10. 44 Accolades and Brickbats.
September 28th.
Day, London and Solent area attacked.
Night, target London.
Weather. Fair to fine generally. Straits of Dover and Thames Estuary cloudy. Winds moderate. (1)
Sir Phillip sat at his desk in the Air Ministry early in the morning and read the message that he had just received from the PM.
‘Pray congratulate the Fighter Command on the results of yesterday. The scale and intensity of the fighting and the heavy losses to the enemy make the 27th of September rank with the 15th of September and 15th August, as the third great and victorious day of Fighter Command during the course of the Battle of Britain.’ (2)
A quick call to No 10, confirmed from the PM’s Private Sectary that this message had not been passed directly to Bentley Priory, Sir Philip in the politest political terms suggest this was a grave omission as such a message coming directly from the Prime Minister rather than being passed on second hand by the Air Ministry would have far greater weight and meaning within the entire RAF. An hour later Sir Hugh Dowding called Sir Phillip on his private line and informed him that he had just had a congratulatory message from the Prime Minister and sought the AM’s clearance to send it to all Fighter Command units via the telex system, Sir Philip concurred with this as long as it did not interfere with normal defensive operational communications.
The morning started slowly with no major build up of enemy aircraft being detected, however just after noon several large formations were detected over the Pas de Calais. These approached the English coast between Dungeness and Deal and it was only when the intercepting fighters approached that it was confirmed that the attacking force was some thirty Ju’88’s escort by a large number of Me109’s stacked up to high altitude. This led to the first intercepting squadrons doing so at a distinct disadvantage. Though the enemy aircraft were turned back before they could reach central London it had resulted in the scrambling of every squadron in Eleven group with an additional two squadrons from Twelve Group being called in as a back stop over the city.
To the west at two thirty in the afternoon Ten Group intercepted a large formation of over fifty ME 110’s as they attempted to attack Portsmouth. What was significant here was that Portsmouth is in the Tangmere sector of Number Eleven group and due to the commitment of that sectors squadrons aircraft to the defense of London from the still ongoing threat of the large attack that had crossed the coast earlier to the east their squadrons were out of position. Number Ten Group managed to successfully turn this attack back with the help of five Eleven Group squadrons diverted from the earlier raid. Once again this demonstrated the team work and flexibility of the Groups within Fighter Command.
After this there was little hostile activity other than reconnaissance until after nine in the evening, when the night bombers began their nocturnal activities. Tonight this was mainly restricted to London and followed the familiar pattern of night fighters trying to latch onto an attacking bomber before it entered the gun zone or attempting to catch and destroy the bomber on it’s return journey before it reached the permitted limit of engagement for the night fighter which was basically the occupied coastline.
Despite these constraints the night fighter force was achieving a measure of success that was slowly taking a toll of the attacking force. success was not just measured in the number of bombers shot down but also in those that had to abort their missions.
(1) Daily summary quoted verbatim from the The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster
(2) Message from Churchill as OTL.
September 29th.
Day. Reduced activity in southeast and East Anglia.
Night, London and Merseyside attacked.
Weather, Fine and fair early. Fair late. Cloudy for the rest of the day. (1)
Again a relatively quiet start in the morning with some attacks on coast convoys by fighter bombers. Later on, targets in the Home Counties were attacked by high flying formations. Attacks were not pressed home and most enemy aircraft jettisoned their bomb loads and fled for home when confronted with RAF fighters. The losses on both sides were much lower than on the previous day with an even dozen enemy aircraft downed for the loss of five RAF fighters with two pilots killed.
Night time again brought continuous attacks on London and one sizeable attack on Liverpool and Merseyside. Tonight the guns had some success both on Merseyside where one bomber was shot down and in London and the Home counties, where guns based on Clapham Common and Weybridge respectively both claimed bombers.
(1) Daily summary quoted verbatim from the The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster
The evening session on the 29th of September in the House of Commons had descended into an uproar when questions had been asked in the house regarding the failure of the RAF to stop the Blitz on London and other cities. The questions had come from two MPs from Merseyside and Liverpool who used parliamentary privilege to accuse the government of putting the defence of London above that of any other city and in particular Liverpool. The question as phrased was an inquiry of the Minister of defence (the prime Minister) as to why the fighter group defending London had 20 squadrons of fighters and Nine Group which defended Liverpool and Merseyside did not have a single squadron assigned to it. The supplementary question asked was as to when the Air Ministry was going to move Spitfires, Hurricanes and Defiants to Nine group to provide an adequate defence against the Luftwaffe night time attacks on Liverpool and Mersey side.
Even before the Member for Liverpool Everton, the Honourable Bertie Kirby completed his question, Sir Phillip sitting on the Front Bench alongside Winston Churchill, glanced to his left to see the colour rising in the Prime Ministers face to the extent that Sir Phillip feared Winston wold have a stroke on the spot. As the Honourable member finished hid question and sat down to cries of support from the other five members who had constituencies in Liverpool and Birkenhead. Sir Phillip leant over, whispered “my Bird, I think” in Winston’s ear and stood up. Once acknowledged by the Speaker of the House, Sir Phillip addressed the commons as they fell silent.
“If the Honourable Member for Liverpool Everton, thinks for one minute that I am as Air Minister going to traitorously reveal the details of our air defence dispositions in an openly reported session of this house with the strangers gallery full of who knows whom he is sadly mistaken.
However under the provisions of the Official Secrets act as passed by this house, As Air Minister, I do provide the Full Cabinet of this Government of National Unity regular and full briefings not only on the strengths and dispositions of our forces but also on the action planned and being taken to strengthen those defences.
As to Liverpool and Mersey side being left undefended there, again the Honourable member is inadvertently misleading this house. Any enemy aircraft attempting to bomb Liverpool or Merseyside has to fly either the full width of the country from the east coast or the even greater distance from the Channel coast. This means that those attacking bombers have to pass through a continuous system of night defences including night fighters and gun zones that stretch from the coast all the way to their target cities.
As to Liverpool and Merseyside being defended by a Fighter Group without any aircraft, I am afraid the Honourable member has been listening to scurrilous defeatist claptrap. The Group the honourable Member described as being bereft in fighters, is in fact at this time in the process of being formed, once it’s command structure and support facilities are fully ready the and only then will it assume control of the squadrons within it’s area from the existing groups. This shows that far from neglecting. the defences of the North west they are being strengthened even as we speak.
I suggest that the Honourable Members for Liverpool and Merseyside would better serve their constituents by offering practical support for this government rather than wasting the time of this House”
Sir Phillip sat down to shouts of “Here, Here” and loud applause as the Speaker of the House attempted to restore calm by his customary call of “Order, Order”. Once calm had descended on the chamber the Speaker introduced the next Item on the sessions agenda.