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September 7th, 1940 (SATURDAY)

The weather is fair with some haze. This is the start of Phase 3 of the Battle of Britain. Day bombing switched to London with a heavy attack on the capital. Luftwaffe activity did not develop until mid-morning when some 30 aircraft crossed the coast near Lympne but did not penetrate far inland. Dover and Hawkinge are attacked. The main attack of the day started at 1635 hours and came over in two waves totaling some 350 aircraft which spread over Kent, making for the Thames Estuary, East London and aerodromes north and south of London. By 1814 hours all raids are homing. While the above raids are in progress some 24 aircraft approached the South Coast near Spithead but turned back. Reconnaissance flights are made over Liverpool and Manchester areas, Bristol Channel, Norfolk and Yorkshire. In the early morning in the East, one aircraft, picked up among returning bombers, flew across the Wash to Lincoln and out at Skegness, no interception effected. At 0920 hours, one Do 215, plotted inland in Norfolk, is intercepted and shot down off the Dutch Coast. Two reconnaissance raids over convoys. One raid of some 6 aircraft 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Lowestoft; fighters failed to intercept. A raid of one aircraft patrolled Yorkshire and is intercepted on its way out but escaped into cloud. A further raid crossed the coast at Southwold and penetrated to Duxford. In the Southeast, there are a number of early reconnaissance flights off the Southeast Coast and one overland between Harwich/Biggin Hill and Maidstone in the early morning. The first attack occurred between 1100-1200 hours. After massing on the French Coast, some 70 enemy aircraft crossed the coast near Folkestone. A split from this raid flew along the coast to Hastings, the remainder spreading over East Kent. Dive bombing attacks are carried out against Hawkinge and Dover. From 1300 to 1500 hours constant patrols averaging six aircraft in the Calais/Boulogne, France, district. At 1515 hours ten aircraft patrolled the Straits and appeared to cross the coast near Lympne. The second attack occurred between 1625 and 1814 hours. First wave totaling some 100 aircraft crossed the coast but activities are confined to Kent. A second wave commenced to cross the Coast at 1718 hours, some 250 aircraft being plotted in five raids, the activity spread to an area from east of Kenley covering the Thames Estuary to as far north as Duxford. Royal Air Force (RAF) No 12 Group provided five Squadrons to assist No 11 Group during this engagement. A strong German patrol is maintained in the Straits down to Dungeness for about an hour after the attack. In the South, a raid of three plus flew from Le Havre, France, to Portsmouth at 0915 hours. It is intercepted off the Isle of Wight and one Me110 shot down. A further raid of two plus aircraft in this area is intercepted but decisive action by RAF fighters is prevented owing to antiaircraft fire. During the period of the second attack in the South East, a raid of 12 aircraft approached Portsmouth but turned back before reaching the coast.

     During the night, raids on London continue from dusk till dawn. Main objectives are the East End and Docks. German activity commenced at 2010 hours when raids came out of Fecamp/Caen, France, area, crossing the Coast near Shoreham. One raid went to Northolt and others to Kenley and Biggin Hill area. There is then a steady stream of raids mostly crossing between Beachy Head and Dungeness, spreading over Sussex/Kent/Essex and penetrating into Greater London area including Northolt where between five and eight raids are continuously plotted up to 0300 hours. Three hundred Luftwaffe bombers attack London and drop 337 tons of bombs. Even though civilian populations are not the primary target, the poorest of London slum areas—the East End--felt the fallout literally, from direct hits of errant bombs as well as the fires that broke out and spread throughout the vicinity; 448 civilians are killed during the afternoon and evening. This night is the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing. By about 0430 hours the last raids has left Greater London area and are homing. Very slight activity over the remainder of the country. Isolated raids reached Liverpool/Birmingham and South Wales, and there is suspected minelaying activity off the Norfolk Coast before midnight. By 0500 hours the whole country is clear of enemy raids.

     RAF Fighter Command has a total of 59.5 fighter squadrons available: 31 Hurricane squadrons, 20 Spitfire squadrons, six Blenheim squadrons, two Defiant squadrons and one half of a Gladiator squadron. Fighter Command has 694 serviceable aircraft as of 0900 hours; 398 Hurricanes, 223 Spitfires, 44 Blenheims, 20 Defiants and nine Gladiators.

RAF Fighter Command:
Losses: Luftwaffe, 41; RAF, 28.

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). 51 Sqn. One aircraft crashed near Wells, Norfolk on return from Boulogne. Crew unhurt, aircraft wrecked.
Bombing - invasion fleet at Ostend and Boulogne.
51 Sqn. Four aircraft. Three got off but none bombed due to adverse weather.
One crashed on return, crew safe.
78 Sqn. Three aircraft. None bombed due to weather.

London: Today as many as 350 German bombers protected by as many fighters appeared over London's docks. They were followed by another 247 tonight. A few hours later, with 2,000 Londoners dead or injured and the whole area engulfed by flames, all railway links south were blocked, and the decision was taken at GHQ Home Forces to send out the code word "Cromwell": invasion imminent. Home Guard and regular troops were called out, church bells rung and some bridges blown.
Churchill had been warning the chiefs of staff that if an invasion is to be tried it cannot be long delayed, because the weather may break at any time. For the past few weeks hundreds of self-propelled barges have been observed moving down from German and Dutch harbours to ports of northern France. They have come under heavy bombardment from the RAF and the Royal Navy. But the massive bombing attack on London docks, which British forces interpreted as a prelude to an attempted German landing, does not appear to have been followed up by any movement of the invasion fleet. One theory is that the Germans hope that their air raids on civilian targets will cause such panic and chaos that invasion will be unnecessary.

RAF Fighter Command has a total of 59.5 fighter squadrons available: 31 Hurricane squadrons, 20 Spitfire squadrons, 6 Blenheim squadrons, 2 Defiant squadrons and 1/2 of a Gladiator squadron.

London: London's dockland is on fire tonight after a massive daylight raid in which more than 300 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs rained on the capital, with the RAF seemingly unable to stop the death and destruction which fell from a stately procession of bombers onto the streets of East London.
Göring  directed the attack from a clifftop in France, whence he watched 350 bombers escorted by 650 fighters stream across the Channel. Broadcasting from his HQ, he said he could see waves of planes heading for England.
It seems that the RAF have been wrong-footed this time, despite Enigma warnings of an at
tack on London. There have been raids on Hawkinge airfield this morning and thinking that the new wave of raiders were heading for airfields north of London, the 11 Group controller kept his squadrons north of the capital not realising that London was the target until it was too late. Eventually 21 out of 23 squadrons airborne managed to get into action and shot down 41 German planes for the loss of 25, but by then the damage had been done.
The first bombs set fire to bonded warehouses. Blazing rum, paint and sugar floated on the Thames. Many people had to be evacuated by boat. "Send all the pumps you've got," pleaded one fire officer, "the whole bloody world's on fire." One of the problems facing the fire-fighters was that the level of the Thames had fallen in the dry summer and they had difficulty in getting their pumps to work. Later the sirens sounded again, and in the night 247 German aircraft attacked the capital, dropping 352 tons of high explosive and 440 canisters of incendiary bombs.

London: Mr Albert Ernest Dolphin (b. 1896), a porter, died when he flung himself under a falling wall, saving the life of a nurse trapped after a bomb hit the South-Eastern Hospital, New Cross. (George Cross)

The U.S. freighter SS Lehigh, detained by British authorities since 5 September, is released. The British then detain another U.S. freighter, SS Warrior.

LUXEMBOURG:   Anti-Semitic Nuremburg laws are applied to Jews living in Luxembourg by decree. 

GERMANY: Berlin: The German armed forces have drawn up detailed plans not only for invading the British Isles but for consolidating their positions after the initial landings. Operation Sealion entails the landing of a first wave of 13 divisions at a number of points on the south coast, from Ramsgate in the east to Lyme Regis in the west. Airborne troops will also be used. The Germans would then move inland to establish themselves on a line eastward from Gloucester to south of Colchester. By then they believe that Britain will have surrendered and a military government will be set up. But the difficulty of mounting an invasion without air superiority worries the chiefs of staff.

The prototype Blohm and Voss Bv 222 V1 six engined flying boat makes its maiden flight.

ROMANIA: The Bulgarian-Romanian agreement ceding the historic region of Dobruja to Bulgaria is signed at Craiova.

ITALY: Rome: The Italian High Command announced:
'Italian bombers have again bombed oil refineries in the centre of Haifa and caused extensive fires. In North Africa our planes bombed the rail line between Alexandria and Marsa Matruh.'

EAST AFRICA: A Gloucester Gauntlet of No. 430 Flight (RAF) (K 5355) downs an Italian Caproni Ca 133.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Dawson laid down Victoria, British Columbia.

U.S.A.: The USN's Cruiser Division 7 (Rear Admiral Andrew C. Pickens) sails to establish patrol off the eastern seaboard between Newport, Rhode Island, and Norfolk, Virginia. Heavy cruisers USS Quincy (CA-39) and USS Vincennes (CA-44) depart first, USS San Francisco (CA-38) (flagship) and USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) follow. The ships, burning running lights, are to observe and report the movements of foreign men-of-war, and, as required, render prompt assistance to ships or planes encountered.

Artie Shaw and his Orchestra recorded "Temptation" on the Victor label.

Destroyer USS Hilary P Hones commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-47 torpedoes and sinks three merchant vessels, two British and one Norwegian totalling over 14,500 tons, sailing in convoy SC-2 between Iceland and Ireland in position 58.30N, 16.10W. They are the SS Gro, SS José de Larringa and SS Neptunian.

CARIBBEAN SEA: U.S. passenger liner SS Santa Paula is hailed by an unidentified RN cruiser 30 miles (48 km) off Curaçao, Netherlands West Indies, and ordered to stop; after a delay of 20 minutes, SS Santa Paula is allowed to proceed.

U.S. tanker SS I.C. White is challenged by unidentified cruiser 15 miles (24 km) off Baranquilla, Colombia, but is allowed to proceed without further hindrance.

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