In the early hours of this morning Bomber Command aircraft were returning from Wilhelmshaven, where the German battleship Tirpitz had been attacked.

A Dornier Do 17 tasked to attack Liverpool turned back in bad weather and reached France, but was then reported to have flown back to England because of a faulty compass. Eventually the crew baled out over Salisbury Plain and the Dornier belly landed at Ness Point, Erwarton, Suffolk.

The Tirpitz would not be sunk (at Tromso, Norway) until November 1944, when the operation was carried out by Lancasters of Nos 9 and 617 Squadrons. On that occasion one of the 617 aircraft was skippered by Flight Lieutenant Tony Iveson, who had been a Spitfire pilot in the Battle of Britain with Nos 616 and 92 Squadrons.

Flt Lt Iveson was one of a number of men to both qualify for the Battle of Britain Clasp and later be decorated for service in Bomber Command.

Single Luftwaffe aircraft and small formations attacked targets in various parts of England during the day, while London, Liverpool and the Midlands suffered at night.