Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum

Hallo all,
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The events leading up to the loss of this Condor have to date frustrated the best efforts of myself and others for many years. To be more accurate it is what has been published that has caused us this difficulty.
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Tony Kearns has traced the origin of the 'Major C' story back to Kenneth Poolman. After searching every source available to me as far as I can tell there never was a ship named the 'Major C'. At some point - I cannot remember when or why - our focus shifted to the SS 'Majorca', a real British-registered ship. It seemed plausible that this name had been corrupted into 'Major C'.
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Some years ago I sought out any records on the 'Majorca' in The National Archives at Kew in London. (I am very grateful to Roger Hollywood, a naval expert who pointed me in the right direction). The Ship's Log (BT 381/1448) and the Movement Card (BT 389/20) survive and were revealing. However the 'Majorca' was a coaster of 1,126 gross tonnage, not an ocean-going vessel. It spent the war plying its trade around the smaller British ports and also to the continent in 1944-1945.
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On 4 February 1941 the 'Majorca' as part of convoy CE 24 left Poole on the south coast of England for Blyth, just north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and arrived there on February 10th. It appears to have been at sea on the 5th (according to its Ship's Log), somewhere between the Isle of Wight (4th) and Southend where it anchored on the 6th. Condors were simply not operating in these waters within sight of Britain's heavily defended shores at that time. So Gommer's aircraft could not have met the 'Majorca'.
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It is also worth noting that the 'Majorca's' captain recorded significent events during its voyages, so if an air attack had occurred it would have been duly noted. For example in December 1940 the 'Majorca' was off Dover when it was hit by splinters from a shell fired by a German long-range gun on the French coast. On 26 January 1941 the ship's lifeboat picked up a German airman in Barrow Deep. He was later handed over to a Royal Navy destroyer. (Who was he and what were the circumstances around his capture ?).
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Ed North in his post mentioned yet another ship, the 'Merchant C'. Perhaps Ed can confirm if this name came from the late Jerry Scutts very recent book on the Condor which records the involvement of both the 'Merchant C' and the 'Major C' ! One must suspect the former is a corruption of the latter. Again I cannot find a reference in any source to a 'Merchant C'. The only ship sailing on 5 February 1941in the North Atlantic area with 'Merchant' in its name was the SS 'Merchant Royal'. It was part of convoy WN 79 going from Clyde to Methil on Scotland's east coast. This appears to be another coastal convoy, presumably going around the top of Scotland ? I also have to query the Scottish connection concerning the supposed area of operations for this Condor. Again prior to Ed North's post I have only seen mention of Scotland in Jerry Scutts book.
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It must be noted that Jerry Scutts in his work has a relatively lengthy piece devoted to this Condor loss with some new information as far as I can tell. However while some of the entry is accurate other details are surprisingly incorrect.
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Jerry Scutts also introduces a 4th ship into the story around this loss ! He states Gommer's Condor attacked the Greek freighter 'Ioannis M. Embiricos' on the 5th, at a location approximately 325 km WNW of Malin Head, Ireland. It sank the following day and had been part of convoy SC 20.
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Some days ago, prompted by this thread started by SWIFTE, I posted two queries around the loss of this ship on a naval forum and also a request for the take-off time of 'F8+AH' on this very forum. If we knew the times for the attack on the Greek ship and Gommer's take-off it would significently resolve the events before the crash.
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Though it is very tempting to link the loss of 'F8+AH' to the attack on the 'Ioannis M. Embiricos', AT THIS POINT in our knowledge I remain sceptical. In favour of this scenario is the fact that due to the small number of operational Condors on any day in early 1941 there is a good chance it was Gommer's aircraft that attacked the Greek ship. At that location only a Condor could attack it.
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Against this scenario are a number of facts.
Firstly the aircraft crashed at approximately 0825 hours British Summer Time (0925 hours Central European Time). Any attack on the 'Ioannis M. Embiricos' by Gommer's crew would have to had taken place several hours earlier in darkness due to the ship's location.
Secondly when the aircraft crashed it disintegrated and went on fire. Six unexploded 250 kg bombs - probably SC250s - were found around the wreck. A hand-drawn diagram illustrating one of these bombs and noting its markings is to be found in one of the Irish Army files on this crash.
Thirdly the sole survivor Fw. Max Hohaus told one of the early Irish rescuersthat the Condor had a "Full load" when asked how many were on board. His English was very limited but that reply could have referred to a full bomb load. Later he said through an interpreter that the crew had lost their way in the prevailing fog and did not know where they were.
Lastly based on observations by local people the aircraft was flying in a North West direction when it crashed. That is from France towards the general area where convoy SC 20 was under attack.
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Also to add to the above if the Condor had been damaged by AA fire or whatever then the crew would almost certainly have jettisoned the bomb load in the sea before attempting an emergency landing.
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I will put my neck on the block now ! AT THIS POINT in my own research I am convinced the 'Major C' / 'Merchant C' story (and any action off the southern coast of Ireland) is a red herring, a research trail that will lead to a dead end. Simply put to date we have found no details to support it. It seems most likely to me at this point that Gommer's Condor flew into high ground in bad weather en route to its allocated North Atlantic search area. However research never ends ! There are quite a few documents in the ADM199 series in The National Archives at Kew dealing with air attacks on shipping in early 1941 that I have yet to view. Next year hopefully !
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I hope this piece stimulates more debate on this crew and aircraft.
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Regards,
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Martin Gleeson.