The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

Around 8 a.m., Walter was leading his three Staffeln over the Channel,
the British coastline looming towards them. ‘Calling 3 Staffel,’ he said over
the R/T, ‘proceed on special mission. Good hunting. Over.’ Oberleutnant
Otto Hintze acknowledged and with his eight bomb-laden Me 109s headed
straight towards the white cliffs of Dover, while Walter peeled off to port
with the Zerstörers of 1st and 2nd Staffeln. They now separated themselves,
each Staffel to attack different RDF stations at Rye, Pevensey and Dunkirk
in Kent. Carrying two 1,000 lb bombs, each plane could pack a
considerable punch as those manning the RDF stations now discovered.
Flying in low one after the other, each aircraft waited until the targets filled
their reflector sights, then dropped their bombs, before flying off again back
over the Channel, dust smoke and debris left in their wake.
Back at Calais-Marck, Walter had good reason to be pleased. His men
had reported scoring a number of hits. A number of Ju 88s also later
attacked the RDF station at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. Already, Pevensey
was reportedly silent, bombs having sliced through the main electricity
cable. At Dover, Oberleutnant Hintze had seen the towers clearly swaying
and a number of buildings destroyed. Buildings had been destroyed at Rye
and Dunkirk too.
Although some fifteen Ju 88s had peeled off to attack the RDF station at
Ventnor, the main target of the sixty-three bombers from KG 51 and KG 54
was the naval dockyards at Portsmouth. In port after returning from another
four-day mine-sweep and invasion watch was the converted trawler
Darthema. Joe Steele had come ashore that morning to collect the ship’s
mail and had met up with a sailor from HMS York. The two were chatting
when suddenly they heard the low rumble of aircraft and the sirens begin to
wail. The bombers were upon them so quickly they had no time to head for
a shelter, so instead they dived behind some sandbags outside the NAAFI
shop, from where they had a grandstand view. The bombers arrived in
waves, as each Staffel flew over and dropped their loads. Joe was amazed to
see the railway tracks around the harbour twisting and contorting as they
were wrenched into the air. ‘It was the most tremendous sight,’ says Joe.
‘I’d never seen anything like it.’ Then he saw the chimney on the
cookhouse literally disintegrate. It was too much for his friend, who decided
to make a dash for it, but Joe stayed put, reckoning he was safer where he
was.