Two weeks have passed since Eagle Day, and by last night the 'score' was German losses 545, British losses 291.Yesterday was one of the quieter days, with the Luftwaffe losing 17 planes, the RAF 9. We are holding our own in machines, but the loss in pilots is becoming crucial.

'Within a short period you will wipe the British Air Force from the sky - Heil Hitler!' Reichmarshal Goering's signal to his Luftwaffe chiefs on August 8 was long awaited. Eagle Day was imminent. Within the hour, British code breakers had deciphered it and presented it to Air Marshal Dowding, head of R.A.F. Fighter Command.

By the evening of August 15th, the Luftwaffe had already lost 244 planes against the R.A.F.'s 133 - roughly proportional losses given to the relative strengths of the two air forces. Now the question was: could the R.A.F. stand the pace?

Operation Eagle got off to a bad start. At 7.30 in the morning of August 13, over 200 German bombers set off for the English coast. Minutes later, Kommodore Fink, leading 60 planes, was dropping his bombs on Eastchurch airfield when a swarm of Hurricanes and Spitfires came at him. Fink gasped. Where was his fighter escort? Unprotected, his bomber force fled back to France, losing four machines on the way.

POSTPONED

Back at the French airfield, Fink telephoned headquarters. Four of his crews were dead. Who was responsible for sabotaging Eagle Day by withholding his fighter escort? 'Calm Down,' he was told. 'The operation has been postponed until 2 o'clock.

The British had picked up Goering's postponement signal: not all the German flight commanders had. Eagle Day was half-heartedly resumed in the afternoon. During the day the R.A.F. destroyed 45 Luftwaffe planes for the loss of only 13. Now, on Thursday, August 15, Goering had decided to restage Eagle Day, and on this clear sunny morning one of the biggest air battles in history was fought over Britain.

The first wave of bombers - 40 Junkers 87's - struck at Kent 11.20 in the morning. An hour later 65 Heinkel 111's, escorted by 35 Messerschmitt 110's coming from Norway, crossed the coast of Northumberland. Just after 1 o'clock, 50 Junkers 88 bombers brashly sent from Denmark without fighter escort raided Yorkshire and were easily routed by the R.A.F.

AFTER DARK

The Thames Estuary was bombed at 2.30, Rochester and other places in Kent half an hour later. About 80 bombers, heavily escorted, bombed Portland Harbor shortly after 5 o'clock and flew inland to attack airfields. At 6.30 between 60 and 70 machines attacked Kent.

Nearly 70 more German bombers attacked Britain after dark. Altogether, the Luftwaffe flew nearly 1,800 sorties during the day. It crippled some of our ships, harbors, aircraft factories and airfields; but it had not destroyed the Fighter Command.

As reported by the War Papers