10 May 1940: The Battle of France begins

As dawn broke on 10 May 1940, nine Dornier Do 17s sailed over 87 Squadron’s aerodrome at Senon in north-eastern France, near Metz and the Great War battlefields of Verdun. The anti-aircraft defences went into action and the deafening noise awoke the slumbering pilots. Johnny Cock, from Renmark in South Australia, exclaimed ‘Ack-ack Hell!’ and dashed out of the tent as more explosions set a suspended lamp swaying vigorously. He joined the group of pyjama-clad pilots standing in a clearing watching the approach of an enemy formation, their excited conversation punctuated by machine gun fire. Roland ‘Bee’ Beamont had a bad case of dysentery so returned to bed groaning and clutching his stomach but Dick Glyde, from Perth, Western Australia, John Johnny Cock and the other able-bodied pilots pulled their flying gear over pyjamas as they dashed to their Hurricanes.

 

(Dick Glyde)

(John Cock)

The mighty blitzkrieg, Germany’s three-pronged attack on France, Belgium and Holland had begun. Operating in relays throughout the day, 87 Squadron met the Luftwaffe’s onslaught. Sortie over, pilots returned to Senon as quickly as possible so their aircraft could be refuelled and rearmed or repaired in the shortest possible time. And then they were in the air again, and again. No one sat down afterwards to count the individual sorties, but Dennis David, for instance, flew six that day—seven hours in the air—and those others who were fit would not have been far behind him. They were worn out at the end of it but the results speak for themselves: 22 enemy aircraft destroyed, five probably destroyed and five damaged. It was a grand result for little cost. No personnel were injured, only two Hurricanes were damaged in battle and another two were rendered temporarily unserviceable after battle. Senon airfield, however, was out of commission. The squadron was ordered to move back to Lille-Seclin.

The first day of the Battle of France concluded with a night of sleep, interrupted by raid sirens, anti-aircraft fire and the constant rumble of exploding bombs over the Belgian border. Dreams were few and sleep restless over the next ten nights and with each new dawn, Dick Glyde and his exhausted friends rose yet again to meet the relentless Luftwaffe. Sometime later, when things settled down a little, Denis David added a notation to his flying log for 10 May 1940: ‘WAR REALLY STARTS’. He was not wrong.