Australians in the Battle of Britain. 15 August 1940

On 15 August, the Luftwaffe launched a day-long series of attacks designed to saturate RAF defences. Almost all of Britain was within range of enemy bombers.

A heavy raid aimed at Edinburgh was identified. Just after midday, 72 Squadron was directed to intercept it. Eleven Spitfires from 72 Squadron met a large formation of He111 bombers and their escort of Me110s. It was a mighty force, the largest Des Sheen ever encountered. All he saw was line upon line of bombers.

72 Squadron attacked. The enemy formation split up and Des eased himself into a defensive circle formed by the Me110s. He closed on one and opened fire. It exploded in a mass of debris.

He spotted another defensive circle. He aimed at a Messerschmitt but missed. He quickly lined up another and fired again. Success! Flame and smoke poured from its engine. The stricken fighter attempted to ram Des’s Spitfire but Des dived steeply and it disappeared, burning furiously. The sky then emptied; the battle had moved on. He was low on fuel so returned to base. Combat had lasted just five minutes.

Des noted in his log book his claims of two Me 110s and a ‘squadron bag’ of eleven. His personal total was now 3 1/3 destroyed. He recalled that the atmosphere at Acklington at the end of the day was ‘very elated...because it was the first action for some of them and it was a successful day out.’

It was also a successful day for Australians. Bill Millington of 79 Squadron shot down three German bombers. In the South, John Pain of 32 Squadron, the youngest Australian in the Battle of Britain, probably destroyed a Me 109 and Pat Hughes of 234 Squadron, shot down one Me 110 and shared another destroyed.

Fighter Command more than held its own in what was for far the largest air battle in which it had engaged. 76 enemy aircraft had been shot down but at a cost. Fighter Command lost 34 aircraft destroyed and 17 killed, including 25-year-old Western Australian Pilot Officer Frank Cale of 266 Squadron, who had attended the same school as Dick Glyde and had received his RAF short term commission in May 1939. An Australian also joined the ranks of prisoners of war when Pilot Officer Vincent Parker of 234 Squadron, was picked up by a German launch after baling out near the Isle of Wight.

Despite Fighter Command’s the losses, Winston Churchill described 15 August 1940, the day that became known to the Luftwaffe as ‘Black Thursday’, as ‘one of the greatest days in history’. Fighter Command rightly claimed victory in the largest air battle in which it had engaged.

Des Sheen in his Spitfire.