July 22, 1940: First RAF Night Fighter Victory

Monday 22 July 1940

Spitfire Mk I GR-A after a landing accident at RAF Pembrey on 22 July 1940. The pilot was Sgt Ronald H "Ronnie" Fokes who was returning from a night sortie when the port undercarriage leg collapsed. At the time, No 92 Squadron RAF used the code GR when based at the airfield and QJ when stationed at RAF Biggin Hill.

Battle of Britain: As Reichsmarschall Goering has ordered, on 22 July 1940 the Luftwaffe's priority today remains shipping. The raids are fairly mundane, causing little damage.

No. 145 Squadron shoots down a Dornier Do 17 over the Channel.

One of the few attacks on England proper hits Duff House in Banff. it is housing German POWs, six of whom are killed with 18 other casualties.

Destroyer HMS Beagle is attacked by Stukas but manages to shoot one down.

After dark, the raids pick up. There is minelaying all along the southern and eastern coasts, particularly in the Thames estuary. This apparently is pursuant to Hitler's Fuhrer Directive of 16 July 1940 requiring that the English Channel be "sealed off" with mines. The ports targeted are Dover, Plymouth, Portland, and Portsmouth.

Junkers Ju 88s of KG51 bomb the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton and other bombers target Margate and Manson airfield shortly before midnight.

In an odd incident, a Junkers Ju 88 (Lt. Hajo Herrmann) wind up entangled in a barrage balloon. It somehow manages to extricate itself, taking off from the balloon and continues its mission.

Losses for the day are even at a plane apiece.

RAF No. 301 Squadron, composed of Polish airmen, is formally established at Bramcote.

Otto Streib gets his second victory as a night fighter pilot.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends Blenheim bombers of No.107 Squadron against Creil, France.

Whitley bombers are sent against German targets. RAF No. 10 Squadron and No. 58 Squadron each send 8 bombers against the aircraft factory at Bremen. No. 51 Squadron sends 7 bombers against the Ruhr industrial region.

Battle of the Atlantic: British submarine HMS Clyde mistakes HMS Truant for a U-boat and fires six torpedoes at it off Fejeosen, Norway. Fortunately, they all miss the destroyer, but that is quite an expenditure of torpedoes for no hits.

British Grampus Class submarine HMS Narwhal is lost around this date somewhere off Trondheim. This apparently is done by a Dornier Do 17 of 1/Kü.Fl.Gr. 606 (Lt. Karl Müller).

British trawler HMS Campina hits a mine and sinks off the Holyhead Breakwater Light, with ten crew lost.

Convoy OA 188 departs from Methil, Convoy FN 229 departs from Southend, Convoy MT117 departs from Methil, Convoy FS228 departs from the Tyne, Convoy FS229 departs from the Tyne.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At Malta, there are some air raid alerts during the night where the raider turns back without attacking. At 03:45, a few bombers attack Hal Far airfield and the Kalafrana area. A Short Sunderland Flying Boat attacks an Italian convoy, damaging some ships.

Applied Science: A Blenheim 1F at the Fighter Interception Unit at Tangmere is fitted with Airborne Intercept (AI) Mk IV radar. This radar has a range of between 20,000 feet and 400 feet. While not an ideal night fighter, the Blenheim shoots down a Dornier Do 17 south of Brighton. This is Britain's first night-fighter victory.

Matilda Mk I tank of the Royal Tank Regiment, 1st Armoured Division, being transported aboard a flatbed railway wagon, 22nd July 1940.

British Government: Lord Halifax gets on BBC and broadcasts a rejection of Hitler's 19 July 1940 "Last Appeal to Reason," saying:

No one here wants the war to go on for a day longer than is necessary. But we shall not stop fighting until freedom, for ourselves and others, is secure.

Having Halifax make the rejection is important internally because he has been the leader of the faction that wants to at least open a dialogue with Hitler.

Separately, the War Cabinet ratifies Neville Chamberlain's proposal to create a Special Operations Executive (SOE) force. The SOE is part of the Ministry for Economic Warfare under Hugh Dalton. The intent is to support partisan uprisings against Hitler's rule in Europe.

General Bernard Montgomery takes over British V Corps.

The first US Jeep.

United States Government: Bantam submits its bid for the first military jeep, including blueprints. Much of it is assembled from existing off-the-shelf automotive parts, and the custom four-wheel drivetrain components are supplied by Spicer. The hand-built prototype was completed in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Canada: Great Britain is desperately in need of pilots, as its attrition rate in the Battle of Britain is becoming alarming. The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan begins in Ontario, Canada.

General Harry Crerar is appointed Chief of General Staff.

Baltic States: People who refused to vote for the Soviet puppet government candidates are arrested.

Latin America: The Havana Conference convenes in Havana, Cuba. The member nations discuss joint security and neutrality issues. US Secretary of State Cordell Hull proposes a collective trusteeship of colonies to prevent them from becoming a battleground.

Light cruiser USS Phoenix (CL 46) reached Callao, Peru on its "Show the Flag" mission.

Japan: More Jewish refugees fleeing Europe take the "back door route" through Japan to America. The Hikawa Maru leaves Yokohama bound for Seattle, Washington with 82 aboard.

Fumimaro Konoe becomes Prime Minister again. Tojo is his War Minister and is a big advocate of an alliance with Germany.

Vichy France: Immigrant Jews lose their French citizenship.

The government releases Leon Degrelle from detention near Spain. He returns home to Belgium.

Future History: Alex Trebek is born in Sudbury, Ontario. He becomes famous as the host of Jeopardy in the 1980s.

Mary Good Road - b. 1835- d. July 22, 1940. Mary was part of the Bad Face Band of the Oglala Lakota.

July 1940

July 1, 1940: Vichy France
July 2, 1940: Arandora Star
July 3, 1940: Operation Catapult at Mers El Kébir
July 4, 1940: Romania In Crisis
July 5, 1940: The Five Freedoms
July 6, 1940: Hitler's High Point
July 7 1940: Dakar And Ringo
July 8, 1940: Tea Rationing in England
July 9, 1940: Battle of Calabria
July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain Begins
July 11, 1940: "Nous, Philippe Petain"
July 12, 1940: Enter Laval
July 13, 1940: German Surface Raiders Attack!
July 14, 1940: Bastille/Mourning Day
July 15, 1940: Tallest Man Dies
July 16, 1940: Plans for Sea Lion
July 17, 1940: Burma Road Closed
July 18, 1940: FDR Runs Again
July 19, 1940: Last Appeal To Reason
July 20, 1940: First Night Fighter Victory
July 21, 1940: Soviets Absorb Baltic States
July 22, 1940: First RAF Night Fighter Victory
July 23, 1940: Invasion False Alarm
July 24, 1940: The Meknés Incident
July 25, 1940: Black Thursday for RAF
July 26, 1940: Capture The Duke?
July 27, 1940: What's Up, Doc?
July 28, 1940: Destroyers Pulled From Dover
July 29, 1940: Barbarossa On The Burner
July 30, 1940: Hitler Delays Sealion
July 31, 1940: Bloody Wednesday of Olkusz

2020