Headwind is Coming

I feel it from somewhere deep inside. The winds of change are beginning to blow and a storm and a story are on the horizon.


Thursday, September 2, 2010

September 3, 1940

The attacks continue, with most of the bombing targeting Liverpool, Kent, and South Wales. Raids began at 2100 hours and continue to 0230 hours. The Germans have been laying mines along the east coast from Aberdeen to the Thames Estuary. Bristol Channel and Liverpool Bay may also have been mined.

Source: http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/september3.html

Friday, August 13, 2010

August 13, 1940

On This Day in History

Date: 13 August 1940

Weather: Mainly fair. Early morning mist and slight drizzle in places and some cloud in the Channel.

Day: Opening of 'Eagle Day' misfires. Heavy raid on Eastchurch followed by afternoon raids on Portland, Southampton and airfields in Kent and Hampshire. 1,485 German sorties.

Night: Light attacks on Midlands, Wales and the West Country.
'Adler Tag' ('Eagle Day') - the original date set by Hitler for the invasion of Britain.

Daily audio broadcasts, taken from the official Fighter Command Daily Summaries, giving the news highlights of each days action in the Battle of Britain are now available FREE and streamed direct to your PC every day. Find out more information on Radio1940, download the software and hear daily the Battle of Britain news as it happened 60 years ago to the day.


Source: http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/august13.html

On August 13 1940 12 Blenheims of RAF 82 Sqn were detailed for an attack on Aalborg West airfield. One of the aircrafts had to turn back due to fuel problems while the remaining eleven aircrafts pressed on. When crossing the Danish west coast near Søndervig flying at 8000 feet in a clear blue sky they were spotted by a German observation post and the flak at Aalborg was alerted.
Eight Bf 109E fighters of 5/JG 77 based on Aalborg East airfield were scrambled at 12:05 hours. The attack on the airfield started at approx. 12:15 and all eleven Blenheims were lost to flak and fighters within 20 minutes.

Source: http://www.flensted.eu.com/194014.shtml

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Monday, August 2, 2010

The Battle of Britain

By the beginning of July 1940, the RAF had built up its strength to 640 fighters, but the Luftwaffe had 2600 bombers and fighters. The stage was set. In the skies above South East England, the future of Britain was about to be decided. As the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill put it; "What General Weygrand called the Battle of France is over, the Battle of Britain is about to begin".

August 2, 1940

A report has been received from SS Highlander that she was attacked by two enemy aircraft at about 2345 hours on 1st August, 6 miles south of Stonehaven. She claims that one He115 was brought down by a Holman projector and crashed on the poop deck, and that the other aircraft crashed into the sea in flames due to Lewis gun fire. Both aircraft are stated to have made aerial torpedo and low machine gunning attacks.

Source: http://www.raf.mod.uk

Friday, July 16, 2010

Invasion of England

July 16, 1940

War is coming closer to home. Today, Hitler issued an order to begin preparations for the invasion of Great Britain. The plan is codenamed Operation Sealion. The situation isn't looking good. France has fallen to Germany and now it appears England is next in line - at least that's what Hitler is thinking.

He's a bit premature. Counting his chicks and all that. Rumor has it he's already ticked the box next to Churchill's name and added him to his Black Book that's actually an honor roll of patriots the Nazis want to assassinate when they get to England. But that's not a done deal by any means. If is a better word than when.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Dressing for the War

A Guest Blogger

Katrin has turned the blog over to me this week, while she ponders the fate of her research. I really don't understand her angst. After all, all she has to do is fight Hitler. I have to come up with a really nice dress for my photo shoot. Actually, I'm making progress.

I don't know what the world did before eBay. Over the past week I have bought two vintage dress patterns from 1940. One is a casual, daytime frock, and the other is a serious suit - chic! I've also found a spiffy black hat from 1940 and it's not a reproduction but the real McCoy.

The sewing room (that also doubles as my office) is now cluttered with Simplicity pattern pieces and fabric scraps. Unfortunately, I had to enlarge said dress to fit over my less than slim hips, but it's coming along nicely. Once that's done, I'll tackle the suit. It's in a lovely green and should drape nicely.

The last big score was on eBay yesterday. A vintage rhinestone brooch a la Bergman in Casablanca. I was sweating the final minutes of bidding and increased my maximum bid to strain my checkbook, but success was mine. It's being shipped today.

All I need now is a good eyebrow pencil and a red lipstick for the photo shoot on the 13th.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Somewhere in Europe

On This Day in History

March 31, 1940: In the North Atlantic... The first German armed merchant cruiser, Atlantis, sails for operations against Allied shipping. It will prove to be the most successful raider. In a cruise lasting until November 22, 1941 she will sink 22 ships of 145,700 tons.