November 17th, 1940 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:RAF Fighter Command:
The Luftwaffe attacks Bath.
The C-in-C of Fighter Command since 1936, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, the commander of 11 Group, the two men who planned and controlled the strategy which won the Battle of Britain, have been deprived of their jobs.
It may be argued that the austere Dowding - nicknamed "Stuffy" - was overdue for retirement, and that the New Zealander Park is worn out and deserves a rest, but the manner of their dismissal has enraged their young pilots. Dowding, a brilliant organiser whose uncompromising manner has never made him popular with the Air Staff, was told, albeit courteously, that he had to go in a personal interview on 13 November. The official letter informing him of his retirement says that the Air Council has "no other work to offer you", although this may not exclude a non-operational role. Park will take over No. 23 Training Group.
Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, the commander of 12 Group, is known to have opposed the tactics of Dowding and Park. Leigh-Mallory is a believer in the "big wing" rather than in Dowding's "penny packet" tactics' He seems to have won his point; he is to take over Park's group.
London:
Telegram from Churchill to Chief of Air Staff:
I watch these figures with much concern (aircraft losses). ...we are now not even keeping level, and there is a marked downward turn this week, especially in Bomber Command. Painful as it is not to be able to strike heavy blows after Coventry ... I feel we should nurse Bomber Command.
GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler confers with King Boris III of Bulgaria "in the course of a private stay in Germany."
MALTA: Operation White: Second delivery of 12 Hurricanes from HMS Argus: only four arrive on the island; eight aircraft run out of fuel before reaching Malta.
SOMALILAND: British naval forces bombard Mogadishu.
FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA: Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, Commander in Chief Free French Forces, departs Free French Africa for London, England.
CANADA: Corvette HMS Hepatica arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: