Ronald Derek Gordon Wight D.F.C. R.A.F.
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Sunday 11th August 1940( Details from "Battle over Britain" by F K Mason, published by Alban Books )
On this day the Luftwaffe came to the battle in force; yet once again, despite a day of ferocious combat, the operations still fell short of the planned Adlerangriff (Operation Eagle Attack, the planned invasion of Britain). The losses inflicted during this Sunday bear testimony to the growing weight and tempo of the Battle, but the near -equality of casualties on both sides must have caused more than passing worry to Dowding, for such an attrition balance could only result in the decimation of his fighter squadrons before that of the Luftwaffe. Dawn brought fine weather almost everywhere and this deteriorated only slowly as the day wore on. Without serious complications enforced by weather conditions the attacks launched can now be seen clearly as a dress rehearsal of carefully synchronised attacks against No's, 10, 11 and 12 Groups.
At seven minutes past ten, three Home Chain stations amended the raid strength to " one hundred plus" so that Brand and Park ordered off their main fighter formations. These took off as follows:
No. 152 Squadron (four Spitfires), up from Middle Wallop and headed for Warmwell, diverted at 10.04 hours Eleven Hurricanes of 601 Squadron (up at 09.55 hours from Tangmere) and twelve Spitfires of No. 609 Squadron were directed to the raid at 10.05 hours.
Most of the squadron's fell for the German "trap" and allowed themselves to become fully occupied by the escorting Messerschmitts with the result that casualties among the fighters were high on both sides. Only some of the Exeter - based Hurricane pilots and those of the four Spitfires of 152 Squadron who arrived rather late in the combat, spotted the Ju 88's and He 111's as they made for Portland and Weymouth. The Heinkels commenced their level bombing runs at 15,000 feet just as the Ju 88s dived from 10.000 feet and struck the oil storage farm, hitting and setting two oil tanks on fire. The massive dogfight which, by 10.40 hours, had spread across the width of Weymouth Bay, was dying out as the Bf 109's sought to cover the broken ranks of ZG 2 while they retired. Further Bf 109's from JG 27 had arrived as reinforcements to assist in covering the withdrawal which continued until well after 11.00 hours. Up until approximately 11.00 hours German casualties were substantially fewer than those claimed, with six Bf 110s, five Ju 88s one He 111 and six Bf 109s destroyed. Fighter Command lost sixteen Hurricanes with thirteen pilots killed and two wounded, and one Spitfire of 152 Squadron lost, the pilot drowned. On this day the Royal Air Force lost 32 fighters with 25 pilots killed the Luftwaffe lost 33 fighters, bombers and seaplanes losing 55 airmen in total. The Combat Report of Sgt Snowden reads as follows: I was forming Blue Section, No. 213 Squadron, with F/Lt Wight & Sgt. Butterfield when we intercepted a large formation of Me 110's 15 miles S.E. of Portland. We individually attacked the centre of the formation which executed a gentle left hand turn with the apparent intention of forming a circle. I took a deflection shot on an Me 110 which turned on its side after the second burst and went down. I obtained deflection shots on two others, silencing the rear gunners. I had used up all of my ammunition by now, I received a cannon shell in my engine from underneath, setting me on fire and bursting an oil pipe. I spiralled down and the flames went out, and I forced landed at Lulworth Tank Ranges. Soldiers there told me that they had seen 4 Me 110's crash in the sea.
Sgt. Snowden claimed five destroyed, two probables and one damaged in the Battle of Britain. After the Battle of Britain in Dec.1940 he went to No.17 Central Flying School to train as an instructor, then to No.4 EFTS and officer training until January 1942 when he was posted to 34 EFTS Assiniboia Saskatewan as an instructor. After being released from the RAF in 1946 as a Flt/Lt he became a pilot for British Air Transport. Whilst flying an Avro Anson from London to deliver newspapers to the Channel Islands in 1947 he lost his life when he crashed into a radar pylon of the Home Chain system at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight in thick fog. Ironically the system that saved us in the Battle of Britain was to claim the life of one of its 'aces', George Snowden. ( Snowden didn't like the name Ernest and was always known as George or ‘Snowy’ ).
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