August 12th, 1940 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Battle of Britain:
Do17s from KG 2 attack Manston, dropping 150 bombs and putting the airfield out of action
for a day.
63 JU 88A-1s from KG 51 and KG 54 bomb Portsmouth, 15 aircraft diverting to attack the
radar station at Ventnor (Isle of Wight). The radar station is put out of action for 11 days.
Radar stations at Dover, Pevensey, Rye and Dunkirk (Kent) are also bombed as the Luftwaffe try to
put a breach in the British radar system. But they failed to hit the transmitter poles and
the stations themselves were well camouflaged in the surrounding countryside. Spare radar
stations also served to deceive the Germans with simulated radio traffic.
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - industrial targets at Heringen and the
Ruhr.
77 Sqn. Ten aircraft
to Heringen. Bad weather, only five bombed.
78 Sqn. Five aircraft
to the Ruhr. Bad weather, only two bombed. Two damaged by Flak.
Germany. Flt-Lt Roderick Alastair Brook Learoyd (b.1913) bombed his target from just 150
feet amid heavy flak, and returned his badly damaged aircraft to England. (VC)
RAF Fighter Command: Luftwaffe 45, RAF 13.
The first Bristol Beaufighters are delivered to the Fighter Interception Unit at Tangmere,
they are equipped with A.I. MkIV (airborne interception) radar.
An experimental British radar, using the cavity magnetron which was developed only
six months earlier, tracks an aircraft for the first time. (Cris Wetton)
London: RAF Headquarters announced:
This morning a series of violent aerial combats involving more than one hundred aircraft
took place over the Channel and southeast coast of England. British fighter planes
attacked a strong formation of enemy aircraft that was nearing the English coast, and have
so far shot down 5 machines while seriously damaging other German aircraft.
Dover: The first German shell to fall on British soil destroys four houses.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Tyrope is lost due to unknown reasons.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Tamarisk is bombed and sunk in the Thames estuary.
Corvette HMS Anemone is commissioned.
GERMANY: The Wehrmacht High Command announced:
As has already been revealed by a special announcement, German combat aircraft formations
attacked the naval harbour of Portland on August 11. Important harbour installations, the
jetty, the floating dock and a loading bridge were demolished; oil warehouses were set on
fire. Two merchant vessels and one destroyer were badly hit.
Berlin:
The German News Bureau announced:
In the first segment of hostilities over the Channel and England on Monday, German
fighters shot down 22 aircraft according to reports received so far. German losses thus
far are 6.
Hauptmann von Menges of the OKW publishes his final contingency plans for an invasion of Switzerland. The first section details the German effort, the second outlines Italy's expected contribution to the invasion. The plan emphasises the assault is to take place from several directions at once to quickly isolate and destroy the various units of the Swiss Army before they could withdraw into the high mountains of the interior. The occupation of the capital, Berne, and the industrial area around Solothurn and Zurich (where the Oerlikon armament works are located), is deemed critical for achieving quick success.
It is expected that the Swiss will field some 278,000 soldiers in six infantry and three mountain infantry divisions, three mountain infantry brigades, nine border guard brigades, and 75 reserve battalions. The Swiss Army has no tank arm, and there is only a weak air force. Menges, however, also believes that the French and Polish troops interned in Switzerland (about one divisions worth with some tanks) will also resist the invasion. Overall von Menges' appraisal is that the Swiss armed forces are only suitable for defence and even at that would prove inferior in any contest with the Wehrmacht.
The main attack is to come from France because there the Swiss border defences are the weakest and the defenders less numerous. It is also believed that the transport net runs in such a way that the important Swiss cities can be reached more quickly by the invaders advancing from that direction.
The German units selected for the attack are: 4. Panzer Div., 5. 23. 73. 260. 262. Inf.Divs. - 1. Gebirgsjäger Div., 20. Inf. (mot). SS-TK (mot.), SS-LAH Rgt. (mot)., 'GrossDeutschland' Rgt.
Menges believes that the portion of Switzerland to be occupied
by the Germans can be secured in three to five days. He is unsure how long the
Italians will need to complete their part of the invasion, since their sector
includes difficult Alpine terrain and strong fortifications. (Russ Folsom)(131)
AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper
HMAS
Bendigo is commissioned.
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Moose Jaw is laid down in Collingwood, Ontario.
U.S.A.: The USN Bureau of Ordnance requests informally that the National defence Research Committee sponsor development, on a priority basis, of proximity fuses with particular emphasis on anti-aircraft use.
The Will Bradley Trio, consisting of Ray McKinley on drums, "Doc" Goldberg on base and Freddie Slack on piano with McKinley and Bradley on vocal, records "Down the Road Apiece" on Columbia Records.