Battle of Barking Creek - A more complete version
72 hours after Britain's declaration of war on Germany searchlight batteries on the Essex coast reported to their local Sector Operations Control at RAF North Weald that they had heard the engine noise of aircraft flying over at about 06.15. No visual identification was made because of coastal mist and thick cloud. A force from I./KG 26 of six He 111Hs had been sent to perform the Luftwaffe's first armed reconnaissance of the Thames Estuary but they returned to base because of bad weather., Whether these aircraft were detected by the RAF's Chain Home Radar system is still open to conjecture, but on the strength of the searchlight batteries' reports NW scrambled two flights (12 aircraft) of Hurricanes from 56 Squadron but only one flight had actually been instructed to launch. They were ordered to patrol, between Harwich and Colchester. As they approached the coast B Flight was told to keep station further south over Essex. Two more pilots had also from 56 squadron had also scrambled as in reserve aircraft a few minutes after their unit departure. P/Os ML Hulton-Harrop and FC Rose headed off to search for the squadron despite being told to patrol over North Weald. The late departure was their undoing.
The RDF station at Canewdon, on the Essex coast, picked up the scrambled Hurricanes. Because of a sensing failure the plots were transposed and it looked like 56 Squadron were flying westward towards the Thames Estuary rather than out to sea. The two trailing Hurricanes then looked like the intercepting force on the plotters' scopes. The Sector Controller at NW now thought there was a much larger raid than originally reported. He immediately ordered a full squadron scramble for 151 Squadron from North Weald. They were joined by both flights of Spitfires from 74 Squadron and single flights from 65 Squadrons, all from Hornchurch. Anti-aircraft batteries at Thameshaven and Sheerness engaged the enemy aircraft as they came within range and shot down a Blenheim fighter and damaged a 65 Squadron Spitfire.
S/Ldr E.M. 'Teddy' Donaldson was leading 151 Squadron and described what happened next.1
"On September 6th when we took off we were ordered to climb to the east, dead into the rising sun, to intercept the enemy coming up the Thames. I was leader. I spotted a large number of aircraft coming but they were difficult to identify, so I gave the warning over the radio, 'Bandits ahead. 12 o' clock. I believe they are friendly. Do not shoot unless positive identification.'.".
As he made this call the 'Tally Ho' was given by A Flight of 74 Squadron who had spotted the loose vic of 151 Squadron Hurricanes from North Weald between Gravesend and Ipswich and assumed they were the enemy from the direction they were flying, their loose vic formation and large numbers. Positive identification was impossible because of the angle of the sun. They could not even tell if they were single or twin engined. A Flight also spotted the two 56 Squadron Hurricanes trailing below and behind. As these were definitely single-engine types the Spitfire pilots were confident that these were escorting BF 109s. A section of three aircraft broke off and engaged the enemy. Donaldson; "I saw two of the Spitfires turn in on two of the Hurricanes and open fire. I yelled over the R/T 'Do not retaliate. They are friendly!' A frantic melee ensued but not one of the North Weald wing fired, although there was frantic manoeuvring by almost everyone. The Hurricanes fired at got spit up. Hulton-Harrop must have been hit by gunfire for his aircraft did not seem to be damaged substantially. It glided down in a left turn until it hit the ground apparently quite gently.
I managed to get the wing reformed and we landed back at North Weald very angry at the terrible mess-up where our controllers had so irresponsibly vectored two wings onto each other, gun loaded and pilots warned for combat."
Now realising what had happened the Spitfires broke away from the Hurricane force and returned to Hornchurch. P/O Hulton-Harrop had been fatally wounded by a burst of fire from one of the attacking Spitfires. His bullet ridden Hurricane (L1985) crashed at Manor Farm, in Suffolk. Te second (L1980) was successfully forced landed by P/O Rose in a sugar beet field near Wherstead, also in Suffolk. The cooling system had been hit three times but he escaped unscathed. The Hurricane was soon repaired but lost when HMS Glorious was sunk 10th June 1940, the fighter then with 46 Squadron. Only as the various scrambled squadrons began to run low on fuel and return to base was the erroneous signalling by Canewdon RDF Station detected.
The Sector Controller, G/Cpt D.F. Lucking, was sacked by Air Officer Commanding No 11 Group, AVM Keith Park, and the two Spitfire pilots, F/O V Byrne and P/O J Freeborn, identified as having shot down the Hurricanes (only they had fired their guns) were court-martialled. When the facts became clear, Lucking received a cursory punishment and went on to gain further promotion later in the war, and the two pilots were exonerated and returned to flying. An inquiry determined the root cause of the incident was the technical fault at the radar station at Canewdon. Failures in Fighter Command's tactics, control system, radar and Observer Corps reporting and plotting had all been exposed. The RAF moved quickly to reduce the risk of further fratricide by introducing new plotting directives and better communication methods within Fighter Command organisations. The Observer Crops also improved recognition training. The incident highlighted the need for a means of distinguishing friendly aircraft on radar. The introduction of IFF, already in production, was given higher priority than previously.
1 The Blitz – Then and Now, After the Battle Publications 1987