Posted on 09/11/2010 5:22:42 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/sep40/f11sep40.htm
Luftwaffe hits Buckingham Palace
Wednesday, September 11, 1940 www.onwar.com
Over Britain... The air fighting goes well for the Germans. They send a raid to London which gets through to the target and they also do significant damage to a Spitfire factory at Southampton. In the fighting the RAF comes off worst, losing 25 aircraft to the German loss of 29. Buckingham Palace is hit by a bomb but none of the Royal family is hurt. In fact, this is of benefit to national morale since it gives the impression that punishment is being shared fairly.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/11.htm
September 11th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command operations:
4 Group (Whitley):
10 Sqn. (P4941). Rear gunner bailed out over Germany on night operations. Flt Lt D.G. Tomlinson and rest of crew returned safely. 51 Sqn. One aircraft damaged by Flak.
Bombing - shipyards and fuel stocks at Bremen - industrial targets at Berlin.
10 Sqn. Seven aircraft to Bremen. All bombed. One tail-gunner ‘lost’ over target.
51 Sqn. Four aircraft to Berlin. All bombed primary, one damaged by Flak. Four aircraft to Bremen. All bombed.
78 Sqn. Five aircraft to Berlin. One returned early, two bombed primary, two bombed alternatives.
Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command operations: Four airfields attacked. Daylight raids on London, Southampton, Portsmouth. At night London and Merseyside are raided.
In daylight small-scale attacks are made on Portsmouth, Tangmere, Poling and Weymouth.
Port Victoria on the Isle of Grain is attacked in mid-afternoon when about 300 aircraft headed for London, most of them fighters, and only 36 proceeded to bomb the capital. A public shelter was hit in Lewisham High Street where 100 casualties resulted, and 50 people were buried by rubble when Deptford Central Hall was hit.
Meanwhile eight Bf110s dive-bombed the Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft works at Eastleigh, Southampton killing 28 and injuring 70 when a shelter was hit.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 25; RAF, 29.
London: Dr. Arthur Douglas Merriman (1892-1972), a government scientist, with help from his boss, removed most of the explosive from a bomb in Regent Street, so that it caused little damage when it went off. (George Cross)
Westminster: Churchill tells the Commons that he expects Germany will try to invade in the next week.
London: The Lord Mayor opens the Air Raid Relief Fund.
Corvette HMS Asphodel commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Daily Keynote from the Reich Press Chief:
The British attack on Berlin on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning should be denounced by the press with blazing indignation as an attack on our national symbols. However, in the interests of good preparation, the press should as a general principle wait until the morning papers to bring out a summarising view, unless the individual newspapers have already done satisfactory groundwork of their own account, without the need of a previous press conference.
The Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, tells the Czechs that they had better get used to German occupation in a blunt speech. (Jack McKillop)
U-507 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ROMANIA: Adolf Hitler sends German army and air force reinforcements to Romania to protect precious oil reserves and to prepare an Eastern European base of operations for further assaults against the Soviet Union. (Jack McKillop)
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Three Vichy French cruisers with accompanying destroyers pass through the Straits of Gibraltar en-route to Dakar. All but one of the cruisers arrive at Dakar just as Operation ‘Menace’ is about to get underway. Admiral Sir Dudley North, Flag Officer, North Atlantic, at Gibraltar, is held responsible for allowing their passage. He is relieved of his command.
CANADA: Patrol vessel HMCS Cougar (ex yacht Breezin’ Thru) commissioned at Esquimalt. Postwar renamed Breezin’ Thru. Sunk off Kingston, Jamaica in a September 1950 hurricane.
Minesweeper HMCS Chignecto laid down North Vancouver, British Columbia.
(Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: The first demonstration of remote computing occurs. George Stibitz, a scientist at Bell Telephone Laboratories, had developed a digital calculator using dry cell batteries, metal strips from a tobacco can, and flashlight bulbs. The binary adding machine, called the Model I Complex Calculator, was used at Bell Labs for the next nine years. Stibitz demonstrated the machine to the American Mathematical Association at Dartmouth College in Hannover, New Hampshire. He asked mathematicians to propose problems, which he transmitted to the computer in New York City via a teleprinter. The answers returned over the telephone line hookup within a minute. The presentation is believed to have been the first-ever demonstration of remote computing. (Jack McKillop)
Al Jolson returns to Broadway after a 9-year absence in the play “Hold On To Your Hats” at the Shubert Theatre. The songs that night included “Swanee,” “April Showers,” “You Made Me Love You,” “Sonny Boy” and “My Mammy.” (Jack McKillop)
Submarine USS Drum laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-28 sank SS Maas and damaged SS Harpenden in Convoy OA-210.
U-99 sank SS Albionic. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 377 September 11, 1940
Battle of Britain Day 64. Despite fine weather, there are no Luftwaffe attacks in the morning. At 3 PM, 300 German bombers fly across Kent and up the Thames Estuary in 2 waves, escorted by Messerschmitt Bf109s and Bf110s. While Bf109s (which are at the limit of their fuel supplies) are engaged by fighters of AVM Parks No. 11 Group at high altitude, AVM Leigh-Mallorys Big Wing of 3 squadrons from No. 12 Group attacks the bombers. Losses are equally high on both sides but many bombers get through and again drop their loads on Londons East End. At the same time, Portsmouth and Southampton are also bombed. Destroyers HMS Atherstone and Fernie are attacked by German bombers off Ramsgate, Kent, escorting convoy CW-11 in the Straits of Dover. HMS Atherstone is badly damaged (6 killed), towed to Chatham by tug Turquoise and will be under repair until January 1941. Overnight, London and Liverpool are bombed.
3 Vichy French cruisers and 3 destroyers pass through the Straits of Gibraltar at 25 knots at 8.35 AM, heading for Dakar. They have been spotted at 5.15 AM by destroyer HMS Hotspur 50 miles inside the Mediterranean, but it is too late for the British fleet at Gibraltar to respond. Battleship HMS Renown departs at 4 PM with 3 destroyers to pursue the French warships, with instructions to make sure they go no further South than Casablanca. The French warships stop at Casablanca overnight but only to refuel.
Between 3.26 and 3.28 AM, 200 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-28 torpedoes 2 unladen steamers in convoy OA-210 outbound from Britain. Dutch SS Maas sinks (20 killed) and British SS Harpenden (1 dead) is badly damaged, towed back to the Clyde and beached. At 7.16 AM, U-99 sinks British SS Albionic, carrying 3500 tons of iron ore from Canada to Britain (all 25 hands lost).
Date: 11th September 1940
This page is respectfully dedicated to Sergeant Pilot Stanley ANDREW, 46 Squadron, killed this day in the Battle of Britain. One of the few.
________________________________________
Enemy action by day
One major attack was made on the Kent Coast and inland at about 1530 hours by some 250 enemy aircraft, and of these about 30 penetrated Central London. Other activity was confined to an attack on the Portsmouth area simultaneously with that on East Kent, and to reconnaissance flights round the Coasts with a few penetrating inland.
During the day's operations 80 enemy aircraft were destroyed plus 34 probable and 44 damaged. Anti-aircraft shot down 9 enemy aircraft plus 9 damaged.
Our losses were 28 aircraft and 17 pilots killed or missing.
North and East Coast
Two reconnaissances were made in the Firth of Forth, one off the Humber and one off Yarmouth.
South
Up to 1200 hours there were six patrols by single aircraft in the East Kent area, one of which was identified as a Henschel, and there were two reconnaissances in the Thames Estuary.
At 1505 hours two raids consisting of 20 aircraft at 25,000 ft. and six plus at 11,000 ft. crossed the Coast at Dover and flew north to the Estuary and to Essex.
At 1534 hours, some 150 to 200 aircraft at 15,000 and 20,000 feet crossed at Folkestone and flew North West to Maidstone. Of these, 30 penetrated to Central London but a split, however, turned and flew towards Brooklands. These 30 were intercepted by four Squadrons.
At 1545 hours, a second wave of 100 enemy aircraft crossed the Coast between Dungeness and Dover and followed a course similar to that of the previous raid. Sixteen Squadrons were detailed to patrol aerodromes and to intercept and considerable casualties were inflicted. During the attack Dover was bombed and at 1545 hours was shelled by shore batteries from France.
At 1700 hours, a raid of five enemy aircraft at 15,000 ft. approached London from the South-west and may have formed part of the raid attacking Portsmouth. It finally turned South-easterly towards Maidstone.
South and South West
At about 1130 hours one aircraft at 15,000 ft. crossed the coast at Beachy Head and flew near Biggin Hill and on towards Central London returning on a reciprocal track.
Reconnaissances were made off the Isle of Wight, Start Point and the Bristol Channel.
At 1610 hours, at the same time as the attack was being made on London, 75 enemy aircraft came in over Portsmouth and Southampton and flew inland over Hampshire and Sussex. Three Squadrons were sent to intercept and enemy aircraft were shot down.
By night
Enemy activity commenced at about 2020 hours, when the first raids, originating from Le Havre and Dieppe, crossed the Coast between Beachy Head and Shoreham. These early raids approached London but failed to penetrate the AA Barrage and turned South again.
From 2150 to about 0130 hours, a stream of raids of one or one plus aircraft from Cherbourg flew to the Bristol Channel and then across Wales to the Liverpool area. At the same time there were scattered raids in the Midlands.
At 2345 hours, raids of single aircraft crossed the Coast at Dungeness and penetrated the London area, returning over Tangmere. By 0145 hours raids were becoming more numerous in the London area, but had practically withdrawn from the rest of the Country.
At 3000 hours, raids ceased coming to London from the South, but started approaching from the North-east, originating from the Dutch Islands and returning over Beachy Head. This activity continued until about 0500 hours, and by 0530 hours the whole Country was clear.
Minelaying was suspected in the Thames Estuary, off the Costs of Northumberland and Aberdeenshire, off the Sussex Cost and South of the Isle of Man.
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Statistics
Fighter Command Serviceable Aircraft as at 0900 hours, 11th September 1940
Casualties:
Enemy Losses | ||
By Fighters | ||
Destroyed | Probable | Damaged |
11 Me109 | 5 Me109 | 4 Me109 |
20 Me110 | 7 Me110 | 12 Me110 |
2 Me110 (Jaguar) | 1 Me110 (Jaguar) | |
1 Ju86 | ||
6 Ju88 | 2 Ju88 | 2 Ju88 |
1 Ju52 | ||
27 He111 | 15 He111 | 18 He111 |
5 Do17 | 2 Do17 | |
8 Do215 | 3 Do215 | 6 Do215 |
80 | 34 | 44 |
By Anti-Aircraft | ||
8 E/A | 9 E/A | |
1 Ju88 | ||
9 | 0 | 8 |
Patrols:
Balloons:
Aerodromes:
Organisation:
Home Security Reports
"Okuda swung into his espionage quickly and efficiently.
For a time, as Gunji had predicted, checking on Fleet movements presented no special problems.
The local press reported them faithfully, and Okuda extracted the germane items, coded them, and sent then to Tokyo by commercial telegraph.
What was public information in Hawaii became classified as soon as it reached the Foreign Ministry, which immediately relayed it to the Naval General Staff.
There it all became grist for the intelligence mill."
US code breakers had long since broken Japanese diplomatic codes, and understood what was being reported.
IIRC, similar information was reported on other US naval bases.
You had me worried there. I plan to use "At Dawn We Slept" as my main big-picture source for the pre-Pearl Harbor period. If Prange didn't know about the code-breaking side of the story it wouldn't exactly be big-picture, would it? I am relieved to find that, 10 pages after today's excerpt, he gives a full update on the cryptology situation. Since the book is relatively recent (1981) that stands to reason. It was only last month that the people in Washington managed to crack Purple, the main diplomatic code, but they have been reading "J" codes for a while. Prange says they are now on version J-19. That is what the consulate in Hawaii would be using to send data on the fleet home to Tokyo.
Okuda was only engaged in "espionage" in the sense that his motives were detrimental to the U.S. All the information he got was openly available to anyone who cared to read the paper or drive around Oahu sight-seeing. According to Korda in the other book I am using the Japanese did the same in England and had better intelligence on targets for the bombers than the Germans did. That makes the Germans look to me like blooming idiots.
Without doubt, both Japanese and Germans showed elements of genius to match their manifest courage.
But consider that neither ever figured out their codes had been broken and you just have to wonder -- were they taking stupid pills?
I suspect the answer is: the same things which made them so fearsome -- loyalty, discipline, dedication, enthusiasm, etc. -- could also sometimes make them stupid, fortunately for our side... ;-)
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