A little more.....
From Reach for the Sky Brickhill's work on Bader.
"It was 11 group battle and 12th group was held back to cover Englands industrial heart north of London. Burning for the fight, Bader rang Leigh-Mallory and pleaded to be embroiled but Leigh-Mallory told him: "We can't put all our eggs in one basket Bader. You've got to hang on and wait""
This applies in August 1940.
On we go.
"The lull ended on 24th of August. That evening 110 German fighters and bombers moved towards London, but were intercepted over Maidstone and fled. Next day they were bombing Portsmouth and Southampton, savagely attacked by defending fighters. Then it was Dover, Folkstone, The Thames Estuary and Kent. Time and again the great formations ploughed steadily across the channel and clashed bloodily with the spearheads of 11 group. But 11 group losses were heavy too; they fought in squadrons, twelve aircraft against fifty or a hundred or two hundred because there were not enough squadrons and some had to be held in reserve. Air vice marshal Park, the A.O.C. never knew where the next attack was coming from or when. The plot of a hundred plus on the board might be a feint, to draw all his fighters up so that when they had to land to refuel and re-arm the main attack could sweep in unimposed"
So, you see, the 12th group lads were indeed held back.
The Duxford wing first makes a successful engagement on the 30th of August. Bader went on to press on using more squadrons at one, describing as this:
"One squadron against a formation of a hundred or more is pretty sticky"
The Duxford wing makes it's first big hit on the famous 7th September. With inferior altiude the attacked escorted bombers (109's and 110's). Bader got hit by a 109 that day, and also saw some feathers of the Luftwaffe falling. Must be a kill if the enemy slams into the ground.
So, you see, the LW did loose aircraft on the 7th, they also had 109's over the target. As for this website on the day:
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/september7.htmlIt does not match any of my books! Nothing at all.
Here comes Shores:
"It was afternoon on 7 September before the first attack came in on London - and so vast was the formation that only London could be the target. A total of 348 bombers from KG1, 2, 3, 26, and 76, escorted by 617 fighters - nearly 1000 aircraft - headed for the east London docks, which were brutally bombed. 19 and 41 Squadrons (Spitfires), 111 and 249 squadrons (Hurricanes) intercepted first, but the inexperienced pilots of 249 were hard hit by the escorts, losing six aircraft, although only one pilot was killed. More squadrons joined the running battle, including elements of the Duxford wing from No 12 group. Seventy one victories were claimed by 17 squadrons, but actual losses amounted to 34, 12 of them bombers and seven Bf 110's................................With dusk 318 Heinkels and Dorniers returned to stoke the fires started during the day; London's ordeal had begun."
And that's from the RAF site, - it doesn't match:
"First wave totalling some 100 aircraft crossed the coast but activities were confined to Kent. A second wave commenced to cross the Coast at 1718 hours, some 250 aircraft being plotted in five raids, the activity spread to an area from East of Kenley covering the Thames Estuary to as far North as Duxford. No 12 Group provided 5 Squadrons to assist No 11 Group during this engagement"
Looks to me as in INCOMPLETE compilation. Or maybe Shores, Johnny, Galland and the rest are all dead wrong?
