Australia’s War Diary- July 1940

W/CdrThomasLang, from Melbourne, assumes his new position as a Senior Controller at 11 Group Fighter Command Headquarters, Uxbridge. It is obvious that 11 Group, covering from Portland to Felixstowe,under AVM Keith Park, will bear the brunt of the forthcoming German air attack. Lang is uniquely placed to see the British defence system severely tested over the next few months . . .

July 9 – Britain. 79 Squadron’s P/O Bill Millington of Edwardstown, South Australia, destroys a Bf 109 near the French coast. July 10-Britain. This day is generally accepted as the beginning of the Battle of Britain.

Boulton Paul Defiants of 141 Squadron, arrive at Biggin Hill. They are to operate from satellite airfields at Hawkinge and West Maling, where the crews, including P/O A N Constantine of Moama NSW, are ironically billeted in the local mental hospital. The Defiant is a slim, Rolls Royce Merlin powered monoplane crewed by a pilot and a gunner. It has a power operated, four gun turret but no forward firing armament. Designed as a bomber destroyer, its performance cannot compare with that of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. An alarming feature of the gunner is that in an emergency, because of the narrow confines of the turret, a quick exit is difficult but if the plane’s electrical system is damaged the turret will jam making escape impossible! Many aircraft are not combat ready and to improve performance, constant speed propellers are being fitted. The complete change will take a week and much needed flying practice will be lost.

July 11 – Britain. The Germans launch heavy attacks against a convoy off the South Coast. F/O Richard Glyde DFC, of Perth WA, from 87 Squadron destroys one Bf 110 and probably another. Tasmanian, F/lt Stuart Walch scores 238 Squadron’s first victory, another Bf 110. Further west, while escorting two RN destroyers, three Blenheims of 236 Squadron, one piloted by P/O Bryan McDonough of Ulverstone, Tasmania, shoot down a Ju 88 off Start Point. McDonough also heavily damages a He111 before it can escape. (German records show that this Heinkel, of I/KG 55, was cannibalised for parts. )

July 12 – Britain. Heavy fighting over Convoy ‘Booty’. Sgt Desmond Fopp from Adelaide in 17 Squadron shares in the destruction of a He 111. Three Spitfires of 609 Squadron claim a He 111 over Portland Bill. P/O John Curchin of Melbourne shares in the ‘kill’. The Heinkel manages to force land at Cherbourg.

July 13-Britain. Just after 8. 00am, a Dornier bomber strafes the Australian 18th Infantry Brigade camp on Salisbury Plain. Pvt Albert Webb from Prospect, South Australia, of the 10th Battalion, is wounded, shot through the buttock and groin. He is the AIF’s first battle casualty of World War II.

Near Chesil Bank, 238 Squadron’s Red Section, shoots down a Do 17 but F/Lt John Kennedy’s Hurricane (P2950) suddenly dives away. Shortly afterwards, while trying to force land along the shore, the plane stalls and crashes swerving to avoid high tension cables. Kennedy is the first Australian fighter pilot killed in the Battle of Britain.

West of Ushant Island, 10 Squadron’s Sunderland N9050, RB-D, flown by Hoot Gibson and his crew, clashes briefly with a Messerschmitt Bf 110 which departs with its starboard engine trailing smoke. Twenty five bullets strike the Sunderland, piercing both port fuel tanks but there is no fire. For this action, and his attack on U-26, Gibson will receive a DFC.

Elsewhere, F/Lt Dick Cohen and his crew chase a He 111 from a convoy under their protection.

From this day on, Luftwaffe convoy attacks will increase.

July15-Britain. At Mount Batten, home of 10 Squadron RAAF, a Ju 88 drops four 250kg bombs causing minor damage. One fails to explode. A volunteer work party commanded by Sgt Eric (Lucky) Long of Ryde, NSW, renders it safe after 12 hours.

Meanwhile, south of the Scilly Isles, Hugh Birch and his crew in Sunderland P9603 single handedly drive away five He 111s attacking the SS City of Limerick. One Heinkel is damaged. The Germans are beginning to respect these ‘flying Porcupines’. Australia. The officers and men of 3 Squadron RAAF sail from Sydney on the Orontes bound for the Middle East.

July16-Germany. Hitler issues Directive No. 16, preparations for invading England. Cover name: Seelowe (Sea Lion).

July 18-Britain. ReconnaissanceoverBoulogne discovers invasion preparations for the first time. Bomber Command sends 18 Blenheims in a day raid escorted by Hurricanes. P/O Brian Best from 40 SquadronfliesBlenheimL8796. Hits are made on jetties, a warehouse and several vessels and a stray Henschel Hs 126 is shot down.

July 19- Britain. “The Slaughter of the Innocents”. In the heaviest defeat suffered by Fighter Command to date, 6 out of 9 Defiants of 141 Squadron are shot down by Bf 109s. Another has to be written off as scrap. The arrival of 12 Hurricanes saves them from being wiped out completely. It is 141’s first combat.

July 20 – Britain. Sporadic fighting over Channel Convoy ‘Bosom’. Australian scorers: Stuart Walch of 238 Squadron and F/Lt Gordon Olive of 65 Squadron with a Bf 109 each.

July 21- Germany. Overnight, RAF Hampdens raid German capital ships at Hamburg (Tirpitz), Kiel (Scharnhorst and Gneisenau) and Wilhelmshaven (Bismarck) P/O Angus Robson of 144 Sqn attacks Wilhelmshaven, diving low through intense flak onto the largest ship he can find. After bombing he drops to the deck, staying low until out of range. His rear gunner reports explosions and a fire. For this and other raids Robson will receive the DFC. At 2. 00am, Obit Werner Streib and Hgefr Lingen in a Messerschmitt Bf 110 of NJG 1, shoot down an RAF Whitley to achieve the Luftwaffe’s first night fighter victory. Shortly afterwards Wellington P9287 of 38 Squadron is also attacked and Australian tail gunner, P/O Phillip Leach, is mortally wounded.

Britain. Over Convoy ‘Peewit’, Stuart Walch of 238 Squadron probably destroys a Bf 110.

June 23 – Britain. A BristolBlenheim IF night fighter of the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) shoots down a Dornier Do 17 from 2/KG 3, the first victory using airborne radar.

July 26 – Britain. Because of severe losses suffered by convoys, the Admiralty suspends daylight coastal merchant traffic through the Straits of Dover. At noon, 238 Squadron’s Stuart Walch, destroys a Bf 109 south-west of Portland.

South Australian, P/O John Cock of 87 Squadron shoots down a Heinkel He 111 during a ‘cat’s eyes’ patrol in Hurricane P3394, LK-M, the first night victory for an Australian in WW2. July 27- Britain. ACM Dowding, AOC-in-C of RAF Fighter Command, aware of the fatigue faced by his airmen, rules pilots must have a minimum of 8 hours in 24 off duty and a continuous 24 hours off each week.

Ireland. Newton airfield, Nottinghamshire, 4. 00pm Fairey Battle L5528 of 150 Squadron is being prepared for operations when a flare falls to the ground and bursts into flames. Fire spreads out of control and detonates the bombs. Included among the dead is F/Lt Walter Blom DFC from Battery Point, Hobart. Blom had been on operations with 150 Squadron since the beginning of the war and had won the DFC for his courageous mission of May 10 (refer May issue).

Australia. The RAAF presence in Darwin, Australia’s ‘back door’, has been increased to 424 personnel. Soon the station headquarters (QC W/Cdr C Eaton) will transfer to a separate RAAF airfield with 13 Squadron (S/Ldr J Balmer), which is newly equipped with Hudsons, while 12 Squadron (S/Ldr C Glassock), a general purpose unit with Wirraways andAnsons, will stay at the civil aerodrome. To facilitate shipping escort and coastal patrol duties, staging bases have been established at Drysdale, Port Hedland and Millingimbi. A replenishment centre for munitions, fuel and stores is under construction at Katherine.

July 28- Britain. Blue Flight of 234 Squadron, led by Pat Hughes, shoots down a Ju 88 south east of Plymouth.

Eighty miles (128km) from Valencia, Ireland. Sunderland P9601, RB-F, of 10 Squadron, RAAF, flown by F/Lt HughBirch and crew, locates four life-boats from the torpedoed Auckland Star. He radios their position and, after completing his patrol returns to the scene. Deciding the sea is calm enough, he lands next to the life-boats (the first successful open ocean landing made by an RAAF flying boat) to take off anyone requiring urgent medical attention. A trawler has been sighted approaching and, as no one needs help, Birch decides not to take anyone on board.

The destroyers of Dover Command are withdrawn to Portsmouth because the base is no longer safe. The Luftwaffe has cleared a way across the Channel but has yet to secure a safe air umbrella over it.

July 29 – Australia. No. 2 SFTS is officially opened at Forest Hill near Wagga, NSW, with 37 officers and 366 airmen under the command of W/Cdr Frederick Scherger AFC.

July 30. The London Gazette announces the award of the DFC to S/Ldr C W Pearce of 10 Squadron, RAAF, the squadron’s first decoration and the first DFC awarded to a member of the RAAF since its formation in 1921.

July 31 – Leuchars, Scotland. At 8. 50am, P/O James Horan of 233 Squadron takes off in Lockheed HudsonN7224 to patrol out over the North Sea and is never seen again. . . Horan is listed among the Australians on the Battle of Britain Roll of Honour at Westminster Abbey.

RAAF Sunderland P9601, RB-F, flown by S/Ldr Bill Garing and his crew, escorting the armed merchant cruiser HMAC Mooltan for 41/2 hours, fights off a series of air attacks by Ju 88s. The ship’s captain highly commends the Sunderland’s crew for their effective air cover and Garing will receive the DFC. Since July 1, Mount Batten has had 41 air raid alerts. RAF Fighter Command has not yet been subjected to full-scale assault but the threat is looming. Some weaknesses, such as the Defiant’s inability to defend itself, have already been exposed. Although fighter production is at a rate well above official estimates, the loss of leading pilots, squadron leaders and flight commanders, is becoming serious. Their places are being filled by pilots with considerably less experience and although, in terms of numbers, battle losses are being made good, new pilots arriving at operational squadrons with minimum flying hours on fighters are more of a liability than an asset. On the 14th, P/O John Crossman of Newcastle, NSW, was posted direct from RAF College (FTS) Cranwell to 32 Squadron at Biggin Hill, even though he had never before flown a monoplane, let alone a modern fighter like a Hurricane or Spitfire! Through no fault of his own, he is too inexperienced to be risked in combat.

There is no reason to feel confident about what lies ahead. . .