Battle of Britain (August 1940)

Hugh Dowding

RAF: Commander in Chief of Fighter Command, 

18^th August 1940

The 12^th of August 1940 was the eve of Aldertag, or Eagle Day. Prior to the 12^th, there had been reports from the RAF listening service that a combination of raids on the radar stations, was to be carried out by the German Luftwaffe. Also, these attacks were to be on a larger scale than before. I presume that this is because they have sensed the importance of these stations to our defense. I am much more confident in the RAF, as there have been 3 additional squadrons with 6 others under training, including 3 ‘foreign’ squadrons, two Polish and one Czech. Our rate of aircraft production is also significantly higher than Germany’s.

Despite this, we suffered heavy losses and damages to the radar stations. Thankfully, we managed to repair most of the damage and get the radar stations up and running in a few hours, and have caught the Germans by surprise. We shot down 31 German aircraft, but 22 RAF fighter planes were destroyed and 11 pilots killed. The poor weather conditions these past days have led to the delay of full-scale attacks by the Luftwaffe. All they have managed to do so far has barely scratched the surface. They are playing games with us and I believe that something is building up. 11 Group Commander Park agrees with me on this, and he has assured me that we shall regain full operational strength in 12 hours. Park and I aim to engage the enemy as soon as possible. I hope that this proves to the Germans that British resilience and capabilities should not be underestimated.

On the 15^th, the first bombs landed on London. Our 111 Squadron Hurricanes did not manage to stop the German Bf110s before they attacked. I pray that what happened during the French campaign does not repeat itself, and to do so, ill-chosen forays over Britain with fighters flying en masse must be avoided at all costs.

The Fighter Command, especially No 11 Group is currently under a lot of strain due to heavy attacks that have been launched. I am certain that maintaining squadrons in the North will be crucial in countering any German attack there. Thankfully, only temporary and minor damage has been done to the Chain Home Link radar stations and so our operations have not been hampered. Our heavy reliance on the radar system has brought us tremendous worry over possible destruction of the stations by German Luftwaffe.

Churchill has showed much interest in the air war and visited the Fighter Command Headquarters on the 15^th. It seems that my efforts thus far have been generally received, partly due to the success of the Dowding System. I hope that support of the Air Force continues and that discontent over my leadership will be quelled.