Strana 32
#84206BOXART STORY
By the summer of 1941, when the RAF’s daily air
offensive over the occupied European coast had
reached its peak, British command was already
aware that this strategy was resulting in heavy
losses, significantly higher than those suffered by
the Luftwaffe. The RAF aimed to engage the enemy
primarily through Operations Sweep and Circus.
While the former involved deploying only fighter
squadrons, the latter featured large-scale fighter
escorts for a small group of Blenheim bombers.
However, within the range of these formations,
there were few targets of real strategic value to the
German occupiers.
Following the German invasion of the Soviet
Union, RAF command intensified daylight
operations over the continent, assuming that this
would compel the Luftwaffe to retain more units
in France, thereby easing pressure on the Soviets.
This assumption, however, proved incorrect.
The Germans were advancing rapidly into Soviet
territory and performing well on the African front.
By the second half of 1941, only JG 2 "Richthofen"
and JG 26 "Schlageter" remained in France. Both
were seasoned units that, working closely with
ground controllers, effectively employed hit-and-
run tactics.
At the beginning of July 1941, RAF command
decided to involve in Circus operations the four-
engine Short Stirling bombers of No. 7 and No. 15
Squadrons of No. 3 Group under the command of Air
Vice-Marshal Jack Baldwin. However, no more than
eight Stirling bombers were deployed on any given
day, and no more than six participated in a single
Circus operation. In early July, RAF command also
received intelligence, revealing that German fighter
units had been ordered to engage only if bombers
were present in the British formation. This led the
RAF, in some cases, to adopt a tactic of sending
bombers only as far as the coast to provoke
a German response. Under the right conditions,
the bombers would then be quickly withdrawn back.
One of the units that took part in Operations
Sweep and Circus was the Tangmere Wing,
commanded by the renowned Douglas Bader.
In the first half of 1941, RAF fighter pilots were still
flying in formations of three aircraft consisting of
a leader and two wingmen. In contrast, their
German opponents had been using a more flexible
four-aircraft formation since the Spanish Civil War.
The British three-aircraft formation posed
several challenges. It increased the risk of
collisions between wingmen, who had to remain
close together, often at the expense of situational
awareness. Additionally, the tight formation
required frequent engine adjustments, and the
wingmen typically consumed more fuel than the
leader, who could fly more efficiently. As a result,
formations were often forced to return from
enemy territory earlier than necessary due to fuel
concerns.
Douglas Bader himself remarked, he could have
shot down far more "Huns" if his wingmen hadn’t
frequently reported low fuel. The "Finger Four"
formation, which addressed many of these issues,
wasn’t adopted by the Tangmere Wing and other
RAF units until mid-1941.
Bader was also notably stubborn about aircraft
armament. He firmly believed that eight machine
guns were more effective than the two cannons and
four machine guns. For this reason, he preferred
the Spitfire Mk.IIa variant over the newer Mk.V.
He later admitted, however, that he had been wrong
in this regard.
During July, Wing Commander Bader destroyed
seven Bf 109s, claimed four as probables and
damaged seven. This was roughly comparable
in number of victories to his score during the
Battle of Britain. And by the summer of 1941 his
subordinates were showing exhaustion similar to
that experienced by RAF fighters in the summer and
autumn of 1940. Bader relentlessly led his men into
further action, leading some of his subordinates to
the brink of mutiny.
Douglas Bader was also present during the
last deployment of Stirling bombers as part of
Operation Circus. During the morning raid on Lille
on 21 July 1941 (Circus 54), the formation of three
Stirlings was an easy target for German flak.
One of the bombers made an emergency landing at
Manston with two engines out. The downing of the
bomber was somewhat optimistically credited to
the commander of I./JG 26, Hptm. Seifert. His unit,
engaged in dogfights with escorts, reported four
Spitfires as shot down. Three more were claimed
by III./JG 2. RAF fighters managed to shoot down
one Bf 109 E-7 from II./JG 26 and one Bf 109 F, with
another another badly damaged, from II./JG 2.
Bader scored a 0,5 kill during the morning action
and damaged one more Bf 109 during the afternoon
(Circus 55). During the afternoon sortie, however,
three Stirlings were recalled back to base and
this brought the deployment of this type in Circus
operations to a close. Douglas Bader was down to
the last three weeks of his combat career.
July Stirlings
Text: Jan Bobek
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
INFO Eduard32
April 2025