August 16th, 1940 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Battle of Britain:
Two Ju88s attack the aerodrome at Brize Norton and destroy 46 training aircraft.
Ju87s of St.G 2 bomb Tangmere but suffer heavy losses. Challenged by Hurricanes of 1, 43
and 601 Squadrons along
with 602 Sqn. Spitfires tackling the escort, 17 Stukas were claimed by the RAF, the
Luftwaffe admitting to losing 9. In
the midst of the attack Pilot Officer W. Fiske force-landed Hurricane P3358, which was
then strafed and burnt.
Around noon a two-pronged attack by KG 2 over Dover and the North Foreland resulted in 80 bombs falling on West Malling airfield, 66 of them exploding in surrounding farmland.
Four No. 266 Squadron Spitfires are shot down in a bitter struggle with II/JG 26 over Deal.
RAF Bomber Command attacks targets in Holland and GERMANY:
4 Group (Whitley). Bombing -
Zeiss works at Jena,
Dornier aircraft factory at Augsburg and power station at Bohlen.
10 Sqn. Nine aircraft to Jena. All bombed primary, one claimed at Bf110 destroyed and one FTR.
51 Sqn. Fourteen aircraft to Bohlen. Two returned early, twelve bombed primary. One force
landed at Nuneaton and one TR.
58 Sqn. Eleven aircraft to Jena and Augsburg. Two returned early (one hit by own AA), four
bombed Jena and five bombed
Augsburg.
77 Sqn. Five aircraft to Augsburg. One bombed primary, three bombed alternative targets.
Weather bad.
78 Sqn. Five aircraft to Bohlen. Four bombed primary, one bombed an alternative target.
Southampton: Flt-Lt Eric James Brindley Nicolson (1917-45) stayed, wounded and badly burnt, in his blazing Hurricane long enough to down a German fighter. Nicolson had been fired on by a Messerschmitt 110, injuring him in one eye and one foot. His engine was also damaged and the petrol tank set alight. As he struggled to leave the blazing machine he saw another Messerschmitt, and managed to get back into the bucket seat, pressed the firing button, continuing firing until the enemy plane dived away to destruction. Not until then did he bale out, and when he landed in a field, he was unable to bale out owing to his badly burned hands. (VC: the only Battle of Britain VC and only fighter pilot to win the VC in the war.) (Chuck Smith)
Submarine HMS Seraph laid down. Minesweeping trawler HMS Liberia is commissioned.
The first American to join the RAF is killed today. William M.
Fiske, III will become the only American buried at St. Paul's Cathedral in
London. Flying with RAF 601 squadron based at Tangmere, he died in a belly
landing after being shot up defending England during the Battle of Britain. The
inscription reads: "An American citizen who died that England might live." (John
Nicholas)
GERMANY:
The German News Bureau reported:
An authoritative source has informed us that in the course of this afternoon's aerial
hostilities, one German aerial
formation took off on a special mission. This combat group was deployed against all
military and war-related targets
immediately surrounding the British capital. The German Luftwaffe will offer proof that no
power in the world can
prevent it from dropping its bombs anywhere in England that it chooses - even, if it
should be necessary over the City of
London.
FINLAND: The US Army transport AMERICAN LEGION departs Petsamo. Passengers include Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Martha of Norway and her 3 children; President Roosevelt has invited her to come to the U.S. American Legion is the last neutral ship to leave Petsamo. In addition to her passengers, she carries a crated twin-mount 40 mm Bofors gun "with standard sights, spare parts and 3,000 rounds of ammunition."
SOMALILAND: British forces pull out of Tug Argan.
CANADA: LCdr Henry "Harry" George
Dewolf, RCN, was posted ashore to
HMCS Stadacona for reassignment to NSHQ,
Ottawa, after a tour of duty as the Commanding Officer of
HMCS St Laurent, a River-class destroyer,
which he had held since 1937. In Ottawa he served as the Director of Plans and
Secretary to the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
U.S.A.:
Washington: The United States is to "swap" 50 ageing destroyers for 99-year,
rent-free leases on British naval and air
bases in the western hemisphere.
The draft agreement was made public two days ago, and was re-affirmed by President
Roosevelt in a press conference
today stressing the advantages of the deal to the USA. The destroyers in question are
obsolescent, but still
serviceable, "four-stackers" dating from the Great War, which Churchill told
Roosevelt are desperately needed to escort
convoys under attack from U-boat "wolf-packs".
The bases involved stretch all the way from Newfoundland by way of Bermuda to the Bahamas
and across the
Caribbean to British Guinea.
It is understood that the deal had its origins in a personal appeal from Churchill to
Roosevelt on 15 May. He explained
that the Germans' overrunning of the whole coastline of western Europe from the north of
Norway to the Pyrenees, the
entry of the Italian fleet, with 100 new submarines, into the war, and the loss of almost
half Britain's submarines in
actions to protect convoys had seriously weakened Britain's ability to defeat an invasion
and keep the Atlantic sea
lanes open for imports of wheat, oil and munitions from the United States and elsewhere.
It was, Mr Churchill said, "a
matter of life and death", and King George added a personal message saying that the
need for destroyers was "greater
every day."
It is known that he President first felt that the legal and political difficulties of
helping Britain were insuperable. On 1
August, however, the Century Group - which lobbies for US aid to Britain - came up with
the idea of exchanging the
ships for British bases.
The President was concerned about potential reactions from the isolationists in Congress,
many of then Republicans,
Mr Churchill was reluctant to let the exchange seem too hard a bargain, and preferred it
to be seen as "two friends in
danger helping each other."
Still the President persevered: hence today's press conference. One senator who supports
the deal reminded his
colleagues: "If you jump on the destroyer transfer you're jumping on the acquisition
of defence bases."
Mr. Roosevelt has said he believes the swap will be the "most important action in
national defence since the Louisiana
Purchase."
The first official US Army parachute jump occurred today. Due to the success of this first jump, the War Department recognized the potential of the airborne units and subsequently expanded their role in combat. (Gene Hanson)
In the U.S., two motion pictures are released today:
- "Foreign Correspondent" a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, stars Joel McCrea, Larraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Albert Bassermann, Robert Benchley, Edmund Gwenn and Eduardo Ciannelli. Uncredited Alfred Hitchcock appears as a man walking down the street while Joan Leslie has an uncredited bit part. The plot has a young reporter for a U.S. newspaper (McCrea) working in London on the eve of World War II where he encounters enemy agents and enlists the aid of a woman (Day) to help him. The film is nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Bassermann).
- "Stranger on the Third Floor," a film-noir drama directed by Boris Ingster, stars Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook, Jr. Cook is convicted of murder based on circumstantial evidence and on the testimony of a up-and-coming reporter. The reporter and his girlfriend have second thoughts and begin to investigate the case to determine his guilt.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-100
sinks SS Empire Merchant in Convoy OA-198.
U-30 sinks SS Clan Macphee in Convoy OB-197.
U-48 sinks SS Hedrun in Convoy OB-197.
At 1302, U-46 fired three torpedoes on three ships (two passenger ships and one freighter) which partially overlapped in convoy OB-197 (150 miles SW of Rockall) and observed a hit on the freighter, which was clearly damaged, as the bow was deeper in the water. The Dutch merchant ship Alcinous (6,189 tons) was hit on the port side by one torpedo and caught fire, which could be extinguished after long work. The British sloop HMS Rochester supported the damaged ship, which was later towed to Gourock by a British tug. Endrass could not identify his victim, but U-30 heard the SOS-signals from the Alcinous.