Battle of the Heligoland Bight (1939)
The Battle of the Heligoland Bight was the first "named" air battle of the Second World War, which began the longest air campaign of the war, the Defence of the Reich. On 3 September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland, which started the European War. The British did not assist Poland by land or sea, but over the ensuing weeks, RAF Bomber Command flew several missions against German targets. A number of these air raids were directed at Kriegsmarine (German Navy) warships in German ports to prevent their use in the Battle of the Atlantic. With the front lines static between September 1939 and May 1940, a period known as the "Phoney War" set in, with little fighting on land or in the air. However, at sea, German U-boat (submarine) forces
primaryTopic
Battle of the Heligoland Bight (1939)
The Battle of the Heligoland Bight was the first "named" air battle of the Second World War, which began the longest air campaign of the war, the Defence of the Reich. On 3 September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland, which started the European War. The British did not assist Poland by land or sea, but over the ensuing weeks, RAF Bomber Command flew several missions against German targets. A number of these air raids were directed at Kriegsmarine (German Navy) warships in German ports to prevent their use in the Battle of the Atlantic. With the front lines static between September 1939 and May 1940, a period known as the "Phoney War" set in, with little fighting on land or in the air. However, at sea, German U-boat (submarine) forces
has abstract
Das Luftgefecht über der Deuts ...... sschließlich in der Nacht ein.
@de
La bataille de la baie de Heli ...... niques à atteindre leur cible.
@fr
La battaglia della Baia di Hel ...... l Air Force e della Luftwaffe.
@it
The Battle of the Heligoland B ...... nt actions of the entire war".
@en
causalties
12 bombers destroyed
3 bombers damaged
combatant
United Kingdom
commander
date
1939-12-18
is part of military conflict
place of military conflict
result
German victory
strength
22Vickers Wellingtonbombers
44 fighter aircraft
thumbnail
Wikipage page ID
23,901,302
Wikipage revision ID
740,970,961
AlternativeMap
Caption
The Heligoland Bight
The location of the Heligoland Bight in a wider context
casualties
commander
Richard Kellett
lat
5.4180285e+1
long
7.889543e+0
marksize
portal
Military of Germany
Royal Air Force
units
./Jagdgeschwader 26
I./Jagdgeschwader 26
I./Zerstörergeschwader'' 76
II./Jagdgeschwader 77
II./Trägergruppe 186
Stab./Jagdgeschwader 1
subject
point
53.5656 8.0846
comment
Das Luftgefecht über der Deuts ...... sschließlich in der Nacht ein.
@de
La bataille de la baie de Heli ...... niques à atteindre leur cible.
@fr
La battaglia della Baia di Hel ...... l Air Force e della Luftwaffe.
@it
The Battle of the Heligoland B ...... man U-boat (submarine) forces
@en
label
Bataille de la baie de Heligoland
@fr
Battaglia della Baia di Helgoland (1939)
@it
Battle of the Heligoland Bight (1939)
@en
Luftgefecht über der Deutschen Bucht
@de
sameAs
lat
5.35656e+1
long
wasDerivedFrom
depiction
isPrimaryTopicOf
name
Defence of the Reich
@en