It seems natural that, as the defensive, daylight battle winds down, the RAF should have its plans to go on the offensive. The Daily Mail having done the story, now it is the turn of the Yorkshire Post to tell its readers that the tide is turning. Otherwise, it is more of the same - the RAF sees off the day raiders, bombs a few invasion ports, and lets the night raiders through. And on this day, we learn that Dowding has been awarded the KGC.
From the other side of the coin, Reich propaganda minister Joseph Göbells writes in his diary that following "absolutely massive attacks on London", "It is possible to see the demoralising effect from the English press". But of the British attacks on Germany, he claims that "one can no longer discern English intentions with any certainty".
How Göbells discerns the "demoralising effect" from the English press it not easy to see. The Daily Express, for instance (below), offers readers the upbeat news that British experts are finding an answer to the night bomber, while bigger, faster, more powerful bombers are coming off the production lines. The RAF claims 49 aircraft for the day previously, bringing their claimed total shot down in September to 1,095 - with 2,500 airmen lost - bringing to an end the "summer phase of the war".
Amongst the narrators of Battle of Britain history, however, there seems to be a degree of confusion developing. Len Deighton, in his Fighter, has long ago given up following the story, taking 15 September as marking the effective end of the battle. T C G James writes of "The Decline of the Battle", and can't be bothered with a daily narrative. Even the faithful Mason writes of the "October anti-climax".
Korda seems to have dropped out completely, taking his cue from Deighton and declaring that, in mid-September 1940 - perhaps without even realising it - Hitler lost the war. Only Wood and Dempster seem to plod on regardless, diligently, and dispassionately, charting the course of the battle that no one seems to be able to define.
Wood and Dempster thus tell us of a strong daylight raid which attempts to bomb Southampton. They mark it out as "different" as it comprises mostly Me 109s and 110, some of them carrying bombs. There is, however, nothing particularly novel about that, although the removal of dedicated bombers does reflect the drubbing the force had the day previously.
In fact, the day battle is petering out - it is no longer of any significance - and the objective (as far as it was ever real) of gaining air superiority for the invasion has long ceased to have any relevance. Gradually, and without any fanfare, Me 109 squadrons are also being returned to Germany, their pilots for rest and the aircraft for repair and refitting.In truth, the day battle characterised as the Battle of Britain has effectively ended. Even the contemporary reports recognise this. We have the Manchester Guardian - quite obviously taking its briefing from Ministry sources - telling us that the "first phase" of the air war is over. Note that the battle as a whole, so far, is regarded as a "phase". The attacks will continue, the paper opines, although the form is "not known".
Only RAF fighter command - and then after the event - wants to redefine the "phase" as the complete battle, then prolonging it, while trying to maintain it is a joust between the RAF fighters and the Luftwaffe. But the artificiality of the construct which dominates current histories becomes more apparent with the scrutiny of each passing day.
An uninformed observer, relying on the US media, certainly would not get any sense of a deadly battle being fought in the skies over England. The New York Times headlines, for instance, tell him of RAF raiders pounding Berlin for five hours. The Germans claim only one bomb is dropped but our only reliable independent witness, William L Shirer, has no diary entry for this day. Nevertheless, his earlier reports refer to damage caused as "negligible", although he reports that the psychological effects of the RAF raids are profound.
The bare statistics are unimpressive. Forty-two Hampdens, Wellingtons and Whitleys are despatched to bomb the Air Ministry in Berlin on the night of 30 September/1 October. Only seventeen crews even claim to have reached the target and bombed it. We have no reliable record of how many actually hit the target, and no German records remain from that period. There is, however, no evidence that any significant damage is done, yet two Wellingtons and a Hampden are lost. The crews might have been better employed bombing their own ministry.
On the other hand, the Luftwaffe is making its usual night time presence felt over London. It has an easier job. The distances involved are shorter and the crews have the ribbon of the Thames to guide them to the city, the size and density of which is such that it is almost impossible not to hit something, even when bombing blind. Perversely, although the physical damage is significant, the psychological effect is less so. Londoners are going through the process of adaptation. The shock effect has worn off and they are getting used to being bombed.
As importantly, the authorities are learning how to respond and are gearing themselves up to deal with the extraordinary situations with which they are confronted. Projects which would have taken months in the planning and weeks in execution are worked out on the back of the proverbial fag packet and completed in hours or days. At Kilburn and Brondesbury (now Kilburn) Underground station, for instance, major air-raid damage is dealt with almost as a matter of routine. Here (illustrated above), wooden framework has been constructed to replace the missing part of the bridge and a train can be seen running over it.
To an extent, therefore, Korda is right in that Hitler has lost. But it is premature to say at this stage that he has lost the war. He has lost two battles - the battle for daytime air superiority, needed for the invasion, and the battle for the people's morale. Barring some dreadful combination of events, public morale is never going to be as fragile as it was in the immediate aftermath of the early September bombing of London.
But it simply cannot be stressed enough that there are the three components to the battle against Britain. And, in particular, we still have the "blockade". This, as we know, has several components, the sea war, including the growing depredations of the U Boats, and the air war, which not only includes the bombing of ships and the laying of mines, but the bombing of the ports. The outcome of this component - the battle of the blockade, of which latterly the Battle of the Atlantic becomes a part - is still very much open. On this leg alone, the war can still be lost.
The question to be addressed, therefore, is whether this part of the battle against Britain is also part of the Battle of Britain, with the "B" in "battle" capitalised.
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