Transcontinental and Western Air inaugurates the world's first in-flight audio entertainment for airline passengers, who have individual receivers with which to listen to commercial radio broadcasts.[2]
TheGermanLuftwaffe's chief of intelligence,Colonel Josef "Beppo" Schmid, reports that the BritishRoyal Air Force andFrench Air Force are "clearly inferior in strength and armament in comparison to theLuftwaffe," that even an entry intoWorld War II by theUnited States would not alone improve the status ofAllied air power during 1940, and that British fighters stood little chance in combat with the GermanMesserschmitt Bf 110 twin-engine fighter.[4]
March 2 – The United Kingdom and France promise to send 100 bombers with crews and bombs to assist Finland at once, but do not follow through on the promise.[10]
March 6 – France informs theFinnish government that it will dispatch an expeditionary force including 72 bombers to Finland on March 13, but theWinter War ends before the French force can begin its journey.[11]
March 13 – TheWinter War between theSoviet Union andFinland ends in the defeat of Finland. During the 31⁄2-month war, theFinnish Air Force has grown from 96 to 287 aircraft,[12] and has lost 62 aircraft in air-to-air combat and 59 more damaged beyond repair, while the Soviet Union has lost between 700 and 900[5] – 725 confirmed destroyed and about 200 unconfirmed – of the 2,500 to 3,000 aircraft it has committed to the campaign, and another 300 damaged. TheSoviet Air Force has dropped 150,000 bombs – about 7,500 tons (6,803tonnes/metric tons) of bombs – on Finnish territory, but has performed poorly; its operations in early December 1939 had failed to disrupt Finnishmobilization and, despite unusually clear weather in January and February, it failed to disrupt the lone railroad connecting Finland with the outside world for more than a few hours at a time or to disrupt Finnish merchant shipping, despite 60 air raids on Finnish ports.[13]
April 9 – Germany invadesDenmark andNorway, making extensive use ofparatroops.RAF Bomber Command is ordered to halt the German advance through southern Norway; the missions require 1,000-mile (1,600 km) round trips, almost entirely over theNorth Sea.[15]
April 11 – The first aerialtorpedo attack of World War II and the first coordinated torpedo attack launched from an aircraft carrier in history takes place, asFairey Swordfishtorpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrierHMS Furious attack two German destroyers inTrondheimsfjord, Norway. The torpedoes all ground in the shallows and no hits are achieved; three aircraft are lost.[18][19]
April 12 – RAF Bomber Command loses sixHampdens and threeWellingtons in a daylight raid against German forces atStavanger, Norway. It is the last daylight raid by the two types of aircraft in northwestern Europe.[15]
May 5 – The British aircraft carrierHMSArk Royal begins a week and a half of support toAllied forces in theNarvik area of Norway.
May 10 – Germany invadesFrance, theNetherlands,Belgium, andLuxembourg. Paratroops again play a key role. German aircraft surprise aircraft of theRoyal Air Force'sAdvanced Air Striking Force on the ground, but inflict only light damage. Thirty-threeBlenheims attack Germantransport aircraft and other targets in the Netherlands, losing three aircraft. At noon, 32Fairey Battles attack German ground forces in Luxembourg, losing 13 aircraft shot down and the rest damaged; a second raid by 32 Battles sees the loss of 10 more aircraft.[27] During the day, theDutch Air Force loses about half its aircraft and theBelgian Air Force about a quarter of its planes, a combined total of more than 100 planes; France loses four of its 879 combat-ready planes destroyed on the ground and 30 damaged, while the Royal Air Force loses six planes destroyed and 12 put out of action out of 384 deployed in France. Dutch and Belgian aircraft and anti-aircraft guns shoot down 230 German planes including most of Germany's transport aircraft, and Germany loses 44 more aircraft to French and British forces over France.[28] The Germans are the first to usemilitary gliders in action in theBattle of Fort Eben-Emael when 41DFS 230gliders each carrying ten soldiers are launched behindJunkers Ju 52s. Ten gliders land on the grassed roof of the fortress. Only twenty minutes after landing the force has neutralized the fortress at a cost of six dead and twenty wounded.[29]
Fifty-three GermanHeinkel He 111 bombers drop nearly 100 tons of bombs onRotterdam in theNetherlands.The attack kills nearly 1,000 people, destroys 20,000 buildings, and leaves 78,000 people homeless.[31]
May 15 – During British evacuation and demolition operations in Dutch ports, German dive bombers attack the British destroyerHMS Valentine, which is beached and wrecked at the mouth of theScheldt.[32][33]
May 17–18 (overnight) – 72 British bombers attackBremen,Cologne, andHamburg, killing at least 47 and injuring 127 in Bremen and Hamburg.[34]
May 18
French Air Force pilotRoger Sauvage scores his first aerial victory, setting a GermanHeinkel He 111 afire over France, forcing it to land north ofFismes and capturing its two surviving crewmen. He will go on to become history's onlyblack ace, with 16 kills by the end of World War II.[35]
May 19 – During British naval operations to bring refugees fromOstend, Belgium, to the United Kingdom, German bombers sink the British destroyerHMS Whitley off Belgium.[37]
Adolf Hitler endorses the "Halt Order", stopping the German ground advance in France against Allied forces surrounded atDunkirk to allow theLuftwaffe to finish them off. He does not rescind the order until May 26.
German bombers sink the British destroyerHMS Wessex offCalais and damage a British and aPolish destroyer while they support British troops fighting there.[38][39]
May 26 – June 4 – Operation Dynamo, theDunkirk evacuation, takes place, as 308,888[citation needed] Allied soldiers are evacuated to the United Kingdom from Dunkirk by sea under continuous German air attack. During the evacuation, German aircraft sink six British and three French destroyers and eight personnel ships and put 19 British destroyers and nine personnel ships out of action.[41]
May 27–28 (overnight) – 120 British bombers attack Bremen, Hamburg,Duisburg,Dortmund,Neuss, and other German cities. During the raid,Aircraftman Stan Oldridge, rear gunner of a Whitley ofNo. 10 Squadron, scores the first aerial victory of World War II over a German night fighter, shooting down what is probably a Messerschmitt Bf 109D nearUtrecht early on May 28.[42]
June 3 – The GermanLuftwaffe conductsOperation Paula, a major attack by 640 bombers and 460 fighters intended to finish off the remaining units of theFrench Air Force by attacking French airfields, factories,railways, andmarshalling yards. The French are warned of the attack byAllied codebreakers, but because of communication problems only 80 French fighters take off to oppose the incoming German planes. The Germans lose only four bombers and six fighters and believe that they have dealt a death blow to the French Air Force, claiming 75 French aircraft destroyed in the air and 400 on the ground, as well as the destruction of many factories and railroad facilities. Actually, they destroy only 15 French aircraft in the air and 20 on the ground and inflict little lasting damage on other targets. During the day, the Germans bombParis for the first time inWorld War II.
June 7–8 (overnight) – TheFrench Naval AviationSNCAC NC.223 bomberJules Verne (registration F-ARIN), conducts the first bombing raid onBerlin of World War II, making a 22-hour flight that involves flying overDenmark to approach Berlin from theBaltic Sea. Targeting theSiemens factory,Jules Verne drops eight 250 kg (550 lb) high-explosive bombs and twelve 10 kg (22 lb) incendiary bombs on the city.[43]
June 8 – The GermanbattlecruisersScharnhorst andGneisenau surprise HMSGlorious with no aircraft aloft during her voyage from Norway to the United Kingdom and sink her and her two escortingdestroyers with gunfire. The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force lose 1,472 men aboardGlorious and the two destroyers; only 43 men survive.[36][44]
June 10–11 (overnight) – The French Naval Aviation SNCAC NC.223 bomberJules Verne bombs theHeinkel factory atRostock, Germany.[46]
June 11 – "Haddock Force" – two squadrons ofRAF Bomber CommandWellingtons tasked to bomb Italy from bases aroundMarseille, France – attempts to launch its first raid. It fails when French soldiers block the runways after local French officials oppose the raid. Haddock Force is disbanded and returns to the United Kingdom the next day.[15]
June 11–12 (overnight)
RAF Bomber Command raids Italy for the first time, when 36Whitleys set out to attack industrial targets inTurin; 23 turn back over theAlps and two others bombGenoa, but nine succeed in attacking Turin.[15]
The French Naval Aviation SNCAC NC.223 bomberJules Verne bombs anoil refinery nearLivorno, Italy.[46]
June 12–13 (overnight) – The French Naval Aviation SNCAC NC.223 bomberJules Verne bombs an industrial complex south ofVenice, Italy.[46]
June 15–18 – Royal Air Force fighter cover allows the evacuation by sea from France to the United Kingdom of 52,104 troops fromCherbourg Naval Base andSt. Malo, France, without loss.[32]
June 17 – German aircraft bomb the Britishocean linerRMSLancastria inQuiberon Bay after she has taken aboard 5,800 Allied troops for evacuation from France to the United Kingdom. She catches fire and sinks in 15 minutes, with the loss of 3,000 lives.[32]
June 26 – The Royal Air Force disbands the Advanced Air Striking Force. Since the German offensive in the West began on May 10, the AASF has lost 229 aircraft.
British bombers make a daylight attack against Germanbarges assembling atRotterdam in anticipation of an invasion of the United Kingdom, their first attack against German efforts to build an invasion force. Such raids will peak in September and end in October after the threat of a German invasion abates.[51]
July 5 – Shore-based Swordfish of the Fleet Air Arm'sNo. 813 Squadron make a torpedo strike against Italian ships atTobruk, sinking atransport and a destroyer, blowing thebow off another destroyer, and damaging anocean liner.[53]
July 6 – Twelve Swordfish aircraft fromArk Royal make a torpedo strike against Mers-el-Kébir, sinking a Frenchpatrol boat and badly damaging the beached battlecruiserDunkerque. It is the most successful aerial torpedo attack against acapital ship in history at the time.[54]
Aircraft from the British aircraft carrierHMS Hermes torpedo the French battleshipRichelieu atDakar, Senegal, damaging her.Richelieu is not seaworthy again for a year.[55]
July 8–9 (overnight) – 64 British bombers strike airfields in the Netherlands and ports in north Germany and lay sea mines. Germany's first specialized night fighter unit,Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, scores its first victory, asOberfeldwebel Hermann Förster shoots down a Whitley offHeligoland.[57]
July 8–13 – Italian high-level bombers subject ships of the BritishMediterranean Fleet to repeated heavy attacks while the fleet is at sea in the Mediterranean. They score only one hit, on thelight cruiserHMS Gloucester.[58]
July 9
The indecisiveBattle of Calabria is the first major fleet action of World War II between the British and Italian navies. Swordfish from the British aircraft carrierHMS Eagle conduct two torpedo strikes but score no hits.[59]
40 ItalianSavoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers attack the British aircraft carrier HMSArk Royal and other ships ofForce H offSardinia. They drop over 100 bombs but score no hits, andBlackburn Skuas fromArk Royal shoot down two SM.79s and damage two others.[55]
July 14 – In retaliation for the British attacks at Mers-el-Kébir and Dakar, French bombers again attack Gibraltar, but most of their bombs fall into the sea.
August 2 – As one of the components ofOperation Hurry, the first of many operations in whichAllied aircraft carriers fly off Royal Air Force fighters for service at Malta, twelveFairey Swordfish from the British aircraft carrierHMSArk Royal make the first night raid on Italian soil in the early morning hours, attackingCagliari in southernSardinia. They inflict heavy damage on the airfield and on Italianseaplanes anchored in the harbor and dropnaval mines into the harbor. Two Swordfish are lost. Nine accompanyingBlackburn Skuas shoot down an ItalianCant Z.501.[62] It is a diversionary attack to cover the carrierHMS Argus, which flies off 12 RAFHawker Hurricanes to Malta from a point south of Sardinia later in the day.[63][64]
August 24 – A German bomber crew bombs a residential area of southLondon, apparently in error.[67]
August 25–26 (overnight) – In retaliation for the August 24 bombing of London, theRoyal Air Force conducts its first air raid of World War II onBerlin.
August 27 – The first flight of themotorjet-poweredCaproni Campini N.1 takes place. It is recognized as the first flight of ajet aircraft; the recognition later is retracted when news of the August 1939 flight of theturbojet-poweredHeinkel He 178 is made public.
September 2 – Aircraft from the British aircraft carrierHMSArk Royal conductOperation Smash, a night raid onCagliari,Sardinia. While some Swordfish dropparachute flares, others bomb an Italian military headquarters and aircraft parked on the ground.[69]
September 3 –Ark Royal aircraft again attack Cagliari inOperation Grab in an attack similar to that of Operation Smash. The raid is less successful, with many bombs falling into the sea.[62]
September 7 –Hermann Göring orders the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) to stop targeting British airfields and to attack the city ofLondon instead. TheLuftwaffe attacks London that evening, the first of 57 consecutive nights of German air raids on London.[71]
September 7–8 – The largest mass air combat in history takes place overGreat Britain, with 1,200 British and German aircraft operating in an area of only 24 km × 48 km (15 mi × 30 mi).
September 9 – Aircraft from the British aircraft carrierArk Royal strike Cagliari, Sardinia, inflicting more damage under heavy fire.[62]
September 15 – Germany makes its heaviest daylight raid on London. TheRoyal Air Force destroys 185 German aircraft overEngland during the day. As a result, Germany abandons its hopes of achieving victory in theBattle of Britain.[65]
September 17–18 – The world's first high-performance, purpose-builtnight fighter, the BritishBristol Beaufighter, flies its first operational patrols, with the RAF.[60]–
September 24–26 – A British naval force supports a disastrous Free French attempt at anamphibious invasion of Dakar. Vichy French forces resist successfully, and HMSArk Royal loses nine Swordfish aircraft before operations are called off.[74]
September 24–25 –French Air Force bombers raidGibraltar in retaliation for the British and Free French attack on Dakar.
September 30 – TheBattle of Britain is said to be over, withHitler's planned invasion of theUnited Kingdom (Operation Sea Lion, orUnternehmen Seelöwe) postponed indefinitely. Since September 1, the Royal Air Force has lost 65 bombers.[75]
October 1 – A British bomber is shot down over theNetherlands by Germanantiaircraft artillery after being illuminated by asearchlight coupled to aFreya radar. It is the first time an aircraft is destroyed after being detected and illuminated by a radar-guided searchlight.[78]
October 2 – The first ground-radar-controlled aerial victory at night takes place as theLuftwaffe'sdunkele Nachtjagd ("dark nightfighting", abbreviated asDunaja) technique – in which ground-based radar is used to controlnight fighters until they come within visual range of a target – has its first success. AFreya radar is used to coach theDorner Do 17Z-10 night fighter pilot to within visual range of a BritishVickers Wellington bomber over the Netherlands, allowing him to shoot it down.[79]
October 8
The British Royal Air Force formsNo. 71 Squadron, the "Eagle Squadron", comprising American volunteers.
Josef František, aCzechoslovakian ace (17 victories) and the most efficientAllied pilot of the Battle of Britain, dies in an air crash over England.
October 20 – During anair show atMarianna, Arkansas, a sightseeing plane circling a parachutist as he descends becomes entangled in his parachute. The plane crashes, killing all five people on board it as well as the parachutist.[80]
October 24
TheLuftwaffe's I.Gruppe,Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, scores the first aerial victory by a German nightintruder aircraft during World War II with a kill over England.[81]
November 14–15 (overnight) – 437 aircraft of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) make a massed air raid onCoventry. 380 civilians are killed and some 800 are wounded.
November 17 –Operation White, a second attempt by the British aircraft carrierHMS Argus to fly off aircraft – 14 RAFHawker Hurricanes and twoFleet Air ArmBlackburn Skuas – toMalta fails almost completely when the aircraft are launched at too great a range and become lost in bad weather. Only four Hurricanes and a Skua reach Malta; the other Hurricanes all ditch in the Mediterranean with the loss of all but one of their pilots, and one Skua crashlands onSicily, where the Italians capture its crew.
During theBattle of Cape Spartivento, the Italian naval commanderAdmiralInigo Campioni orders his fleet to retire upon receiving word of the strength of the opposing British force. A torpedo strike by 11 Swordfish against his fleeing ships is ineffective, as is a belated attack on the British aircraft carrierHMS Ark Royal by Italian high-level bombers.[53]
TheSoviet Union abandons voluntary recruitment for its military flight training programs and begins to feed personnel into such programs viaconscription.[84]
The French aircraft manufacturerSociété nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Midi (SNCA du Midi, orSNCAM), which manufactures aircraft under theDewoitine name, is absorbed intoSociété nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Est (SNCASE), bringing to an end Dewoitine's existence as a business entity and the production of aircraft under its name.
Early December –Southampton suffers two particularly severe German night bombing raids.[85]
December 16–17 (overnight) – For the first time, Royal Air Force Bomber Command conducts a raid focusing on attacking a city center rather than specific targets inOperation Rachel, a raid by 134 British bombers againstMannheim, Germany, in reprisal for the German raid on Coventry in November. Their bombs are dispersed widely, killing 34 people in Mannheim andLudwigshafen.[85][88]
December 29–30 (overnight) – TheLuftwaffe makes a devastating attack onLondon, making extensive use of incendiary weapons and causing theSecond Great Fire of London with hundreds of casualties.[90]
December 31 – During 1940, German night fighters defending Germany have shot down 42 British bombers.[91]
Lockheed P-38 Lightning – the first twin-enginedinterceptor fighter in U.S. Army service, the first twin-boom fighter in series production, and the first production fighter with a maximum speed in excess of 400 mph (640 km/h) – with theUnited States Army Air Corps[114]
^Condon, Richard W.,The Winter War: Russia Against Finland, New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1972, pp. 105, 107.
^May, Ernest R.,Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France, New York: Hill and Wang, 2000,ISBN0-8090-8906-8, p. 246.
^abcHardesty, Von,Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power 1941–1945, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982,ISBN978-0-87474-510-8, p. 52.
^May, Ernest R.,Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France, New York: Hill and Wang, 2000,ISBN0-8090-8906-8, pp. 225, 236, 315–316, 317–319.
^Condon, Richard W.,The Winter War: Russia Against Finland, New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1972, p. 109.
^Condon, Richard W.,The Winter War: Russia Against Finland, New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1972, p. 146.
^Morison, Samuel Eliot,History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IV: Coral Sea, Midway, and Submarine Actions, May 1942 – August 1942, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 72.
^Condon, Richard W.,The Winter War: Russia Against Finland, New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1972, p. 145.
^Condon, Richard W.,The Winter War: Russia Against Finland, New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1972, pp. 147–148.
^Condon, Richard W.,The Winter War: Russia Against Finland, New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1972, pp. 30, 50.
^Condon, Richard W.,The Winter War: Russia Against Finland, New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1972, pp. 7, 50, 55.
^Hastings, Max,Bomber Command: Churchill's Epic Campaign – The Inside Story of the RAF's Valiant Attempt to End the War, New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1987,ISBN0-671-68070-6, p. 80.
^Sturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 39.
^abSturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 40.
^Thetford, Owen,British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,ISBN1-55750-076-2, p. 140.
^Sturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, pp. 40–41.
^Thetford, Owen,British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,ISBN1-55750-076-2, p. 141.
^abcdSturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 41.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 31.
^Peattie, Mark R.,Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001,ISBN978-1-55750-432-6, pp. 118, 120.
^May, Ernest R.,Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France, New York: Hill and Wang, 2000,ISBN0-8090-8906-8, pp. 384–385.
^Devlin, Gerald M. (1985).Silent Wings. London: W. H. Allen.ISBN0-491-03134-3.
^abHinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 37.
^abHinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, pp. 36–37.
^abcMacintyre, Donald,The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, no ISBN, pp. 50–51.
^Colledge, J, j.,Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987,ISBN0-87021-652-X, p. 363.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 38.
^Guttman, Jon, "History's Only Black Ace,"Military History, January 2016, p. 16.
^abcdefSturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 42.
^Macintyre, Donald,The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, no ISBN, p. 511.
^Macintyre, Donald,The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, no ISBN, p. 51.
^Colledge, J, j.,Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987,ISBN0-87021-652-X, p. 378.
^abSturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 215.
^Macintyre, Donald,The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, no ISBN, pp. 52–53.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, pp. 38–39.
^Sweeting, C. G., "Target: Berlin,"Aviation History, January 2015, pp. 41–42, 45.
^Macintyre, Donald,The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, no ISBN, p. 50.
^Macintyre, Donald,The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, no ISBN, p. 149.
^abcSweeting, C. G., "Target: Berlin,"Aviation History, January 2015, p. 45.
^abDonald, David, ed.,The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997,ISBN0-7607-0592-5, p. 184.
^Sturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 45.
^abSturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 44.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 39.
^abHinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 43.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 44.
^Macintyre, Donald,The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, no ISBN, pp. 150–151.
^Macintyre, Donald,The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, no ISBN, p. 151.
^abCrosby, Francis.The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World's Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day. London: Anness Publishing Ltd, 2006.ISBN978-1-84476-917-9. p. 30.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 66.
^abcSturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 52.
^Macintyre, Donald,The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, no ISBN, p. 153.
^abCrosby, Francis,The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World's Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day, London: Anness Publishing Ltd., 2006,ISBN978-1-84476-917-9, p. 29.
^Peattie, Mark R.,Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001,ISBN978-1-55750-432-6, p. 119.
^abCrosby, Francis,The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World's Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day, London: Anness Publishing Ltd., 2006,ISBN978-1-84476-917-9, p. 270.
^abPeattie, Mark R.,Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001,ISBN978-1-55750-432-6, p. 120.
^Sturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 126.
^abcSturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 48.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 53.
^Sturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, pp. 52–536.
^Sturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 53.
^Sweetman, John.Schweinfurt: Disaster in the Skies. New York: Ballantine Books, Inc., 1971. p. 23.
^Hardesty, Von,Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power 1941–1945, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982,ISBN0-87474-510-1, p. 55.
^Peattie, Mark R.,Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001,ISBN978-1-55750-432-6, p. 122.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 52.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 51.
^Hardesty, Von,Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power 1941–1945, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982,ISBN0-87474-510-1, p. 57.
^abHinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 55.
^Mason, David,U-Boat: The Secret Menace, New York: Ballantine Books, 1968, no ISBN, pp. 46, 48.
^abSturtivant, Ray,British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990,ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 61.
^Hastings, Max,Bomber Command: Churchill's Epic Campaign – The Inside Story of the RAF's Valiant Attempt to End the War, New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1987,ISBN0-671-68070-6, p. 93.
^Angelucci, Enzo,The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,ISBN978-0-517-56588-9, pp. 226–227.
^Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006.ISBN0-14-102715-0.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter,The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996,ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 107.
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