The Hardest Day

Battle of Britain Movie Poster                                                                                                  Source

I'm straying into Sarge's territory here, WWII aviation history in Europe, but here goes.  I'm not sure how I missed this, but just over a month ago was the 76th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain.  However, a year before that, a great event was held commemorating the 75th. A little more than a year ago to be exact- August 18th, a day known as “The Hardest Day”  That's the name given to a WWII air battle fought during the Battle of Britain in 1940 between the Nazi German Luftwaffe and British Royal Air Force (RAF).                                                                                

While this event was probably documented in some sort of print media or online in the UK, I only heard about it the other day via an email from a friend of mine. He’s not a reader of The Chant, but he is a great American and aviation fan himself, being an employee of Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) until it merged with US Air in 1987.  4F during Viet Nam due to medical issues, he’s served vicariously through his two sons- one in the Marine Corps, and one in the Army.  A history buff himself, I get things like this from him fairly often. Maybe I should share more. I’ll start with this one for now.

Aircraft partcipating in the flyover parked on Biggin Hill Airfield south of London             Source

Reenactors race to their planes

Actual photo from WWII the battle                                                                 Source

Pilots during the Battle of Britain had to race to their planes, sometimes several times a day, in order to get airborne in time to counter the Luftwaffe aircraft attacking Britain.

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More Spitfires over southern England                                                            Source

 

These special two-seat Spitfires were among the veteran aircraft to take part in the commemoration 

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This was part of a plan by the Germans to invade Britain, Codenamed Operation Sealion, but air supremacy had to be achieved first.  Hermann Goering predicted that the could destroy the RAF within four day, assuming the weather cooperated and he started pounding air strips across the south of England.

Goering in 1936                                       Source

So during the summer of 1940, the skies over the south of England became a battle ground as the Luftwaffe, led by Goering, launched a war of attrition with the RAF.  The Luftwaffe started by attacking coastal shipping and dive-bombing ports, but by August, they had switched their tactics to directly targeting the RAF.

He-111s

Messerschmitt Bf-109

According to the caption on Pinterest, this is an actual photo of a Bf-109 as it flew over the English Channel during the Battle of Britain.

From August 13, the Germans sent a mixture of light, medium and dive bombers protected by fighters to attack the RAF. Fighter command responded by sending their force of Hurricanes after the bombers, while the Spitfires were ordered to patrol higher and engage the Luftwaffe's fighters.

Hurricanes 

Everyone loves the Spitfire, but apparently it was the Hurricane that was the more influential fighter during the battle.  It was cheaper to build and an easier fighter to fly, but wasn't as aerobatic as it's more popular hangar-mate.

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On The Hardest Day, the Luftwaffe had assembled 2,200 aircrew and launched 850 missions against targets in the south of England, launching three major strikes, looking to destroy the airfields at Kenley, Biggen Hill, Gosport, Ford, Thorney Island, Hornchurch and North Weald.  The RAF launched 900 missions involving 600 aircrew to stop them.  Earlier in the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe launched attacks from Norway targeting northeast England, trying to divide the RAF's resources.  

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Following the raids that day however, the RAF and Fleet Air Arm had lost 68 aircraft with the Germans losing 69, but over the entire battle which lasted most of the summer and half of the fall, the RAF had lost 1012 aircraft and 537 crew, compared to 1918 Aircraft and more than 2600 aircrew for the Luftwaffe.  The act of defiance, while incredibly costly to the RAF, was not the decisive blow intended by Hitler, which would have allowed him to launch Operation Sealion, plans for which were cancelled shortly thereafter. The Hardest Day was not only the turning point of the Battle of Britain, it was the turning point of the whole war.

       

   

 There's a very good summary of the battle here if you're interested.

The commemoration was made up of 18 Spitfires and six Hurricanes - each with their wonderfully sounding Rolls-Royce Merlin engines - as they took to the sky watched by thousands of supporters and veterans.  As in the first pictures, the pilots of the 24 aircraft scrambled before forming up into three flights, with one flying west over Surrey, West Sussex, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, a second flying east over the former RAF bases in Kent and the third going south east over Seven oaks and Ashford to make a special salute over the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-Le-Ferne on the white cliffs of Dover.

They then returned to Biggin Hill for several fly pasts, before a lone Spitfire performed a victory roll over the crowd and runway.  

Veterans gather by a Spitfire at the commemoration day of the Battle of Britain, at Biggin Hill airport in Kent. It was the airborne fight that saved Britain from falling to the Nazis.

Mustang in RAF livery

I'm not sure to what extent this Mustang participated in the commemoration, but it was apparently a popular display. 

BATTLE OF BRITAIN-ERA SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE VERSUS THE HAWKER HURRICANE (STATS FROM RAF.MOD.UK)
	SUPERMARINE                SPITFIRE	HAWKER                HURRICANE
ENGINE	1030hp                Rolls-Royce Merlin engine	1,030hp                Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
SPAN	36ft                11	40ft
LENGTH	29ft                11	31ft                4
TOP                SPEED	362mph	328mph
ARMAMENT	Eight                - .303 Browning machine guns	Eight                - .303 Browing machine            guns

Most of the info came from my friend's email which appears to be from a post in The Daily Mail Online, I only added some writing to help the transitions and a few pictures as sourced, via Fair Use.