Sailor by Philip Kaplan

Author:Philip Kaplan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783830336
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2013-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

The combats went on at a relatively constant pace until September 15th, when everything changed again. To many this day is considered another Trafalgar, a day on a par with Nelson’s victory, when Britain, through its air force, showed the world that, though greatly outnumbered and without Allied assistance, it would not be invaded. 74 Squadron was operating from the airfield at Manston on the 15th and took off on their first patrol of the day at 7 a.m. They climbed rapidly to 20,000 feet and were directed by a controller to a point near Dover where they encountered eighteen Me 109s. In a brief and furious fight they shot eight of the enemy planes out of the sky. The second patrol of the day for the Tigers of 74 came at 11:45. Twelve miles east of Clacton they met forty Bf 110 twin-engined Zerstoerer (destroyer) heavy fighters approaching a British convoy. The 110s lacked agility and this major disadvantage was underscored as the RAF pilots promptly destroyed ten of the German planes and damaged a further six.

Shortly before 5 p.m. British radar contacts caused 74 Squadron to be scrambled to patrol Manston. An enemy raid of forty-five+ aircraft was heading for the Kentish airfield. When the Spitfires were at 3,000 feet off Whitstable, and just under the cloud base, they came upon the German formation, Dornier Do 17s, sometimes referred to as “flying pencils”, an aircraft proven effective when first operated with the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. The Dorniers were in four sections flying line astern. Quickly, and without loss, the Tigers destroyed six of the enemy bombers and were credited with another seven probably destroyed.

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