Anecdotes from Eagle Day, Battle of Britain 1940

 

Goering dubbed it Adlertag – “Eagle Day”. It was bad luck for him that 13 August was a day of cloud and poor visibility, so only some of the planned raids took place. Nevertheless the radar station on the Isle of Wight was knocked out, while Manston and Hawkinge were both put out of action.

 

 

Manston was hit at 12.50 while No.65 Squadron was on the ground being refuelled after an earlier action. The pilots raced for their aircraft and all but one got airborne amid the exploding bombs, they were unable to land back at Manston, however, and the airfield was out of action for more than a day.

 

 

Michael Crossley, a pilot with No.610 Squadron out of Biggin Hill was nursing his crippled Spitfire back to base when his engine suddenly stopped. He had to get down quick and headed for Hawkinge. He called up Hawkinge on the radio and asked for permission to come down. “We’ve had a spot of bother,” came back the laconic reply, “but you are welcome to try.” Somehow Crossley got down without crashing into a bomb crater and next morning was up again with his squadron in a new Spitfire.

 

 

One raid that did go ahead on Eagle Day was an attack soon after dawn on Dungeness by a force of Dornier 215s, escorted by 109s. No.610 Squadron from Biggin Hill went up to intercept. A savage dogfight resulted, though the swirling combat happened so fast that the men of 610 were uncertain if they had shot down ten Germans or none at all. They did know that Pilot Officer Ted “Smithy” Smith was missing when they got back to “The Bump”.

 

 

Smith’s Spitfire had been hit early in the battle. the aircraft dived toward the sea with smoke pouring from the engine. Worried that the smoke would turn to flames, Smith decided to bail out, but the aircraft was by this point diving so fast that the wind pressure was holding the canopy shut. By now totally blinded by choking smoke, Smith pulled back on the joystick to level off and, as soon as the aircraft slowed, threw open the canopy. He leapt clear, but could see nothing and pulled the ripcord after what he judged was enough time to get clear of the stricken aircraft. He was still trying to clear his eyes of smoke when he hit the sea. A passing fishing boat pulled him out of the drink and took him back to England.