military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (08/15/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Thursday, 15 August, 1940 In the belief that the RAF has been replacing losses in southeastern Britain by drawing fighters from other regions, Goering orders all three Luftflotten to attack targets scattered across Britain. Raids focus on airfields, with heavy losses on both sides; 76 German and 50 British aircraft are lost. British authorities claim 144 aircraft shot down against 27 losses, while Germany admits 29 losses and claims 106 kills. Goering orders that future attacks are to ignore radar stations, which he deems too difficult to destroy; this decision is also based on his conviction that the RAF is nearly destroyed. The Greek cruiser Helle is torpedoed sunk off Tinos Island, while observing a Mass ashore. Two torpedoes miss the ship and strike the pier, wounding numerous civilians. Britain states that no Royal Navy submarines are operating in the area. A Greek freighter also undergoes a desultory bombing off Crete, with no casualties inflicted by the unidentified aircraft. P.M. Churchill proposes that the 50 US destroyers being considered for sale to Britain instead be traded for use of British possessions in the Western Hemisphere as naval bases. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "If the present German attack is to be limited to the air blitzkrieg... British morale may be a hard nut to crack. Most outward signs so far have demonstrated a strengthening, rather than a weakening."