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Re: RAF Mustang Escorts
You are being quite unreasonable here, Franek!
Why it is so hard to admit, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, that your Polish heros not always performed perfectly?? I am fully aware of the great work they did as Strike Wing escorts, that is established beyond doubt, but on January 12th 1945 they failed miserably. That's a fact too!
Olve's evidence is more than good enough, espcially the fact that no Mustangs were seen by JG 5 pilots during the raid in question, to say such a thing!
And your statement that " Bomber Command airmen had little experience in tight daylight formations;" simply does not apply to the Bomber Command Squadrons we're talking about here! 617 and IX. Sqds were the elite of Bomber Command and had flown countless pin-point strike daylight missions, including the mission that sunk Tirpitz. Don't you know that hitting even a battleship with a tallboy requires a lot from the bomber crew, including a steady run-in to the target???
No, lets just say that on this day the Polish escort failed their duty, but also remember that it does not detract from the good work they did on numerous other occations. I see no reason to make the January 12th incident stand as a testimony to their war effort, but there is no need to cover it up either.
Kjetil Aakra
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