Good day, folks, and a warm welcome to our new subscribers, including members from Australia and New Zealand. Here's the latest update on Project World War 2, my quest to write a novel titled Elsecar Boys We Are Here. If you missed it, here's a link to why I've taken up this challenge.
Since I started this project on 5th July, I have written over 23,000 words. Researching different aspects of the war is fascinating. For example, delving into the detail of Chain Home, an invaluable radar network developed by Robert Watson-Watt, was intriguing. Regular readers of this newsletter will recall that we’re focused on the Battle of Britain, an important chapter of the conflict, dating back to 10 July 1940.
We pick up with Percy Dawber, a rigger serving with the RAF. Percy is the second youngest of the Dawber brothers, and he’s found himself on the frontline of the air battle, posted to 54 Squadron, stationed at Hornchurch, Essex.
By the end of spring, 1940, Britain had its back to the wall. The British first suffered defeat in Norway, before the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had suffered humiliation at Dunkirk. As the BEF’s materiel lay smouldering on the beaches of northern France, British industry worked tirelessly to manufacture fighters and bombers for the RAF. OPERATION DYNMAO (the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers) can be viewed as missed opportunity for the Germany army. However, the United States viewed Britain’s willingness to mount such a daring Dunkirk rescue as a huge success.
As Winston Churchill and his senior aides planned for a lengthy war, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering was plotting the downfall of Britain’s air power. Hitler knew that if the Luftwaffe could defeat both the RAF, and the Royal Navy, the German army would be able to complete OPERATION SEA LION, an audacious plan to invade Britain. For the Dawber brothers, their war was about to get up close and personal.
01 August 1940. As the sun disappeared over the horizon, the Luftwaffe ranged its bombers across England, dropping thousands of leaflets, titled ‘A Last Appeal to Reason by Adolf Hitler!’ The Germans might have saved themselves a few thousand Reichsmarks, because many of the leaflets either ended up on the back of lavatory doors, or they were eaten by sheep.
Some of those leaflets landed in North Yorkshire, not far from Bill Dawber’s unit. On the morning of 02 August, Bill the oldest of the Dawber brothers, and now a Corporal, lead his platoon on patrol. As the men patrolled their way along a hedge row, Bill spotted the first of what turned out to be hundreds of leaflets. ‘Blimey! Look here lads. The Germans have sent us some state sponsored loo paper!’ Laughter erupted among the men as they collected the leaflets in hessian sacks. ‘We ought to remind Hitler that we’re very good at picking up litter,’ chuckled Lance Corporal Clarke.
Eagle Day - Battle of Britain
For the Germans, 13 August 1940 marked the start of their Battle of Britain. Goering’s 'Adlertag' (Eagle Day) had arrived, and with it came wave after wave of attacks over England in a ten-hour period. The RAF responded with the brave Spitfire and Hurricane pilots doing what they could to ward off the bombing raids.
Even at the early stage of the battle, some pilots found it too much. Shirkers were not treated well in the RAF, and wellbeing was at the bottom of the Ministry of War’s priorities. Sadly, two pilots from 54 Squadron had been stripped of their stripes and flying qualifications. Instead of flying state-of-the art fighters, the RAF sent them to the north of Scotland to carry out mundane tasks like airfield sentry duty.
Things would get a lot worse for the RAF, before they got better. At sea, the Royal Navy were also fighting a war of attrition. The Navy were committed to protecting the Atlantic Convoys from the deadly threat posed by Karl Dönitz’s U-Boats. Still, the Wolfpacks sank thousands of tons of cargo destined for Britain.
By July 1940, the Royal Navy also had to protect shipping from the marauding bombing runs of Goering’s Stuka diver bombers. Albert Dawber, Percy’s younger twin brother had joined the Royal Navy. Albert wrote about his experiences in a letter to his parents. You can read his letter here.
That’s all for this edition of Project World War 2. Have a look around, and check out the other editions. If you like this newsletter, please share it with your friends and family.
Until next time!