
Battle of Britain Day
By Alfred Price
Of all the actions during the Battle of Britain the most famous was that on 15 September 1940, commemorated each year as ‘Battle of Britain Day’.
On that day the Luftwaffe mounted two large-scale daylight raids on London. Winston Churchill, on a visit to No. 11 Group’s underground headquarters, watched Air Vice-Marshal Park direct his Spitfires and Hurricanes against the enemy with devastating effect.
That evening the defenders triumphantly proclaimed that they had destroyed 185 German planes, giving a much-needed boost to British morale. The German High Command knew the true number of aircraft lost was only 56, but the day’s hard fighting forced them to realize that there would be no victory over Royal Air Force Fighter Command before the weather broke in the autumn.
This book tells the story of the momentous events of 15 September 1940, seen through the eyes of more than sixty of those who witnessed them in the air and on the ground.