Fighter Command suffered rather more heavily than the Luftwaffe during German operations against London and Portsmouth.

Among the RAF losses was Sergeant Eric Bann of No 238 Squadron, who baled out of his Hurricane over the Isle of Wight but whose parachute did not open.

He was a native of Macclesfield, Cheshire, and in reporting his death the Macclesfield Courier and Herald wrote: “It is with intense regret that we learn of his death, and we sympathise greatly with his family; but they can find comfort in the knowledge that their son died defending his home and the women and children of his land from the threat from the air.”