Now avail for Download as illustrated, hyperlinked PDF!

DOWNLOAD HERE (45MB, 268 pp): http://airwarfare.com/sow/index.php/component/jdownloads/viewdownload/81/437?Itemid=241



FEATURES

Background information on Sealion operational developments at the start of every chapter...



Lavishly illustrated




Tactical maps showing front lines and unit positions throughout the campaign, and links to Google map views of the battlefield area




Extensively hyperlinked, to hundreds of sources of information on actual units, weapons, historical figures and events referred to in the storyline.



Supplementary chapters on important historical events of the time



Background material detailing political and social developments accompanying the invasion



Speeches and dialogue based on real speeches given by historical figures and adapted to the Sealion storyline - example, Edward VIII's abdication speech, 'repurposed'.



Links to Youtube video AAR content supplementing the text



Enjoy!

Heiny




These AARs and screenies are taken from the Cliffs of Dover Sealion Mission Pack, Luftwaffe campaign, available for free download here:

http://bobgamehub.blogspot.com/p/cliffs-of-dover-missions.html

BACKGROUND

By early November 1939, Adolf Hitler had decided on forcing a decision in the West by invading Belgium, the Netherlands and France. With the prospect of the Channel ports falling under Kriegsmarine (German Navy) control and attempting to anticipate the obvious next step that might entail, Grand Admiral (Großadmiral) Erich Raeder (head of the Kriegsmarine) instructed his operations officer, Kapitän Hans Jürgen Reinicke, to draw up a document examining "the possibility of troop landings in England should the future progress of the war make the problem arise." Reinicke spent five days on this study and set forth the following prerequisites:

Elimination or sealing off of Royal Navy forces from the landing and approach areas.
Elimination of the Royal Air Force (RAF).
Destruction of all Royal Navy units in the coastal zone.
Prevention of British submarine action against the landing fleet.

In December 1939, the German Army issued its own study paper (designated Nordwest) and solicited opinions and input from both the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe (German Air Force). The paper outlined an assault on England's eastern coast between The Wash and the River Thames by troops crossing the North Sea from Low Country ports. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, responded with a single-page letter in which he stated: "...a combined operation having the objective of landing in England must be rejected. It could only be the final act of an already victorious war against Britain as otherwise the preconditions for success of a combined operation would not be met." The Kriegsmarine response was rather more restrained but equally focused on pointing out the many difficulties to be surmounted if invading England was to be a viable option.

On 16 July 1940, following Germany's swift and successful occupation of France and the Low Countries and growing impatient with Britain's indifference towards his recent peace overtures, Hitler issued Führer Directive No. 16, setting in motion preparations for a landing in Britain. He prefaced the order by stating: "As England, in spite of her hopeless military situation, still shows no signs of willingness to come to terms, I have decided to prepare, and if necessary to carry out, a landing operation against her. The aim of this operation is to eliminate the English Motherland as a base from which the war against Germany can be continued, and, if necessary, to occupy the country completely."

Hitler's directive set four conditions for the invasion to occur:

The RAF was to be "beaten down in its morale and in fact, that it can no longer display any appreciable aggressive force in opposition to the German crossing".
The English Channel was to be swept of British mines at the crossing points, and the Strait of Dover must be blocked at both ends by German mines.
The coastal zone between occupied France and England must be dominated by heavy artillery.
The Royal Navy must be sufficiently engaged in the North Sea and the Mediterranean so that it could not intervene in the crossing. British home squadrons must be damaged or destroyed by air and torpedo attacks.

This ultimately placed responsibility for Sea Lion's success squarely on the shoulders of Raeder and Göring, neither of whom had the slightest enthusiasm for the venture and, in fact, did little to hide their opposition to it. Nor did Directive 16 provide for a combined operational headquarters under which all three service branches (Army, Navy, Air Force) could work together under a single umbrella organisation to plan, coordinate and execute such a complex undertaking (similar to the Allies' creation of SHAEF for the later Normandy landings).



Upon hearing of Hitler's intentions, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, through his Foreign Minister Count Ciano, quickly offered up to ten divisions and thirty squadrons of Italian aircraft for the proposed invasion. Hitler initially declined any such aid but eventually allowed a small contingent of Italian fighters and bombers, the Italian Air Corps (Corpo Aereo Italiano or CAI), to assist in the Luftwaffe's aerial campaign over Britain in October/November 1940.

COMBAT REPORTS

21 September 1940: Operation Sealion, S-tag ('Sealion-Day') Minus One, afternoon

This morning the Luftwaffe began operations in response to Reichmarshall Goering's 16 September directive to resume attacks on RAF fighter bases and production facilities. Ju88s hit Brooklands Hawker factory but in general it was a quiet morning. Hit and run raids by small formations of enemy aircraft attacked both Kenley and Biggin Hill aerodromes but these were met by fighters from Kenley, Biggin Hill and Croydon. 238 Squadron had accounted for one destroyed while the Spitfires of 602 and 611 Squadrons accounted for one each destroyed. One Do17 damaged by 802 Squadron managed to get back to the French coast, but crashed at Landerneau killing all on board. However reconnaissance of the French coast indicates significant shipping movements at the ports of Le Havre, Calais and Dunkerque. Further reconnaissance was ordered and confirmed German shipping was marshalling off the French coast, including freighters, converted barges and car ferries.

21 September 1940: Operation Sealion, S-tag Minus One, evening
Further recon indicated a large fleet was being assembled off Calais for a possible night crossing, in calm and clear conditions. British GHQ put all forces on full alert with codeword 'Cromwell' indicating 'invasion imminent'. Bristol Blenheims of 23 Squadron and Wellingtons of Bomber Command 2 Group, flying from Ford airbase hit the fleet at dusk, destroying several ships, but losing 8 out of 11 Blenheim and 4 out of 8 Wellington aircraft in the attack. Luftwaffe Bf109s of Lehrgeschwader 2 at Calais and Bf110s of ZG76 out of Abbeville claimed the downed bombers, while Spitfires of 64 Squadron were also engaged, claiming 3 Bf109s and 1 Bf110 destroyed without loss. During the night, Bomber Command and Coastal Command conducted further raids on the German fleet, without significant effect. Admiral Raeder's Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe FW200s mined the Eastern approaches to the Channel, while intercepted radio traffic indicated a second invasion force was being prepared in Norway for a possible landing near the Thames estuary. German heavy guns concentrated fire on Dover, indicating a possible second landing zone.

22 September 1940: Operation Sealion, S-Tag, Dawn

The first wave of a planned 330,000 men hit the English beaches at dawn. Rather than land at Dover or the Estuary (these were diversions) 4 divisions of Army Group A land between Folkestone and Rottingdean (near Brighton), XIII Army Corps under General Der Panzertruppe Von Vietinghoff gannant Scheel, 17th and 35th infantry division together with VII Army Corps under Generaloberst von Schobert, 1st Mountain Division and 7th Infantry Division. In addition 7th Paratroop Div land at Lympne to take the airfield.

Further West the 9th Army made shore between Bexhill and Eastbourne. 2 Divisions of the XXXVIII Army Corps under General von Mannstein, 26th and 34th Infantry Divisions, and from the VII Army Corp under General Heitz, the 6th Mountain Division, 8th and 28th Infantry Divisions.

Opposing them on the British GHQ stop line are the rebuilt forces of the VII Corps (1st Armoured Div, 1st Canadian and elements of 2nd Canadian Div, elements of New Zealand Army Corp Inf Div and the recently arrived Australian 9th infantry division diverted from Africa), Strategic Reserve centred on Surrey and North Hampshire, and the XII Corps (1st London Div, 45 Inf Div, 29 Inf Brigade, 1st Tank Brigade) based in Kent and West Sussex.

At first light, Blenheims make a run on a beach-head a Folkestone


Ju88s sweep across the battlefield to hit British reserves in the rear




German 7th Paratroop division attacks poorly prepared defences at Lympne as 111 Squadron scrambles to get their machines away





Gunners on German car ferries cover the beach as the armour unloads under fire from British defences





LG2 109s and 64 Sq Spitfires in a deadly dance



22 September 1940, S-tag, afternoon: West of Folkestone (flyables, as above, plus Bf109E4bs and Bf110C7s of Erpro 210)

German troops of the 17th and 35th infantry divisions supported by the 8th Panzer division have established a beach-head west of Folkestone and are driving through the town of Hythe for the Port. Their objective is the bridge over the Canal. The land battle is taking place house by house, street by street, as British mobile reserves throughout Kent are mobilised. A second invasion fleet has been spotted leaving ports in Norway. Large numbers of German fighters and bombers are sweeping the coast, and attacking naval forces in the Channel.

64 Sq Spitfire scramble from Hawkinge in their third sortie of the day


British forces are caught on the bridge at Hythe as German troops, with motorcyle borne MGs in the vanguard, race to take the crossing


British light armour reinforcements, on the move to strengthen the GHQ stop line, while British anti-tank guns lie in wait in the grass outside Hythe



Anarchy on the beachhead west of Folkestone as Blenheims strike and freighters collide



Erpro 210 moves in to hit British land and sea forces around Hythe




German armour and troop carriers advance on the village, as the concealed British anti tank guns hit back




Erpro 210 strikes British positions along the canal



While in the air, the defenders and attackers tangle

Continued . . .

British armoured forces reach the front line and engage the Panzer force in the village





But are beaten back, and the village and bridge are taken




While at sea, Erpro 210 despatches a British destroyer which has penetrated the mine cordon





So starts the invasion of Britian...

Sweet AAR and screenshots Heinkill.


Wheels

A most excellent read! Beautiful screenshots.

22 September evening: Margate

Throughout the night of 22 September and the next day, Kriegsmarine Minensuchboot have been mining the shipping lanes at either end of the Channel to prevent the Royal Navy from entering the Channel to attack the invasion fleet. The British Home fleet, with its cruisers and battleships, is the primary threat, and is currently steaming south past the Thames Estuary. Luftwaffe FW200 aircraft have also been mining ports such as Dover to prevent shipping there from sallying forth. The British 11th Destroyer Flotilla, comprising HMS Vimy, HMS Walker, HMS Warwick, HMS Whirlwind and HMS Winchelsea has steamed ahead of the main fleet to engage the Kriegsmarine mine layers. RAF 11 and 10 Group squadrons are heavily engaged further west between Folkestone and Brighton assisting with the invasion defence. Luftwaffe fighter units are providing cover for the German ground forces, while the Erpro 210 experimental ground attack unit is harrying British merchant and naval shipping up and down the coast. At 1330 hours a British hospital ship made a desperate escape from Folkestone harbour and is now steaming for the Thames Estuary.

In the poor evening light, Blenheims locate the Kriegsmarine Minensuchboot fleet and attack





64 Squadron takes off to cover the destroyer flotilla, their 5th sortie of the day



Erpro 210 Bf109e4Bs attack the Royal Navy 11th Destroyer Flotilla, steaming south to disrupt the mine laying







Destroyers and mine layers clash





Stukas of StG 3 take off for a low level hit and run raid on Manston



A British hospital ship steams into the danger zone



Spitfires of 64 Sq arrive at the scene, better late than never! They outnumber the 109s, but are outclassed







The Stukas close on Manston as 111 Squadron arrives





A British gun emplacement is shelled by heavy guns on the Minensuchboot fleet





The Stukas strike Manston







Manston burns



As the Kriegsmarine mine layers head to Davy Jones Locker...



if you have Cliffs of Dover, you can get the Operation Sealion missions here: www.bobgamehub.blogspot.com

Wow, great AAR and some awesome screens! Thanks.

More (please)!


Hint: There's a typo in the link to the missions.

Thx all! Next installment...


23 September, morning, Folkestone falls

During the night, British forces retreated from Folkestone Port, and Lympne airfield. Large numbers of civilians remain trapped behind enemy lines due to the speed and surprise of the attack. German ships are now able to unload directly to the docks at Folkestone and an air bridge has been established at Lympne to ferry Luftwaffe aircraft and supplies to this new Luftwaffe base in England. British reconnaissance indicates further German forces massing at Cherbourg and British land forces have been diverted to the South-West to counter this anticipated second landing. The German XXXI army corps is en-route to Lympne, while British long range artillery targets the airfield. Overnight the Blitz on London continued unabated.

In the hills overlooking Folkestone, AT guns dig in and wait







At the captured port, an invading army pours ashore



The 8th Panzer breaks out of Folkestone and begins a push on Hawkinge.





But the British line holds...as long as they can hold the ridge.





111 Squadron scrambles from Manston, while Blenheims of 212 and Spits of 64 squadron close on Folkestone







The newly arrived LG2 lifts off from their new base at Lympne





While JG26 escorts an air train of fuel and ammo laden He111s bringing in vital supplies





Erpro 210 wheels above the British lines, striking with fury







While the Blenheims drop their noses for the port - their targets, the massive heavy cranes



And they miss...the AAA driving them wide



In the sky above, fighters wheel











While the wounded stagger home

Another good one Heinkill.


Wheels

Seems to be an interesting campaign. I wonder how it'll end.

Who knows...it is, after all, alternative history...

S-tag +1, 23 September, afternoon, the Tank Park

So far the Luftwaffe has flown 1200 fighter, and 800 bomber sorties. The British response has been concerted and desperate, even using jury rigged Tiger Moth aircraft to drop light bombs. Luftwaffe fighters are still hampered by having to fly most missions from bases on the European mainland, while the captured Lympne airfield is under constant attack and short on fuel and ammunition. So far the Luftwaffe has lost 165 of 732 fighters, and 168 of 724 bombers. The British have lost 237 aircraft out of 1048 (167 fighters and 70 bombers). The first British counterattacks by 42nd Division have halted the German 34th Division in its drive on Hastings. Meanwhile, the Australian AIF (diverted while en route to Egypt) is engaged with German forces trying to take the port of Newhaven. New Zealand troops preparing a counterattack on Folkestone were surprised by an attack in their rear by the German 22nd Airlanding Division. Cautious after losses in Norway to air attack, and early losses in the Channel, Britain is keeping its Home Fleet Battleships and Carriers out of range of the Luftwaffe, but squadrons of destroyers and cruisers have successfully engaged German shipping, causing heavy losses in the Channel, while armed motor boats are inflicting significant losses closer inshore.

At the captured Lympne airfield, the Luftwaffe continues to ferry men, fuel and ammunition in to the newly landed Luftwaffe fighters and fighter bombers.





The RAF harries them all the way...







On Killingwood Ridge, British troops hold fast against wave after wave of German attacks





While British artillery pounds the distant invasion beach head





Overhead, Bomber Command Wellingtons close for a strike on Lympne. "The enemy reports that he has captured Lympne," thunders Churchill in an address to troops on the GHQ Stopline, "I say to him, Sir, by the end of the day, you will be sitting atop a blazing ruin!"









British scouts radio in a report of German armour massing in Kiln Woods, East of Lympne



High flying recon finds nothing. In desperation, the call goes out for volunteers for a suicide mission. The objective...approach the woods at treetop level, find the German tank park, if it exists, and get home with the location. All available combat aircraft are already committed, so the task falls to 2 instructors from the No 5 Elementary Flying Training School in their Tiger Moths. They use Lympne as the landmark to start their recon, watching as the bombs of the Wellingtons lay waste to the airfield.





Approaching the woods, the sky erupts with flak, and one of the machines is swatted from the sky



It only makes the surviving pilot more determined. He swings around for a low level pass, hugging the treeline...In the distance, the funeral pyre of his comrade marks the spot where he guesses the tanks must be...





At the last minute he pulls back on the stick and swoops over a clearing...there they are!



He dives away and turns for Hawkinge, only five minutes away.



But it is under attack from Bf110s as he arrives.



He must get down with his information. Ignoring the strafing 110s, he slams his Tiggie into the turf.







As the 110 pulls away, he dashes for the nearest trench.



The Tommy next to him smiles, "You should have stayed up there mate, it aint much fun down 'ere"

The Tiger Moth pilot grimaces, "Oh, this is nothing old chap. I just passed about a hundred Panzers in the woods west of here, and they all had their noses pointed in this direction."

I know. But will it be an alternative "Homeguard Heroes" ending or rather "Grossengland"...?
That's what I'm wonderin' about.

Ah, you want to skip straight to the last page...

Honestly? It could go either way depending on how the missions play out!

Heinkill, my hat is off to you.

You almost convinced me to buy this game!
I really lked all of your previous writing, but this is really something else.
Please, keep up!

Who doesn't?



"Either way"?
Does that mean the campaign is (semi-)dynamic?

I haven't delved into the last part of your post yet, but I think it's better suited for the "My politics better than your politics!" part of the forum.

True. I hereby retract...



It's actually from a campaign that I am building myself, writing the AAR as each mission is added. So although I have a plot outline, the way the missions play out is also in itself driving the storyline...

On with the story...(apologies in advance that some of the screens are quite dark, but it is a night mission!)

S-tag +1, 23 September 1300

At 1300 the British High Command convened at Chequers for a briefing on the invasion situation. It quickly became clear that GHQ Stop Line was holding at Bexhill and Eastbourne, and that an expected landing by German forces at Southend was a feint to draw British forces north. However the main German push was developing in the Folkestone area, aided by the capture of both Lympne, and Folkestone, and there was a significant risk the British lines would collapse. If this happened, the Fighter Command airfield at Hawkinge and the city of Canterbury would lie open. German forces could then isolate Kent, the SW of England, and quickly secure the port of Dover and Manston airfield to provide a reliable supply line between the European mainland and Britain. The first part of the conference had been spent debating the wisdom, and necessity, of committing the heavy ships of the British Home Fleet to disrupt German resupply shipping, without first having secured air superiority over the Channel.

"With German fighter bombers flying out of our own damned airfields, we would be sending our capital ships to their certain doom!" argued Admiral Dudley Pound, First Sea Lord. Pound was still smarting from the loss of nearly a dozen destroyers and the Cruiser Curlew from air attack during the Dunkirk evacuation and the crippling damage delivered to other heavy ships such as the Cruisers Gloucester in July and the Liverpool in October. While his intelligence officers told him the risk of losses to German AP bombs was low, bitter experience had taught him otherwise. Nonetheless, he was ordered by Churchill to commit the Home Fleet to the disruption of German resupply lines in the Channel.

The British PM then turned his attention to the air war. He pored over the situation map, then jabbed the butt of his cigar down on Lympne. But his first question was not to the Air Chief Marshall, it was to the Chief of the General Staff, Marshall John Dill, "Hmmm...General...how do you rate your chances of taking back Lympne?"

Dill hesitated, "Less than spectacular, Prime Minister," he traced his finger along the line of hills and wooded country from Folkestone to Hythe, "We are barely holding the German main thrust along this line. To pull any of my forces out for an attack on Lympne could weaken the line irrevocably."

Churchill considered this, then waved at a unit marker behind the line, "What is this unit?"

Dill peered, "That is a small mobile reserve unit Prime Minister, a detachment of the 1st Tank - a handful of Valentines and motorised troop transports. It is, in fact, our only armoured reserve along that section of the line," he warned.

"Send it against Lympne," Churchill decided. "We have one chance to unseat the Luftwaffe from British soil and it is now. If you do not succeed," he turned to the Air Marshall, Charles Portal, "...if you do not succeed John, then Charles, I want Bomber Command to reduce Lympne to a blackened and fallow field by morning light." Both men nodded gravely.

Churchill returned to the map, squinting at a large red counter placed over Kiln Wood, where Tiger Moth pilots had reported German Armour was being marshalled in Brigade strength. "Hmmm...the main thrust appears to be developing here. Gentlemen, if this be Herr Hitler's Armoured Fist, then I would dearly love to rap his knuckles tonight." His eyes glinted, "Let us turn our minds to how."


S-tag +1, 23 September 1930

As darkness closed at 1930 hours, volunteers from the British 3rd Commando Battalion finished placing incendiary charges around the German armour encampment at Kiln Wood, checked their watches and their weapons, and chose their targets. They knew very few of them would survive the next half hour. At 1933 hours, they detonated their explosives, and opened fire on German positions within the clearing.





Above them, circling and waiting for the incendiaries to signal the start of the operation, newly commissioned cannon armed Beaufighter night fighters of 25 Squadron banked for their attack run, then swooped on Kiln Wood leaving mayhem and destruction in their wake.




Circling protectively, Spitfires of 64 Squadron watched both the fight on the ground, and skies above. At 19:45 hours precisely, Wellingtons of bomber command began their ingress, using the spreading fires in the German encampment to guide their run.







To the West, a detachment of the British 1st Tank Battalion, barely company sized, raced toward the German defences at Lympne. 2 miles short of the field, a German 88mm gun thundered and the British column scattered in panic.





The 64 Sq spitfires now turned their attention to Lympne, strafing parked aircraft to try to sow confusion among the defenders, the boom of tank cannons in the west now mingling with the wail of air raid sirens.





Sitting at readiness on the field at Lympne, Bf110s of ZG76 rolled quickly into the sky, and were soon set upon by the 64 Sq Spitfires.





Underestimating the sting of the Bf110s rear gun, one of the Spitfires took several rounds in his engine, and with his machine overheating decided his only option was to bail.





His arms flailing, he tried in vain to open his parachute. The sea swallowed him with barely a splash.





The Valentines had quickly flanked the German 88 cannon and silenced it, but not before most of the troop transports had been lost. Under fire from light arms, the tank commander decided to press on - at the very least, they could bring a halt to night time operations at the German airfield.



Two more Valentines became burning coffins as the group breached the German lines. Flying past the shocked German defences at speed, the remaining 3 Valentines burst onto the airfield at Lympne and opened fire on parked aircraft, fuel and ammunition stores.



German light AT guns were swung urgently 180 degrees to face the unexpected threat, and their rounds hammered against the hulls of the British tanks.




The first few rounds failed to stop the Valentines. They kept firing, turning Heinkels and Fockers into blazing wrecks.



But one by one, the British tanks fell to the AT guns, until the last finally ground to a halt, took a fatal broadside from the German guns...



and submitted.

The time was 20:03. Lympne airfield remained in German hands. The German armour spearhead at Kiln Wood had sustained heavy losses, but Germany now had 10 Divisions ashore.

At Bomber Command HQ, Air Marshal Sir Richard Peirse received the simple but chilling message he had been dreading, "Proceed night attack on Lympne. Operations to continue until Luftwaffe presence at Lympne eliminated."

Interesting. Mission building drives mission performance drives mission result drives mission building.
Also sounds like fun.
"What would the Germans do next...?"


Curious as to how the aerial bombing of the airfield will play out.
Also, what the other divisions will be doing. My money is on a drive towards Bristol as this will at least isolate any possible coastal defense divisions located in the SW of the island (Plymouth or so).
(At least that's what worked for me in HOI.)

Actually the plot basis is the Sandhurst wargame of the 70s, as described in the Cox Sealion book. In that wargame the landings took place on a narrow fron between flokestone and Bexhill, and the Germans drove for Dover and Canterbury...we'll see how far they get!

This one?
http://mr-home.staff.shef.ac.uk/hobbies/seelowe.txt

Well, it doesn't look too good and won't get better.


I think this...



...is one of the most crucial factors as to why the landing didn't have a chance of succeeding. The forces involved could have been used to keep the RAF out of southern England and achieve something a bit closer to aerial superiority.

Indeed! Meanwhile, the battle rages . . .

Seelowe 9: Sept 24 morning, S-tag +2

After devastating engagements with the British Home Fleet overnight, Kriegsmarine Admiral Raeder has demanded more air support over the Channel to minimise shipping losses. But most LW air support continues to be used for escort of resupply aircraft and ground attack. The Kriegsmarine put to sea with 3 destroyers and 17 E-boats, but was successfully engaged by British destroyers and cruisers, losing all 3 destroyers and 7 E-boats. 1 British destroyer and 1 cruiser were sunk by U-boats, and one U-boat was lost in a surface engagement. Germany now has 10 Divisions ashore at Folkestone and Newhaven, but many are incomplete and awaiting arrival of their second echelons. Sailing conditions are deteriorating as poor weather moves over France. Lympne airfield was abandoned by first light due to intensive British bombing, but German armour forced the New Zealand Division to fall back from Folkestone and Hawkinge Fighter Command airfield, with 35% casualties, while the German 34th Division has broken through British lines and is driving on Dover. The German 22nd Division has broken out of Folkestone and started its push on Canterbury, with British forces trying to regroup around Selstead. British RDF masts on the Isle of Wight, Folkestone coast and Dover have been knocked out by Stuka attacks - less effective mobile units are filling the gaps.

[i]0730 GST. At Selstead, the retreating NZ Division digs in to make its stand. In woods and fields...





In camps hastily erected and patrolled...





They nervously wait for the enemy they know is rushing toward them...

Scouts of the German 22nd Division meet them and engage



While heavier armour of General Ferdinand Schaal's 10th Panzer grinds toward the new front line





Further south, along the Folkestone to Dover road, the 8th Panzer begins its advance





Precious supplies following close behind



Overhead, Blenheim light bombers, volunteers all, make for the newly captured and heavily reinforced Hawkinge Airfield, now bristling with German and captured British light and heavy AAA.



At Hawkinge, the weary pilots of LG2 respond to the alarm, and prepare to lift into the air. The previous night they had abandoned Lympne under a hail of bombs and returned to Calais. At dawn they were ordered back to the battlefield, to Hawkinge, and yet another day in the menacing shadow of the RAF.



The triple-A starts its heavy barking as they lift off.



The whistle of bombs frighteningly clear even over the throb of their straining engines. The British dithering over the attack on Lympne the day before now replaced with a cold resolve to disloge the Luftwaffe from wherever it may perch.









Back at the Folkestone-Dover road, Erpro 210 banks toward the front, now marked by the hulls of burning tanks and shattered guns.



They close on British AT emplacements flanking the road into Dover...the precariously thin line of brown uniforms that is all that stands between the Wehrmacht and the biggest port along the South Eastern coastline. Their bombs fall...



Shattering life, limbs, and minds...







But not resolve. British AAA answers back...



And rushing down from Croydon, Hurricanes of 111 Squadron arrive just in time to chase the marauders off









Pushing their mighty Daimler Benz engines to the limit, the 109s of LG2 reel in the Blenheims and fall on them like hawks on sparrows.







And to the East, Spitfires from 64 Squadron at Manston approach. Their orders...support the defence of Dover, engage enemy ground forces on the Folkestone Dover road and help the ground troops halt their advance - at any cost!

The Spitfires scream across the harbour, as the troops in their trenches cheer...



Then they swoop inland, guns blazing

(Continued)

One Spitfire breaks away, and spots a telltale plume of smoke on the railway tracks along the base of the Cliffs near Folkestone. A captured German troop train! Headed east toward Dover and the front.



The young pilot drops his nose and pours a stream of lead toward the engine



But the behemoth chugs onward, completely unmoved. He counts the carriages as he flashes past...seven, eight, nine...





He hauls his machine around for another pass, the train hidden in an alley of poplars, visible only by the steam from its engine



He closes again...lower...lower...his finger only reaching for the firing button at the last possible minute this time





While at Selstead, the German advance grinds to a halt, stymied by a Kiwi refusal to admit defeat.







On the train line near Folkestone, the Spitfire pilot watches his bullets march harmlessly alongside the tracks and the troop train powers on...



He pulls his machine up and banks desperately as the cliffs flash before him





He turns one more time. And as he drops his Spitfire toward the alley of trees once again, he does the arithmatic in his head.



9 carriages.

100 men in each.

Nearly a thousand German troops, headed for Dover.

One Spitfire.

5,000 lbs. 8 Brownings. 48 Gallons of fuel.

One pilot.



One life to give.

He touches his fingers to his forehead, making a sign of the cross. And drops his Spitfire down into the alley of poplars.



He thumbs the gun button and his Brownings hammer





He keeps his finger on the button, even as he closes his eyes











It is 0815 on S-tag +2

Gosh...

How did that german steam engine (56 class) get to England?

Also, thanks for the "Dark Blue World" (Spitfire + Train) flashback.

Ha! Any true trainspotter can tell you it is fact a type 56e/f, the Kruppverk eksport version of the 56 class produced between 1923 and 1933 and widely used in the UK, where the largest purchase order was in fact placed by the Dover and Bexhill Steam Transport Company Plc.

Great AARs, please keep em coming. Some of your greatest so far.

Nice try.

Sept 24 1230 GMT, S-tag +2

The Fuhrer Conference, held at 0800, broke out into bitter inter-service rivalry - the Army wanted the remainder of their second echelon sent, with the navy protesting that the weather was becoming unsuitable, repeating that overnight naval losses rendered the Channel indefensible without greater air support. Reichmarschall Hermann Goring countered this by saying this could only be done by stopping the terror bombing of London, which in turn Hitler vetoed. It was however agreed to increase air attacks on British coastal airfields to reduce RAF pressure on ground forces, and to initiate a planned decoy landing to confuse British response to the invasion. The second echelon of troops was ordered to embark and the remaining destroyers of the Kriegsmarine Navy Group West were ordered to escort duty.



At Selstead, midway between Folkestone and Canterbury, the 10th Panzer batters a hole in British lines and pours through while British troops flee in disarray







Their new objective, Kingston, just south of Canterbury, and its two vital bridges over the River Stour, where the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions lie in wait, under cover of trees, or dug in on ploughed fields, watching the smoke of the front lines move inevitably towards them.





Bomber Command keeps up its incessant pressure on the Luftwaffe field at Hawkinge, determined to wipe it from the map. Wellingtons close on Hawkinge, heavily escorted by Hurricanes of 111 Squadron now flying out of Croydon in London...





As they look down, burning vehicles and buildings mark the front lines, only increasing their resolve.



The battle hardened pilots of Lehrgeschwader 2 turn to meet them





This is no clean, clinical war. Chaos reigns as fighters and bombers fling themselves through the sky



Allies collide, one Hurricane pilot watching in horror as his prop slices through the wing of his fellow pilot



With dread he follows him down, preying to see a chute



But the doomed Hurricane craters the ground, the pilot still at the stick



The Wellingtons unload, bombs scattering across Hawkinge field





Still sick to his stomach the surviving Hurricane pilot checks his machine then hauls it back into the fray. He closes on a 109 below him, guns hammering to blot out the memory of the collision...





The 109 tries to out turn him, but he stomps on the rudder and Sydney Camm's wonderful wide wings do the job, bringing him inside the German. He fires across the circle.







The victory a small measure of compensation. As he looks around, he realises he is alone in the sky. And alone with his conscience.

(Continued)

Further East, in the Channel off Ramsgate, Goering's bombers prosecute their orders to drive the RAF out of 11 Group. The target now is Manston, the last operational Fighter Command airfield in Kent.



Without it, British fighters will have to sortie from airfields around London or north of the Thames, adding precious minutes to the time it will take them to reach the front. Four Spitfires of 64 Squadron, now down to fewer than 6 aircraft after two days of fighting, mount a standing patrol over Manston. RAF Fighter Command's Hugh Dowding will not risk more fighters for Manston, but neither will he abandon it.



The RAF flight lieutenant sees the incoming raid. The massed raids of August 1940 are behind them. Days when hundreds of Heinkels and Dorniers filled the sky from horizon to horizon. But he counts a dozen bombers, with heavy escort, against his four aircraft. He radios Sector Control to scramble the rest of his squadron and vector some assistance to Manston. Then he turns toward the attackers.



The escorts are out front and swing in behind the Spitfires before they can get within range of the bombers. The flight lieutenant watches as a 109 fires on his wingman, causing him to break off, trailing smoke.



He is on his own now.

He ploughs through the fighters, opening fire on a bomber head on and then sweeping back in behind it to fire again.





He climbs overhead, his lone machine caught in a hail of crossfire. Bullets rake his airframe, and his engine coughs, then splutters. The revs falling dramatically.



The bombers start to draw away from him, so he drops his nose. One more pass, just one! He plans to dive up underneath them, build up speed, bring up his nose...and fire. It's all he can think of. They creep closer, the sound of rushing wind over his wings louder than the cough of his dying engine.




In shock, he sees tracer flash over his canopy and looking back, sees a 109 in pursuit. And behind the 109, his wingman!



He ignores the threat. His entire focus on his gunsight. Centering the bomber, and firing...



Suddenly tracer whips over his head again, his machine shudders from multiple cannon impacts, a fist of iron pounding the armoured back of his seat. Then the firing stops, abruptly. Looking back, he sees why...and whispers thanks to his wingman.



But the battle is not over. As he drops away, his propeller barely turning over, he sees his target sail on heedless to his attack, its belly full of bombs. And the 109s are still in the mood for a kill.





Inside the Heinkels, bomber crews also whisper silent thanks, this time for their escorts, for the sting of their MGs, getting them to target and with luck, getting them home again. They settle to their task.







But the RAF attack has unsettled them. They drop late, and their bombs scatter over the fields to the north of Manston.

In the Spitfire, the flight lieutenant takes stock. His wings are holed, his engine at about 10% power. His machine is dragging left, with a rumble that tells him at least one of his wheels is down. He tries the gear lever, tries hand cranking the gear, but there is no response.



Behind him, he can see the stalking 109. His wingman won't be able to save him this time. He drops his shattered machine down to the treetops, Manston in view just above their canopies.





The 109 opens fire, so he bunts, hoping against hope the machine will respond. Watching as the rounds from the 109 kick up the dirt in front of him.




As he scrapes the treetops, the 109 is forced to pull up. The airfield Bofors open fire on the enemy fighter, as he settles to his approach.





His left wheel strut bites the turf, and collapses, and his right wheel drops out of the wheel well. His left wing torn away.



The Spitfire thumps down onto its belly, prop shattering, right wing ripping free.



With a sickening lurch, it bounces into the air. He feels the fuselage starting to roll to the left. Time slows. He knows the next few seconds are all that matters. He wrenches the stick to the right. Kicks the right rudder pedal hard. Closes his eyes, and waits for the end.



It is enough. What is left of the Spitfire responds, rolls right, and slams into the ground again.





The dust settles. He looks out of the open cockpit in amazement at where his wings used to be. He reads the writing on the wing root, ironic in the circumstances. 'Not to be stepped on'.



As an ambulance begins its dash toward him, he tries to undo his harness. His hands are shaking so violently he cannot grip the buckle. He lets them drop into his lap, and sits listening to the tick and hiss of his broken machine, and the sobbing heave of his own ragged breath.



It is 1315 GMT on S-tag +2. Germany has broken through the British GHQ stop line.

Amazing read, had me fixed to the screen!

HEY! I´m sure ParaBellum is behind the German success!
Someone STOP HIM!




Awesome reading, I was biting my fingernails...
I wasn´t so taken since Rainbow Six(book)...

These are really marvelous fatty. You are weaving small individual events into the larger operational scheme very well. Quite engrossing.

In the little farming hamlet of Minster, just outside Manston Fighter Command airfield, the old potbellied Home Guard sergeant looks up from his position in the sandbagged embplacement at the ring of faces, sitting on the back of trucks and on top of ammunition cases around him. They're either too young, or too bloody old, he tells himself. Like me. The last war was supposed to be the war to end all wars. What am I doing here again? He shakes the mood off, and starts.

"Right you lot, listen up! Today we are going to explore the art of improvisation, of making do with material lying around - and where this fails, using psychology to persuade enemy tank commanders, for instance, that the narrow defile through which he must pass is mined or booby trapped in some way.

"We are not completely useless against moving armour, and if we can halt it briefly we have a chance with home-made bombs or Molotov cocktails; there is also the chance that a turret might be opened giving us a slight opportunity of dropping a grenade into the tank. Of course, if the tank commander is foolish enough to pop his head up — Bingo!"

The group chuckles, nervously.

"Chains and cables running between trees can be made into psychological barriers to tanks by attaching an imitation bomb to them, an impression which should be augmented by running a length of cable from it to a position out of sight of a tank commander. These positions can be made even more authentic by breaking up the surface immediately in front of the obstacle and burying an old soup plate, or similar object.

"We have good supplies of .300 ammo available, unlike many other units. We also have adequate supplies of .303 for the Lewis gun and some .45 for the Thompsons. And we 'ave this beauty, gentlemen...it's, uh..." He turns around.

The group peers, almost in awe, at the anti-tank cannon in the sandbagged pit, being readied by two regulars from the 2nd London Infantry. One of them looks up, "It's a 2 pounder, sergeant," he says. "We're sighting it on the road down there," he points across cattle pasture to the road leading into Manston. "Jerry tries to move up that road - wham! You give 'im a broadside," he pats the barrel, "We calls her Betsy."

24 September, afternoon. S-tag +2

Transport Fleet C, with the last elements of the delayed first echelon of German troops from Calais, is making for Folkestone. On board the transports Europa, Bremen, Gneisau and Postdam are troops of the 1st Mountain Division, 7th Infantry Division, and Panzer Battalion A of the VII Army Corps. The bulk of the British Home Fleet is out of position in the North Sea, drawn by a sighting of the light Cruisers Emden, Nurnberg and Koln in the company of 11 steamers headed West from Norwegian waters. On land, German armour of General Ferdinand Schaal's 10th Panzer has broken through British lines at Selstead and is approaching Canterbury unopposed, delayed only by civilian refugee traffic. The 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions stand ready to meet them at Kingston. Dover remains in British hands with 29th Infantry Brigade and 1st London Division giving no ground. Southwest of Manston, Fallschirmjaeger Kampfgruppe Brauer, consisting of a full parachute battalion including engineers and light vehicles has been landed in gliders and Ju52s and is marshalling on the Minster to Manston road.



Light patrol vehicles and motorcyles of Kampfgruppe Brauer form a vanguard for a push on Manston. Their objective: force a way through the airfield defences for troops on foot to overrun the RAF base and hold it long enough for reinforcements to be flown in. With German fighters and fighter bombers able to fly out Manston and Hawkinge, the whole of SE England airspace will be under Luftwaffe control.





Their landing was uneventful. With British forces heavily engaged around Dover and Canterbury to the West, they had expected only light resistance, but so far they have encountered no British forces at all. The small convoy reaches the Minster to Manston road and turns toward Manston. All is quiet. They pull out of the fields, and onto the Minster to Manston road. Half a platoon of armoured scouts brought over in Ju52s which were crashed in a field and written off, and a dozen motorcycles with mounted MG 15s brought in by glider. Behind them is a full company of paratroops. It will have to be enough, they are the last unit of the 7th Flieger to join the battle.




Suddenly the lead patrol car bursts into flames and the convoy rocks to a halt. AT gun!



Above Manston, flying a defensive air patrol, Spitfires of 64 Squadron see the smoke rising and turn to investigate.




Up the hill, in the lee of some trees, the 2 pounder and crew reload.



The armoured cars turrets traverse, and they open fire with MG and 20mm cannon. A truck bursts into flames beside the gun pit. Mortar rounds begin to creep up the hill toward the emplacement.




Unperturbed, the spotter from the 2nd London calls another target as a second vehicle is hit.




The lead Spitfire sees the column of motorcycles pushing through a wheat field toward the road and lines up for a strafing run.




His rounds thump and flash as they march across the line of troops.





To the West, Bf110s of Erprobungsgruppe 210 close on Manston. Their objective, to suppress enemy AAA and AT positions around the airfield to assist the attack which should be underway within the next half hour. They are unaware that battle has already been joined.



The Spitfires close on the armoured cars now. Knowing their .303s are unlikely to make much impact, but hoping to disrupt their advance.




A second AT round slams into the convoy as the Spitfire flashes overhead. Now only one remains. The motorcyle troops open fire on the AT position, trying to suppress it.




Erpro 210 arrives on the scene. Their commander quickly assesses the situation and sends two of his machines down on Minster.







Bombs ripple across the hillside, and the British emplacement erupts in flame.





The second echelon of Bf110s sweeps in. Spotting a British camp, a Zerstorer pilot lines up on the middle of a row of tents, and unloads, feeling his machine jump into the air as the bombs drop away. Then with horror, he sees the large white crosses on the tent! A field hospital!



It is too late to do anything. His bombs slam into the hospital, ripping it apart.




Mein Gott, what did we just do? both he and his gunner ask themselves, silently.

They don't have time for more recriminations with themselves, as the 64 Sq Spitfires round on them.

(continued)

One Spitfire climbs up unseen beneath the belly of the 110 that just hit the hospital, and opens fire. The 110 shudders as the rounds slam home.









The Bf110s rear gun hammers loudly, sending tracer flying back at the Spitfire. The stream of lead drills into the Spitfire's engine, and it bursts into flames, the Spitfire still firing.







Flames lick back toward the Spitfire pilots legs and he heaves the canopy open, rolls the machine on its back and falls out.









The stricken Bf110 banks hard away from Manston.



The pilot checks his instruments. What? What is wrong with his vision? He has trouble focusing, but can see the rev counter on his starboard engine is dropping. Scheiss.



5 minutes flying time back to German lines.

They can make it.

They have to.

He sees the Spitfire pilot, his chute falling beside his crashed machine. He hopes he is not too badly burned - knowing there is no hospital nearby to treat him anymore.



Now his port engine starts stuttering. He looks over at it through a red mist. A strange detachment starting to come over him.



Off his port wing he sees Dover. Not far now. Not far.





The engines stop their coughing and spluttering and wind slowly down.



So it won't be Hawkinge.

He is so tired. His arms seem so heavy. His gunner is calling to him. What? Oh, a field. Yes, he should try to land in the field. They won't make it. But he should try. Of course.



But it is too far away, the machine dropping too rapidly. He keeps his eyes on his gauges, trying to keep the Bf110 level. But he can't concentrate.

All he can see is crosses.

Red crosses on a white background.

He lets go of the stick.







It is 1745 GMT on Sealion +2. Kampfgruppe Brauer is approaching Manston airfield as the 10th Panzer approaches the vital bridges of Kingston over the River Stour.

A long and violent night lies ahead.

Is this still according to script or already a deviation?

Anyway, as usual, an enjoyable read!

Thanks! As von Moltke said (or was it Clausewicz?) "No plan survives contact with the enemy"!

H

Awesome AAR.

Keep it up.

Really getting into these AARs of yours.


Wheels

Probably Clausewitz.

So you're assuming that at least some reinforcements got across the channel, right?

Yes. Assumption based on Sandhurst framework is that by Sept 25 Germany will get most of 2 waves, or 90,000 men, ashore. There are three elements that play a huge role in coming days:

- can Germany get its 3rd echelon ashore and reinforce, when full force of superior Royal Navy home fleet is used by Britain, or
- can another port be captured, or can sufficient supplies be moved through Folkestone, to meet the materiel demands of the invasion, or
- can Germany capture sufficient strategic territory, eg Canterbury/Kent/Ramsgate, to provoke Britain to negotiate before resupply becomes an issue?

T

The RN will most probably be victorious in the channel. There's no way it can be stopped by the KM alone. And the Luftwaffe would have to carpet bomb the channel to properly assist. But this isn't going to happen, because they're to busy redecorating urban London...

Seelowe 12: Sept 25 morning, S-tag +3

In yesterday's fighting the RAF lost 97 more fighters leaving only 440. The SE England airfields of 11 Group, Bomber and Coastal Command are cratered ruins, and once more the threat of collapse, which had receded in early September, is looming. The Luftwaffe had lost another 71 fighters and 142 bombers. Few of the final 2nd wave German reinforcements made it through the British naval and air blockade of Folkestone. Despite stubborn resistance by the 1st and 2nd Canadian divisions overnight, the German XXXXI Army Corps, with the 10th Panzer as its spearhead, captured intact one of the two bridges over the lesser River Stour at Kingston, and troops are pouring across. However, in the early morning, the British VII Corp committed its 1st Armoured strategic reserve, comprising Valentine and Cruiser tanks, on the left flank of the German salient. The German supply line to Kingston is stretched tight, and the British intend to cut its throat. The British armour has been met at Elham by the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler Regiment, comprising mobile troops, a vehicle mounted flak battalion and a Stug batterie. The first major tank battle on British soil is about to be joined.


At Elham Water Tower, the Stug batterie of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler advances to a treeline overlooking a clearing. The low, squat forms will be hidden in the bushes, while the British tanks which their scouts have warned them are advancing toward them, will have to cross the open field to engage.



Alongside them, providing cover against both aircraft and troops, a truck mounted flak battery.



To the west, three companies of Valentines, and one company of the heavier Cruisers from the 1st Armoured Strategic Reserve, advance on Elham. The precious remnants of an army demoralised and disarmed at Dunkirk.



Elsewhere, Wellingtons of bomber command trudge toward Kingston, with 111 Sq Hurricanes in escort. Their target, the southern bridge over the Lesser Stour river, now being used to ferry German troops and armour across to the western bank for an attack on Canterbury. The bridge must be destroyed.





64 Squadron hastens from Manston to support the armour pushing on Elham and the East flank of the German salient, while opposing them, staffeln of LG2 and JG 26 circle above, and Jabos of Erpro 210 take off from Hawkinge for a strike on British positions at Elham.







At Elham water tower, the first Valentines break cover and immediately the Stugs open fire, claiming a victim.



The Valentines return with a volley from their 2 pounders, but the shells slam into the 50mm thick front armour of the Stugs without effect. The Stugs fire again and this time one of the British Cruisers stalls, is hit again, and explodes. The British attack falters under the hammer blows from the German 75mm guns.




The Cruisers add the anger of their 2 pounders to the din of battle, and one of the Stugs is hit. Another crouches behind its burning hulk, camouflaged by the flames and smoke, and opens fire.



High above the slaughter yard, Squadron Leader Randolph Stuart Mills of 247 Squadron, leads his pilots into a tight starboard turn to prepare their attack run. He has waited four months for this day. Four months since he was shipped home from 263 Squadron at Narvik in a hospital ship after crashing his damaged Gladiator. Four months since 263 Sq was decimated at Narvik by the Luftwaffe, even though they managed to take 26 of the enemy with them. Four months since the 10 surviving pilots of 263, shipping home on the aircraft carrier Glorious, died when the Glorious was met and sunk by the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisau.



He should have been with them. But today, as he passes over the tank battle raging below - German tanks, on British soil - he is glad he wasn't.

He had returned to duty with 247 Sq, and had been preparing his men for a transition to Hurricanes, when the invasion started. They'd been kept out of the fight for the first few days, frustrated and cooling their heels. Until today. He looks over his lower wing. Their 4 .303s would be useless against the armour...but then he sees what he wants. Soft skinned targets...truck mounted flak.

He leads the squadron down, and jams his thumb hard on the gun button.

Boy, you're good.

Seelowe 12: Sept 25 morning, S-tag +3 (Continued)

Over Kingston, the bomber command Wellingtons begin their run. LG2 109s and 111 Sq Hurricanes tangle.



Flak erupts from the German positions, schrapnel slicing through the airframe of Wellington KH-A. Perforating wings, fuselage, fuel and oil lines and killing the nose gunner.



The pilot presses on, determined to finish the job. He falls behind the main pack, vulnerable to flak and fighters. Ahead he watches the flight leader drop, and the other Wellingtons drop on his cue. But the drop is late, and the bombs explode uselessly on the far bank of the river among an abandoned British tent camp.

Now it is their turn. The machine jumps as the heavy ordnance falls away.





There is no time to watch the bombs fall, he banks as hard as he dares, and straightens out just as his rear gunner shouts in alarm and cannon shells from a 109 slice across his starboard wing.



He can't hold it level now. He gives the order to bail out, and as the machine starts a slow right hand spiral, he looks out the cockpit window, to see his bombs slam home... right across the length of the Kingston South Bridge.





As he struggles in his parachute toward the open bomb bay doors, and the howling sky beyond, he sees the machine is empty, and hopes the lads got out alright, those who still could. And that someone gives his bomb aimer a bloody medal!

Back above Elham, Squadron leader Mills and the other Gladiator pilots have their own Emils to deal with, the 109s cutting and slashing down on the slower Gladiators without mercy. One after the other falls to an Emil's cannons.







Mills spins his machine on its wingtip, desperately avoiding enemy fire and aircraft that seem to be all around him.







He throws his machine down at the treetops, hoping to lose himself in the canopies.



...just as 64 Squadron Spitfires arrive, and give the 109s someone more their own size to fight against...





Mills calls his squadron to form up on him, North of Elham. Of the six aircraft he took into battle, only one responds.



He circles their landing field at Canterbury in vain hope, waiting for the others.



There are none. Only empty hangars await him as he brings his machine to a stop.



But he is beyond grief now. He grieved when his comrades went down with HMS Glorious in the North Sea. Now the only emotion he feels is icy hatred.

247 Squadron will be converting to Hurricanes now.

The war will wait for him.

Of that he is sure.

At Elham, the bombs of Erpro 210 rain down on the advancing armour of the British 1st Armoured Reserve. But the British tanks continue forward.





Now the first of the faster Valentines reaches the line of Stugs. Their cannons are mounted fast to their hulls, and cannot swivel to engage him. Besides which, the bigger threat of the Cruiser tanks lies to their front.



The Valentine slides through their ranks. Their armour is weaker at the sides and rear. With relentless efficiency his gunner slams shell after shell into the line of Stugs.







The German line breaks. Spinning away from the threat in front and to their rear, the Stugs speed desperately for the cover of the forest as the remaining flak trucks cover them...







It is 0915 25 September on S-tag +3, and the German supply line for the push on Canterbury is threatened.

With some decent acting and FX this could be much of a script for a "made for DVD" movie.

Maye we should go all "Iron Sky" on the flightsim community...and beyond!

Seelowe 13: Sept 25 early afternoon, S-tag +3

The German supply situation is critical. Despite three days of fighting the only port which has been captured is Folkestone, which can only support 150 tonnes an hour of supplies at full capacity. The actual rate of offloading is currently 90 tonnes, due to constant air and artillery bombardment.

Transport Fleet C, transporting critical infantry, panzer, staff and corps troops and supplies was intercepted and fewer than 20% of the ships made it to port. Of the two destroyer flotillas from Cherbourg and four torpedo boat flotillas available to escort the convoys at on S-tag minus 1, only 4 destroyers and one torpedo boat flotilla remain.

The decoy action of the morning however was successful in luring away heavy ships from the British Home Fleet, and the light cruisers Emden, Nurnberg, and Koln have now turned back toward Norwegian ports to evade British pursuit. Transport Fleet E is now approaching the Dover coast. It is transporting the first echelons of the 6th Mountain Division, 8th and 28th infantry, a company from Panzer Battalion D and staff and corp troops of the VIII and X army corps, plus vital fuel and ammunition.

If it does not dock and unload successfully at Folkestone, the invasion cannot be sustained.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmuDi2F60-8

How did that old saying go? Any landing you can be carried away from consciously is a good one?

Weird leader behaviour though. "FOR THE FÜHRER!"-suicide mode?

Loving your AAR, please keep em rolling!!

Nicely done Heinkill.


Wheels

Seelowe 14: Sept 25 late afternoon, S-tag +3

Following concerted British air and sea attack throughout the afternoon, 87% of shipping in Transport Fleet E was lost, along with 3 destroyers and 15 torpedo boats. In the air, the RAF has so far lost 23 aircraft today, to 13 Luftwaffe. The British armoured thrust at Elham was successful, and the SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler has been cut off from Folkestone and is making a fighting withdrawal north toward Denton, pursued by the British 1st Armoured and elements of the NZ Division. Meanwhile, the 1st and 2nd Canadian succeeded in re-establishing control over the River Stour crossings at Kingston and is reinforcing for an early morning counter-attack against the 10th Panzer and troops of the Germany XXXXI Army Corps regrouping at Denton. The German VII Army Corps and 8th Panzer has succeeded in penetrating to the streets of Dover, and fighting is taking place from house to house, within sight of the Port. In the West, the 7th Flieger Division has withdrawn to Hythe township and is digging in. In the East intense fighting continues near Manston, with Kampfgruppe Bauer reporting their light mortars are within range of the airfield.

Major Hereward de Havilland, chief test pilot for de Havilland aircraft company, was at home with his wife and two children when the telephone rang on September 22 1940. His wife had noted he had been distant during the meal - she assumed because he was worried about the latest tests on the de Havilland Mosquito prototype. She was wrong.

The male voice at the other end did not identify himself. "Major de Havilland?", he asked.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Banquet lights," was all the voice said, before the line was disconnected.

It may have been a short message, but he had been waiting for it, and it was one de Havilland had been dreading. He walked back in to where the family was having their tea. His wife knew, without asking, that he had been called back.

He had kissed her on the forehead, pinched the cheeks of his two toddlers, and then gone to the hall cupboard and taken out his attaché case. He had driven immediately to the de Havilland aerodrome at Hatfield where frantic activity was already underway, with engineers fitting each of the six Tiger Moth training aircraft of the 1st Elementary Flying Training School with bomb racks holding 8 x 20lb anti-personnel bombs.

de Havilland had opened his locker, and taken out a parachute, flying suit, service gas mask, tin helmet and gas cape. The gas mask, helmet and cape were tied into the student's seat of the Tiger Moth, together with a service pistol, in case he was brought down behind the lines. He had reflected on this - behind the lines, in Kent! German troops had landed overnight, and now the Western front had come to Britain. The thought made his blood run hotter.

But operation Banquet Lights had been a suicide operation, as he'd expected. Of the six Tiger Moths that took off from Hatfield, weighed down with the small ineffectual bombs, only five had made it to the invasion beach head, and only one had made it back to Hatfield.

Now it was 25 September. Could it really only have been 3 days? His short lived career as a combat pilot had been curtailed, but he still had a choice - return to Hatfield to continue work with his brother on the new Mosquito aircraft, or fly recon missions for the Office of Strategic Services, the OSS. He knew his temperament could not cope with test flying the next generation of fighter, when war, real war, was being waged just a hundred miles away. So each day, five times a day, he had taken one of the company's Tiger Moths up, with a photographer in the student's seat, and flown out to find and fix the advancing German lines.

Each day the front line got depressingly further from Folkestone, closer to Canterbury. Yesterday Panzers had advanced as far north as Kingston on the Lesser Stour, and Elham in the West. But they had been thrown back from Kingston by the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions, after being carpet bombed by Bomber Command Wellingtons and strafed by the new cannon armed Beaufighters. In the West, the Stugs and truck mounted flak batterie of the Liebstandarte SS Adolf Hitler were routed by Valentine and Cruiser tanks of the British 1st Armoured Reserve.

Churchill had held his armoured counter attack until he saw the enemy commit himself on Canterbury. He knew he had only one roll of the dice with the precious few tanks of the British VII Corps, but they had prevailed, and cut the throat of the German salient. The enemy was now bottled up at Denton - elements of the 10th Panzer retreating south from Kingston, while the German XXXXI Corps and Leibstandarte SS were pushed north.

de Havilland had been told that upward of 30,000 enemy troops were being bottled up at Denton, but where precisely? It would be his job to find out.

In the hills north of Selstead, guns of the Royal Artillery 58th Medium Regt., veterans of France, are readied for a night time bombardment of German positions at Denton, as soon as they are identified.



de Havilland decides to start his search at Kingston, the scene of the previous day's hard fought battle for the vital bridges over the Lesser Stour river.




He would follow the main Canterbury road south from Kingston, through Denton, toward Hawkinge. There should be German forces heading south from Kingston, and others advancing north away from Elham, converging on Denton. Maybe their positions would give him a clue as to where the main body of the German forces was lurking. In the distance he could see smoke pyres - perhaps indicating burning vehicles...



In the sky above, 111 Squadron flies a protective combat patrol, their job to deter any interest in the low flying and defenceless Tiggie.



They soon have their work cut out for them as LG2 109s out of Hawkinge begin to object to their presence. They do their job, keeping the 109s busy, but it does not go well.











The wounded 111 Sq Hurricanes fight back gamely, but the more experienced pilots of LG2 have their measure









No matter, it is just enough to keep the sky clear for de Havilland.

5 miles out of Kingston, he sees a line of Panzer IIs heading cross country. They try to pull under cover, but are too slow.







He marks their direction and position.



Looking in their direction of travel he sees a small fire on a hilltop outside Denton. Too small to be seen from altitude...but could it be a visual marker for scattered German troops to home on?



Squinting between the spars of his wings, he thinks he can make out tents, or camo netting.



He turns the Tiger Moth toward the hill. Within minutes his suspicions are confirmed as angry flak begins to erupt in front of him.





He doesn't dare overfly it, but gives his photographer a nice beam shot. The hillside is swarming with Boche!







A large portion of the trapped German XXXXI army seems to be digging in on the hill overlooking Denton.





He scurries for cover, flak from 88s and lighter 30mm chasing him all the way.





As he dodges and weaves, his observer points at the ground. There below...a lone Stug pushing through a field. Perhaps a remnant of the fleeing Leibstandarte SS.



It hides in the shadow of some trees, invisible to high flying recon, but not to his Tiggie...





Then his observer punches the air with both fists, pointing ahead. Hot on the heels of the Stug, surrounded by the shattered hulks of German flak trucks, they can see Cruiser tanks of the 1st armoured, ploughing north, up the road toward Denton.







It occurs to him that this one road tells the whole tale of the German advance so far. On the first day they took Folkestone. Then broke through the GHQ stop line, and captured Hawkinge. From there, this road led them directly north, to Kingston, the furthest point of their advance, 12.9 miles from Folkestone - where the 1st and 2nd Canadian finally threw them back. Meanwhile they tried to widen their front to the West, before the Cruisers and Valentines of the 1st Armoured gave them a bloody nose. They were only 12 miles from their target of Canterbury but now they were trapped on this road, the Canadian Divisions pushing them southward...the 1st Armoured pushing them north.

To a hilltop in Denton.

He leaves the Cruisers to their pursuit.



As he turns back toward Hatfield, he hears flapping and banging outside his cockpit, and notices the fabric on his right wing is starting to come away, as small rips caused by the flak start to tear open in his slipstream. The flak had passed right through the lightweight construction of the Tiger Moth without exploding, which was a blessing. But it had been an uncomfortable few minutes!



Luckily the Gipsy Major engine keeps singing its two note song without complaint.

"I'll have to tell Geoffrey about this one", de Havilland thinks quietly to himself. Geoffrey his brother, the man who designed the Tiger Moth. The man who was no doubt, right now, pouring over drawings of his beloved Mosquito.

Tell him wood and fabric is all well and good for surviving a good flakking, but what his Mosquito really wants is speed

***

It is the end of day 4 of the Sealion invasion. 90,000 German troops are ashore, and Germany holds the port of Folkestone, and Hawkinge fighter command field, but has been held out of Dover, and the paratroop attack on Manston has not yet succeeded in taking that airfield. The supply situation is critical, with no further prospect of resupply due to the dominance of the Royal Navy in the Channel. A Fuhrer Conference has been convened for 0500 Sept 26 to review the situation.



Now encircled, 30,000 troops of the XXXXI Army Corps, and including remnants of the 10th Panzer and Leibstandarte SS, are digging in at Denton. With de Havilland's report to guide them, it is just a matter of time before they will hear the banshee roar of British long range artillery.

Not looking good for Jerry.

Ahem?

Sorry! These AARs are done after I complete both making, and then playing through, each mission in the campaign...

Have had to focus on getting the 'campaign creation' finished, and then when that is done (it will be uploaded to Airwarfare.com this week, actually), the AARs will catch up!

Cheers,

Heiny

... the invasion continues...

Sept 26, morning, Stag +4: Forza Italia!

At the Fuhrer Conference at 0500 this morning, Admiral Raeder reported that the Kriegsmarine no longer has sufficient warships available to secure both the French and Norwegian coasts, and escort supply shipping across the Channel. During the night capital ships of the British Home fleet attacked German shipping in the Channel and at Folkestone. U-boat U-47 claimed to have torpedoed and sunk the Battlecruiser HMS Nelson off the Thames Estuary at 0300 hours. But only two Kriegsmarine destroyers and a handful of minelayers and motor torpedo boats have survived the previous two days engagements with the Royal Navy. 30,000 German troops belonging to the XXXXI army corps, 10th Panzer and Leibstandarte SS have been encircled and beseiged at Denton. The Swedish ambassador to London is reported to have claimed that Churchill's war cabinet is strongly divided, with Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax proposing a settlement with Germany, which the British Prime Minister was reported to have rejected in the strongest terms. At 0700 this morning the Prime Minister stated on the BBC, "At no time in the last war were we in greater peril than we are now, but this is not a time to waver, to debate and enter discourse, but a time for us to stand firm, to hold fast where we must and attack the enemy wherever he is found." On the background of this dissent Hitler ordered the 9th and 16th Armies to resume their push on Canterbury in the belief that if that city could be captured, there was a possibility Britain could sue for peace. The Lufwaffe was to do all in its power to support the drive on Canterbury. Mussolini's Corpo Aero Italiano was ordered into battle, for an attack on Dover. Capturing Dover intact was no longer an objective, as no more reinforcement of troops in England was possible.

Letter from 64 Squadron leader Aeneas Ranald Donald MacDonnel, Sept 24 1940

My dear Marsali,

Forgive me for being so long in replying to your letter and in thanking you for your very sweet thought in suggesting me as the recipient of these very excellent socks. I wear them to the exclusion of all others because I like their colour and my toes don’t go through them. We have been rather busy here, as I am sure you might imagine.

I have been commanding 64 Squadron for a fortnight, and up to the present we have had no time for reflexion. Everything that happens these days seems to involve our Squadron. For sheer sensationalism our life cannot be bettered by even the most exaggerated films. It is all rather unusual and insane. I have a magnificent squadron, all the members are really first class, work well together and never complain of lack of sleep and disturbed lives. We are right on top of everything, and I have the fullest confidence of victory in the near future. My love to you and your mother.

Keep well Marsali

Yrs Donald


At RAF Manston

A counter attack by the 2nd London infanty overnight saw enemy troops driven back from Manston. The survivors surrendered at dawn. 64 Squadron has once again moved up to Manston, and received 4 replacement Spitfires taking its strength to six machines.

In the lead element, Squadron leader MacDonnel and his wingman have flown in to supervise preparations, when they are ordered to patrol Dover. They take off amid the carnage and shellholes of the previous days' fighting.




10 miles east Denton pocket

The German troops beseiged at Denton have been pounded mercilessly overnight by Bomber Command and artillery and British troops are within two miles of the hill where they are holding fast. Blenheims of Bomber Command head in to deliver another salvo.




While at Hawkinge, where heavy AAA has worked tirelessly to keep the skies over the airfield clear so that precious fuel and ammunition can be landed, LG2 takes to the skies again.



Over the Channel Corpo Aero Italiano Br20s with G50s in escort, close on Dover, where a panicked merchant navy prepares the last remaining ships for a dash around Margate to the relative safety of the Thames Estuary.




Among the Italian pilots, is the young Sottotenente Ugo Drago. This is his 20th mission, but his first mission since fighting ceased in France.



The Corpo has been kept out of the fighting over Britain until now, to his great frustration, because though he has flown 20 sorties, he is yet to bag his first kill.

At Hythe

On the Western front, the 7th Flieger Division can no longer maintain its westward momentum against strong counter attacks by the NZ Division. In a fighting retreat, they abandon their positions in the township, and pull back toward Folkestone.




Inside the Denton pocket

The enclave is a hive of activity as fuel is siphoned from damaged and immobile vehicles, and heavy tanks and mounted anti tank guns are readied for a desperate breakout. German troops do not even look up, as yet again the thrum of bomber engines approaches their positions.



This time though, the bombs fall wide, the Blenheims apparently targetting troops dug in on the front line across the valley




In the lead Blenheim though, the bomb aimer looks down in horror as he records where his bombs have fallen! In the dust and smoke of the front line he has released on a British position, not a German one, and a front line field hospital at that!




Above Denton, the pilots of 111 Squadron watch the bombs fall uselessly. "No business here at the moment Sector," the Flight Lieutenant advises over the R/T. "We are beginning a strafing run."

The Hurricanes drop down through the screen of flak and let fly with their Brownings






"Be advised, Sector control," the Flt Lt calls as he pulls away, "I count at least twenty Panzers on the move down there, Jerry is up to something!"

Over Dover

Sqn Ldr MacDonnel is finally given a vector, "Rabbit flight, this is Biggin Hill, proceed immediately to sector A20, angels 2, heavy raid moving toward Dover."

He banks toward the port




And almost immediately sees the specks of heavy aircraft. But he doesn't recognise them...what the devil are they? They have twin tail planes, like RAF Hampdens! It wouldn't be the first time the sector controllers have caused a cock up. He decides to close to visual range.

Then opens his eyes wide in shock as he sees the insignia of Italian aircraft, and immediately in front of him, a 109E swooping down on him!



He manages to get off a single burst at one of the BR20s before he flashes past, then pulls up and over as the Italians rain bombs on the port below




He closes on the BR20 again, notices tracer flashing over his wing, but it isn't the heavy fire of a Bf109, so he assumes it is the other BR20s behind him. He ignores it



But it isn't erratic fire from a nose gunner. It is from the twin Bredas on Ugo Drago's G50, and he focuses his fire on the Spitfire once more...



MG shells walk down the length of the Spitfire's fuselage, and punch through the plexi glass above MacDonnel's head, killing him instantly



His wingman sees his Spitfire roll onto its back and spiral in, a sure sign he has been hit. Angrily, he flings his machine toward the Italian, and from too far away, opens fire...



While from altitude, a 109 of LG2 descends on him, MG and cannons firing and Daimler Benz screaming



He has misjudged his dive, and with a scream of horror, he flings his arms over his face as his machine's wing collides with the Spitfire's engine and it explodes in a cloud of fire




Ugo Drago flies on, oblivious to the carnage behind him, smiling to himself...



His first kill!

At last, something to write home about...

JesusHeinkill, you are good...

But, may I?
Being italian I know that it was called Regia Aeronautica (Royal Airforce). So to speak.

Apart from this tiny detail it´s impressive, nothing less.
You should put your writing skill into something more... rewarding? You know, moneywise...

Grazie amico! You like the Ugo Drago touch?

But is this wrong?

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/online-exhibitions/battle-of-britain-history/corpo-aereo-italiano.cfm

Happy to correct if it is.

I do get paid to write... I'm a journo. But I write fact (sort of ) I don't think anyone would pay me to write fiction!

H

Hoy there, sorry for the late reply...

Yeah the Drago guy, I didn´t liked it... I LOVED IT.
I mean he was never really there, but who cares, that was good as well.
A touch of reality is always welcome.

And yes, I do stand corrected.
The expeditionary force was in fact called Corpo Aereo Italiano: but careful not "Aero" but "Aereo".
It is in fact a different word.

Nitpicking I know but the rest is SO well written, I only want the best for this :P

Way to go and...
Just me probably but if you wrote an historically accurate air novel I´d buy it.

This is far from over (isn't it?).

Yes, stay tuned, I'll be able to post a couple more chapters this week I hope.

BTW that letter at the start of the latest installment is almost a word for word copy of a letter actually written by MacDonnel when he was CO of 64 Squadron.

H

Just awesome, Great what if story line about the invasion of England and battle tactics. The pics are super. I am looking for ward to more of your work.

Happy to oblige...


September 26, S-tag +4, 1230 hrs GMT: Breakout from Denton

Elements of the 10th Panzer and Liebstandarte SS Adolf Hitler have fought their way out of the Denton Pocket. Rather than retreating South toward the main German force at Folkestone, they have taken British forces by surprise and escaped north toward Canterbury. The 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions were in the process of reinforcing their southern front, and German armour was able to drive through a gap in British lines at Gorsely Wood. Panzer IIs and IIIs of the 10th Panzer and Stugs of the Leibstandarte SSAH, backed by motorised troops of the XXXXI Army Corps, have radioed to Berlin that they have reached the Canterbury train station and are pushing on the center of the city. They are however, totally cut off from German supply lines. In an act of bluff and bravado, Adolf Hitler broadcasts to the British people, "Germany wants peace with Britain," he thunders, "But your leaders have brought war to the high streets of English villages and cities, and the German flag now flies from the spires of Canterbury Cathedral! London is next! The nations of Britain and Germany are not natural enemies. I call on Britain to surrender and avoid an inevitable and terrible fate!" After a conference with Churchill, Dowding orders all remaining 11 Group squadrons withdrawn north to preserve them for the defence of London. Churchill convenes an emergency session of the War Cabinet.

Outside Canterbury

The Stugs of the Leibstandarte SS emerge from woods into the outskirts of the city, their barrels covering the famous Cathedral.




A mile away, the Panzers of 10th Panzer grind onwards, their engines now running on fumes, diesel fuel almost exhausted.



While on a nearby hilltop, a motorised SS flak batteri watches the skies



The panicked defenders of Canterbury cower behind sandbags, barrels pointed in all directions, knowing an attack is coming, but from where?




At the train station, troops frantically load fuel and ammunition, trying to move it out before the German attack begins.




Then, through the trees, an AT position sees movement



His 2 pounder barks, and a German scout erupts in flame



Before the Panzer IIIs fire in answer



And the battle is joined in earnest, with the British heavy guns now engaging



Overhead, 109s from JG26 arrive. Having flown from France, they have only ten minutes fuel in their tanks, and begin immediately searching the sky for RAF




While below them, 4 Bf110C7s of Erpro 210 out of Hawkinge appear: their objective, to knock out enemy AT and AAA positions.



Flak begins to erupt around them immediately



And one of the precious 110s is hit



His wingman settles his sights on the city, scouring the ground for the deadly AAA emplacements



Ahead he sees Panzers engaging British ground troops and drops on a wing to get a better view



But the British are in light vehicles and poor cover, not worth wasting his bombs on them...



Then he sees what he is looking for. An AT position in the grass of a field below, probably concealed from the Panzers, but sticking out like a beacon to him.




He extends away to build up speed to climb and attack, as a flak burst shakes his machine.



He checks his controls and instruments...all normal. Diving on the AT position he opens fire with his MGFF, the heavy rounds slamming into the ground around the gun and crew.



As he pulls away, he sees ammunition go up. No need for his bombs here either!



Then in a field outside the city, he sees the source of the flak. A Bofors, cleverly sited among some destroyed vehicles.



The wrecks of the trucks will give it cover. He needs to be sure of this one. He arms his two HE bombs.



As he drops down toward the target, he thumbs the bomb release, waiting for jump of the machine as the weight of the bombs falls away...but...NOTHING



The bomb mechanism must be jammed! Apparently that flak hit wasn't as benign as it seemed...



He checks his forward guns with a tentative 2 second burst, but they are also dry. Verdammt! He has no option but to return to Hawkinge, and land with two armed bombs aboard. Not a prospect he is looking forward to.

Below, the 10 Panzer and Leibstandarte SS advance



The overwhelmed defenders of Canterbury powerless to stop them



At the train station is enough fuel and food for a Division, and if they can capture some British guns, ammunition as well.

**************

These AARs and screenies are taken from the Sealion Mission Pack, Luftwaffe campaign, available for free download here:

http://bobgamehub.blogspot.com/p/cliffs-of-dover-missions.html

**************

Sept 26, S-tag +4 evening: Black Death

In today's fighting so far, the RAF has lost 32 aircraft and the Luftwafe/Axis forces 27. RAF 41, 501 and 72 Squadrons are so depleted they are effectively non operational and have been moved north for a rest. The commander of Lehrgeschwader 2 has requested his pilots and aircraft be withdrawn to Calais for rest and to refit, but this has been denied. At Denton, 15,000 German troops dig in for the night, under heavy artillery fire. They have no armour, no armed vehicles, and precious little food or ammunition. Leibstandarte SS, 10th Panzer and troops of XXXXI Corps have succeeded in capturing Canterbury train station and the area around the Cathedral. They have fortified their positions and captured British supplies, ammunition, AT guns and AAA. A stronghold has been established on the main island in the River Stour east of the Cathedral. The 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions have attacked north in the wake of the German armoured push on Canterbury and established a line just south of the city to prevent a further breakout South by German forces. In the west and north, troops of the British 29th Infantry Brigade have established positions on the opposite bank of the Stour, while reinforcements are being moved up, to pen the German troops into the eastern part of the city.

Hitler has ordered his troops in Canterbury to hold the city, 'to the last man, tank and grenade'.

At Manston

Manston cannot be readied for full squadron operations due to damage to unexploded bombs which will take days to clear, and with enemy forces now at Canterbury, it has been determined to once again abandon the field. 64 Squadrons reluctant new CO, Flt Lt James Rankin, takes the 4 available machines on a final patrol to cover the area between Dover and Folkestone.




The Royal Navy is due to begin an all night bombardment of Folkestone port from 1730 hrs and 64 Squadron is to provide cover. From tomorrow, 64 Squadron will have to fly out of Biggin Hill.

Above Canterbury

The Beaufighters of 29 Squadron spread into line abreast formation as they close on Canterbury. They have already been named Der schwarze Tod (Black Death) by the invading troops, because of their night black camouflage and ability to rain destruction from above.



Taking off from nearby Canterbury field, two Hurricanes from 111 Squadron are intended to cover the Beaufighters while they hunt.



But the pilots of LG2, flying CAP over Canterbury, have other ideas...



They spot the Hurricanes as they rise out of the clutter of the ground below, and drop on them.




One of the 109s overshoots, opening himself to a volley from a Hurricane.



He zooms high, the Hurricane following him, hammering him again



But a second 109 is shadowing and his 20mm cannon punches through the Hurricane's wing, severing vital control wires.




The Hurricane pilot leaps, as the second Hurricane flees, leaving the Beaufighters on their own...




At Folkestone

Flt Lt Rankin watches as three RN destroyers stand off Folkestone and pound the port with impunity.




Suddenly he sees some dark specks over the Channel. But he has not been notified of an incoming raid by Sector Control. While he checks with the ground controller, he sends his tail end Charlie to investigate.



As the pilot nears, the specks resolve themselves, into...



"Stukas, dozens of 'em!" he calls.



But his CO has problems of his own. Over Folkestone he sees Bf110s of Erpro 210, also closing on the navy ships.



"Do what you can Torrid 4," he calls, "We're going to be busy down here."



It takes the Spitfire pilot precious minutes to get to altitude, and close with the Stukas, and as he opens fire on the lead element, they invert and dive on the ships below.



He can only follow them down, watching helplessly as their bombs pepper the water around the warships



As they pull out, low and slow, he pounces.



Watching gratefully as his victim falls into the waves below



Meanwhile, the 110s of Erpro 210 let fly with their AP bombs.



He watches in horror as they strike home, this time sending flame belching from the decks of two of the destroyers



Rankin closes behind one of the Zerstorers



He fires, blasting away the tailplane and rudder, and the 110 rears up abruptly, slowing so dramatically it catches him by surprise.



The pilot of the 110 drops his nose, and rakes the Spitfire with MG and cannon, driving Rankin to take evasive action.



Then he flees for the relative safety of the invasion zone...



But he underestimates the grit of the British AAA gunners on the burning destroyers. Undaunted, they open fire on the 110 as it passes abeam...




Setting the starboard engine ablaze. He checks his instruments, and sees the revs and pressure dropping fatally



With one good engine he could probably get home, but with only half an aileron and rudder, he has little hope. He warns his gunner to ready to bail out, and reaches for the canopy release




As the doomed Zerstorer reaches the port, he pulls it into a zooming climb, turning the last energy of its engine into precious altitude for their jump



He leaps, followed soon after by his gunner





Over Canterbury

LG2 has found the Beaufighters too. And the first ever dogfight between cannon armed aircraft has begun.



But to call it a dogfight is unfair. The 16,000lb Beaufighters are ungainly and slow. They are designed for night fighting against bombers, or pounding ground units with their cannon, not for mixing it with the mostly deadly air to air fighter in the world. The 109s easily turn inside them.



It is slaughter.






As they continue their patrol over Canterbury, the 109 pilots see flames and smoke rising from German and British positions alike.

Panzers in the streets of Canterbury! The front line is now only 60 miles from London.

Suddenly anything seems possible again!


**************

These AARs and screenies are taken from the Sealion Mission Pack, Luftwaffe campaign, available for free download here:

http://bobgamehub.blogspot.com/p/cliffs-of-dover-missions.html

**************

Oooooooh, goody, goody, goody!


(Also, it's "Der schwarze Tod". ;))

Thanks! Duly corrected!

Now, before I proceed I would like to remind our dear readers of a true event in May of 1940 called the 'War Cabinet Crisis'.

You can read all about it here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1940_War_Cabinet_Crisis

But in brief:

In May 1940, the fate of the world, the future of an empire, and the destiny of a nation rested with two men; Winston S. Churchill, the newly appointed British Prime Minister and Edward Wood 3rd Viscount Halifax, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Both of these men passionately believed in saving Britain from the military nightmare they been placed in by Nazi Germany. However their approaches to achieving this were radically different. Halifax believed that it might be possible to secure a peace treaty with Germany that would safeguard British independence as well as its imperial interests. On the other hand, Churchill believed that German dictator Adolf Hitler would only honour such a treaty whilst it served his own interests. Instead Churchill favoured a continuation of the conflict at all costs until final victory was secured.

I would also point out that in Sept 1940, in this timeline, when Germany invades Britain, Halifax was/is still in the War Cabinet.

OK, that is all I need to say at this point...

Sept 27 1940: s-tag +5, morning

Like the refugee choked streets of London, the British war cabinet is paralysed. A former Lord of the Admiralty, the now Prime Minister Winston Churchill, backed by his Deputy Prime Minister Atlee, argues that the intervention of the navy has meant the German invasion is close to collapse due to lack of supplies and reinforcements. But Conservatives Lord Halifax and the Lord Council Neville Chamberlain argue that with an estimated 150,000 German troops ashore in England (the actual number is closer to 90,000), naval successes are irrelevant. Canterbury is in the hands of German forces, Dover could fall any moment, and the RAF has lost or been forced to abandon key 11 Group airfields in the South East - Hawkinge, Lympne and Manston.

The Prime Minister says that under no conditions would he contemplate any course except fighting to the finish, "Even should every gentleman in Whitehall be required to take up arms and paint the bridges of the Thames in their own blood!". Churchill cuts the meeting short, and announces he will discuss the issues with the 25 ministers of his Outer Cabinet.

Halifax by this point is incensed. He sees the opportunity to sue for peace slipping away. He informs Chamberlain that he wishes to open a dialogue with Germany, and if satisfied that matters vital to the independence of Britain are unaffected, communicate to Germany Britain would be prepared to discuss terms. Unknown to Churchill, Halifax the previous evening had sent an emissary to the Swiss Ambassador, requesting he approach the German government to 'gain an understanding of their reaction should Britain offer Germany terms for a cessation of hostilities'.

Emboldened by his approach, Hitler orders Reichmarschall Goering to redouble attacks on London, and on British forces on the Western bank of the River Stour at Canterbury. The 16th Army is ordered to shorten its Western front and move forces north to try to lift the encirclement of XXXXI Army Corps at Denton. Hitler says to Goering and Army Group A commander Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt, "Give me Canterbury for two more days, and I will give you England!"

At Canterbury

The troops of the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers and 7th Armoured tank regiment had met Panzers before. And as they watched through their glasses, the troops of the 10th Panzer and Leibstandarte SS prepare their defensive positions, it was with a particular and personal hatred.

In the mess at the Fusiliers staff quarters at Warwick, was a plaque dedicated to the troops and officers of the 2nd Battalion, executed by the SS after being taken prisoner during the battle of Arras in France. Provoked by reports that the British had executed German officers, the prisioners had been stripped and herded into a milking shed. The SS troops threw in grenades and opened fire with machine guns, leaving the wounded to die. The survivors of the massacre had been taken prisoner a few days later by the regular German army, and news of the atrocity had found its way back to England. The commander of the Fusiliers, Major General R C Macdonald, had personally requested his troops be moved ino the line, when it was learned that it was the SS which had penetrated to Canterbury.

The 7th Armoured also had bitter experience against the SS tanks. At the Battle of Arras it had been the 7th Armoured, together with the 4th, which threw back Rommel's troops in a counterattack that had halted the German advance on Dunkirk. Only the arrival of the SS tanks, and the deployment of Flak 88 guns by Rommel as anti tank weapons, had stopped the British from breaking the German advance entirely. Instead, they had suffered the ignominy of being rescued by French armour from the 3rd Light Mechanised Division.

It was not with impassionate eyes they surveyed the German positions either.

0730 GMT North of River Stour

The British were preparing a simultaneous push on Canterbury from the North of the Stour to take the German positions on the island before they could be better fortified, and from the South and East through the city center to displace the troops at the train station and Cathedral. Armour and towed AT guns were being moved into the line.

However the German commander at Canterbury, SS-Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Mohnke, did not intend to allow the British the luxury of a set piece attack. In the pre-dawn hours, he had moved a company of Stugs from the SS and Panzer IIIs and Pumas of the 10th Panzer, over a German held bridge to the north bank of the Stour for a spoiling attack. They moved into cover and shut down their engines to conserve fuel. And waited.



The first inkling the troops of the Fusiliers and 7th Armoured received of the attack was the throaty growl of diesel engines starting in the early morning silence. When informed by a runner that German tanks had been heard in front of the line, the Fusiliers intelligence officer had assumed they were south of the river and being moved to hull down defensive positions. He sent a communique to staff HQ: "German armour repositioning on Stour south bank."

At 0730, with the sun in the East directly behind them, the German panzers broke from cover and charged the British lines. On the right flank, the faster Panzer IIIs and Pumas sped up the hill toward British troops running frantically for their AT guns.



While on the left flank, where scouts had indicated the 7th Armoured had brought up a company of Valentine tanks, the SS Stugs crept forward like a swarm of armoured cockroaches.



At a distance of less than 500 yards, battle was joined, with the British 2 lb AT guns barely able to dent the heavy armour of the Panzers.



In Blitzkrieg fashion, the fighter bombers of Erpro 210 arrived overhead with deadly precision as the attack got underway...



Adding the scream of their engines, the rattle of their cannon fire, and the crump of their bombs to the general mayhem.




But it was the Pumas that caused the first significant damage, their speed and agility allowing them to get right up amongst the British lines and attack AT guns from their flanks before British infantry with AP charges were able to disable them.



The Panzer IIIs had to stop to fire, and the concentrated efforts of several of the Fusiliers AT guns, combined with a handful of hastily brought up Cruisers from the 7th Armoured, began to slow the German onrush.





The lines were in chaos, as one lucky Panzer shell hit an ammunition cache, blowing a hole in the British defences through which the Stugs were able to flood.




It seemed now that little could stop the SS tanks overrunning the 7th Armoured staff headquarters in the village above the Stour. But they had still not found the company of Valentines their scouts had assured them were held in reserve on this flank, and their advance was more cautious than it might have been as a result.



Their low profile and heavy 50mm frontal armour made them almost impossible to stop with normal British AT and tank calibre rounds, but they feared a flank or rear attack, where a lucky round could disable a track, penetrate side armour, or knock out the engine. But then the Stug commander spotted Valentine tanks in the line directly in front of him. He counted three. This must be the feared British armoured reserve! He confidently ordered his spearhead forward.



On the right flank, the British began to consolidate their line, and the Panzer IIIs were forced to stop and seek cover in declines, as more Cruisers joined the line.




But cover was hard to find, and the combined defensive fire of tank and AT guns began to take a toll on the German attack.



On the left flank, the British 7th Armoured finally mobilised its reserve company of Valentines. It wasn't strategic planning that had held them back, but the mere fact their crews were billetted in front line tents which had come under heavy fire in the first minutes of the attack. Precious time had been lost assembling and doubling through the village under heavy fire to reach their machines.

To call it a company too, was a glorification. It comprised a paltry 4 Valentines, but they swung into action without hesitation, emerging from their camouflaged positions behind the village in loose formation and at breakneck speed.




The scene that met the tank commander was one of horror. Stug fire was raking the British front line from a range of less than 200 feet! Most of the Fuslier's AT guns on this part of the line had been destroyed, and only two stationary Valentines sheltering behind the burning hulks of their comrades, were still returning fire.



But this meant the Stug's flanks were fully exposed. The Valentines charged forward.



They swung down hill, then spun on their tracks and caught the Stugs on their left rear quarter. They knew from the experience of fighting the Stugs at Arras, that they needed to concentrate their fire to have any effect, and the commander calmly called the targets, sending 8 lbs of HE downrange at a single German tank with every salvo.



From that moment, the Stug's doom was assured. If they spun to face the flanking threat, they exposed themselves to a broadside from the Valentines in the British front line. Within minutes, several were brewing up.



The German attack had been halted. The surviving Panzers backed away firing, returning to their positions across the Stour.



But it had succeeded in its aim. The planned British attack on the Stour island positions was delayed, while the British regrouped and attended to the damage and wounded.

Incorrectly, the British revised upward their estimate of the strength of the German force now quartered in Canterbury to the equivalent of two battalions, where it was in fact, little more than a half that size.

Mohnke had bought Hitler some of the precious time he had sought.


**************

These AARs and screenies are taken from the Sealion Mission Pack, Luftwaffe campaign, available for free download here:

http://bobgamehub.blogspot.com/p/cliffs-of-dover-missions.html

**************

Well done.

Either I'm witnessing one of the few instances where Seelöwe yields a german victory in the end (not a military one though) or you've got something up your sleeve for the Tommys (Churchill going Terminator on Jerry?).

Wow, just wow.

Sept 27, afternoon: Condor Legion

RAF Fighter command has now been reduced to 434 aircraft, with eight 11 Group squadrons now non-operational due to fatigue and losses. However in the combat of early part of the day, Luftwaffe Luftflotte 2 and 3 lost 43 aircraft, and Reichmarschall Goering has been advised that the Luftwaffe is no longer able to mount a credible threat to Royal Navy operations in the Channel, nor maintain air supremacy over the invasion beach-head. Lehrgeschwader 2 and Erpro 210, based at Hawkinge in England, have been reduced to just 13 Bf109s and 8 Bf110s in total, but have been denied permission to withdraw to France. Fitters have placed damaged and fake airframes around the airfield to deceive British recon into believing the airfield is still operating at full strength.

Encouraged by the support of his Outer Cabinet, and the success in throwing back the German counterstroke by the Fusiliers and 7th Armoured, Churchill broadcasts on the BBC the speech that will become known as his 'Last Dawn' speech.

"...Herr Hitler claims that the German flag is flying over Canterbury and suggests we capitulate! To Herr Hitler I say, there is only one set of terms we will discuss with him. And that is the final, irrevocable, and unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Until the day arrives that he is willing to discuss those terms, we remain at war. To the German troops in Canterbury and Folkestone I say this. You are surrounded on all sides, whether by sea, by land or by air. Your ships can no longer supply you. Your generals have deserted you. You have until sunset tonight to lay down your arms. For if you do not, the sunrise you look upon tomorrow will be your last dawn."

The British PM orders ground forces to hold their positions around Canterbury and Denton in preparation for a full scale attack on the German strongholds in the morning. Bomber Command and the Royal Artillery Regiments are to 'destroy utterly, the enemy's will to resist'.

Hitler still holds onto a hope that the reports he has received of dissent in the War Cabinet will bear fruit. He orders supplies of ammunition and food dropped to the 10th Panzer and Leibstandarte SS in Canterbury. Nevertheless, Admiral Raeder directs his staff to draw up plans to evacuate the 16th Army Corps from Folkestone by night. The evacuation is planned for the night of 29 September, two days hence.

111 Squadron, combat patrol, Canterbury

P/O W.G.G. Duncan-Smith got his fighter pilot wings in Sept 1940. He had come a long way from Madras, India, the son of an officer in the Indian civil service. In Scotland he'd joined his school's OTC, then returned to India in 1933, but in 1936 returned to the UK to join the RAF.

Today he was flying as wingman to Flt Lt Ken Lee, a Battle of Britain veteran and ace with 7 kills to his record.



Their objective was to clear the skies over Canterbury to allow simultaneous raids by Bomber Command to hit German positions in the city. 64, 54 and 92 Squadrons were also en route. It was shaping up to be a serious show.





Over the Channel

Meanwhile, mid-Channel, Bf110Cs of ZG2 are escorting an air train of FW200 Condor heavy transports into the Folkestone-Canterbury corridor. Bf109s of JG26 and LG2 are expected to sweep the corridor clear, while ZG2 stays with the transports, protecting them and their vital cargo - ammunition for the tanks and armoured cars of the 10th Panzer and Leibstandarte SS.



Of the ten FWs which took off, one has already turned back with 'engine problems' - more likely a pilot with Kanalkrankheit (Channel Sickness), brought on by the thought of flying through hell with 2 tonnes of HE and AP tank rounds in parachute containers in the bomb bay.



Denton

The LG2 pilot wipes his weary face, and continues to scan the sky. Below he can see the fires of earlier shelling and bombing around the German positions at Denton, and feels pride at the strength and determination of the German troops below not to succumb.



Suddenly to port he sees the unmistakeable shape of RAF bombers, probably Wellingtons. By their heading, they are bound for the Denton pocket.



It takes all his willpower to leave them alone, but they are not his targets today. This is no frie jagd. His flight's job is to hunt down RAF fighters and drive them away so the incoming air train can get through. He banks away from the bombers and continues his patrol south. God help the men below.

The first of the Wellington squadrons reaches the bomb release point and its deadly cargo falls away.



The crew note with satisfaction as their bombs land slap across the top of the hillside where the troops have chosen to dig deep holes in the open field atop the hill, rather than risk being shredded by flying splintered trees and stones in the midst of the woods.




LG2 rendezvous now with the incoming transport aircraft, and just in time, as a flight of Hurricanes appears from both below




and above



The tactic, concocted by the British ace, Lee, is intended to split the escorting 110s and 109s and draw them down and away from the transports. He knows any fighter pilot with a survival instinct will choose to attack a target below him, rather than a target above, so that he has an energy advantage.

Sure enough, the LG2 and ZG2 pilots go after the low element.



The Hurricanes try to gain more height, but the German fighters have the speed advantage



Lee sends two of his four Hurricanes to the aid of the embattled 111 Sq pilots he used as bait, while he gets into position to attack the Condors. Stuck to Lee's wing as they climb even higher above the melee, Duncan-Smith sees the cold despatch of one of his fellow pilots by a workmanlike German flyer who catches the Hurricane hanging at the stop of stall climb.




The cannon rounds of his MGFF sawing the Hurricane's wing off at the root...



Duncan-Smith feels his left leg on the rudder pedal begin to tremble uncontrollably. His big hulking Hurricane seems suddenly so fragile.

Over Canterbury

The second wave of Wellingtons goes in now, this time aiming for the troops fortifying their position on the island in the Stour west of the city itself.



They have chosen the island deliberately, knowing that if they can hold the only two bridges onto and off the island, any attack the British attempt has to come by fording the River Stour, a natural barrier more valuable than the deepest tank trap. But communication with their troops at the train station and cathedral is sporadic, and at risk of being cut off. About half of the available fuel and ammunition supplies have been moved to the island, Hauptsturmführer Mohnke is reluctant to commit everything to the island gambit, and directs his troops to move as much food, fuel and ammunition as they can into the Cathedral itself, believing this is the last thing the British will bomb.

Above him, the Wellingtons release their bombs. High altitude bombing is never precise, but the Wellingtons have orders not to hit the city itself, where thousands of civilians are still cowering in their cellars or trying to flee the fighting.

The first of the squadron's bombs fall wide and right, on the west bank of the Stour, but thankfully short of the town.



But the main salvo lands square on the island, and a huge ball of fire rises immediately from the epicenter.






The toll among the troops in their dugouts and trenches is minimal. The loss of fuel and vehicles however...

Near Denton

"Spitfires coming in," Lee observes over the R/T, "Looks like 64 Squadron, we'll let them have the first crack at the Condors. Stay with me, and keep your eyes open back there!"

His decoy ploy has drawn the enemy fighters away, leaving himself, Duncan-Smith and some Johnny Come Latelies from 64 Sq to take on the Condors.




The flight of Spitfires makes a slashing front quarter attack, and the Condors seem to panic. The break untidily.




A short burst from one of the Spitfires is enough to send the leading Condor up in a ball of flame.



"My goodness," Lee remarks quietly, "What do you have on board those things Jerry?"

The Spitfires hit again, and again, as the Condors nerve breaks, and they turn away from Canterbury and put their noses down to head for France







One of the Spitfires in particular seems determined to get close for his attack. His Brownings scissor into the Condor ahead of him, and it too explodes violently



However the wing of the Condor is blown back in its slipstream, and straight at the Spitfire!




It misses his machine by bare inches...



The Spitfire flight leader, no doubt shaken, if not singed, pulls away and calls his machines to regroup.



"111 Squadron Red flight, this is 64 Squadron Greyhound flight, there are still three of the blighters left...would you like to have the ball?"

"Very good Greyhound, we'll have a bowl," Lee replies, then to Duncan-Smith, "Turning to attack now," he says, "Stick tight Smithy."




They have a few thousand feet of altitude over the Condors, and are already flying at full throttle. Duncan-Smith expects Lee to chop his throttle back for a measured merge with the target, but he continues flying flat out. Nervously, Duncan-Smith watches his airspeed indicator climb, watching the needle go through 220, then 260 mph...



...then 280, 300, 320...

As they close on the Condors, they are close to their maximum speed of 340 mph. Holding tight to the stick of his shaking machine, he tries to remember at what speed the wings will rip off.



But Lee makes a raking pass at the lead Condor and pulls up sharply, and Duncan-Smith stays with him



It seems to fly on unperturbed, so they settle in behind the tail end charlie, and Lee gives it a long burst. It starts smoking and drops away




Without faltering, Lee continues, ignoring the return fire, closing now on the next machine in line, and hammering it too with his MGs



Debris flies back from the Condor, a piece of fuselage, a hatch door...



They slam into the Hurricane, but Lee keeps control of his machine, and the Condor banks away right, both wings blazing




Lee falls back now, and Duncan-Smith forms on his wing, watching as he checks his controls and instruments carefully.

"It's no use Red 2, I think I've chewed up my prop, I can feel she isn't pulling enough sky," Lee says resignedly, "I'll have to make for Lympne. Finish off that last one, will you? The sky is clear of Jerry."

"Yes, Sir!" Duncan-Smith says, nervously, and across the crackling wireless, Lee appears to hear his fear.

"Get some height boy, then drop on him like a hound of hell," Lee says, "Just don't linger in front of him - that 20mm nose cannon has a nasty sting."

"Sir."

Duncan-Smith doesn't wait for any more advice. Fighting down the bile in his throat, he pulls his Hurricane up and over, back toward the last Condor.




At 250 feet he lets fly with a long hosepipe burst. With satisfaction he sees the left tailplane fall away and ducks underneath the behemoth at the last second




He can see it is mortally wounded. In the cockpit of the beast, he sees a frightened face, a young man his own age, no more, staring grimly up at him.



As he drops back behind the Condor for the kill, a strange feeling comes over him. He has trained 4 years for this kill, and now that it is his, he cannot make it.



He pulls up alongside the Condor, and watches it intently



Below and behind them is the invasion beach head. Where hundreds, no, thousands have died in the long days since the landing. Anger rises in him at the thought, but it isn't enough. Not for today anyway...



He banks away, leaving the Condor crew to focus on getting their crippled machine back to France.



Then he notices his nausea is gone, his leg no longer trembles...



He realises he has crossed the Styx now, and that this one small act of mercy will be his last.

(P/O "Smithy" Duncan-Smith went on to become Group Captain Wilfrid George Gerald Duncan Smith, DSO and Bar, DFC and 2 Bars, and finished the war with a total of 17 kills.)


**************

These AARs and screenies are taken from the Sealion Mission Pack, Luftwaffe campaign, available for free download here:

http://bobgamehub.blogspot.com/p/cliffs-of-dover-missions.html

**************

awesome stuff

Whoa, read it holding my breath.
My oh my...

My hat is off to you.

Methinks the German holiday in England is about to end.

Another little historical side note that may be of value...



Edward VIII (Edward Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; later The Duke of Windsor; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.

Edward became king when his father died in early 1936. Only months into his reign, he caused a constitutional crisis by proposing marriage to the American socialite Wallis Simpson, who had divorced her first husband and was seeking a divorce from her second. Rather than end his relationship with Simpson, Edward abdicated. He was succeeded by his younger brother Albert, who chose the regnal name George VI. With a reign of 326 days, Edward was one of the shortest-reigning monarchs in British and Commonwealth history. He was never crowned.

After his abdication, he was given the title Duke of Windsor. He married Simpson in France on 3 June 1937, after her second divorce became final. Later that year, the couple toured Germany and met with Adolf Hitler. American intelligence reported during the war that Wallis Simpson had previously had a relationship with the then German ambassador to the UK, Joachim von Ribbentropp, and had maintained contact with him through intermediaries even after the outbreak of war between Britain and Germany. After private accusations that he held Nazi sympathies, Edward was assigned to the Bahamas as the islands' Governor.

And that's all I'm sayin'

H

S-tag +5, Sept 27, evening: Flight of The Monarch

At 1300 hours GMT German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentropp receives an urgent radio message from Oberbefehlshaber Der Luftwaffe in Berlin. Just after dawn, a British Avro Anson aircraft evaded anti aircraft defenses and landed at the Hawkinge field. On board was a man claiming to be the Duke of Windsor, the former British King, Edward VIII. With him was a woman purporting to be the Duchess of Windsor, Mrs Wallis Simpson. They claim to bear letters discussing terms of an armistice on behalf of 'sensible men of high rank' in the British Government.

Von Ribbentropp's own sources indicate the approach may be coming on behalf of the Halifax faction inside the War Council. He orders that LG2 fighters be allocated to escort the Anson immediately to France, where he will meet with the Duke at Marck Calais airfield. Von Ribbentropp calls the Fuhrer immediately, alerting him to the possibility of division within the British War Cabinet and the unexpected approach by the Duke. Hitler and von Ribbentropp had previously discussed installing Edward as King again, should the invasion succeed, but they never dreamed the Duke would approach them first.

Hitler immediately convenes a meeting of his High Command. Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt is ordered to direct his troops in Canterbury and Folkestone to 'hold for 48 more hours'. The troops beseiged in Denton are ordered to break out and reinforce the 10th Panzer and Leibstandarte SS in Canterbury, even though all present know that without armour and resupply, this will not be possible.

A decision is also made to deploy the 22nd Air Landing Infantry Division under Generalleutnant Hans Graf von Sponeck. The 22nd had been held back, after heavy losses sustained in battle in the Netherlands, but three Infanterie-Regiments are available, the 16th, 47th and 65th, and can be dropped within the next 24-36 hours with light weapons. Hitler orders them to be equipped in the uniforms of the 10th Panzer and dropped at night near the city of Maidstone, halfway between Canterbury and London. They are to attack Maidstone the following day and create the impression that German troops are advancing even closer to the capital. Joseph Goebbels, the minister of Propaganda, wins agreement that the target of the operation be to capture the BBC broadcasting station at Maidstone and use it to transmit German language broadcasts and English language news into London.

Admiral Raeder is the only voice of reason at the conference. He points out that his Kriegsmarine has been reduced to a coastal protection force. German forces in England are either beseiged at Denton and Canterbury, or falling back to the invasion beachhead at Folkestone. They can no longer be resupplied by sea, and air resupply is both high risk, and unreliable. Though Goering dismissses his assessment, Raeder points out that the Luftwaffe can no longer secure daytime air supremacy over even the limited airspace over the landing zone, as evidenced by the total decimation of the Condor resupply operation the previous day. The only option for resupplying German troops now is by inaccurate night-time drops. The British political situation is interesting, but six months of terror bombing had not served to break the British will, and he argues, the true military situation must be obvious to British high command, giving them no reason whatever to consider peace terms, even with a handful of paratroops suddenly appearing at Maidstone.

He advises Hitler of his preparations to rescue troops from Folkestone using all available merchant and fishing craft. His staff have calculated they can ferry 20,000 troops per night back to France under cover of darkness, and the weather for the next three nights offers ideal cloudy conditions. Estimated losses due to Royal Navy action would be at worst 5,000 men per night, which Raeder deems acceptable. Given two nights of good conditions, the operation could rescue most of the 40,000 men trapped in Folkestone.

Hitler is enraged that preparations for an evacuation have been initiated without his express order. Raeder is removed from his command, and the evacuation plans are cancelled.

"We are on the brink of victory!" Hitler rages at his generals, "Is there anyone else who wishes to discuss defeat??"

No one replies.


At Hawkinge Luftwaffe field

It was a long wait, but orders have finally arrived concerning the Duke. After a hastily convened staff meeting, it is decided a light escort will be the safest protection for the Anson and its precious cargo. Anything more than a pair of 109s might attract undue attention from the RAF. A second patrol from JG26 will meet the Anson and the LG2 109s off Calais and escort them in.

There is a brief dispute about whether it will be wiser to put the Duke in the back seat of a Bf110, which is 150 mph faster than the Anson, but it is agreed the greatest danger to the Anson is the first ten minutes of flight, as it exits British airspace, and using a British aircraft makes it less likely the RAF will attack it.

The Duke is a strange bird, effeminate but haughty, and as he farewells his wife, Wallis Simpson, for whom he abdicated the throne, he refers to her in curious terms, "Don't worry Mumsie, I'll be back soon enough," he says. "I shall give your regards to Joachim."

The 109s take off first.



And only when they are on station over the airfield and report the sky is clear, does the Anson poke its nose out of the hangar in which it is hidden, and taxi out to takeoff.





The 109s double back to meet it, while in the background, Royal Navy ships lie off Folkestone once more, pounding the port and beach head.



O'Gorman's wood, 500 yards North of Hawkinge

The two OSS officers, one a spotter, the other a radio operator, have used the last two hours getting into a position where they can observe and report on activity at the Hawkinge airfield from the cover of dense undergrowth. As the heat of the morning builds, they try to ignore the itching and the prickling of their rough camo suits.

They have been sent in to confirm a very unusual report.

A source within the German high command in Berlin has reported that a British defector, 'of high rank' was flown into Hawkinge in broad daylight this afternoon, and is to be smuggled out again as a matter of some urgency. That is all the information they have.

Then the spotter lifts his glasses and clucks his tongue, "Well well well, that's something you don't see every day Johnny."

"What is that Sir," asks the R/T man.

"A British Anson taxiing around as cheeky as you please on a Luftwaffe airfield," he remarks, "I think our man is about to do a bunk Johhny, radio it in would you? Quick smart!"

Over the Channel, West Dover

The day has left a poor taste in the mouth of the Australian Sunderland crew from 10 Squadron, patrolling fruitlessly up and down the Channel off Le Havre looking for German u-boats that either heard them coming and slipped beneath the waves, or simply weren't there. Now they are bound for home at Plymouth and well deserved sleep.

The radio message is a welcome diversion, "This is Plymouth ground control to Porpoise 2, I have a job for you Porpoise."

The commander lifts his R/T to his mouth, "Do tell Plymouth."

"Keep your eyes open for an Anson exiting Dover area at around 500 feet Porpoise, we need a confirmed sighting, and a bearing on it, if you please."



It's a strange request, but he relays it to the crew and agonising minutes go by until the nose gunner shouts, "I have an Anson beetling along under us Sir! Looks like he is heading S-SE, on a bearing for...Calais, I'd say."



Fixated as they are on the Anson below them, the Sunderlands do not see the escort of 109s above.



The 109s do however see the Sunderlands. And ignore them. Their only mission is to get the Anson to France.

At Manston

News of the Anson works its way from Coastal Command at Plymouth to the OSS and thence to Fighter Command with deadly efficiency, indicating that someone higher up knows who the Anson's passenger might be, and has put the entire air defence apparatus on alert. Maps and aircraft plots are hastily consulted and two Spitfires at Manston prove to be the only fighters with the speed and enough fuel to possibly catch the fleeing twin engine light aircraft. They scramble immediately, one with only half a tank of fuel, the other three quarters full.



Both pilots pale, at the orders they have received, and at their chances of making it back from this mission.




15 minutes later

The Anson and its escort is now within sight of Calais, but so are the Spitfires. They have no trouble locating the action - the air over Calais is humming with circling fighters, but only one flight appears to be on an approach for Calais, and the twin engined Anson is easy to spot.

They speed after the Anson, ignoring the 109s. It is a race, to the death.

The escorts from LG2 spin on a wing and drop down on the sudden threat.




But the Spits have only one goal in mind. The Anson.

One of the Spits gets within range, engine screaming, throttle through the gate, 109s hard on its tail.



Neck craned to look over his shoulder, he sees a 109 lining him up. The Anson is still small in his sights.

He fires.



But so does the turret gunner of the Anson, and the .303s pepper the Spitfire, sending dirty smoke spewing from a radiator. The Spit is forced to break off.



And the 109s are on him like flies on a dead horse. 20mm rounds slam into his fuselage and wings.



His machine is doomed. It was a hopeless bloody mission anyway, he reflects as he leaps into space.



But his Spit staggers through the air without him, climbing in a dead spiral that can only have one end.



He looks frantically about him, he can only hope his wingman...NO!!



The other Spit dissolves in a ball of flame. He watches the carcass spear into the port below.



Calais

The victorious pilots of LG2 turn back for England, and hand off the Anson to JG26.



The passenger is the Anson is shaking. He tells himself it is the cold air rushing through the bullet holes in the side of the Anson in front of him. But he is glad when the pilot announces to him in measured German, that they are beginning their approach to Calais Marck.




British Fighter Command has one more desperate die to throw.

At the same time as the two Spitfires were scrambled from St Omer, two obsolete Blenheim 1s on an intruder mission to attack St Omer were diverted to Calais. It was the longest of long shots. There was no possibility to brief them without giving away the intelligence obtained by the OSS, so they could only be redirected to attack Calais, without knowing why.

And Fighter Command had no way of knowing if the Anson would even land at Calais, let alone when.



But chance is a fine thing.

As the Anson begins its final approach, the Blenheims are closing on Calais Marck from the West.



To the fighters of JG26 and flak crews on the ground, they are near invisible, the bright orb of the sun obscuring them completely.



However each carries only two 500lb bombs. Their target is the airfield, they were not briefed to aim for any of the aircraft there in particular. They center their sights on the grass landing strips, and release...




The first of the bombs detonates 500ft from the taxiing Anson.



But the last three send up a geyser of flame and a pressure wave that picks up everything in its path and seems to throw it straight at the Anson.



An empty fuel drum flies horizontally across the field and with a terrifying 'whang' strikes the starboard rotor, and the engine begins to clatter before the pilot hurriedly shuts it down.



Although it shakes like a leaf on a storm tossed tree, the Anson keeps its feet.

Deciding he has had had more than enough excitement for one day, the Luftwaffe pilot brings the small British machine to a stop at the end of the landing field. He looks over his shoulder at his passenger, who gives him a ridiculous grin and makes the 'V for Victory' symbol that the British Prime Minister has become famous for.

The Luftwaffe pilot just shakes his head, and waits for the approaching convoy of vehicles to take the fool away.


**************

These AARs and screenies are taken from the Sealion Mission Pack, Luftwaffe campaign, available for free download here:

http://bobgamehub.blogspot.com/p/cliffs-of-dover-missions.html

**************

S-tag +6: Sept 28, morning, 'Not my day to die.'

After constant overnight artillery and aerial bombardment, British ground forces advance in strength on encircled German positions at Denton and Canterbury. At Denton, the British 45th infantry division meets light resistance, but most of the remaining troops of the German XXXXI Army Corps and VII Army Corps are out of ammunition, and many are wounded. At 1100, a message is received at British VII Corps HQ Waltham, from Oberst Wilhelm-Hunold von Stockhausen, commanding officer of the Grossdeutchland Infantry Regiment, indicating that they will lay down their arms and surrender at 1600 hours.

At Canterbury the situation is altogether different.

German troops around the train station at Canterbury, and on islands in the River Stour, are dug in, and still relatively well supplied thanks to a daring night time German air resupply drop, and captured British weapons and stores. An early morning attack by the British 1st Armoured reserve on German positions at the train station was repulsed, as was an attempt by the 2nd Canadian Division to land troops on the northern flank of the German positions at Vauxhall Lakes.

At 1115, German radio broadcasts a speech from Paris that shocks Britain to its core.

It is not a powerful oration. The speaker, though calm, seems almost to be pleading. And the message is possibly all the more chilling because of that.

"People of my beloved Britain, my name is Edward, Duke of Windsor. I am speaking to you from Paris, France.

You all know the reasons which impelled me to renounce the throne. But I want you to understand that in so doing I never lost my love for the country and the people of Great Britain. No country, and no people, are dearer to my heart.

So you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible through these last dark days, to watch the actions of the Government of Prime Minister Churchill, without the deepest and most wrenching dismay.

I want you to know that I have exhausted every possible avenue within my power, to persuade Mr Churchill to make peace with Germany and thereby to preserve the prosperity and integrity of our realm, and enable Britain to take its rightful place in the new Europe.

Germany is not our natural enemy. I am the proof of that, as I speak to you from Paris, where I have been greeted cordially, and walk about this great city as a free man.

I wish every Englishman to enjoy that privelege.

Therefore I call on Prime Minister Churchill, and his Government, to seek immediately an honourable end to this war.

I can assure you, Germany will listen."

Dover

Around Dover German troops are in retreat toward Folkestone. Royal Navy ships lay off the coast, bombarding the port. In the West the lines held by the German XIII Army Division and 7th Flieger Corps have been broken by the arrival of the 18th Brigade of the 2nd Australian AIF Division, transported from Salisbury Plain three days earlier where they had been training for combat in North Africa. The Australians have retaken Hythe and are within range of Hawkinge airfield. In the East the 8th Panzer has been driven back from Dover, by the British 29th Infantry Division and 1st Tank. In the north of the German Folkestone pocket, the 29th infantry division commanded by Generalmajor Walter von Boltenstem has been ordered to hold against a strong attack by the British 45th Infantry Division, in order to allow air operations at Hawkinge to continue for as long as possible, while the German High Command prepares to negotiate terms with the British peace faction.


At Hawkinge

Troops of the Australian 2nd AIF are advancing on Hawkinge. LG2 has been reduced to just a handful of serviceable aircraft, and as the morning patrol takes off, a heavy mortar barrage marches across the hangars and repair shops.





Folkestone

When Erpro 210 landed at Hawkinge it was able to field 36 Bf110C7s and 17 Bf 109E3 and E4Bs. It is now down to just 6 flyable Bf110s and 11 Bf109s. All AP bombs have been expended and just a few HE bombs remain with which to conduct attacks on ground targets. Enemy troops are closing on Hawkinge and Royal Navy destroyers lay off the coast, bombarding German positions in the port. Erpro 210 conducts a successful raid on the destroyers, disabling one sufficiently that it can no longer steer. Ju88s are called up to finish the destroyer off.





Over Canterbury

Staffelkapitän Herbert "Ihle" Ihlefeld had now become the highest scoring ace of LG2, with 24 kills since he began fighting in Poland. It gives him no satisfaction however, because other, better pilots could have outscored him by now.

If they were not dead.

Like the pilot who got caught in the artillery barrage as they were taking off. He had a jammed throttle, was a minute later than the others in getting airborne. The first shells came down as Ihle was retracting his wheels, and they caught his tardy rotte leader just inches off the ground. Ihle saw his machine fold into two and fall like a shot partridge. That man had been an ace as well, with 6 kills to his credit.

As he takes his battle weary flight up over Canterbury yet again, he ponders that fact.



What is it that separates a dead ace, from a living one? Both have sharp reflexes, a good eye, excellent flying skills. In fact, he knew many men, dead now, who were better fighter pilots than he. Pure luck then?

He did not believe in luck. There were no rabbits feet or sweetheart lockets in his cockpit. Fate? He did not believe in fate either. "Ihle" believed in one thing - he was terrified of dying, and that kept him alive.

For every dogfight in which he came home with victories, there were two in which he chose not to fight. He always picked his fights carefully. He calculated his chances. He attacked when he had height, the element of surprise, overwhelming numbers on his side.

He ran when he was outnumbered.

But Seelowe. Damn it. Seelowe. This invasion and the stubborn refusal of Reichsmarchall Goering to take LG2 out of the line, even though it had been depleted beyond recognition... Seelowe was trying to kill him.

That was the thought that crossed his mind as he saw British bombers once again appearing on the horizon. He scanned for an escort, but could see none. And perhaps for good reason.



The more he counted the more bombers appeared out of the morning haze. He shook his head. Did the RAF really have such numbers at its disposal? It rivalled some of the German raids of the earlier Battle of Britain. There must be a hundred aircraft headed his way!




And what did he have to put against them? Four 109s!



To stand against this armada was insanity. It was pointless. If each of his men could bring down 2 bombers, there would still be 90 raining bombs on German positions below.

It was suicidal.

"Ach. What the hell," he thought. "We all die."

He waved to his number two and drove straight at the leading wave of bombers, firing as they came. At the last minute he pulled up, rolled over on his back, and let gravity pull the nose of the Emil down toward the enemy again.



Tracer from dozens of guns crossed the sky in front and behind him as he opened fire.



We all die...

His target started to flame, and he pulled up again, sharply.





He watched, satisfied, as the Wellington fell away, but his high roll brought him into the sights of another dozen guns, and this time, they found their mark.



MG rounds thudded into his cowling. He dropped the nose, prepared to bunt away, but as the machine came level, the engine gave a terrifying BANG and the cowling flew away!



His engine coughed, the prop stopped, then it coughed again and sputtered back to life, but it was surging badly and he could smell glycol.

He rolled away from under the guns of the Wellingtons.



He quickly weighed his options. He had enough power to keep his machine in a shallow glide, but no more. He could put down somewhere, but only Canterbury itself, and a small part of it at that, was in German hands. Denton was too far. Hawkinge, no chance.

It was Canterbury, or a prison camp. He pointed the nose of the 109 at the island in the Stour.



How many times had he flown above it, pitying the men down there under a canopy of artillery and bombs. It had never occured to him he might one day be one of them.

As he closed he could see the island itself was out of the question. It was a shattered burning mound dotted with wrecked vehicles and criss crossed with trenches and pits. To the East though...a field...close to German lines...

He dropped his wheels.



The field was too short. He realised that as he dropped his Emil in over the treeline.



But there was nowhere else for him to go. He should have landed wheels up, used the drag of his fuselage to pull him up quickly. Oh well, luckily the undercarriage of the Emil was a fragile contraption.



He chopped the throttle, pulled back on his stick to stall his machine. His leading edge slats slammed open, and the 109 dropped like a bag of shot.



Straight at the buildings and trees at the end of the field. The gear ripped away. This was the moment of greatest danger, when the smallest dip in the ground could send his machine somersaulting onto its back at 50 mph.



But the air intake dug into the dirt and he pitched forward against the gunsight, bloodying his forehead.





He scraped to a stop about five meters from the nearest tree. And about fifty meters away from surprised German troops, standing at a gullaschkanon about to be dealt their breakfast amid the debris of the last raid.



"We all die Ihle," he muttered, "But not me, not today."

As he climbed from the cockpit of his shattered Emil, the first bombs from the Wellingtons began to fall.

(Herbert Ihlefeld died at the age of 81, in Germany, in 1995. By the end of the war, he had been credited with 132 enemy aircraft including 15 four-engined bombers and 26 Spitfires. He survived being shot down no less than eight times during his 1000 combat missions.)


**************

These AARs and screenies are taken from the Sealion Mission Pack, Luftwaffe campaign, available for free download here:

http://bobgamehub.blogspot.com/p/cliffs-of-dover-missions.html

**************

Damn shame my disk is scratched to hell so i can't play anymore. I'll have to buy the download version next time i remember.

I know plenty of people have said they would be using their CoD disks as coffee cup coasters but man, you just and went and did it didn't you!

Yeah and verily, on with the story...



S-tag +6, Sept 28, evening.

Lord Halifax asks to meet with Churchill at his residence Chequers, in Buckinghamshire northwest of London, where he has retreated with his inner council (of which Halifax is no longer a part) to consider events.

Halifax conveys the news to Churchill that he has received from Germany, through Swiss intermediaries, the German terms: an immediate cessation to hostilities in Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa. British troops in North Africa and the Mediterranean to return to pre-war borders, leaving Germany and Italy a free hand in those regions. Axis and British ships to have mutual berthing rights, Axis and British commercial aircraft to having mutual landing rights.

Halifax announces with satisfaction that the Axis powers have accepted that no German troops can be stationed on British soil, and British sovereignty in the Middle East and Asia will not be threatened. Halifax then lays before the British Prime Minister Hitler's grand vision as though it is his own - Britain, Germany and Italy united, against the common threat of Bolshevism.

He says Hitler has given the British 24 hours to respond to the terms.

Churchill has Lord Halifax placed under arrest.

He returns to his study to confer with the Lord Privy Seal, Clement Attlee, and Minister without Portfolio, Arthur Greenwood. Notably absent is former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, whom Churchill believes rightly to have been in league with Halifax.

"We must resolve this situation with alacrity, before news of this shameful move by Halifax becomes public," Churchill concludes. "There is already a note of hysteria in the press over the defection of that damnable Duke!"

He puffs his cigar and paces,"Now, I am assured by Field Marshall Alexander, and General Auchinleck, that we have the means to roll up the German army at Folkestone, and throw them into the sea within days.

However Canterbury...Canterbury is a stickier wicket, and we could be facing a siege of some weeks." The men look grave, aware of what a drawn out battle at Canterbury could mean for both morale, and continued division within the British parliament, not to mention the Royal Family.

"But Charles Portal believes strategic bombing is the answer," Churchill continues, speaking of his air Marshall. "Portal says his 100 bomber raid today has all but obliterated German positions on the Eastern Stour. He says, that his Wellingtons can lay a continuous carpet of bombs on the heads of German troops throughout tonight, and all through tomorrow, that will mean the only Germans to be found in Canterbury two days hence will be the dead, the maimed, or the insane."

"How can they aim at night? It will be just like the Blitz, bombs falling indescrimately," Atlee points out.

"Pathfinders," Churchill tells him. "A new and potent tactic."

Churchill explains that Blenheims of bomber command will approach the target at low level and place slow burning incendiaries on the target area, upon which the medium Wellington bombers will aim, ensuring their accuracy.

"Portal says his men can place their bombs within 100 feet of these sparklers," he says.

"What of the city? If they cannot?" Atlee protests, shocked. "They must be given time to properly evacuate!"

Churchill considers, "How much time is needed?"

Greenwood consults his briefing notes, "The roads north and east are choked with traffic. It will take several days."

Churchill stands, stubs out his cigar, "Sirs, we do not have days. We may not even have hours. I will ask Portal to send in his pathfinders, and his 100 bomber raid, tonight. I told Herr Hitler his troops would not live to see the dawn, and by glory they shall not."

Atlee blanches, and speaks in a low voice, "My goodness. What of the Cathedral?"

"We will pray, Gentlemen, that even God is willing to pay a price to rid England of this evil," is Churchills reply.


110 Squadron Blenheims, 20 miles east of Canterbury, 2300 hours GMT



110 Squadron had been through a bruising war. They had the pride of being able to claim the first airborne bombing attack on German forces, when five of its Blenheims flew from the civil airport at Ipswich to attack German warships near Wilhelmshaven. But losses in the Battle of France had seen them reduced to a training unit, and then experimental tactics unit, limited throughout 1940 to trying out low level bombing tactics and weaponry, and lately, the pathfinder incendiaries.

Their weapon was the TI Bomb, Type H. About 2 feet long by about 2 inches in diameter, it ejected flare pellets sequentially. The type H was filled with alternately coloured pellets (red/yellow or red/green or yellow/green) and illuminated for about 15 minutes in total. They were visible up to 20,000 feet in a clear sky.

But the sky over Canterbury was anything but clear.

"20 miles from target," the bomb aimer announced calmly, "But I can barely see the city, there is a shroud of smoke..."



The crew was used to low cloud, mist, even fog, which could suddenly clear over the target at a moment's notice offering a clear shot, so they stayed on course.

But as they closed, the smoke from burning vehicles, diesel fuel, shattered woods and buildings only became worse.

There was cursing in the forward compartment, then a frustrated voice, "It's no use."

"There are ten squadrons of Wellingtons and Blenheims 15 minutes behind us Johnny," the captain reminded him gently, "Who cannot drop unless we light their way."

"Nothing," the bomb aimer muttered, "I can see sweet bugger all! Wait!"



Suddenly a gap opened.

"There's the city, but I can't see the Cathedral...no, I...where the blazes are we...damnation, it is covered again."

"Very well, we're going around again," the pilot said with patience he certainly didn't feel, "We have time for three passes."

Canterbury civilian airfield

151 Squadron's F/Lt. Richard Stevens had been flying Night Fighter missions against Blitz bombers in his Hurricane mk II, since the Luftwaffe had turned against London at night in early September 1940.

Stevens' first kill came on the night of 15 Sept 1940. At 12.56 am, he took off in his Hurricane from 151 Squadron's forward base at Manston. Half an hour later he received reports of raiders headed towards London. Homing in on the shell bursts from Ack-Ack batteries below, he soon found the slim shape of a Dornier 17. Stevens called 'Tally Ho' and climbed after it, up to 30,000 feet, where he closed to 25 yards and let rip with his guns. The aircraft dived and Stevens followed, giving it another burst. The bomber burst into flame and crashed into a wood near Hornchurch. It was the first confirmed kill by a Night Fighter.

Night Fighting was a solitary trade that suited his reckless temperament. He was not suited to either leading a wingman, or following a flight leader. He took ridiculous risks in the night sky, barreling along at great speed in pursuit of shadows or half glimpsed spectres. More than once he had near misses with aircraft he saw only once, as he flashed over or underneath them, and never saw again.

Tonight, with Manston now a skeleton of a field, he was flying out of Canterbury civil field. Sector control had reported a small raid of Heinkels over Kent on a track toward the East End of London, and he scrambled with relish.



In another branch of the forces, Stevens would certainly have been a sniper. Had even considered that path until he was bitten by his first experience of flight.

As he lifted away from the field and locked his eyes to his instruments, he wet his lips in anticipation. Most of these flights ended in frustration, having never seen the enemy, but they always started with the chance of a kill.

Over Canterbury

"That's it Barrel flight," the lead Blenheim announced, "We are pulling the plug." They had made three harrowing passes over Canterbury with German AAA firing at the sound of their engines, but not once could they locate the Stour, and the German positions in the east of the city. "Biggin Sector control," he said into the R/T, "This is 151 Squadron Barrel flight, we cannot locate the target, repeat, we cannot locate the target. No choice but to call off the raid, Biggin."

"This is Biggin Hill Sector Control, we acknowledge your report Barrel flight, the raid will be cancelled. Better luck next time 151," the controller said, with a human touch.

The Blenheims pulled away.



What happened next would be analysed by historians and military pundits for the next fifty years. It would become the subject of books, and of movies.

And yes, it resulted in one of the most celebrated war crimes trials of the 20th century.

150 Squadron

No.150 Squadron went through two incarnations during the Second World War, starting as a Fairey Battle Squadron, which later converted to the Wellington. At the start of the Second World War No.150 Squadron moved to France as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force. Like the other Battle squadrons in the AASF No.150 suffered heavy loses during the German invasion of France in May 1940, and had to evacuated back to Britain in mid-June.

In July 1940 the squadron began its conversion to the Vickers Wellington, and its training in night bombing.

Squadron leader Peter Liang had joined 150 Sq after France. He was young, at 30 years, for a squadron leader in Bomber Command, but already making his mark, turning around the conversion and training of his unit in record time. He had been second in command for the large daytime raid of the morning, and then named as lead pilot for the night time raid on Canterbury, tonight, because of his expertise in night bombing.

It had taken an hour for the 94 Wellingtons and Blenehims of Operation Bunter to form up north of the Thames Estuary, but now they were crossing the coast, with Canterbury just ten minutes away.



They were approaching the initial point, and he was about to begin his run in checklist, when the radio crackled to life, "150 Squadron Bunter lead, this is Biggin Sector Control, please acknowledge."

"150 Squadron Bunter leader here Biggin," he replied, "We acknowledge."

"Thankyou Bunter leader, you are to turn to 90 degrees and exit the area please Bunter leader, the Operation is cancelled, repeat the Operation is cancelled."

Liang looked ahead, where he could see fires burning on the horizon, almost certainly the incendiaries dropped by the pathfinders. He looked at his copilot incredulously.

"Repeat please Biggin!"

"I repeat Bunter leader, you are to turn to..."

At that moment, a flak burst from an 88mm cannon exploded inches from the belly of the Wellington and it erupted into a ball of blazing vapour.



As it fell, the crew dead instantly, it took the Wellington beside it down as well. The impact spread through the Bunter formation like ripples from a rock in a pond. Pilots already stretched to the limit by night flying in relatively close formation, began falling out of formation. In moments, ten more aircraft had collided.

There were however 82 aircraft still on a heading for Canterbury, and the next day, in fact, for the next 50 years, more than 300 accounts of the next twenty minutes.

Two of the Blenheim squadrons had also heard the message from Biggin Hill aborting the mission, and turned out of formation.

Four Wellington squadrons did the same.

However six Wellington and Blenheim squadrons did not. They mistook the fires burning from earlier raids, and from ground fighting throughout the city, for the flares of the pathfinder unit.

And they dropped their bombs on Canterbury.



In total, 200,000lbs of high explosive fell on the city within the next twenty minutes.

Flt Lt Stevens

Stevens hunt for the German raid had been fruitless. But in the distance he had seen the ripple of falling bombs on Canterbury, and taking it as a sign the German raid had in fact been headed there, and not London, he made a beeline for the city.

As he approached, his heart rose in his mouth.



A fireball was lifting into the sky from the center of Canterbury, that lit the sky like a rising sun.

He watched it spread horizontally, a wave of fire spreading like a liquid fuel flame on water. Ahead of him he saw an aircraft (an RAF bomber!) tumble from the sky and explode on the houses below.



In horror, he circled above the flames.

As he neared the famous Cathedral, he saw fire licking at its ancient towers and a curtain of thick black smoke behind it.



"My God, my God," he said in a strangled voice, and began weeping, "What have we done?!"

You need to write a book!

Aye, keep say´n this...

"I walked around looking for my family . . . Oh, what a nightmare! ... The place was smashed to bits ... it was dark but everything was burning ... I had to climb over mountains of rubble to get to the street where my family lived ... our street was demolished and on fire ... some houses were smoldering empty shells ... I was sobbing uncontrollably ... I couldn’t find anybody ... it was the most terrible feeling I have ever had...I was only 7 years old and I felt like the only person left in the world’



We lost everything ... I had the clothes I stood in and a case with a Thermos flask. My father and I stood inside the shell of what used to be our building ... it was just four burned walls ... I looked up ... all that was left was the grate and a pot with what was supposed to be our dinner ... it may sound terrible . . . but I was glad in a way that my mother had died the year before ... she loved that house ... it was her life ... it would have destroyed her to see it like that ... I’ll never forget that burning smell till the day I die ... it wasn’t the smell of death ... it was the smell of everything”.

“All my mother's family and relations lived in what used to be called Sturry Road... every single one of them died”.

“We lost everything ... it was raining bombs ... I counted seven which had hit my street. They was creaters all over the roads and gardens ...”.

“When I came out of the shelter I remember thinking ... what a mess ... it was numbing ... you just couldn’t take it all in ... rubble ... mountains of it ... houses sliced open ... walls all black and burned”.

"There was Germans and British soldiers digging in the rubble together, trying to save people."

“My grandmother took us to the relief centre in Harbledown... we had lost everything ... our house was a burned empty shell ... there were bodies lined up along the street covered with sheets ... ..dead Germans and dead Britons lying side by side in the street...and lots of injured people ... it’s strange the things you remember ... there was a woman’s feet sticking out from under a tarpaulin ... she still had her slippers on.

I stopped to look at her. My grandmother said ‘Lets go. There are a lot worse off than us'.