Air Operations, Europe

The RAF raid the Dortmund power stations.

Battle of Britain

Day 17

Weather - Heavy rain and cloud over all areas.

Combat - Due to the poor weather, enemy activity is greatly reduced with small raids along the coastline and on shipping. One raider crosses Beachy Head at about 0600hrs and drops bombs near Hastings without interception. At around 0930hrs Me-109's, off the Isle of Wight, attack a Spitfire of No: 601 Squadron. Later in the morning, after 1100hrs, a raid approaches Portland which is met by Hurricanes of No: 238 Squadron and Spitfires of No: 65 Squadron attack a small raid off the coast of Kent.

The afternoon proves quiet with a large raid, approaching the Isle of Wight, being intercepted and broken up by Spitfires of No: 65 Squadron. Later at about 1700hrs, Spitfires of No: 92 Squadron engage a small raid of Ju-88's off the Pembroke coast.

During the night, a Hurricane of No: 87 Squadron shoots down a Do-17 near Portishead Point after sighting the raider over the Bristol Channel. Other raids are plotted with bombs dropping on Essex, Kent, near Bristol, Frazerburgh and Dyce airfield. Mines are dropped off Aberdeen, Deal, Harwich and the Thames Estuary.

R.A.F. Losses: 8 aircraft damaged or destroyed, 3 pilots killed or missing and 1 wounded.

Luftwaffe Losses: 8 aircraft damaged or destroyed with 6 pilots and aircrew killed or missing.

NOTE: Losses include non-combat patrols and accidents.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-34 sinks the British steamers Accra (9337t) and Vinemoor (4359t) 320 miles west of Bloody Foreland. Accra was carrying 499 passengers and crew. 12 passengers and 12 crewmen are lost. Survivors and the entire crew from Vinemoor are picked up by British sloop Enchantress, the corvette Clarkia, the steamer Hollinside and the Norwegian steamer Loke.
• The British steamer Haytor (1189t) sinks on a mine with the loss of 1 crewman.
• The Norwegian steamer Balzac (963t) sinks on a mine about a mile from the Roker Pier Light, Sunderland, with the loss of 6 crewmen.
• The German steamer Montan (1275t) sinks on an aerial mine off the Ems River moutn.

Britain, Policy

The British Admiralty orders that no ships are to pass Dover during daylight. This is not a direct response to the previous day's losses but has been under preparation for some time because of the extra organization involved.

Diplomatic Relations

• Hitler meets with the Rumanian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister at Berchtesgaden.
• Joseph Avenol resigns as Secretary-General of the League of Nations.

Japan, Policy

The Japanese govenment formally adopts a policy giving top priority to solving their China problem. They hope to achieve this by blocking supplies reaching the Chinese through Indochina and to securing their own raw materials by a more aggressive stance in the Dutch East Indies.