Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian
apparently shot down/seriously damaged by Fulmars of 806 Squadron
See my new book '806 Ahoy!' coming soon!!
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Hello Brian,
That serves to emphasise that the Ju 88 was quite an easy target for fighters, given that the Fulmar was one of the most ponderous British interceptors. If I remember correctly, the Ju 88 A-5 had an effective (that is rear-facing) armament of just two MG 15 machine guns, one each in the B-Stand and C-Stand. That's just one machine gun more than the Blenheim, a notoriously weakly armed bomber. Did not give them much chance against the eight Brownings of a Fulmar, as long as the Fulmar was able to get in range. It also puts the Battle of Heligoland Bight of 1939 in perspective. The Wellington IA at least had two Brownings in a powered FN.5 turret, slightly better than either a Ju 88 A-5 or a Blenheim! At least the Germans usually had the good sense not to send their bombers on unescorted raids into areas patrolled by enemy fighters, apart from a few famous occasions during the Battle of Britain.
Given what you now know about the losses of LG 1 in the January incident, would you say this was the greatest single success by 806 Squadron during the war? Congratulations on another book on the way, looking forward to it!
Warm regards,
Paul