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WWII On This Day: August 31

What happened on August 31 during World War II? This date brings together 2 events from 1940 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1940
A formation of Heinkel He 111s in the Battle of Britain
Imperial War Museums, MH6547 · Public domain · Source
The Battle of Britain

No. 303 Squadron enters the battle as an operational unit

No. 303 (Polish) Squadron at Northolt became operational at the end of August after Polish pilots had already demonstrated their combat experience during training and interceptions. The squadron quickly became one of the most successful units in Fighter Command. Its importance is larger than a victory score. Many Polish pilots had fought in Poland and France before reaching Britain, while Czechoslovak and other Allied airmen followed comparable routes into RAF service. The Battle of Britain was therefore a British defensive campaign fought by an international air force. Roughly one fifth…

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1944
American armour moving through the ruins of Saint-Lô during the breakout, July 1944.
American armour in the ruins of Saint-Lô, July 1944 · US Army Signal Corps · NARA · Public domain · Source
Operation Cobra

What Cobra settled

Cobra ended the battle of the hedgerows and began the pursuit across France. Within five weeks of it the Allies were on the Seine, Paris was liberated, and the German army in the west had lost most of what it had brought to Normandy. It also established a method that would be used again, at the Rhine and elsewhere: saturate a narrow sector with heavy bombers and push armour through the gap before the defenders recover. Its other legacy is the record of what that method does to the troops…

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