Battle of Britain - Day 4

Day 4 – July 13th 1940
July 13, 2010 in 54 Squadron, July 1940, Wissler Diary
Weather: cold

The fog of the previous day still persisted and didn’t clear until midday. Despite this several convoys were attacked off the east coast. Attacks were also made on a convoy finding its way through the Straits of Dover. Finally, an attack was launched on a convoy off Lyme Regis by a formation of over 50 German aircraft. One RAF fighter was lost, but 7 German aircraft were destroyed.

54 Operational Record Book, 13 July 17:14 hours
New Zealand to the fore again! This time in the person of PO Gray. 3 sections were patrolling Manston when seasoned Blue section (Flt Lt Way, PO Gray and Sgt Norwell – all survivors of Dunkirk) were sighted by 2 Me 109s. Better prepared than the earlier and less fortunate Green section of the squadron, the tables were turned on the 109s, chasing them back at sea level almost to the French coast. PO Gray shot down one which crashed into the sea (confirmed by 56 Squadron). Flt Lt Way was unfortunate for the 109 he was chasing escaped.

The Squadron now stands at:
a)enemy aircraft certain casualties – 39
b)enemy aircraft probable casualties – 21
c)our own pilots missing or killed – 6
d)our own aircraft lost whilst engaging the enemy – 13

PO DH Wissler – Diary,13 July 1940
We were at readiness all morning but nothing happened, then as soon as we sat down to lunch we were told to take off for Martlesham. We did one patrol over the sea round up the E. Coast but we saw nothing although we were guided to where 3 bombers were meant to be. We returned about 8 and on arriving back at Debden were instructed to do some formation flying so that photographers from “Life” could get some shots. Unfortunately I never felt less like formation and it wasn’t really good.
(Reproduced with kind permission of the Imperial War Museum and Copyright holder)