After their major exertions on 15 and 16 August the Germans paused to recover on 17 August but returned in force the next day with 750 sorties. Just after midday the heaviest formations of enemy aircraft yet seen during the battle stimulated 11 Group to bring every serviceable aircraft it had to readiness. Two consecutive raids hit Biggin Hill before the sector station at Kenley came under heavy attack from co-ordinated waves at low and medium level. Both formations were intercepted but severe damage was caused as all ten hangars and twelve aircraft, including ten Hurricanes, were destroyed. The runways were heavily cratered, although still usable, and the communications network was so badly affected that the Sector Operations Room had to be moved to an emergency location off the airfield. For the rest of the battle, Kenley could accommodate only two squadrons instead of three. At Croydon one of the previously undamaged hangars was hit and West Malling was also bombed. Shortly after 2.00pm four separate formations approached the Isle of Wight from the south. The most significant target was Poling radar station which was put out of action for the rest of the month. Its loss was serious, but it was the last to be heavily attacked during the battle. At 5pm another large-scale attack converged on Kent, but an attempt to bomb Croydon by some aircraft was blocked by fighters from North Weald and Hornchurch. The losses of Junkers 87 "Stuka" dive bombers during the day were so severe that this type of aircraft was withdrawn from the main battle by the Germans, apart from a few later isolated sorties. It has been asserted that 18 August was the "hardest day" of the Battle of Britain. However, the intensity of air activity was greater on 15 and 16 August and the number of Fighter Command aircraft in combat was exceeded on at least half a dozen other days.
Home Research Online exhibitions History of the Battle of Britain The Hardest Day The Hardest Day 18th August 1940 Sunday 15th September is celebrated officially as the climax of the Battle of Britain, when London had become the Luftwaffe's main target. However post-war studies of British and German records have shown that the hardest fought day of the Battle was Sunday 18th August. On this day the Luftwaffe tried its utmost to destroy our fighter airfields flying 850 sorties involving 2200 aircrew. The RAF resisted with equal vigour flying 927 sorties involving 600 aircrew. Between lunchtime and teatime, three big Luftwaffe raids were attempted, the first and third by mixed groups of Dornier Do 17, Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 bombers, escorted by Messerschmitt Bf 109 and B 110 fighters, and a second by Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers, also escorted by Bf 109s. The targets were the airfields at Kenley, Biggin Hill, Gosport, Ford, Thorney Island, Hornchurch and North Weald, and the radar station at Poling. Although the last wave failed to reach its targets, which were obscured by cloud, the fighting was no less fierce along the route. The RAF and Fleet Air Arm lost altogether 68 aircraft, 31 in air combat. 69 German aircraft were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. It was vital to re-arm and refuel the British fighters as quickly as possible as their pilots might be called on to fly several sorties each day. No 504 Squadron had been mauled by the Luftwaffe in the Battle of France and when it returned to the United Kingdom it was sent to Wick in Scotland to rebuild its operational strength where this photograph was taken. From the 5 September the unit was based at the RAF Museum London. The armourer on the right is of interest not only for the ribbon bar he wears but also the Observer badge - an 'Old Sweat' from an earlier war. The Germans had high hopes for the twin-engined Messerschmitt Bf110 but it proved inferior to both the British Hurricane and the Spitfire. I Gruppe/ZG 26 lost six of their aircraft on this day 18th August 1940. Southern England was littered with Luftwaffe wrecks. This Dornier Do 17 of 9/KG76 was shot down on 18 August by Hurricanes of 111 Squadron and it crashed at Leaves Green near Biggin Hill in Kent. A Dornier 17Z of 9th Staffel/Kampfgeschwader 76 is manhandled back into its dispersal point at Cormeilles-en-Vexin. Nine Dorniers from this unit had been involved in a low level attack on RAF Kenley on the 18th August and had suffered heavy casualties; four had been destroyed, two seriously damaged and the rest had suffered minor damage. At the end of the day of the forty men who had set out eight had been killed, five taken prisoner, three returned wounded and seven were floating in the English Channel. The Luftwaffe was bleeding to death. The Hardest Day | History of the Battle of Britain | Exhibitions & Displays | Research | RAF Museum
The Hardest Day 18th August 1940 The Hardest Day | History of the Battle of Britain | Exhibitions & Displays | Research | RAF Museum
The Hardest Day 18th August 1940 Sunday 15th September is celebrated officially as the climax of the Battle of Britain, when London had become the Luftwaffe's main target. However post-war studies of British and German records have shown that the hardest fought day of the Battle was Sunday 18th August. On this day the Luftwaffe tried its utmost to destroy our fighter airfields flying 850 sorties involving 2200 aircrew. The RAF resisted with equal vigour flying 927 sorties involving 600 aircrew. The Hardest Day | History of the Battle of Britain | Exhibitions & Displays | Research | RAF Museum.
Kenleys hardest day RAF Kenley was singled out for a complicated pincer attack, by Bomber Geshwader 76, which, if successful, would destroy the airfield for good. First, a dozen Junkers 88’s of the 2nd Gruppe, would carry out a precision dive-bombing attack on Kenley’s buildings and hangars. Five minutes later, this would be followed by 27 Dornier 17’s bombing from high altitude to knock out the landing ground and airfield defences. Finally, the 9th Staffel would come in at low altitude in their Dornier 17’s, and finish off anything that was left standing. War reporter Georg Hinze and photographer Rolf Von Pebal would be on board to record their triumph. Kenley's 'Hardest Day' - An Introduction and list of Casualties
18 August 1940 - A German Perspective On 18th August, 1940, the 4th War Reporter Detachment of the Luftwaffe despatched eight reporters and cameramen to fly with the two Bomber Geschwaders detailed to destroy the RAF’s Fighter Command airfields in the south-east. Two were to fly with the 9th Staffel for their low-level raid on RAF Kenley: war reporter Georg Hinze and photographer Rolf Von Pebal. This is Rolf Von Pebal’s personal account and photographs of the raid, taken from the Dornier Do.17 flown by Feldwebel Reichel, 9th Staffel/KG76. 18 August 1940 - A German Perspective August 18th 1940
The Hardest Day - Wikipedia The Hardest Day[2] is a Second World War air battle fought on 18 August 1940 during the Battle of Britain between the German Luftwaffe and British Royal Air Force (RAF). On that day, the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy RAF Fighter Command. The air battles that took place on that day were amongst the largest aerial engagements in history to that time. Both sides suffered heavy losses
The Hardest Day is justly lauded as a measure of the effort and human cost from Fighter Command into turning the tide of the impending landings by Operation Sealion on that day and subsequent hard pressed days. CWGC records in the entire Battle of Britain "544 RAF pilots of Fighter Command and more than 2,500 German aircrew were killed during the Battle. There were a further 718 airmen of Bomber Command and 280 of Coastal Command killed during the battle, as well as more than 23,000 civilian deaths as a result of the battle." Remembering the Pilots of the Battle of Britain | CWGC The hardest day for Bomber Command came in March of 1944 with 534 aircrew killed on a single night and 157 taken PoW. Interactive map of aircrew losses: the Nuremberg raid 30-31 March 1944 - The Lincoln Repository Sobering to think that on one night Bomber Command lost more operational aircrew than Fighter Command did in the entire 3 months of the BoB but within 5 days the Bomber Command units were back at operational strength. Ross
Thank you Ross You know I put threads up not with the greatest of self knowledge on the subject but to raise awareness of the said date and glad that members like yourself add further info and elevate the interest further. regards Clive
