Saturday, August 7, 2010

Day 342 August 7, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 29. At 2.45 AM, D.S. Smith of 616 Squadron is killed when his Spitfire crashes during a night flying exercise. It is another fine day but very little Luftwaffe activity allows RAF to rest men and make repairs to aircraft & airstrips. 1 convoy is bombed. Overnight, there is bombing & minelaying all along the East coast of Britain & on the West from Land’s End to Liverpool.

East Africa. Indian troops from Aden (1st Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment) reinforce British forces in British Somaliland.

At 9.40 PM, 150 miles off Ireland, British troopship Mohamed Ali El Kebir, carrying 631 troops, 66 naval personnel & 165 crew from England to Gibraltar, is hit with 1 torpedo from U-38. Escort destroyer HMS Griffin depth charges U-38 for 2 hours while Mohamed Ali El Kebir sinks (10 crew members, 86 troops & naval personnel killed). HMS Griffin rescues 155 crew, 611 troops & naval personnel from various lifeboats, rafts and out of the water. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/454.html
http://mohamed.ali.el-kebir.freewebspace.com/

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