The History of WWII Podcast XX
[0] I'm Dr. Samuel Hume, and I'm here to tell you about my new podcast, Winds of Change.
[1] Winds of Change is the story of how the sun set on the British Empire.
[2] This first season is on British India, and in these weekly episodes, we'll cover the whole history.
[3] Welcome to True Spies.
[4] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[5] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.
[6] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[7] What do they know?
[8] What are their skills?
[9] And what would you do in their position?
[10] Vengeance felt good.
[11] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[12] True Spies from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.
[13] is brought to you by Audible .com.
[14] As you know, Audible is the Internet's leading provider of amazing audiobooks.
[15] With over 100 ,000 titles to choose from, everyone should be able to find something, hopefully each month, to enjoy.
[16] This time I would like to recommend two books.
[17] One is A Pearl Beyond Price in World War II books, and the other is A Story of Faith and Despair.
[18] The first book is The One, The Only, The Granddaddy of Them All, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
[19] by William Shire.
[20] For some reason, this is offered by Audible as a single credit book, which means if you sign up for a free 14 -day trial, you can get this 57 -hour unabridged book for free.
[21] It's simply the entire story of World War II from Nazi Germany's point of view.
[22] But what's more, it starts with Hitler's grandfather and also fills you in on the future leader of Germany's childhood and through World War I and the Beer Hall Putsch.
[23] and his rise to power.
[24] And if you continue your membership with Audible, and I hope you do, they have different plans to suit your needs.
[25] The other book is Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, a Religious Gentile vs. the Third Reich by Erich Metaxes.
[26] Sorry if I said the name wrong.
[27] Discovering faith in a Harlem church, Dietrich Bonhoeffer returns to Germany and openly speaks out against Hitler and the Nazis.
[28] But as brave as that was, he backs up his words with action.
[29] He becomes a double agent and is in on the plot to assassinate the Nazi leader.
[30] But as we all know, Hitler was not assassinated and Bonhoeffer is found out.
[31] Now his faith will be tested.
[32] And I'll leave the story right there.
[33] So if either one of these interests you, please go to my website, worldwar2podcast .net, and click on the Audible link.
[34] And while you're there, check out the new website.
[35] put together by Paul Finch of Scotland.
[36] But more on that later.
[37] Hello, and thank you for listening to The History of World War II.
[38] Episode 43, Peace is Behind Us.
[39] The Supermarine Spitfire.
[40] The design staff of Supermarine Aviation, a subsidiary of Vickers Aviation Limited, had become focused on the idea of a new fighter just like the designers at Hocker.
[41] Clearly, the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party in 1933 made men in positions of power and industry think of the one thing they hoped would never happen again in their lifetime, war.
[42] By 1934, the people at Supermarine had a design for a fast, single -seat fighter on paper.
[43] The design was called Design 300, but was based not on previous traditional fighter plane designs, like the Hurricane was, but on the experiences of the Scheider Trophy -winning seaplanes.
[44] It was a completely different way to look at a potential fighter craft, but this odd point of view would pay off handsomely for all concerned.
[45] In December of 1934, the Air Ministry clearly felt the same way, given the political changes on the continent, and so...
[46] ordered a single -seat prototype.
[47] Jubilant, the design team, led by Reginald Mitchell, began the real task of specifically designing the Supermarine 300, the forerunner of the Spitfire.
[48] Although its inspiration came from a different location, the specifics would be similar to the Hurricane.
[49] The Supermarine had its first flight on March 5, 1936, some six months after the prototype Hurricane.
[50] The thoroughbred Spitfire was destined to outdo the hurricane in almost every way, as well as being built for innovations far into the future.
[51] But there were still bugs to work out.
[52] The prototype went to the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment in July of 1936 to be flown and reviewed by pilots.
[53] Underneath its skin was a Merlin C engine driving a de Havilland fixed pitch two -bladed wooden propeller.
[54] It weighed 5 ,322 pounds and could go 349 miles an hour at 16 ,800 feet and 324 miles an hour at 30 ,000 feet.
[55] It took 5 minutes 42 seconds to get to 18 ,000 feet and had a service ceiling of 35 ,000 feet.
[56] With these abilities, it had already surpassed the hurricane in performance.
[57] Its one design flaw, fixed in later versions, was its longitudinal stability.
[58] which is the pitching of the nose up or down due to its design, and would require the pilot to constantly manage it.
[59] The Spitfire missed the deadline to be ready for mass production, according to Plan F of March 1939, due to complexity of design and required additional steps during construction.
[60] Whereas the Hurricane had traditional smaller problems in development of an aircraft, The Spitfire's exterior and shape slowed down its construction.
[61] Its all -metal stressed skin meant it was not an easy aircraft to build.
[62] Added to this, the wing's unique leading edge also complicated construction.
[63] But these complications would be nothing compared to when the Supermarine Works in Southampton was heavily bombed in September of 1940.
[64] After that, production would be widely dispersed over at Southern Britain.
[65] up to 65 different locations building some part of the aircraft.
[66] Throughout late 1938 and through 1939, early production of Spitfires were sent to a squadron for a 400 -hour intensive flying trial.
[67] Pilots made recommendations and changes were made.
[68] The Merlin engine was eventually replaced with a newer version, and the two -bladed fixed -pitch wooden propeller was replaced by a de Havilland -Hamilton two -pitch three -bladed metal propeller.
[69] This propeller was heavier, normally not considered an improvement in aircraft, and the new flying speed was barely improved, but there was a significant improvement in its climbing ability.
[70] And considering its slotted role to take on the ME -109 and 110, this improvement was a godsend.
[71] The earlier version did not have a bulletproof windscreen or armor, but that came later.
[72] The original idea was to have eight .303 machine guns with 300 rounds each, but due to a lack of production of these guns, the compromise was to mount only four guns.
[73] Later, as production increased, four more were added.
[74] The idea for change came from various and varying levels of important sources.
[75] The initial pilots complained about bumping their heads on the flat roof of the cockpit canopy, so a pumped canopy was installed.
[76] thereby giving the Spitfire its characteristic profile.
[77] During the Battle of France, a captured ME -109E clearly showed the British engineers that the Spitfire I, with its two -bladed wooden propeller, was lacking in several performance aspects.
[78] So, a massive organized effort was made between June and August 1940 to make sure that all Spitfires were using the constant speed propeller.
[79] The ME -109 was a little faster, and could out -climb the Spitfire, but the constant speed propeller improvement negated a lot of this.
[80] This war was unlike the wars before it.
[81] In this war, victory did not depend on the leader, his rousing speech, or physical prowess.
[82] No, a country's economy and industrial capacity now played a significant role, and Britain had one of the leading economies and industrial platforms.
[83] With each day of holding the German onslaught at bay, The British were able to step back and take a look at their war -conducting ability.
[84] Tactics changed, unproductive leaders were replaced, and machines, like the Spitfire, were constantly improved.
[85] The Spitfire soon received four more guns, as well as the 1 ,175 -horsepower Merlin 12 engine, and with each tweak, the Spitfire came to mirror the performance ability of the ME -109.
[86] Soon the difference was determined by the person holding the stick.
[87] as opposed to the machine he flew.
[88] And when the RAF improved their tactics, which we'll cover later, and aligned them with those of the Luftwaffe, the fight in the air was almost on equal footing.
[89] As impressive as the Spitfire was and would become, its labor -intensive construction meant that they were built at a slower rate.
[90] Still, its successful contribution cannot be argued.
[91] For example, although outnumbered by the hurricane, by a ratio of 3 to 2.
[92] Throughout the summer of 1940, the Spitfire inflicted more casualties than the hurricane.
[93] No wonder it captured the imagination of the British people that summer and fall.
[94] But to be a pilot of a Spitfire, with all its speed and agility, did not guarantee a pilot's return.
[95] Because the RAF's strategy was to focus on German bombers, the British would lose significantly more single -seat fighters.
[96] than Germany.
[97] In fact, during the month of August alone, the RAF lost 118 Spitfires, with a further 55 damaged.
[98] There were also 237 additional Spitfires lost to enemy bombing or removed from inventory for various reasons.
[99] These losses, coupled with the fact that only 163 machines were constructed that month, meant the use of Spitfires were razor thin in August.
[100] However, their numbers were even worse in September, with only 47 Spitfires delivered.
[101] Obviously, these machines with capable, experienced pilots flying them could do the job.
[102] But that was the question, wasn't it?
[103] Their numbers were never enough to guarantee safety from invasion, and experienced pilots became fewer as the battle went on.
[104] An excerpt from Squadron Leader J .H. Ginger.
[105] Lacey.
[106] We scrambled, and the 12 aircraft formed up for a formation flight across the airfield in preparation for an intercept on a large German raid that was approaching the Thames Estuary.
[107] As we passed south of South End, we saw the raiders, more than 50 HE -111s plus the usual ME -109 escort.
[108] As we approached head -on, the CO decided to use an attack which had previously stood us in good stead.
[109] The squadron closed up into a tight formation and flew through the German bombers head -on, with all our 96 Brownians firing.
[110] This had never failed to split them, and after that, it was a case of selecting individual targets.
[111] This time, before the squadron had got into range, my aircraft began to get hit by machine gun fire.
[112] I held formation and opened fire, but almost immediately was hit in the oil cooler.
[113] Hot oil spurted into the cockpit and drenched me, also covering the inside of the windscreen, hood, and my goggles.
[114] Blindly, I banked and pulled away from the formation, but the bullets from the HE's front gunner continued to rip into my aircraft through the underside.
[115] When the engine stopped pumping oil over me, I pushed up my goggles, slid the hood back without trouble, and switched off the engine, which was giving every indication that it intended to seize.
[116] Also, just to prove that his previous shooting was not an accident, the German air gunner hit me again from directly behind.
[117] Hurdly, I prepared to bail out as there were too many ME -109s around for my liking.
[118] I jettisoned the emergency door on the right of the cockpit and undid my straps, but a glance over the side showed me I was over the water, and having no wish to fall into it, I changed my mind and did my straps up again before I fell out as the air was very bumpy.
[119] I glided over the island of Sheppey with the intention of bailing out over land.
[120] But when I realized that there was no real need to bail out, and that I had a choice of various airfields on which to attempt a forced landing, I glided back to Gravesend, pumped the wheels and flaps down by hand, and landed, rolling into a stop within inches of the spot where I had been parked previous to taking off.
[121] And now, the story of the Battle of Britain.
[122] On the other side of the channel, in occupied France, Airman Goering made it clear what he wanted from his air fleet commanders, in a directive on June 30th.
[123] As an overall strategy had not yet been worked out, he wanted small formations sent over the channel to acquaint themselves with the area, gather information about shipping, test the strength and tactics of the RAF, but most importantly, to do all this while husbanding their strength.
[124] A plan would be put together eventually, and he wanted his own branch of the military ready for whatever came.
[125] The head of the Luftwaffe then put the Herculean task of closing the English Channel to enemy ships on von Richthofen's 8th and Loezer's 2nd Kriegerkulps.
[126] But Loezer didn't think it would be a difficult task, and so put his underling, Oberst Johannes Fink, in charge.
[127] a hard worker and much more practical than his superior, was given the title Canal Camp Fuel Channel Battle Leader and started to liaise with Richthofen.
[128] He stationed himself on the cliffs of Camp Blach Ney and could see the radio towers massed on the far side.
[129] In time, he would come to understand more and more of their significance.
[130] As Fink and Richthofen started on their assignment, Fink's neighbor, Theo Osterkamp, the Commodore of Jagishwalder 51, or JG 51, as we saw, realized his days of solely hunting RAF fighters were coming to an end.
[131] Osterkamp respected the British and knew that his assignment would not be easy.
[132] But now all of this was coming to an end, as his fighters would have to protect the bombers looking for British convoys.
[133] Before now, Osterkamp had been taking his Geshwalder over the channel on Freijagv.
[134] or free hunting sweep operations.
[135] Air Vice Marshal Keith Park of 11 Group unknowingly countered this by not allowing his fighters to engage the enemy if they were only made up of fighters.
[136] Osterkamp had tried to outmaneuver this order by attacking the patrols guarding the convoys, but now even that wouldn't work out.
[137] There was a huge difference in free hunting sweeps and flying protection for the bombers.
[138] even if they did manage to sink ships.
[139] The RAF fighters would not, could not, be the main targets now.
[140] Fink, being practical, tried to work out an agreement where the ME -110s would protect the bombers and the ME -109s would be free to hunt.
[141] But Osterkamp knew the limitations of the ME -110 and also knew his would have to stay close and make sure the bombers made it home safe.
[142] He couldn't justify losing men and bombers just to attack RAF fighters.
[143] So the air fleets got into a routine that they would more or less keep until Adler Talk in mid -August.
[144] Single aircraft from meteorological units would fly sorties and gather information about the weather and cloud cover.
[145] Then reconnaissance flight took to the skies throughout the day and photographed ports and airfields, assessed the rage from the night before, and most importantly, looked for shipping.
[146] The routine would call for any shipping found to be attacked, and at dusk, for harassment raids to be launched.
[147] Their main targets would be docks, oil installations, factories, railways, airfields, and of course, ships.
[148] And finally, when they returned to base, they would report on barrage balloons, anti -aircraft fire, and searchlights.
[149] Dusk was also the time when mines were laid by bombers, or special seaplanes.
[150] The idea was to disrupt transportation and report anything unusual, and in general, to make ready for the coming invasion.
[151] The Luftwaffe personnel, though not involved in the planning between the Army and Navy, knew any invasion would happen between the Straits of Dover and Britain's main naval channel base at Portland.
[152] Still, they laid mines and bombed all over Britain in order to confuse the issue and disrupt supplies.
[153] And the nighttime raids certainly focused on mining, since it was near impossible for the RAF to actually find and engage them.
[154] The British did not have airborne radar or a nighttime fighter, yet.
[155] But that would change, and sooner rather than later.
[156] The Battle, July 16th through the 19th.
[157] Shortly before July 16th, Major Yosef Schmend, Chief of Abtilian V, the Intelligence Service, submitted a report to Hitler entitled A Comparative Appreciation of the Striking Power of the RAF and the Luftwaffe.
[158] In it, he estimated, rather accurately, the number of first -line fighters of the RAF, but then he missed a step when he wrote that the ME -109 was superior in all aspects to the Hurricane and Spitfire.
[159] He made it sound as if the aircraft of the RAF trying to contend with his fighters, was a no -hoper.
[160] But then his report edged back to reality when he confessed that the ME -110 was inferior to the Spitfire.
[161] In conclusion, he stated that the Luftwaffe had the overall advantage, but operations needed to start soon to take advantage of the weather before it turned unsuitable for invasion.
[162] Having digested this report and talked to Admiral Rader, Hitler on July 16th hesitantly issued Operation Sea Line.
[163] As the sun rose on Tuesday, July 16th, rainy and cloud -filled skies were still hanging over the Channel and southern Britain, but this time the fog extended itself over northern France.
[164] Still, the day started out the same for the aggressors and for those defending their homeland.
[165] The Luftwaffe sent out reconnaissance flights to find the convoys they knew were operating in the various areas, and the RAF watched their radar.
[166] to see where to launch their fighters to protect those convoys and other threatened areas.
[167] Early on, a few isolated raids were plodded off the coast of Suffolk and Norfolk to the southeast.
[168] But when the hurricanes and spitfires took to the sky, the clouds and fog made detection and even recognition almost impossible.
[169] To the south and southwest, an early raid appeared to be heading for the Bristol area and Wales.
[170] It crossed the coast near Swanage, but then...
[171] headed out to sea.
[172] RAF fighters attempted to intercept, but again, due to the weather, were unsuccessful.
[173] Low -level radio eavesdropping heard the German reconnaissance aircraft give out the weather situation of the Ehlersberry and Celci districts.
[174] Clearly, the Bristol Channel was of extreme interest to the Luftwaffe, and they would return.
[175] Later that morning and into the early afternoon, raids were plotted off Lazard far to the southwest.
[176] and Star Point, just above the Isle of Wight, again searching for shipping and sizing up the weather.
[177] The Germans were hoping to stumble upon any part of the significant shipping coming or going from the British ports, and so kept up the patrols.
[178] About 2 .30 p .m., a hinkle was spotted by an observatory station over Cardiff in southern Wales, and fighters were quickly sent up, but were unable to make contact.
[179] Later, Fighter Command got another chance to the south, around 5 p .m., when Yunker's 88s were plotted off the Isle of Wight.
[180] 601 Squadron responded, and this time managed to locate them and score two hits.
[181] To the north, the activity was relatively light due to the weather as well.
[182] That afternoon, only three raids were plotted, but only one was intercepted.
[183] 603 Squadron was able to find and shoot down an HE -111 about 25 miles northeast of Kennard's head.
[184] The pilot then saw two survivors in a rubber raft, but they were never located.
[185] Soon after, Peterhead and Fraserboro, both north of Aberdeen on the east coast, were bombed.
[186] Fortunately, the damage was not serious.
[187] Again, the weather probably limited visibility on the attacker's bomb run.
[188] The day ended, and those many convoys under the clouds kept Britain fed and supplied for one more day.
[189] That night had little activity as well due to the weather, and no bombs were reported dropped.
[190] Still, there were German aircraft flying over Great Britain to the north and east, laying mines and looking for opportunities.
[191] RAF losses for the day were two aircraft, and the Luftwaffe lost five.
[192] Total recorded losses so far were 24 and 49, respectively.
[193] 128 patrols were launched on this day, which involved 320 aircraft.
[194] Just over 1 ,100 barrage balloons were sent up, and about 20 of them were lost.
[195] No aerodromes or airfields were reported as unusable.
[196] As bad as the weather had been for the last week, on Wednesday, July 17th, it actually got worse.
[197] Or better.
[198] depending on one's point of view.
[199] The clouds and fog were now joined by rain, and to the degree of hindering even the daily reconnaissance flights.
[200] Still, the air fleet commanders, Sparrow and Kesselring, knew the convoys were out there, and so waited out the morning and hoped for an improvement.
[201] When nothing changed, they sent out their aircraft anyway, hoping chance was on their side and they would find shipping.
[202] So raids were plotted by fighter command over Scotland, to the east of London, and to the south.
[203] At Dundee, about 30 miles north of Edinburgh, the Germans did locate ships and attacked.
[204] Damage was inflicted, but no ships were sunk.
[205] Other raids were plotted further north over the Orkney Islands, but no attacks were reported.
[206] The RAF diligently gave chase, but no aircraft were intercepted.
[207] To the south, the Germans found trawlers off of Beachy Head.
[208] which is about 50 miles east of the Isle of Wight, and harass them.
[209] But again, no ships were sunk.
[210] One of the defending Spitfires never returned, and was never found.
[211] There were other raids nearby, but further inland, and bombs were dropped on Surrey, Kent, and to the west of Portland.
[212] But no major damage was reported.
[213] But then, at 3 .40 that afternoon, three Heinkels appeared over Portland again.
[214] and dropped six bombs on the Mare Oilfield Depot.
[215] This time, hits were scored as slight damage was done to a railway.
[216] The clouds that had been protecting British interest had allowed the bombers to slip in.
[217] It seems that two could play at this game.
[218] Further to the west, ships were bombed near Dartmouth, but again, none were sunk.
[219] The visibility limited the attacker's chance to just luck.
[220] To the east, bombs were dropped on Kenley.
[221] just south of London, and British fighters soon chased the Dornier 17 bombers out to sea, but were unable to find them in the fog.
[222] That night, there were numerous raids over southern Wales and near London, and Fighter Command began to piece together the Luftwaffe's tactics.
[223] About half the aircraft sent over Britain at night was to attract attention, cause panic, and have squadrons commit their planes to intercepting them.
[224] The other aircraft would lay mines.
[225] and hoped not to be noticed.
[226] Losses for the day were one for the RAF and two for the Luftwaffe.
[227] Total reported losses to date were 25 and 51 respectively.
[228] That day, 70 patrols were used, involving about 266 aircraft of the RAF.
[229] Again, just over 1 ,000 barrage balloons were sent up on word from Fighter Command, and about 20 were destroyed.
[230] Although the day had comparatively light activity, 11 Group could now start to see the bigger picture of the attack on Southern Britain.
[231] So more squadrons were moved around, hoping to put the most men and aircraft where they would be needed.
[232] Welcome to True Spies.
[233] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[234] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in love.
[235] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[236] What do they know?
[237] What are their skills?
[238] And what would you do in their position?
[239] Vengeance felt good.
[240] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[241] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.
[242] Wherever you get your podcasts.
[243] For the eager Luftwaffe pilots, a time without rain and clouds must have seemed like something from a previous life, because on Thursday, July 18th, clouds hung over the eastern part of the Channel and rain continued to fall in the south.
[244] Early that morning, numerous small raids were plotted and reported crossing over near Bournemouth, just west of the Isle of Wight.
[245] The German aircraft went inland for a ways and then returned to France, but there were no reports of bombs being dropped.
[246] Then around 9 .30 a .m., a force of 30 or so Luftwaffe aircraft assembled behind Calais and headed in the direction of Deal, just off the southeast British coast.
[247] One squadron of Spitfires took off to intercept them, just off Dover, with two more squadrons waiting in reserve.
[248] But the clouds made detection and combat difficult.
[249] There were no confirmed enemy kills, but not all of the RAF fighters made it back home.
[250] In Wales later that morning, the Bristol and Cardiff areas were bombed by a Junker 88.
[251] An RAF fighter gave chase and fired off a few rounds before the bomber disappeared into the clouds.
[252] However, the pilot thought he hit the rear gunner.
[253] Later that day, Bristol, just to the east, would be bombed.
[254] Around 1240 midday, raids started to appear off Celci Bill, to the right of White, where 145 Squadron downed an HE -111.
[255] Closer to the Isle of Wight, another raid was intercepted, but two Spitfires were damaged, although the pilots got out safe.
[256] Then, early that afternoon, the tide seemed to be turning for the Luftwaffe.
[257] To the south, the Goodwin lightship was sunk, and further east, in Kent, the St. Margaret's Bay Coast Guard Station was bombed.
[258] Both bombings inflicted casualties.
[259] Later in the day, further north, on the east coast, trawlers came under the bombardment.
[260] of some 15 enemy aircraft.
[261] Earlier, to the north in Scotland, just before 10 a .m., a Hinkle 111 bombed the Montrose Aerodrome, or airfield.
[262] Witnesses said the bomber dove as low as 500 feet.
[263] Some of the parked aircraft received splinter damage, but more importantly, there were five casualties, and two of them ended up being fatal.
[264] That afternoon, at least four more raids were plotted off the northeast Scottish coast.
[265] A convoy was hammered, and mine lane was suspected.
[266] No interceptions were made, but that might have been due to the RDF station at Anstruther, just 30 miles northeast of Edinburgh, being bombed.
[267] Also, Crail, about 4 miles northeast, again on the coast, was hit as well.
[268] But the Germans weren't the only ones gathering information about enemy movements.
[269] Massing German barges, obviously for an invasion, were being gathered at Boulogne, France.
[270] So that evening, about 7 p .m., 18 Blemons, escorted by 24 fighters, slipped across the channel and sank as many barges as they could with a single pass.
[271] They headed home, reporting no sight of enemy aircraft.
[272] But the Luftwaffe would strike back this night and have help from a U -boat.
[273] Bombs were dropped near Swansea, which cut telegraph and electric cables.
[274] At Pernarth, just below Cardiff and Wales, bombs cut telephone wires and water mains.
[275] Near Leith, close to Edinburgh, bombs damaged docks and, again, telephone lines.
[276] The other raids that night were busy laying mines over a large area.
[277] From up north to Liverpool in the west, waterways, bays, and coastlines were mined.
[278] Losses for the day for the RAF were three Spitfires, whereas the Luftwaffe lost one bomber.
[279] All other hits were unconfirmed.
[280] Total reported losses to date were 28 and 52, respectively.
[281] Around 2 a .m., U -boat 99 came upon the British steamer Woodbury, which was carrying 5 ,500 tons of canned meat and wheat, as well as 2 ,500 tons of other general cargo.
[282] The U -boat had found her prey about 150 miles southwest off the southern Irish coast when she fired torpedoes.
[283] The steamer went down, but the entire crew scrambled for the lifeboats and reached Ireland later that day on July 19th.
[284] The weather finally broke on Friday, July 19th, with clear skies over the channel and intervals of light rain and sunshine to the north.
[285] The normal German reconnaissance sorties took off in the morning, and they would discover at least nine convoys bringing in supplies.
[286] However, one of the reconnaissance aircraft was shot down off the coast near Brighton.
[287] Soon after 8 a .m., four Dornier 17s attacked the Rolls -Royce Aero Engine Works at Glasgow and inflicted heavy damage.
[288] At least 40 civilians were killed.
[289] The Dorniers were not intercepted.
[290] That afternoon saw several engagements over the channel as the RAF tried to protect the shipping below.
[291] Just after noon, Nine aircraft from 141 Defiant Squadron, operating from Hawkage, were patrolling off Folkestone when attacked by 12 ME -109s from Luftflotte 3, Yogg -Geschwader 51.
[292] The 109s had come from above and had the sun behind them.
[293] Four of the Defiants went down after the first pass.
[294] The turret fighters were simply outclassed by the MEs and another was shot down.
[295] A total of 10 crewmen were killed.
[296] and two seriously wounded.
[297] The attackers lost just one plane and pilot.
[298] The Defiant would soon be removed as a front -line fighter.
[299] As bad as this was, and it could have been worse, but halfway through the engagement, 12 Hurricanes from 111 Squadron arrived and fought the ME -109s to a standstill, who soon had to leave due to fuel.
[300] The surviving Defiants landed around 1 p .m., but one crashed as it came down, and the other, had to be written off.
[301] There were other engagements over the Channel that day, and luck, or whatever intangible there is in war, was with the Luftwaffe.
[302] At least six more RAF squadrons suffered some kind of loss, injury, or damage this day.
[303] There were further raids over the Bristol Channel and in the south at Portland.
[304] Around 2 .30 p .m., hurricanes encountered 12 ME -109s off Celsie Bill, about 10 miles east of the Isle of Wight.
[305] The results were inconclusive.
[306] but one hurricane never returned.
[307] Northeast of London, Luftwaffe aircraft carried out weather reports and attacked naval units near Clacton.
[308] Then about 4 p .m., about 70 German bombers and fighters were plotted approaching Dover.
[309] One squadron of Hurricanes and two of Spitfires were sent up, about 35 in total.
[310] Numerous 109s and Junkers 87s were hit, but no one could confirm.
[311] probably due to the intensity of the battle, if there were any victories.
[312] That night, the Luftwaffe kept up the pressure with many raids and mine lane.
[313] At least 33 raids were reported off the south coast to the west of White.
[314] Additional raids were executed in the Bristol Channel.
[315] To the east, at least 15 raids were carried out along the east coast between the Thames Estuary and Harwich area.
[316] Additional raids were carried out along the Scottish east coast.
[317] After a day like this, the British were elated and the Germans scowled as clouds moved back in that night.
[318] The losses for the day were hard to calculate, as many victories on both sides could not be confirmed.
[319] So I will go with RAF pilot Richard Townsend Bicker's book, The Battle of Britain, which claims 11 losses for the RAF and two for the Luftwaffe.
[320] But at least two British bombers were lost that night as well.
[321] So reported losses to date were 37 for the British and 54 for Germany.
[322] In the early hours of July 20th, 30 miles northwest of Ireland, U -boat 62 came upon and sank a British steamer carrying almost 8 ,000 tons of iron ore. Thirteen crew members died, but 26 others survived.
[323] Back in London, Churchill was readying the homeland for invasion.
[324] by appointing General Alan Brooke Commander -in -Chief of the Home Forces, replacing General Edmund Ironside.
[325] That evening of July 19th, Hitler spoke to the world, calling for a negotiated peace.
[326] He was willing to let Britain go unmolested as long as they gave him Europe.
[327] The rejection came within an hour of the offer.
[328] The war would go on.
[329] Greetings from Central Virginia.
[330] So the new website is up, and a lot of you have written saying that you really like it.
[331] So again, I just want to thank Paul Finch.
[332] He did everything, not me. And you've probably noticed that the other feeds are off of iTunes.
[333] So if you're confused or whatever, you can search my name, Ray Harris.
[334] or you can just go to worldwar2podcast .net and find it there.
[335] All the episodes are there.
[336] They're in the MP3 format.
[337] This is the last episode I will load on to the old website.
[338] It's still out there, but it's not attached to the domain, and it's not on iTunes.
[339] But just in case you're listening to this and you're not going through iTunes or you don't have an iPod, please go to worldwar2podcast .net for further episodes.
[340] I just wanted to let everyone know, when it comes to the number of reported lost aircraft, trust me, I've got at least 11 books sitting on my desk right here.
[341] They don't always agree, so I'm just doing the best I can.
[342] But still, I just want to give you an idea of the losses that come and how they start to separate as the RAF does better, but at the same time, the losses that they do suffer.
[343] So my numbers aren't 100%, but I think that they're pretty reliable.
[344] Oh, and one more thing about the website.
[345] Paul and I are still working on it.
[346] So as far as pictures and maps, I'm getting around to it as fast as I can.
[347] But as you can tell by this website coming out sooner than I normally get them out.
[348] I'm really focused on this.
[349] I'm trying to get everybody to go to the new feed, to go to the new website.
[350] So I'm going to try and pump out a couple of episodes just as fast as I can.
[351] And lastly, I just want to say between Paul's amazing website, the new feed, the new format, the other ones disappearing and everything, I've probably gotten close to 100 emails in the last week and a half, and I haven't had time to respond to those, but I will get back to every single one of you, I promise.
[352] Even if it's just a thank you for writing or whatever, I will get back to you.
[353] So sorry about the delay, but I'm working on it.
[354] And finally, I know it was months ago that I recommended a book, Last of the Few by Max Arthur.
[355] It's a collection of stories from RAF pilots and German pilots, Polish pilots, women in the RAF, that kind of thing.
[356] But you should look at that one again just because I've listened to it three times now.
[357] And the more that you go into the Battle of Britain and you listen to that story, when it first starts out, they're all young and they all have heroes from World War I, the pilots from World War I. Then they get into the training and some of them get into it in a very backwards kind of way.
[358] And a lot of that stuff is very funny.
[359] And then you get into the story and they're fighting and it's just amazing what they go through.
[360] and the friends that they lose and how they live their lives, just waiting for the next time that they had to go up in the plane, sometimes four or five times a day.
[361] And then you get to the end and you're just...
[362] crying because they just went through so much and they suffered so much and so did all the other pilots but it really is an amazing story so if you didn't check that out you might want to give it another look because that was truly an amazing audio book and I will probably listen to it a couple more times but just wanted to share that with you so I will get the next episode out as soon as I can it's already halfway written We'll just see how it goes, and I'll just keep pushing these for a while because these are, as you can tell, shorter podcasts, but they're a lot of fun to do, and I think I can get them out pretty quickly.
[363] But just know that on the website we're still adding maps and pictures and everything.
[364] It's going to be a work in progress.
[365] We're going to have a lot of fun with it and change it and try to do some videos and all that kind of stuff.
[366] So if you have any suggestions or any questions or whatever, you ask me. I'll turn around and ask Paul, and he'll answer it, and we'll go from there.
[367] So please take care, everyone, and I'll see you soon.
[368] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[369] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.
[370] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[371] What do they know?
[372] What are their skills?
[373] And what would you do in their position?
[374] Vengeance felt good.
[375] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[376] True Spies from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.