July RN convoy AN2 (HMSs Capetown, Liverpool, Diamond, Defender, Dainty, HMAS Stuart, and 6 merchant vessels departed Alexandria for ports in the Aegean, and then picked up the returning convoy AS2 on 26 July. Covering the operation was the Adm A. B. Cunningham’s Mediterranean Fleet operating off Crete with HMSs Eagle, Warspite, Malaya, Royal Sovereign, Neptune, HMAS Sydney, and 10 destroyers. Starting on 27 July, the various forces are subjected to numerous Italian air attacks, particularly on 29 July, when HMS Eagle’s Sea Gladiators of 813 Fighter Flight again arise (literally) to the occasion. While breaking up several attacks, Lt. L. K. Keith, RN in N5513 and Lt. P. W. V. Massey, RN in N5512 shoot down 1 S.79. Unfortunately, Lt. Massey pursues one foe too far and with his fuel exhausted, he force lands N5512 along side HMAS Stuart. This will ultimately prove to be the only Sea Gladiator lost off HMS Eagle in 6 months of operations. During the entire three days operations, the Italian bombers achieve only a single bomb hit on HMS Liverpool which, fortunately for the RN, fails to explode. (Mark Horan)
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Chambly launched Montreal, Province of Quebec. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: John Sigmund of St. Louis, Missouri completes a 292-mile (470 km) swim down the Mississippi River. It took him 89 hours, 48 minutes to swim from St. Louis to Caruthersville, Missouri. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0215, the unescorted Clan Menzies was torpedoed and sunk by U-99 about 150 miles west of Loop Head, Co. Clare. Six crewmembers were lost. The master and 87 crewmembers landed at Enniscrone, Co. Sligo. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 333 July 29, 1940
Battle of Britain Day 20. At 7.30 AM, 40 Stuka Ju87s bomb Dover Harbour escorted by 40 Messerschmitt Bf109s. Spitfires of 41 and 64 Squadrons and Hurricanes of 43 and 56 Squadrons attack, shooting down 8 Ju87s and 7 Bf109s. Anti-aircraft guns down 2 more Stukas. 2 Spitfires and 1 Hurricane are shot down. At 5 PM, Destroyer HMS Delight leaves Portland on the English South coast to patrol West coast of Britain, contravening new Navy orders banning sailing through the English Channel in daylight. At 6.30 PM, Delight is bombed by German aircraft from Cherbourg. A bomb penetrates the foredeck causing an explosion below deck (18 killed, 59 wounded) but Delight is able to steam back to Portland.
60 miles Southwest of Stavanger, Norway, British submarine HMS Sealion attacks U-62, on the surface, with 3 torpedoes and her deck gun. U-62 dives and escapes without damage. http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3422.html
At 2.15 AM, U-99 sinks British steamer Clan Menzies (7000 tons of wheat, grain and fruit, 1500 tons of zinc, 840 tons of general cargo) 75 miles West of Ireland. 6 crew are killed but 88 survivors escape to Ireland in lifeboats. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/439.html
This was back in the days, not only before air conditioning, but also, supposedly, before "man-made global warming."
Seems mother nature had a way of making things hot enough on her own, even without our alleged inputs.
Worth remembering that Stalin had been warned in a general way of Hitler's intentions toward Russia back in 1939.
And within weeks of Hitler's decisions in 1940, Stalin was again being warned of the coming attack.
Stalin refused to believe all such warnings.
Stalin gambled that the Germans would get bogged down in the West-when France fell so quickly, he realized that he would not be ready for a Nazi attack, so he did anything he could to buy more time. This meant he couldn’t act as if he knew a German attack was imminent, for fear of provoking an attack even earlier.
It’s an interesting story about Dowding. Thanks for posting it.
Reading the headlines about the “imminent” invasion of Britain, it looks like Hitler is up to his old tricks of bluff and bluster. They worked well against Austrians, Czechs and the French, but the Brits aren’t buying it.
Date: 29 July 1940
Enemy action by day
The main activity was as follows:
Region
South and West
At 0906 hours, a raid was plotted a few miles west of Varne Light Vessel. The number of aircraft varied from 20+ to 2+ but no attack materialised.
Several enemy reconnaissances were plotted in the Channel, and of these, one Ju88 was shot down off Portsmouth by No. 145 Squadron.
At about 1815 hours, some 30-40 aircraft flew from Cherbourg towards Lyme Bay but turned away when 20 miles out. Part of this raid turned north-west again to within ten miles of Portland where it is reported to have bombed a naval unit. Fighters were despatched but did not intercept.
East and South-East
At 0718 hours, preceded by one sortie over Dover at 24,000 feet, four raids assembled in the Calais-Boulogne-St Omer area and at 0734 hours were consolidated as one raid of 80+ aircraft which flew from just east of Cap Gris Nez to attack Dover. Reports received indicate that the damage was comparatively light with few casualties. One merchant vessel (already damaged) and one small yacht were sunk and one naval unit was damaged. The actual number of bomber aircraft engaged in the attack is estimated at 40 Ju87s, and these approached in two waves of 20 aircraft each, covered by approximately the same number of Me109s. Four fighter squadrons were sent up and shot down eight Ju87s (confirmed) and seven Me109s (confirmed) and five Ju87s (unconfirmed) and two Me109s (unconfirmed). AA accounted for two Ju87s. Our losses were two Spitfires and one Hurricane.
At 1300 hours, trawlers were bombed off Dungeness and No 610 Squadron probably accounted for one Do215.
Several enemy reconnaissances were plotted off the East Coast and one of these, one He111 which was reconnoitring a convoy off Harwich, was shot down by No 17 Squadron and one Do17 is a probable casualty by No 85 Squadron.
At about 1720 hours, 32+ aircraft were plotted as approaching a convoy off North Foreland. Seven squadrons were despatched to intercept this raid, but only one (No 151) made contact and this squadron accounted for two Me110s (confirmed) and another probable. One Hurricane crashed on landing. The convoy suffered no casualties through air action.
North and North-East
Two raids approached the Aberdeen area during the morning. One of these was intercepted and fighters engaged two Heinkels which, however, evaded them in clouds.
France
The usual patrols were flown in the Calais-Boulogne-Gris Nez areas and several reconnaissance flights took place in the Channel. No interceptions were effected.
By night
Enemy activity appeared to be on a reduced scale inland, but there was considerable minelaying activity on the Dover, Thames Estuary and Harwich areas. Observer Corps posts report that seaplanes were operating.
Later, nine raids of small numbers approached the East Coast between Scarborough and St Abb's Head. Some of these raids crossed the coast. Minelaying operations are reported along the coastline from Hartlepool-Newcastle-Firth of Forth.
Bombs are reported to have been dropped at Brigg, Gilestone (about a mile south of St Athan), near Leys, east of Highbridge and at Acklington.
At 0010 hours, one Ju88 crashed just north of Bury St Edmunds. This aircraft was plotted in over Bristol as an unidentified raid but later it was stated to be friendly and Bedford ceased plotting. 16 bombs are reported dropped near Norwich.
________________________________________
Statistics
Fighter Command Serviceable Aircraft as at 0900 hours, 29 July 1940
Casualties:
Patrols:
Balloons:
Aerodromes:
Organisation:
Air Intelligence Reports
Home Security Reports
Hitler’s bluffs wont work with Churchill. W.C. doesn’t care if it is real or not, he will not fold to the Austrian corporal. Just imagine what would have happened if Chamberlain was still at the reigns.
Stalin didn’t even believe it when the invasion of Russia was happening. He actually withdrew the first few days and didn’t even speak to his aids in a fit of almost fatal depression. It’s amazing how many warning signs he was given that he wrote off as propaganda planted by the British to try and get the Soviets in a war with Germany.
As bad as things may seem now, they were worse then.
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