Thursday, 15th August 1940
The following three Hurricanes from 605 Squadron were based at Drem, near Edinburgh, but were called up by Air Vice-Marshal Saul to assist in the defence of Tyneside which was undergoing a heavy enemy air attack at the time.
1st: Force landed one mile from Usworth following combat off the East coast at 14.10. The pilot, C.W. Passy was unhurt but the aircraft was a write-off.
2nd: Was hit by return fire from He 111s off Newcastle at 14.20. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant A.A. McKellar, who was unhurt managed to fly the slightly damaged aircraft back to base.
3rd: Force landed near Hart Railway Station, near West Hartlepool. Pilot Officer K.S. Law was badly injured and was admitted to West Hartlepool Hospital. The aircraft was damaged but repairable.
A Hurricane from 616 Squadron based at Leconfield airfield near Beverley in Yorkshire, landed heavily after a routine practice flight at 17.35, wrecking the undercarriage, which was repairable. The pilot, Pilot Officer W.L.B. Walker was unhurt.
A Hurricane from 302 Squadron based at Leconfield airfield near Beverley in Yorkshire, caught fire on a training flight and crashed attempting an emergency landing at Wheel. Pilot Officer Glowczynski was admitted to Beverley Hospital, seriously burned. The aircraft was a write-off.
Here are some of the many incident reports of this momentous day - it must be remembered that the casualty figures quoted in these reports may differ from the final number because the document in question may have been the first of many concerning the same incident, or an injured person may have died in hospital some days later, they would be included in the final summary compiled at a later date:-
Bombs were reported to have been dropped on Tynemouth in Northumberland, Sunderland, Cockfield, High Etherley, Toft Hill, Woodside, Witton Park, Quarrington Hill, Cassop, Dawdon, Hawthorn, Easington Colliery, Thornley, and Cleadon all in Co Durham.
Casualties included one person killed at Barnard Castle, one at Bishop Auckland, one at Bridlington, one at Driffield, one at Durham, eleven at Easington, one at Scarborough, eleven at Seaham and four at Sunderland.
Northumberland.. Tynemouth Borough.. Five HE just below the Low Water Mark between Sharpness Point and the castle, and one just south of the North Pier. Some damage reported.
13.40.. Sunderland.. Newcastle Road - Denbigh Avenue - Sea Road - Tyzack's Yard bombed. Casualties:- four killed, three seriously and eight slightly injured.
12.47-13.30.. Co Durham.. Cockfield.. Twenty-eight HEs dropped in Cockfield district between Gibbsneese and Summerson's Quarry. 170 windows in Cockfield were broken and 30 ceilings came down. A byre, a garage, and a small wooden tool shed were damaged. No casualties.
Co Durham.. High Etherley, Toft Hill, Woodside and California.. Approximately sixty HEs and one hundred IBs were dropped in this district. At High Etherley forty bombs were dropped; one killed a boy and injured another person. The other bombs dropped in fields where sheep and a number of cattle were injured. At California, Witton Park, one man was killed and four persons injured.
13.30.. Co Durham.. Quarrington Hill and Cassop.. Fifty to sixty-eight enemy planes seen flying at great height over the Quarrington Hill and Cassop Village districts. Approximately sixty HEs and a hundred IBs were dropped. A dairy at Cassop, the wall of a sewerage bed at Cassop Vale, a water main and the wall of a Churchyard at Quarrington Hill were damaged. IBs slightly damaged four houses and a haystack was set on fire. No serious damage.
Co Durham.. Dawdon.. Eleven dead and forty injured.. Thirty HEs dropped. In three adjoining streets in the village, eight houses were demolished and seventeen seriously damaged, most of the deaths occurred in Ilchester Street.
Co Durham.. Hawthorn.. A direct hit was made on an occupied house and a woman who was trapped in the house has not been found. Another person was killed while riding a horse. An electric cable damaged at Hawthorn and the A.19 blocked N of the junction with the South Hetton road. An enemy plane is reported to have been shot down into the sea off the coast at Ryhope, but no trace of the survivors or the plane has been found.
Co Durham.. Easington Colliery.. Easington Colliery had approximately fifty houses damaged, twelve people were killed, most of the deaths occurring in Station Road, thirty people were injured. Little Thorpe Hospital, Easington also suffered damage and ten persons were injured.
Co Durham.. Thornley.. One dead and two injured.. A number of cattle were also killed. Telephone cables were damaged near the Half-Way House, Thornley. Five roads blocked, all with the exception of the main road at Haswell Plough are open to traffic.
12.47-13.30.. Co Durham.. Cleadon.. Approximately forty-eight HEs and twenty IBs were dropped. Seven persons were injured. Five houses extensively damaged and twenty-five houses slightly damaged in this district. A bull was killed on Moor Farm, Cleadon, and cow injured. Electric cables damaged and the road B.1299, from its junction with Underhill Road, Cleadon was temporarily blocked.
Co Durham.. Washington.. A Hurricane Fighter made a forced landing at Low Barmston Farm. Pilot did not sustain injury - RAF Usworth informed.
'SS Brixton' (1,557t) cargo ship, Sunderland to London with a cargo of coal was sunk by a mine off Aldeburgh.
