Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Beale
No it doesn't sound like the reported bombs at Stoke.
4 x SC 250 HE bombs (250 kg each) was a common load for a Ju 88's wing racks.
Were they strays? Quite likely!
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Thanks Nick, yes, no one in the town has ever considered that they were anything but strays tbh. There was some thought (or at least I considered) that they may have jettisoned their loads in response to night fighter pursuit but my trawl of combat reports in the National Archive shows no contacts for any of the likely fighter squadrons on that night!!
I realise that the best I can hope for is some "probable" or "most likely" type explanation, rather than undesputed fact. I have quite a strong human Leek based narrative around the event from Newspaper and oral history. The only casualty was one 28 year old man who was killed as he ran to fetch his 2 yr old daughter from upstairs. One of the HE bombs physically hit him as it came through the house and embedded itself in the cellar! It would be awesome to have some technical military detail to add in!
Would you say then that I should really be looking for a unit that was using the JU88 at that time (which would discount III./KG27 as they appear to have used the HE111 exclusively!?)?? Is it likely that the JU88s could also carry the incendiary packs??
John