Battle of Britain (September 1940)

Hugh Dowding

RAF: Commander in Chief of Fighter Command

5^th September 1940

The daylight bombings have centered on London. Hitler has officially announced that terror raids on central London could begin. Goring had just announced over the radio that he has taken command of the Luftwaffe’s battle for Britain. He speaks too highly of himself! One man alone will not orchestrate the outcome of the Battle of Britain!

I had not been aware of this intended assault prior to arriving at the Fighter Command HQ. Leigh-Mallory’s unilateral behavior also seriously impeded the cooperation between the Groups. This is extremely infuriating as 11 Group sometimes had to stand by and watch the Germans evade the big-wings with no way of helping the interception except by sending messages through Fighter Command. This added to the confusion and panic due to the bombing of London when the Luftwaffe decided to test its new 3600 lb H.E. bomb. What’s more, four Germans landing ashore on a rowing boat, prompted the Joint Intelligence Committee to declare that a German invasion was imminent! What a bunch of imbeciles!! The whole system was in chaos and London was burning to the ground.

13^th September: Leigh-Mallory’s erratic behavior continues and I can only rely on Park’s sensibility to execute appropriate actions and strategies. Our storage units are at an all time low, with only 80 Hurricanes and 47 Spitfires available. It was up to Park and I to plan the number of aircraft and at which juncture should they enter the battle.

15^th September: Daylight battles today are more intense that ever before. A collection of sources, known as the Y service, has notified us of a two-wave attack from the Germans. The onus is on Park to get his squadrons refueled and replenished as fast as possible in order to engage in the follow-up attack. Furthermore, the Germans have chosen this time to experiment with new formations that are flying higher and this has caused us to figure out new strategies to counter these attacks. Could it be that they have figured out that the radar cannot detect planes above 20 000 feet?

That stubborn and selfish Leigh-Mallory once again refuses to follow orders and participate in my strategy, letting his planes fly south as far as London while leaving London completely vulnerable from the North. If we lose this battle, he will pay the price! Who does he think he is, that he can toy with the sovereignty of our country and the lives of the British!

Despite this, certain squadron leaders have had the sense to ignore Leigh-Mallory’s ridiculous big-wing theory and take a more sensible course of action. I sense that the RAF may be near victory, but the Fighter Command has been badly damaged and the pilots’ morale is low, with some pilots heading back after seeing the Germans turn away.

Thankfully, we, the Fighter Command and RAF, have managed to remain intact and the Battle of Britain has been won! Germany would not be able to secure command of the air and so there will be no chance for them to launch a seaborne invasion into Britain.

Churchill’s message to me, “ … aided by Czech and Polish squadrons and using only a small proportion of their total strength, the Royal Air Force cut to rags and tatters separate waves of murderous upon the civil population of their native land.’ May this serve as a warning to Hitler that the RAF and Britain are not to be trifled with!