August 24th, 1940 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - electrical factory at Milan - aircraft
factory at Augsburg - Daimler-Benz factory at Stuttgart.
10 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Milan. Four returned early, six bombed primary.
77 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Augsburg. Seven bombed primary, one FTR.
102 Sqn. Nine aircraft to Stuttgart. All bombed primary.
Battle of Britain:
London: The city has its first bombing raid when ten German planes returning home jettison
their loads by mistake. Germany loses 38 planes today and Britain 22.
The Luftwaffe today concentrated its attacks on Fighters Command's airfields flying 1,030
daytime sorties. The first raid appeared at 8.30 am when 40 Do17s and Ju88s, escorted by
66 Bf109s, approached the coast. 12 fighter squadrons went up to intercept. But the raid
was a feint, and the real attack was timed to catch the British fighters on the ground as
they refuelled.
Hornchurch and North Weald took heavy punishment, with the fighters scrambling to get into
the air as the bombs dropped. Hornchurch was saved for severe damage largely by its
anti-aircraft guns, while Hurricanes from neighbouring Romford came to the rescue at North
Weald.
Manston, in its exposed position on top of the Kentish cliffs, took a terrible hammering,
although stories about a "mutiny" amongst ground staff - allegedly refusing to
come out of underground shelters despite threats and entreaties from the superior officers
- appear to have arisen from a series of misunderstandings, as have tales of civilian
workers refusing to fill in bomb craters under enemy fire. Tonight Manston has ceased to
exist as a front line fighter base, and is being used only as an emergency field. This is
not the only weakness that today's attacks have shown up. Five of 264 Squadrons Defiants
have been shot down.
There is also something wrong with the co-operation between Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park's
hard pressed 11 Group and Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory's 12 Group.
When Park asked for help today, 12 Group's squadrons took so long in forming their
"big wing" that the raiders had bombed and gone before 12 Group appeared on the
scene. The Germans also got through to Portsmouth where, attempting to bomb the dockyard,
they were heavily engaged by anti-aircraft fire. Many of their bombs fell into the town
and caused heavy civilian casualties. Ramsgate was also hit. As a result of the day's
fighting the German lost 41 aircraft and the RAF 20. But the day is not yet over.
Göring has ordered a round-the-clock offensive, and there are reports tonight of raids on
Cardiff, Swansea, South Shields and many areas around London.
London: 2nd Lt Ellis Edward Arthur Chetwynd Talbot (1920-41), Royal Engineers, carried a
new and unpredictable type of German bomb to a safe spot on his shoulders. (Empire
Gallantry Medal)
Destroyer HMS Acheron damaged by German aircraft during an air raid on Portsmouth.
ASW trawler HMS Gavotte commissioned.
GERMANY:
U-144 is launched.
CANADA: Corvette
HMCS Sorel is laid down at Sorel, Province
of Quebec.
U.S.A.: The USAAC signs a contract with Boeing for the construction of two prototype XB-29s and a static test model.
The Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox play a baseball game in Fenway Park in Boston. With the Tigers leading 11-1 after seven innings, the Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams pitches the last two innings and gives up one run on three hits.
Minesweepers USS Raven and Osprey are launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: An attack by U-37 on convoy SC1 and OA-200 to the southeast of Greenland leads to the loss of a merchantman (SS Brookwood) and sloop HMS Penzance. The sloop is blown in half by a torpedo and it was not possible to lower boats or rafts. (Alex Gordon)(108)
U-57 sinks SS Cumberland, SS Saint Dunstan and damages SS Havildar in Convoy OB-202.
U-48 sinks SS La Brea in Convoy HX-65.