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

In London that afternoon was RV Jones, who had been working at the Air
Intelligence office at 54 Broadway, between Victoria and St James’s Park,
when the sirens began to wail. Making no immediate rush for the shelter,
RV remained where he was but soon heard bombs and machine-gun fire.
Even so, they did not appear to be very near, so he and his boss, Fred
Winterbotham, joined others who were already watching from the roof.
Against the clear blue late-afternoon sky, they watched bombs bursting, and
smoke billowing from fires that were already raging from the docks in the
East End. High above, formations of German bombers, RAF fighters
weaving and diving around them like angry wasps. Occasionally a
parachute would drift down.
Colonel Raymond Lee was also at work that Saturday afternoon, trying
to catch up on his correspondence. At first, he paid no attention to the
sirens, but then, when he heard anti-aircraft guns begin to pound followed
by a series of heavy explosions, he began to take note. When he heard
aircraft he went outside on to Grosvenor Square and, straining his eyes,
looked up and saw tiny glinting specks of aircraft high in the sky. Then
McDonald, one of his Embassy colleagues, came down from the roof and
reported huge fires raging in the docks. Now, massive mushrooms of smoke
were rising high into the sky, blotting out a number of barrage balloons,
which themselves were around 5,000 feet high.
Meanwhile, Tom Neil had landed back at North Weald, where he had
clambered down wearily from his plane and had begun tramping back
across the field, only for the siren to start before he had even reached the
dispersal hut. Moments later, enemy bombers could be seen approaching.
Fighter Command groundcrew had, by now, refined the art of refuelling and
rearming in a matter of minutes, so as soon as his Hurricane was ready, Tom
took off again, his fourth sortie of the day. Climbing to 8,000 feet, he saw
the enemy was by now too far away. Straining to catch them, he felt utterly
hopeless – he was one solitary Hurricane chasing fruitlessly after hundreds
of the enemy. Even so, by the time he had climbed to angels fifteen, he
managed to catch up with a straggling Dornier. It was still a bit too far
away, however, while puffs of ack-ack were now bursting worryingly close
by. Firing several long bursts from too far away, Tom could only watch the
Dornier continue calmly on its way. ‘I flew back,’ noted Tom, ‘my guard