August 26th, 1940 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command:
Fierce and effective raids on airfields (especially Debden) mark the period
of Fighter Command's greatest strain.
Dover and Folkestone are attacked.
Ineffective attacks on Hornchurch and Portsmouth.
At night Coventry, Birmingham
and Plymouth are bombed heavily.
The day is marked by three major Luftwaffe operations.
The first comprising of five distinct raids over Kent, starts at 11:37 with
intrusions by around 50 bombers and 80 fighters, some of which strafed east Kent
targets. Some 40 Hurricanes and 30 Spitfires of 11 Group rose to defend their
bases.
He 111s bombed Folkestone killing two and injuring 22. Seven 616 Squadron
Spitfires arriving to protect Folkestone ran into a large Bf109 escort, despite
being soon joined by five more Spitfires there was little the Yorkshire squadron
could do and it loses seven aircraft and two pilots.
Warned of an intended attack on its base, Hornchurch, 264 Squadron hastened
away to engage KG 3s Do17s over Herne Bay. Although the Defiants assembled in
their specified battle formation for bomber interception they were no match for
the escorting Bf109s which claimed three. In return the Defiants shot down six
Do17s and a fighter. The struggle did reduce the Bf109s fuel forcing them to
leave. The Do17s decided it was unwise to continue unprotected and jettisoned
their loads.
The second major operation starts shortly after 13:00 when eight raids develop.
78 Do17s of II/KG 2 and III/KG 3 escorted by Bf110s of ZG 26 and ZG 76 and
Bf109s assemble over Lille. Intelligence sources already knew their destinations
to be Debden, North Weald and Hornchurch. Seven 11 Group squadrons scrambled in
case a London raid developed and thwarted the attack by engaging the escorting
Bf109s which quickly became short of fuel. The bombs fell widely on Kent
including 32 on Broadstairs and more on Manston. 39 Do17s escorted by long-range
tanked Bf 110s, continued to the Blackwater estuary then turned towards Debden.
Colchester's AA guns caused several to turn away.
Lone pirate raids continued throughout the day. One placed four HEs on Harwell,
killing six, injuring ten and damaging two Wellingtons. Whitleys later landed at
Harwell to refuel for a long flight to Torino and these seem to have been the
intended target. They are engaged by No. 1 Sqn. RCAF making its first combat
fighting with 11 Group. They down two Bf110s and 1 Do17. but lose their Sqn. Ldr
N.E. McNab.
Dave Wadman adds: At approximately 3.25p.m. Hurricanes of the Sqn
intercepted a formation of 7th Staffel of KG2. S/Ldr McNab's Hurricane P3069 was
damaged but he was unhurt, F/O R.L.Edwards flying P3874 was shot down and killed
(the first Canadian pilot serving with a Canadian fighter sqn to be KIA in WW2),
F/O Desloges' Hurricane P3872 was severely damaged but repairable - he was
unhurt, a fourth Hurricane from the sqn - P3869 was also damaged but the pilot
was unhurt.
The first Canadian fighter pilot serving with a Canadian fighter squadron during
WW2 is killed in action
over SE England. Flying Officer R.L.Edwards of No.1 Sqn. R.C.A.F. (later No.401
Sqn R.C.A.F) of Coburg, Ontario was shot down at approximately 1530hrs by a
Dornier Do17 of KG2 following an attack on RAF station Debden, his Hurricane
crashing near Thaxted, Essex. F/O Edwards is buried in Brookwood Military
Cemetery.
The third operation, directed against Portsmouth and Southampton started in the
late afternoon and was the last large-scale day raid mounted by Luftlotte 3.
About 50 He-111s of I and II/KG 55 were escorted by Bf109s and Bf110s. Eight
fighter squadrons were ordered to engage and 43, 602 and 235 Squadrons went into
action, preventing the bombing of Southampton and shooting down four He-111s and
four Bf109s for the loss of four fighters and three pilots wounded. Some bombs
dropped on Portsmouth damaging Langstone Harbour, destroying Fort Cumberland and
causing a fire at Hilsea gas works. Later, an escorted rescue He59 was shot down
south of the Isle of Wight.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 41; RAF, 31.
Croydon, Surrey. 2nd Lt Wallace Launcelot Andrews (1908-44), Royal Engineers,
was blown some distance when a bomb blew up as he tried to defuse it. (Empire
Gallantry Medal)
Corvette HMS Fleur de Lys commissioned.
ÉIRE: Dublin: Ireland's neutrality, assiduously preserved by the premier, Eamon de
Valera, has not won immunity from German air raids. Luftwaffe bombs hit four
places in County Wexford today, 130 miles from the border. Two of the three
young women killed while working at a creamery were sisters. The third, a blast
victim, was found sitting at a dining table, knife and fork in hand. The motive
for the attack is not clear, for Ireland, like neutral Spain and Turkey, is an
intelligence goldmine for the Germans. Dublin's representative in Berlin has
protested.
GERMANY:
U-704 laid down.
CHAD: Abeche: Chad declares its allegiance to Free France and General de Gaulle.
French Equatorial Africa is the latest French colony to support General de
Gaulle's Free French. Governor Eboue of Chad, France's first black governor in
Africa, said today that he refused to accept capitulation. The other Equatorial
territories will make similar statements in the coming days. Elsewhere in French
Africa, recent weeks have seen the replacement of pro-Allied officials with
Vichy supporters, although the Ivory Coast rallied to de Gaulle on 26 July. The
first colony to back de Gaulle was the New Hebrides in the Pacific on 22 July.
CANADA: US
President Franklin D Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister W L MacKenzie King
signed the Ogdensburg Agreement calling for a permanent board for the defence of
Canada and the US 8-days ago and The Permanent Joint Board on defence holds its
first meeting in Ottawa, Ontario today. The US representatives are (1) Fiorello
H LaGuardia, the mayor of New York City, who is also President of the US
Conference of Mayors; (2) Lieutenant General Stanley D Embick, US Army,
Commanding General Fourth Corps Area; (3) Captain Henry W Hill and Commander
Forrest Sherman, US Navy, of the War Plans Division, Office of the Chief of
Naval Operations; (4) Colonel Joseph T McNarney, Army Air Corps, of the Joint
Army-Navy Planning Committee; and (5) John D Hickerson, Assistant Chief,
Division of European Affairs, US State Department.
Bangor Class minesweepers ordered for
RCN: HMCS
Melville, Granby, Noranda, Lachine, Digby, Truro, Trois Rivieres (ex-Three
Rivers), Brockville, Transcona and Esquimalt.
Armed yacht HMCS Lynx (ex-Ramona)
commissioned. Built by Newport News S.B. Co., Newport News Va., 495/22,
181x24x9ft, 10kts., crew 5/35, 1-4in, converted to p/v by George T. Davies and
Sons Levis, Province of Quebec, 26 Aug 40, #172357, She was plagued by chronic
mechanical problems that were made worse by a lack of spare parts. Sold Jul 43,
Post WW.II, Banana trader in Caribbean, Lost near Sydney, Australia under the
name Rican Star.
U.S.A.: The Cadillac Division of the General Motors Corporation announces that they are discontinuing the manufacture of the LaSalle automobile after fourteen years of production. The LaSalle had been introduced as a moderately priced alternative to the expensive Cadillac.