Battle of Britain Day

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{detailed description}Of the actions during the Battle of Britain the most famous was that on 15 September 1940, commemorated each year as 'Battle of Britain Day'. Yet, surprisingly, no previous book has described that day's fighting in detail and most accounts give a misleading impression of what took place. 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 Keith Park direct his Spitfires and Hurricanes against the enemy with devastating effect. The resultant air combats were among the most concentrated ever fought, with no fewer than eight aircraft destroyed in mid-air collisions. Bombs caused severe damage in Battersea and East Ham, Buckingham Palace was hit. Its tail knocked off when it was rammed by a Hurricane, a Dornier smashed into the forecourt of Victoria station. One of the plane's crewmen, landing by parachute near Kennington Oval cricket ground, was set upon by enraged civilians and received fatal injuries. 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. Without air superiority over the Channel a successful invasion of England was out of the question, and Adolf Hitler called a halt to the preparations to invade England. 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 or on the ground.
{Author / Publisher / Date}by Alfred Price
published by Sidgwick and Jackson 1990 1st edn. 180pp illustrated, index, appendix, bibliography. 16x24
{condition}neat inscription to front free end paper, slightly yellowed, otherwise near fine in poly covered d/j.
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