British Military Aviation in 1940 - Part 4

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18 June
The withdrawal of Allied Forces from Normandy is announced and Churchill says: "The battle of France is over.... The Battle of Britain is about to begin ... let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say 'This was their finest hour'."

Royal Air Force Hurricane squadrons in France, having covered the evacuation of remaining British ground forces from the ports of Western France, are ordered back to the United Kingdom. The last out are the first in and the final squadrons to leave are No.1 and No.73 Squadrons, which had been the first Royal Air Force fighter squadrons to arrive in France in 1939.

The campaign in France and the Low Countries cost the Royal Air Force 1,029 aircraft and over 1,500 personnel killed, wounded or missing.

21 June
The Royal Air Force (RAF) forms the Parachute Training School at Ringway, under the command of Squadron Leader Louis A. Strange. This later becomes a component of the Central Landing School. Subsequently, the Central Landing Establishment (CLE) is formed from the Central Landing School on 19 September 1940.

The functions of the CLE includes training parachute troops, glider (sailplane) pilots and aircrew in the airborne role, developing the tactical handling of airborne troops, conducting technical research and recommending operational requirements.

22 June
The French Government signs an armistice in the Forest of Compiegne. The ceremony is conducted in the same railway carriage in which German representatives had signed the armistice that ended the First World War.

Flight Lieutenant George Burge of the Royal Air Force, flying a Gloster Sea Gladiator nicknamed Faith, claims the first Italian bomber aircraft destroyed over Malta. Faith is one of three crated Sea Gladiators left on Malta by the Fleet Air Arm, which are hurriedly assembled at the outbreak of hostilities with Italy. For some time they represent the only fighter defence of the naval dockyard and the island. They are quickly nicknamed Faith, Hope and Charity.

1-2 July
The Royal Air Force drops its first 2,000 pound bomb on German battleship Scharnhorst at Kiel.

3 July
For the first time, the targets attacked by RAF Bomber Command during this day include invasion barges being massed for a possible invasion of Britain.

3 July
Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm take part in an attack on the French fleet in Oran. The attack is made in an attempt to prevent the ships falling into German hands.

6 July
The first depth charge is used by a Royal Air Force anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The weapon in question is the 450 pound MkVII depth charge, which gradually replace the earlier, ineffective anti-submarine bombs used by RAF Coastal Command.

10 July
The preliminary phase of the Battle of Britain, the Kanalkampf, or Channel battle, begins with German attacks on convoys in the English Channel and the ports along Britain's southern coast.

16 July
Hitler's War Directive No.16 of this date details advanced planning for the invasion of the United Kingdom. As part of the preparations for such an assault, which are to be completed by the middle of August, the War Directive decrees that "the English Air Force must be so reduced morally and physically that it is unable to deliver any significant attack against the German crossing." The assault was codenamed Seelöwe (Sealion).

22 July
The first aircraft is shot down by a fighter guided by its own airborne radar. A Bristol Blenheim of the Fighter Interception Unit, fitted with Airborne Intercept radar (AI), destroys a Dornier Do17 at night off Selsey Bill.

26 July
The first Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) squadron, equipped with Canadian-built Hurricanes, arrives in United Kingdom.

1 August
Hitler's War Directive No.17 orders the Luftwaffe to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF) and its supporting infrastructure in the shortest possible time, while maintaining its combat effectiveness for Operation Sealion.

1 August
RAF Northern Ireland is formed as an independent command.

2 August
Operation Hurry: the first delivery of Hawker Hurricane fighters to Malta. twelve aircraft are flown from the aircraft carrier HMS Argus and all arrived safely. Subsequently, on 4 August, the Hurricanes, together with the Gloster Sea Gladiators of the Malta Fighter Flight, are used to form No.261 Squadron - the first fighter squadron to participate in the air defence of Malta.

12 August
The Victoria Cross is awarded to Flight Lieutenant R.A.B Learoyd for a bombing attack on the Dortmund-Ems canal. Handley Page Hampden P4403, No.49 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command.

12 August
The preparatory phase of the Battle of Britain draws to a close, with attacks on several Royal Air Force (RAF) airfields and radar stations, in preparation for the events of the following day.

During the Kanalkampf (Channel Battle), the Luftwaffe's repeated attacks on channel shipping causes the destruction of approximately 30,000 tons of British shipping. The Luftwaffe lose 286 aircraft, as against RAF Fighter Command losses of 148 aircraft. Luftwaffe casualties during this phase of the Battle include the nephew of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, Oberleutnant Hans-Joachim Göring, who is killed when his Messerschmitt Bf 110C twin-engined heavy fighter is shot down by a Hawker Hurricane flown by Squadron Leader J.S. Dewar of No.87 Squadron on 11 July.

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