'The Hardest Day'

18th August 1940: The Luftwaffe launch waves of mass raids on the RAF - while Soviet spies in Britain try to assess how successful the attacks are

The burnt-out wreckage of a Dornier Do 17Z-2 of 9/KG 76 at Leaves Green, near Biggin Hill in Kent, 18 August 1940. The aircraft was shot down by ground defences and Hurricanes of No. 111 Squadron during a low-level attack on Kenley. aerodrome. The Soviet spy codenamed ‘DICK’ visited Kenley on the 20th to try to see for himself but security was tight, possibly due to an impending visit by Churchill.

On the 18th August the mist cleared early and fine weather allowed the Luftwaffe to mount it largest yet attack on Britain - with huge formations of hundreds of bombers escorted by fighters. The heavily outnumbered RAF front line Squadrons were at readiness from the early hours and would be scrambled repeatedly throughout the day. Large formations of Stuka 87s got through to hit several airfields causing significant damage and casualties. But Luftwaffe plans to protect them with fighters were not successful and many were shot down in what RAF pilots described as ‘Stuka parties’ - survivors described it as a ‘massacre’. It was the last time the Stuka would be used against Britain.

At the base were Ju. 87s, above them Heinkels, then Dorniers and Ju. 88s, then a layer of Me. 110s, and above, at about twenty thousand feet, a swarm of Me. 109s…

Peter Townsend (1914-1995) in 1940.

Squadron Leader Peter Townsend¹ left a memorable account of the first action of the day by 85 Squadron: