A twin-engine Heinkel He 111 medium bomber over “the U-bend in the Thames, the heart of London’s dockland, and a landmark known to every Luftwaffe bomber crew” at 1748 hours GMT, 7 September 1940. (Luftwaffe photograph)
7 September 1940: at about 4:00 p.m., the Blitz of London began with the German Luftwaffe attacking the city with 348 bombers escorted by 617 fighters. After dark, a second wave of 247 bombers attacked using the fires from the earlier attack to guide them.
Hauptman Hajo Hermann reported:
“A very clear night. . . everywhere, the German bombers were swarming in. . . Everything was lit up by fires, like a huge torch in the night.” Until 7 September, orders were very strict to not bomb indiscriminately, “But now, for the first time, we were allowed to bomb regardless.”
— Duel of Eagles, Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, C.V.O., D.S.O., D.F.C. and Bar, R.A.F. Cassell Publishers Limited, London, Chapter 27 at Pages 393–394.
Approximately 1,000 Londoners were killed that first night. During the Blitz, London was bombed for 76 consecutive nights.
Smoke rises over the City of London, during the first air raid, 7 September 1940. (NARA)
German military leaders believed that England could only be defeated by invasion. Before Germany could stage a cross-channel invasion, though, it had to gain air superiority. After weeks of relentless devastating attacks against British airfields, Reichsmarschall Hermann Wilhelm Göring made a fatal mistake. He shifted to attacking population centers.
A bomb crater at the Elephant and Castle, London, 8 September 1940. (Unattributed)
The primary purpose of the Blitz of London was to force the Royal Air Force to defend the City. Luftwaffe commanders believed that they could destroy the RAF in battle. And the RAF had to be destroyed for an invasion of England to go forward.
By the end, losses in airplanes and crews to both sides were about even, but the RAF survived, thus Germany failed in its goal. There was no invasion.
The crew of this Heinkel He 111 on its way to London is easily visible. (Luftwaffe photograph)
The Heinkel He 111 was the primary Luftwaffe bomber. It had a crew of 5 or 6. The airplane was powered by two liquid-cooled Junkers Jumo 211 inverted V-12 engines, producing 1,200 horsepower each, giving the He 111 a maximum speed of 254 miles per hour (409 kilometers per hour). The bomber was 59 feet (17.98 meters) long with a wingspan of 77 feet (23.4 meters). It was armed with three or more 7.92 mm machine guns, and could carry up to 4,400 pounds (2,000 kilograms) of bombs. It had a maximum range of 1,420 miles (2,285 kilometers).
Fires burning at the Surrey commercial Docks, 7 September 1940. (Unattributed)
The Bomb Sight Project, sponsored by the University of Portsmouth, The National Archives, and the Joint Information Systems Committee (“Jisc”), has scanned the geographic data of every bomb that fell on London from 10 July 1940 to 6 June 1941. Interactive maps can be seen at
http://bombsight.org/#15/51.5050/-0.0900
By clicking on individual icons, information on the location and type of bomb is provided.
Below is the location of every bomb which fell on London before midnight of the first night of The Blitz, 7 September 1940:
First Night of the Blitz—7th September 1940. (The Bomb Sight Project)
LT William H. Allen in the cockpit of his P-51D Mustang, Pretty Patty II, along with his ground crew, TSGT F.S. Westbrook, SGT W.G. Holmes and CPL F.W. Bandy. (F. Birtciel)
5 September 1944: Lieutenant William H. Allen, U.S. Army Air Corps, was a fighter pilot assigned to the 343rd Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, based at RAF Wormingford, Essex, England. After escorting a bombing mission to Stuttgart, Lt. Allen, flying his North American Aviation P-51D-5-NA Mustang, 44-14049, Pretty Patty II, (identification markings CY J) and his flight, which included Lieutenant William H. Lewis, attacked an airfield north of Göppingen, Germany.
Lieutenant Allen became an Ace in one day when he shot down five Heinkel He 111 twin-engine bombers as they took off at two-minute intervals.
The flight of Mustangs shot down a total of 16 enemy aircraft.
LT William H. Allen and his ground crew pose with their P-51D Mustang, Pretty Patty II. (F. Birtciel)
Captain Richard Stephen Ritchie, United States Air Force
28 August 1972: Captain Richard Stephen Ritchie, United States Air Force, and Weapons System Officer Captain Charles Barbin DeBellevue, leading Buick flight with their McDonnell F-4D Phantom II, shot down a North Vietnamese MiG 21 interceptor. This was Ritchie’s fifth confirmed aerial combat victory, earning him the title of “ace.” [Chuck DeBellevue would later be credited with six kills.]
An official U.S. Air Force history reads:
. . . Ritchie flew the lead aircraft of a MiGCAP flight, with Capt. Charles B. DeBellevue as his WSO, during a Linebacker strike mission. “We acquired a radar lock-on on a MiG 21 that was head-on to us,” Ritchie said.
“We converted to the stern and fired two AIM-7 missiles during the conversion. These missiles were out of parameters and were fired in an attempt to get the MiG to start a turn. As we rolled out behind the MiG, we fired the two remaining AIM-7s. The third missile missed, but the fourth impacted the MiG. The MiG was seen to explode and start tumbling toward the earth. The kill was witnessed by Captain John Madden, aircraft commander in number 3.
McDonnell F-4D-29-MC Phantom II 66-7463, “Buick 01,” flown by Captains Richard S. Ritchie and Charles B. DeBellevue, 28 August 1972. (U.S. Air Force)
“It was an entirely different situation,” Ritchie noted to newsmen. The MiG flew at “a much higher altitude than any of my other MiG kills and at a much greater range. I don’t think the MiG pilot ever really saw us. All he saw were those missiles coming at him and that’s what helped us finally get him.”
The new ace complimented the ground crews who kept the F-4s combat ready: “There’s no way could have done it without them,” he said. In fact, I got my first and fifth MiG in the same plane. Crew Chief Sergeant Reggie Taylor was the first one up the ladder when the plane landed and you just couldn’t believe how happy he was. I think he was more excited than I.”
DeBellevue, whose total victories rose to four with this day’s kill, commented on the teamwork: “The most important thing is for the crew to work well together,” he said. “They have to know each other. I know what Steve is thinking on a mission and can almost accomplish whatever he wants before he asks. I was telling him everything had to know when he wanted it, and did not waste time giving him useless data.”
— Aces and Aerial Victories: The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia 1965–1973, by R. Frank Futrell, William H. Greenhalgh, Carl Grubb, Gerard E. Hasselwander, Robert F. Jakob and Charles A. Ravenstein, Office of Air Force History, Headquarters USAF, 1976, Chapter III at Page 103.
Captain Charles Barbin DeBellevue, U.S. Air Force, with his F-4D Phantom II at Udorn RTAFB, 1972. (U.S. Air Force)
Flown by five different crews, F-4D 66-7463 shot down six enemy fighters from 1 March to 15 October 1972. It is now on display at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“MiG Killer,” McDonnell F-4D-29-MC Phantom II 66-7463 at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida. Six red stars on the splitter vane represent the six enemy fighters shot down by this airplane during the Vietnam War. (U.S. Air Force)McDonnell F4D-29-MC Phantom II 66-7463 on display at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Unattributed)
Captain Marion E. Carl, USMC, with a Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat. (U.S. Navy)
24 August 1942: Flying a Grumman F4F Wildcat, Lieutenant Marion Eugene Carl, United States Marine Corps, a 27-year-old fighter pilot assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron 223 (VMF-223) based at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island, shot down four enemy airplanes in one day. They were a Mitsubishi A6M “Zeke” fighter, a Mitsubishi G4M1 “Betty” medium bomber and two Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” torpedo bombers. Carl had previously shot down an A6M during the Battle of Midway, less than three months earlier. He now had five aerial combat victories, making him the Marine Corps’ first ace.
Captain Carl was awarded the Navy Cross (his second) for his actions in the Solomon Islands from 24 August to 9 September 1942.
Marion Carl’s fighter was a Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, designed by Robert Leicester Hall as a carrier-based fighter for the United States Navy. The F4F-4 was a single-place, single-engine, mid-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear.
Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat. (U.S. Navy)
The F4F-4 was 29 feet, 9-3/8 inches (9.077 meters) long, with a wingspan of 38 feet, 0 inches (11.582 meters) and overall height of 12 feet, 1-3/8 inches (3.693 meters). Unlike the preceding F4F-3, the F4F-4 had folding wings for storage aboard aircraft carriers. With the wings folded, the airplane was 14 feet, 4 inches (4.369 meters) wide. Its empty weight was 5,895 pounds (2,674 kilograms), and the gross weight was 7,975 pounds (3,617 kilograms).
The F4F-4 was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, 1,829.39-cubic-inch-displacement (29.978 liter) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp SSC7-G (R-1830-86) two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 6.7:1. The R-1830-86 had a normal power rating of 1,100 at 2,550 r.p.m., from Sea Level to 3,300 feet (1,006 meters), and 1,000 horsepower at 2,550 r.p.m. at 19,000 feet (5,791 meters). It was rated at 1,200 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. for takeoff. The engine turned a three-bladed Curtiss Electric propeller with a diameter of 9 feet, 9 inches (2.972 meters) through a 3:2 gear reduction. The R-1830-86 was 4 feet, 0.19 inches (1.224 meters) in diameter, 5 feet, 7.44 inches (1.713 meters) long, and weighed 1,560 pounds (708 kilograms).
The F4F-4 had a maximum speed of 284 miles per hour (457 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, and 320 miles per hour (515 kilometers per hour) at 18,800 feet (5,730 meters). Its service ceiling was 34,000 feet (10,363 meters).
Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat in three-color camouflage
While the F4F-3 Wildcat was armed with four air-cooled Browning AN-M2 .50-caliber machine guns; the F4F-4 had six. It carried 1,400 rounds of ammunition.
The prototype XF4F-1 made its first flight in 1935. It was substantially improved as the XF4F-2. The first production F4F-3 Wildcat was built in February 1940. The airplane remained in production through World War II, with 7,860 built by Grumman and General Motors Eastern Aircraft Division (FM-1 Wildcat).
According to the National Naval Aviation Museum, F4F Wildcats held a 9:1 ratio of victories over Japanese aircraft, with 1,006 enemy airplanes destroyed in combat.
A Grumman F4F Wildcat at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. There are 19 Japanese flags painted on the fuselage, suggesting that this is Major John L. Smith’s fighter. (U.S. Navy)
Marion Eugene Carl was born at Hubbard, Oregon, 1 November 1915. He was the second of four children of Herman Lee Carl, a dairy farmer, and Ellen Lavine Ellingsen Carl.
Carl graduated from Oregon State College at Corvallis, Oregon, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve, 31 May 1938. Lieutenant Carl soon resigned this commission to accept an appointment as an Aviation Cadet, United States Navy. He enlisted as a private, first class, Volunteer Marine Corps Reserve, 17 July 1938, and was designated a student Enlisted Naval Aviation Pilot assigned to the Naval Reserve Aviation Base, Squantum, Massachusetts. He entered flight school as an Aviation Cadet at Naval Air Station Pensacola near Pensacola, Florida, 26 July 1938.
Lieutenant Marion E. Carl, USMC, Naval Aviator. (U.S. Navy)
After completing flight training, Carl was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps Reserve, 20 October 1939. He was then assigned to Marine Fighting Squadron One (VMF-1) at Brown Field, Quantico, Virginia.
In 1940, Lieutenant Carl returned to NAS Pensacola as a flight instructor. On 25 February 1941, Second Lieutenant Carl, U.S.M.C.R., was appointed a Second Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps.
Lieutenant Carl was transferred to VMF-221 at San Diego, California, as a fighter pilot. The unit was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) for transportation to Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. On 25 December 1941, VMF-221 was deployed to Midway Atoll.
Marion Carl and his squadron fought during the Battle of Midway. Flying a Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, Bu. No. 1864,¹ on 4 June 1942, he shot down his first enemy airplane, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter, and damaged two others. Lieutenant Carl was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in that decisive battle.
Marion Carl was next assigned to VMF-223 under the command of Captain John L. Smith. The Marine fighter squadron was the first air unit to arrive at Henderson Field on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomons, 20 August 1942. This was a critical airfield, originally built by the Japanese military but occupied by Allied forces. On 24 August, Lieutenant Carl became the Marine Corps’ first “ace.”
Carl was shot down in 9 September 1942 and was missing for five days. He was helped by islanders who eventually returned him to his base.
The squadron departed Guadalcanal 16 October 1942, and sailed to San Francisco, California. VMF-223 was credited with destroying 110½ enemy aircraft. Carl was credited with 16.
Lieutenant Carl married Miss Edna T. Kirvin at New York City, New York, 7 January 1943.
On 26 January, he took command of VMF-223. On 8 May 1943, Lieutenant Carl was promoted to the temporary rank of captain. The squadron was re-equipped with the new Vought-Sikorsky F4U-1 Corsair. Training in the new fighter took place at MCAS El Toro, in southern California.
In August, the squadron returned to combat in the Solomons. By the end of 1943, Major Carl’s total of enemy aircraft destroyed was 18½ with 3 damaged, making him the seventh highest-scoring Marine fighter pilot of World War II.
Major Marion E. Carl, USMC, commanding VMF-223 in 1943. The aircraft is a Vought F4U Corsair in which Carl shot down two enemy aircraft in December 1943. (U.S. Navy)
After the War Marion Carl was assigned as a test pilot at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, testing jet aircraft on aircraft carriers. He was also the first Marine Corps pilot to fly a helicopter. Carl commanded the Marine’s first jet squadron, VMF-122, which flew the McDonnell FH-1 Phantom. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel 7 August 1947.
In May 1955, Colonel Carl commanded Marine Photo Reconnaissance Squadron One (VMJ-1). The squadron flew the McDonnell FH-2 Banshee from air bases on the island of Formosa (Taiwan) on secret missions over the People’s Republic of China.
At Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base) Marion Carl tested the Douglas D-558-I Skystreak and D-558-II Skyrocket, setting world records for speed and altitude. He was promoted to colonel, 1 October 1956.
Major Marion E. Carl, USMC, and Commander Turner F. Caldwell, Jr., USN, stand with the record-setting Douglas D-558-I Skystreak, Bu. No. 37970, on Muroc Dry Lake. (U.S. Navy)
By 1962 Colonel Carl was Director of Marine Corps Aviation. He was promoted to brigadier general, 1 June 1964. He commanded the First Marine Brigade during the Vietnam War and flew combat missions in jet fighters and helicopter gun ships.
Major General Marion E. Carl, United States Marine Corps.
Carl was promoted to major general in August 1967, with his date of rank retroactive to 1 June 1964. Carl commanded the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, then served as Inspector General of the Marine Corps from 1970 until 1973. When he retired in 1973, General Carl had accumulated more that 13,000 flight hours.
During his military career, Major General Carl was awarded the Navy Cross with two gold stars (three awards); The Legion of Merit with valor device and three gold stars (four awards); The Distinguished Flying Cross with four gold stars (five awards); and the Air Medal with two gold and two silver stars (twelve awards).
Tragically, General Carl was murdered in Roseburg, Oregon, 28 June 1998, as he defended his wife, Edna, during a home-invasion robbery. Mrs. Carl was wounded, but survived.
Major General Marion E. Carl, United States Marine Corps, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Semper fidelis
A Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 0 Model 21 “Zero” fighter takes off from an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Marion Carl shot down one of these and damaged two others during the Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942. (Imperial Japanese Navy)Mitsubishi A6M3 Type 0 Model 22 “Zeke” in the Solomon Islands, 1943. (This fighter is flown by Petty Officer 1st Class Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, one of the most successful fighter pilots of World War II.) (Imperial Japanese Navy)A Mitsubishi G4M1 Type 1 Model 11 “Betty” takes off from Rabaul, 1942.Nakajima B5N2 Type 97 “Kate”. Marion Carl shot down two of these torpedo bombers, 24 August 1942.
¹ The fighter flown by Marion Carl to shoot down his first enemy airplane is often cited as Grumman F4F-3 Bu. No. 4000 (second bureau number series, 1935–1940). However, the entry in Carl’s certified pilot logbook for 4 June 1942 states the airplane he flew was F4F-3 Bu. No. 1864.
20 August 1940: During World War II, at the height of the Battle of Britain, Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke to the House of Commons on the state of the war. As he talked about the role of the Royal Air Force in the defense of England, he said,
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.“
(Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Lowe & Brydon Printers, Ltd.)
To this day, the RAF is known as The Few.
A full transcript of the Prime Minister’s speech can be found at:
