Battle of Britain

A convoy codenamed Bread

On 10 July 1940 German aircraft located and attacked coastal convoy CW3, codenamed “Bread,” as it passed through the Strait of Dover between Dover and Dungeness. RAF Fighter Command scrambled Hurricane squadrons 32, 56 and 111 and Spitfire squadrons 74 and 64 against Dornier Do 17 bombers and their Messerschmitt escorts.

Roughly 30 RAF fighters took part in the main convoy engagement. Flying Officer Peter Higgs of No. 111 Squadron was killed when his Hurricane collided with a Dornier during the fight.

Why Dowding chose this date

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, commanding Fighter Command, later selected 10 July as the battle's opening because Germany employed its first “really big formation” that day — approximately 70 aircraft, used primarily to draw his fighters into a large-scale battle.

Dowding acknowledged that any start date was partly subjective, and briefly considered 8 August before settling on 10 July. The official British battle dates run from 10 July to 31 October 1940.

Fighting that had already started

The date is the official British and commemorative one, not an uncontested operational beginning. German air units flying from newly occupied bases were already attacking British ports and Channel shipping, including destructive convoy raids on 4 July.

The RAF Museum treats 26 June to 16 July as an initial phase, while contemporary German framing separated July's Kanalkampf from the main air offensive beginning in August.

The 10 July attack neither destroyed the convoy nor broke Fighter Command; the convoy continued, one ship was reported sunk, and both air forces lost or damaged aircraft. Six days later Hitler issued Directive No. 16, ordering preparations for a possible invasion.