August 30th, 1940 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command: Very heavy bombing of airfields (Lympne, Biggin Hill twice,
Detling). Vauxhall works at Luton. At night heavy bombing of Merseyside.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 36; RAF, 26.
German raiders target Biggin Hill in Kent and important industries in Luton;
incendiaries are dropped on London.
Leading today's assault 100+ aircraft arrived in the Deal-Dungeness area at
07:36, Do 17s escorted by Bf110s of ZG 76 and heading for a convoy sailing from
the Thames at Methil. Then at 10:30 the first element of phase one of the three
part operation revealed itself as three Gruppen of Bf109s coming in over the
Kent coast to pave the way for 40 He-111s, 30 Do 17s and another 90 fighters. 151
Squadron engaged the Heinkels, claiming three for the loss of two Hurricanes
before 85 Squadron made head-on attacks, widely splitting the bomber formation.
Two escorting Bf110s were then shot down, and another Hurricane lost.
Scattered
groups of bombers produced another confusing and dangerous situation, prompting
Park to order part of 253 Squadron to guard Kenley, whose fighters were
scrambled. 253 then found themselves attacking three formation each of nine
Ju88s with 30 fighters providing top cover. Aided by 43 Squadron and newcomers
of 222 Squadron they destroyed six enemy aircraft, but for the cost of ten RAF
aircraft and five pilots.
The pressure was building and before the squadrons completed their turn-rounds
Kesselring dispatched small groups of bombers protected by many fighters and
crossing the Kent coast from 13:00 at around 15,000 feet at 20-minute intervals,
and largely unplotted because power supplies to radar stations had been cut
during morning raids. For over two hours the enemy roamed over south-east
England. Five fighter squadrons responded, among them 222 Squadron, which was to
operate three times during the day, have eight of its Spitfires put out of use,
lose five, have a pilot killed and two injured.
Twelve of 222 Squadron's
Spitfires on patrol at 16,000 feet over Lympne sighted 15 escorted He-111s near
Canterbury and as they attacked were set upon by the Messerschmitts. They
claimed a Bf 110 damaged but Pilot Officer Asheton was forced to land on the
obstructed Bekesbourne airfield, Sergeant Baxter had to put down at Eastchurch
and Pilot Officer Carpenter baled out of P9378 near Rochford.
Early in the afternoon another squadron appeared. Since the start of the Battle
12 Group's Coltishall-based 242 Squadron, led by Sqn. Ldr. Douglas Bader, had
been flying convoy patrols off the East Anglian coast and seen little fighting.
Around midday 242 was ordered to Duxford, from where 14 Hurricanes set off to
police the North Weald area, and led by Bader (P3061) they tackled raid X33, a
diamond formation of KG 1s He 111s which had already braved 54 rounds of heavy
AA fire, and shot down two. Before returning to Coltishall that evening 242
operated on two occasions.
By 16:00 a huge force of enemy aircraft, probably about 300, was crossing the
Kent coast, some heading for distant inland targets. 13 squadrons were scrambled
to deal with them. 19 Gruppen in total headed for Hawker's at Slough, the
Hurricane and Spitfire repair centres at Oxford, for Luton and three vital
airfields - North Weald, Kenley and Biggin Hill. One small formation,
intercepted by only one squadron, managed to put Detling out of use for 15
hours.
The biggest, potentially most damaging operation so far, had to be ferociously dealt with using as many aircraft as possible.
The first bombing incidents came at Lambeth. Soon after a group of fewer than
ten Ju88s made low and fast for Sheppey, suddenly veered south, then delivered a
devastating 15-ton blow on Biggin Hill smashing a hangar, the workshops, armoury,
barrack blocks, MT Section, WAAF quarters, killing 39 and injuring 26. Too late,
six Hurricanes of 79 Squadron arrived, chasing after the Ju88s and claiming two
of them.
Around 16:10, 20 He-111s of II/KG 1 escorted by Bf110s flew across Southend and
then North Weald bound for Luton's industrial area. Despite spirited efforts by
Hurricanes of 1, 56, 242 and 501 Squadrons - Nos. 1 and 56 each destroying a
Heinkel - the raiders reached Luton, where at 16:40 they carried out the five
minutes of bombing during which 207 HEs fell, may on Vauxhall Motors factory. No
public warning had sounded and horrific scenes followed the destruction of the
factory's main internal stairway. Casualties totalled 59 killed and 141 injured.
Over 60 bombs fell very wide of the target, 18 of them in Whipsnade Zoo.
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). 58 Sqn. Nine
aircraft. One returned early,
seven bombed primary, one bombed an alternative target.
British destroyer HMS Esk (H 15) was one of five minelayers, escorted by three destroyers, operating off the Dutch coast. Based on aerial reconnaissance, the minelayers were ordered to intercept a German force that was believed to be part of an invasion force. One destroyer struck a mine and was badly damaged. Esk went to her assistance and hit a mine and sank immediately about 80 nautical miles (149 kilometres) north-northwest of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in position 53.30N, 3.47E. (Alex Gordon and Jack McKillop)(108)
AMC HMS Monowai commissioned.
Submarine HMS Unbending laid down.
FRANCE: The Vichy French government signs the Matsuoka-Henry Pact and yields to Japanese (1) demands for an end to shipments of war material to the Chinese nationalists via the Hanoi - Kunming railway, (2) grants Japanese forces transit rights and access to military facilities in Indochina and (3) the right to station troops in Tokinchina. Japan agrees to recognize continued French sovereignty over Indochina. Vichy reciprocates with formal recognition of Japan's "pre-eminent" role in the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.
GERMANY: U-165 laid down.
HUNGARY:
Bucharest: Under pressure from Germany, Romania cedes 20,000 square miles of
territory - half of Transylvania - to Hungary.
Hungary and Bulgaria have been trying to seize various
portions of Romania. The Soviet Union has already accomplished this. A Balkan
war threatens Germany. A conference is called at Vienna - The Arbitration of
Vienna. Romania acquiesces to
giving up Transylvania to Hungary and Bulgaria receives southern Dobruja.
AUSTRALIA: Convoy US-4 (Australia to the Middle East), consisting of four troopships, sails from Sydney, New South Wales, for the Middle East. The heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra escorts the convoy as far as Colombo, Ceylon.
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Dunvegan laid down Sorel, Province of Quebec.
U.S.A.: The motion picture "Boom Town" is released. Directed by Jack Conway, this romantic adventure drama, based on the story "A Lady Comes to Burkburnett" by James Edward Grant, stars Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudett Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan and Chill Wills. The plot has Gable and Tracy going West to get rich in the oil fields. Colbert also goes West to marry Tracy but marries Gable and then the fun starts. The film is nominated for two Academy Awards.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-32 sank SS Chelsea, SS Mill
Hill and SS Norne in Convoy HX-66A.
U-59 damaged SS Anadara and SS
San Gabriel.