Battle of Britain - Day 39

Day 39 – August 17th 1940

August 17, 2010 in 54 Squadron, August 1940

Weather: fine.
Fighter Command Serviceable Aircraft as at 0900 hours:

Blenheim – 50
Spitfire – 208
Hurricane – 345
Defiant – 28
Gladiator – 0
Total – 631

A much quieter day with the Luftwaffe recovering from its exertions over the previous two days. As for the RAF, these recent very active days were leading to a growing shortage of pilots. However, volunteers were successfully sought from other commands. This helped to fill some of the gaps at least.

That night Liverpool and Coventry were bombed and a number of civilians were killed.

54 Squadron Operational Record Book – 17 August
Probably the lull before the storm. No enemy activity until the late afternoon.

Reported Casualties (RAF Campaign Diary 17th August 1940):

* Enemy: 2 confirmed
* Own: nils