. Twenty-one British squadrons went to intercept the German bombing units but were often too late as the bombers had already unloaded their cargo. The German Air Force lost just forty-one aircraft while Britain lost seventeen pilots and forty-four fighters destroyed or badly-damaged. A young civilian remembered his experience in London at this time when he wrote; The first bombs fell on London proper on a night toward the end of August. The next bombs, as I remember fell on the night of September 5 and 6. This attack was heavier and smashed several small dwellings. (MacVane, John. On the Air in World War II. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1979. 15). The early bombings of the third phase were concentrated on the East End. After a few days, German bombers moved to the West End and even managed to land two bombs on Buckingham Palace. This eliminated the feeling that only the poor were being punished. This helped to bring a sense of unity among the British people, and if anything, helped the British war cause. By the end of September, more than half of Londons population, mostly women and children, had left the city (MacVane 31). The daylight campaign against London had done a great amount of damage but not the massive effect that the Luftwaffe had anticipated:The great attack of 7 September was only surprise in that London proper was heavily attacked for the first time. On the 15th the weather improved and London was again heavily attacked by day. Thereafter, the bombing attacks by day in southeast continued to be made but they were comparable neither with those of the 15th, much less than the 7th. It is broadly the case, therefore, that by the middle of the month the German daylight offensive had lost much of its dangerousness (James 293).Adolf Galland spoke of his commanders disappointment in their bombings of London and his failure to drain the RAF of its reserves when he said, Goering was shattered, I assured him that in spite o...
