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

At Biggin Hill, most of 92 Squadron were once again recovering from a
heavy night of boozing. In the dispersal hut, some were trying to sleep,
others fidgeting nervously. On the wall were enemy identification charts
and a warning poster with ‘Remember the Hun in the Sun’ written on it.
One of the pilots began pacing about, muttering about how much he hated
the waiting.
By mid-morning, the haze was beginning to thin; a fine day was
emerging, which meant the Hun would inevitably be over before long.
Then, at five past eleven, after six and a half long hours of being at
readiness, the phone rang and everyone jumped, waiting for the orders. It
was a scramble. Angels 25, rendezvousing with 72 Squadron over base then
patrolling Canterbury. Everyone rushed for the door and ran to their
Spitfires. Reaching his, Tony grabbed his parachute, clambered into the
cockpit, strapped himself in, attached his leads and then started his engine.
Suddenly the airfield was alive with the roar of twelve Merlins. Following
behind Brian Kingcome, he took off, climbing over the strange valley that
hung off the north-east edge of the airfield. As they climbed slowly in a
left-hand circuit, he saw London away to his right, the Thames winding and
silvery, the city, though, shrouded in mist, largely a result of the previous
week’s bombing. The sun was now breaking through, its rays glinting off
the barrage balloons that seemed to sprout oddly from the ground. He
started having fanciful ideas about how their twenty-four Spitfires were all
that was barring the ruthless enemy from London, then realized the effects
of the previous night’s drinking were still with him. It was not a good idea
to fly and daydream at the same time.
At Bentley Priory and Uxbridge, the commanders and controllers were
in position; there were no strategy meetings this Sunday morning. Good
warning of the developing raid had been picked up by the RDF chain,
giving Park plenty of time to scramble eleven squadrons from his Group, all
but one in pairs, while 609 Squadron had also been sent from Middle
Wallop to patrol over Windsor, and a wing of five squadrons led by Douglas
Bader from 12 Group was instructed to patrol over Hornchurch. By 11.30,
all were in the air, heading to their attack positions – since enemy raids
were now invariably headed for London, it was possible to stagger the
interceptions from the moment the enemy crossed the Channel all the way
to London.