September 28th, 1940 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - industrial targets at Berlin - Fokker aircraft factory at Amsterdam - ‘Razzling’.
51 Sqn. Twelve aircraft. Eleven got off, six bombed Berlin, four bombed alternatives.
78 Sqn. Eight aircraft to Berlin. One aborted, three bombed primary, two bombed alternatives, two failed to bomb.
RAF Fighter Command: Luftwaffe raids on London and Solent. Scattered bomber raids massively escorted, with inevitable results. Hurricanes particularly suffering. At night London is bombed.
From four large morning raids only six enemy aircraft penetrate to central London after 24 RAF Squadrons reacted.
Afternoon aroused a 25-Squadron response to deal with about 40 bombers and 120 fighters, all flying high. Other fighters engaged about 50 Bf110s off Portsmouth.
After dark 121 raiders approached London, 65 crossing its heart between 18:46 and 07:12 and causing the guns to fire for nine hours. Major incidents occurred at Lambeth and Nine Elms goods yards, the Albert Embankment, and Southwark, where three HEs destroyed St. Peter's Crypt Shelter, killing 18 outright and trapping many.
In the English Channel and Thames Estuary, the weather is cloudy otherwise generally fair to fine. During the day, Luftwaffe activity consisted of a few isolated raids and three main attacks, of which two are delivered over Kent towards London and one was directed against the Portsmouth area. Two attacks on convoys are reported. The number of German fighters employed appears to have greatly exceeded the number of bombers. Luftwaffe aircraft are reported to have been stepped up to a great height and to have attacked RAF fighters from above and out of the sun. In some cases, slight haze hindered interception of raids. The first main attack occurred at 0955 hours, when raids totaling 120+ aircraft approached the Kent Coast, of which 70 penetrated inland in two waves. The first wave of 30 aircraft flew to Biggin Hill and about six of these reached Central London. The second wave did not penetrate further West than Maidstone. Seventeen RAF fighter squadrons
are despatched to intercept these raids which finally dispersed at about 1040 hours. German patrols are unusually active in the Straits during this attack. The second main attack occurred at 1330 hours, when about 160 aircraft of which about 35 are bombers, crossed the coast between Dungeness and Lympne and flew towards Maidstone and the Thames Estuary. These raids spread out over Kent but did not penetrate further West than a line Beachy Head - Maidstone - Isle of Sheppey. All operational squadrons of RAF No 11 Group are employed against this attack and five fighter squadrons of No 12 Group patrolled Hornchurch and North Weald. By 1410 hours, Luftwaffe aircraft are flying back towards France. The third major attack occurred at 1415 hours, some 60 German aircraft fly from Cherbourg towards Portsmouth. Some turn towards the Tangmere - Thorney Island area. The raids are met by five Squadrons of No 11 Group which are diverted from the Kent attack, and by four Squadrons of No 10 Group. Four Squadrons sight the Luftwaffe. It is reported that none of the German aircraft crossed the Coast and that they jettisoned their bombs into the sea. In other missions, at about 1000 hours, raids of one and one-plus aircraft are plotted over Liverpool and a single German aircraft crossed the Coast at Shoreham and flew over Uxbridge. This latter track faded South of Kenley. At 1515 hours, an attack on a convoy off Spurn Head was reported; at 1610 hours, a raid of one aircraft was plotted over Bristol; at 1730 hours, an attack on a convoy near the Thames Estuary was reported; at 1732 hours, a Naval Unit is reported to have been attacked; and at 1920 hours, a single Luftwaffe aircraft attacked Dover.
During the night of 28/29 September, there are continued attacks on London. German activity commenced at about 2000 hours when the first raids crossed the Sussex Coast and approached London. At the same time, raids which appeared to originate from the Dutch Islands crossed the Coast in the Wash area and penetrated over Lincolnshire and Norfolk to Digby, Peterborough and Nottingham. Raids are also plotted into the Liverpool area, returning over Wales. At 2100 hours, a concentration of raids on London was plotted, crossing the Coast near Portsmouth and also between Beachy Head and Shoreham. After midnight, activity spread westwards to include an area Selsey Bill - St Albans Head and North to Middle Wallop, but the main objective of most raids still appeared to be London and its Western suburbs. Two isolated raids are plotted in Oxfordshire, and two in the Bristol Channel. By 0230 hours, raids are less in number but are still approaching London from the Coast of Sussex. Two raids are plotted in the Derby area. At 0345 hours, a fresh stream of raids came from Dieppe, France, towards London and activity over this area continued until 0550 hours. During the course of the night, considerable minelaying was suspected off North Foreland and in the Thames Estuary.
RAF Fighter Command claimed 6-4-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; the RAF lost 16 aircraft with nine pilots killed or missing.Losses: Luftwaffe, 16; RAF, 16.
HMS Castleton [I 23, ex-USS Aaron Ward (DD-132)], the first of the 50 old USN four-stack destroyers transferred to the Royal Navy in the Destroyers for Bases agreement, arrives at Devonport, Devonshire, England, today. The ship had stopped at Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on 26 September before proceeding to Devonport.
GERMANY: Hitler secretly orders the economy to be mobilized toward the invasion of Russia.
U-97
commissioned.
NORWAY: The Nazi commissioner Josef Terboven formally deposes the King and nominates Vidkun Quisling "sole political leader."
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-37 sank SS Corrientes in
Convoy OB-217.
U-32 sank SS Empire Ocelot
in Convoy OB-218.
An enemy submarine spotted by U-31. U-31 dived and heard a torpedo running which missed.
U.S.A.: The US Army's Louisiana manoeuvres, which began on 14 September, end.
Submarine USS Mackerel launched.
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Lunenburg laid down Lauzon, Province of Quebec.