The War Illustrated, Volume 3, No. 48, Page 110, August 2, 1940.

Damage to military objectives was negligible, and attacks on convoys was ineffective. For every 6.5 civilian casualties Hitler lost one aircraft; for every two casualties he lost one airman. The R.A.F. and the A.A. forces shot down 5.8 enemy aircraft for every British fighter lost.

In a month’s Nazi raids on Britain, beginning on June 18, 336 civilians were killed and 476 seriously injured. This information was given in the first of the Air Ministry’s monthly reports on air raid casualties, which added that the largest number killed in any locality on any occasion was 32. In order to withhold valuable information from the enemy about the precise result of any particular raids, Mr. Churchill told Parliament on July 18 that all casualties would be notified locally, but in future reproduction of this figure in the Press, either individually or in aggregate, would be forbidden. A monthly statement would be given in Parliament and in the Press.

In approximately one month’s raids on Britain the Germans have lost about 140 aircraft, of which 50 were fighters. With them have been killed or captured nearly 430 airmen-offsetting the 400 airmen prisoners returned to Germany by the Petain government. Only 24 British fighter aircraft were lost over the period mentioned, with the pilots and crews-20 men in all. To the figures for German losses must be added another 100 aircraft so badly damaged as to be unlikely to get back. On July 21 the Germans began to employ their twin-engined two-seater Me.110 fighters for bombing our convoys. Three of our Hurricanes on patrol off the South Coast encountered 16 of the converted Me.110s flying line-astern to bomb a convoy. Upon attack by our machines the enemy formation turned away, but not before one of them had been sent down into the sea and another set on fire.

Many observers have borne testimony to the fine spirit and high morale of residents in the coastal zones which have been the object of Nazi raids. Material damage has been slight, and as regards military objectives also the raids have been a failure. Taking the month’s totals of casualties, it is seen that the number killed is less than that of victims of fatal road accidents over a similar period. British civilians can be relied on to present a brave front to any of Hitler’s frightfulness, however much it may be intensified in the future.

Looking at the other side of the aerial war, there is an increasing sign that the R.A.F. raids are having a big effect morally as well as materially. On July 16 adverse weather conditions prevented our airmen paying their usual visits on the other side of the enemy line, and so, for the first time in 30 successive nights, our bombers did not operate.

More news was released about the fine exploit of bombing the Dortmund-Ems Canal. It seems that our pilots had so damaged German trains and railways that the enemy turned to his canal system more and more for the transport of iron ore and other essentials to the Ruhr factories. Barges big enough to take two train-loads of munitions were brought into use, and the Dortmund-Ems Canal was a vital waterway for the purpose in question. At a double aqueduct this canal is carried over the River Ems, and the R.A.F. determined to strike here. Models of the aqueduct were constructed and picked R.A.F. crews were given special instructions on the methods to be used. Afterwards one captain said: "If we had not seen the models and the photographs beforehand we could easily have made a mistake, for there were several places which more or less resembled our target."

Pages could be filled with accounts of the nightly bombing raids on enemy objectives-accounts in which the same strategic points figure again and again. No respite is allowed. Hitler, in his speech on July 19, repeated the lie that our airmen aim at the civil population; no one who scans the British Air Ministry reports of the daily night raids on Germany can have the slightest doubt that our men are concerned with military objectives only, and that they get on to their mark.

Dutch reports testify to the accuracy of our work and to the havoc caused. It is said that many trains for Germany laden with Dutch farm produce and vegetables have had to return to Holland because railway tracks had been wrecked by our airmen. Road traffic also had been similarly disorganized.

Many similar reports come from other quarters. According to a German engineer from Hamburg the damage done to locks and factories was terrific, and the population was in a state of nervous tension. Whenever an aeroplane engine was heard, everyone made for the shelters and stayed there for hours. A German woman said that the air raids in Western Germany had made life there unendurable.

Up to the present Hitler’s raids on Britain have failed. Though, in the words of Lord Halifax on July 23, "he is preparing to direct the whole of German might against this country," he cannot succeed. For "in every part of Britain, in great towns and remote villages alike, there is only one spirit, a spirit of indomitable resolution."

Debits and Credits in One Month’s Raids, June 18 - July 18, 1940

Nazi aircraft destroyed: 140 (90 bombers: 50 fighters)
Germany lost 1 aircraft for every 6½ persons killed or injured
Germany lost 1 airman for every 2 persons killed or injured
Germany lost 5.8 aircraft for every 1 fighter machine lost by Britain
British civilian casualties: 902 (336 killed; 476 seriously injured)