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Battle of the River Forth
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Battle of the River Forth
The Battle of the River Forth was an air battle on 16 October 1939 between Supermarine Spitfires from No. 602 and No. 603 Squadrons of the Royal Air Force and Junkers Ju 88 bombers of 1. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 30. It resulted when twelve[clarification needed] Ju 88s attacked Rosyth naval base at the Firth of Forth. The raid was the first German air raid on Britain during World War II.
When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, some feared Germany would immediately embark on a devastating aerial bombing campaign against British cities. Adolf Hitler still hoped an all-out war with Britain might be avoided if a compromise could be reached. Britain, however, showed no inclination to compromise, and it was decided bombing should commence. Hitler remained anxious the attacks should not antagonise the British too much and so the rules of engagement were designed to avoid civilian casualties.
In its past, threats to Britain were always perceived as coming from the east, and for many years there had been major Royal Navy bases sited to allow its warships access to the North Sea, including Rosyth, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth.
When war was declared on 3 September, the central belt of Scotland was protected by two fighter squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force, which had been "embodied" or called up some weeks before. At Turnhouse (then a Fighter Command sector station) was No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, equipped with Gloster Gladiators, and in the process of converting to Spitfires, its pilots only deemed competent to fly operationally in daylight. A Spitfire squadron, No. 602 (City of Glasgow), was based at Abbotsinch.
To counter the German threat from the east, 602 Squadron was moved to bolster the defences around the Firth of Forth. On 7 October, it moved to Grangemouth, and on 13 October to RAF Drem, nearer the coast.
16 October 1939 started with relatively good weather for the time of year and 6 or 7 tenths broken cloud. At 09:20, the Chain Home RDF station at Drone Hill near Coldingham detected two intruders heading for the coast from the North Sea. These were Heinkel He 111s of Kampfgeschwader 26 (KG26), based at airfield at Westerland on Sylt, at that time, the nearest Luftwaffe base to Britain.
The Heinkels were fitted with cameras and they carried out tactical reconnaissance sorties. The German crews knew Spitfires were based in the Firth of Forth, even if officially, Intelligence said there were none.
After being detected by RDF, at 09:45, Royal Observer Corps reports placed one unidentified aircraft at high altitude on a southwesterly course over Dunfermline heading for Rosyth, with another flying across the Borders near Galashiels. Three minutes later, at 09:48, Blue Section of 602 Squadron (three Spitfires led by Flight Lieutenant George Pinkerton ) was scrambled to patrol the Isle of May at 5,000 ft (1,500 m).
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Battle of the River Forth
The Battle of the River Forth was an air battle on 16 October 1939 between Supermarine Spitfires from No. 602 and No. 603 Squadrons of the Royal Air Force and Junkers Ju 88 bombers of 1. Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 30. It resulted when twelve[clarification needed] Ju 88s attacked Rosyth naval base at the Firth of Forth. The raid was the first German air raid on Britain during World War II.
When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, some feared Germany would immediately embark on a devastating aerial bombing campaign against British cities. Adolf Hitler still hoped an all-out war with Britain might be avoided if a compromise could be reached. Britain, however, showed no inclination to compromise, and it was decided bombing should commence. Hitler remained anxious the attacks should not antagonise the British too much and so the rules of engagement were designed to avoid civilian casualties.
In its past, threats to Britain were always perceived as coming from the east, and for many years there had been major Royal Navy bases sited to allow its warships access to the North Sea, including Rosyth, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth.
When war was declared on 3 September, the central belt of Scotland was protected by two fighter squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force, which had been "embodied" or called up some weeks before. At Turnhouse (then a Fighter Command sector station) was No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, equipped with Gloster Gladiators, and in the process of converting to Spitfires, its pilots only deemed competent to fly operationally in daylight. A Spitfire squadron, No. 602 (City of Glasgow), was based at Abbotsinch.
To counter the German threat from the east, 602 Squadron was moved to bolster the defences around the Firth of Forth. On 7 October, it moved to Grangemouth, and on 13 October to RAF Drem, nearer the coast.
16 October 1939 started with relatively good weather for the time of year and 6 or 7 tenths broken cloud. At 09:20, the Chain Home RDF station at Drone Hill near Coldingham detected two intruders heading for the coast from the North Sea. These were Heinkel He 111s of Kampfgeschwader 26 (KG26), based at airfield at Westerland on Sylt, at that time, the nearest Luftwaffe base to Britain.
The Heinkels were fitted with cameras and they carried out tactical reconnaissance sorties. The German crews knew Spitfires were based in the Firth of Forth, even if officially, Intelligence said there were none.
After being detected by RDF, at 09:45, Royal Observer Corps reports placed one unidentified aircraft at high altitude on a southwesterly course over Dunfermline heading for Rosyth, with another flying across the Borders near Galashiels. Three minutes later, at 09:48, Blue Section of 602 Squadron (three Spitfires led by Flight Lieutenant George Pinkerton ) was scrambled to patrol the Isle of May at 5,000 ft (1,500 m).