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Re: Precise date in May 1940 for Luftwaffe raids on certain airfields.
Hello Peter,
Can I ask for your help again please as a follow-on to my first post ?
Was Coulommiers bombed on May 16th ?
Let me explain why I ask. As you note Coulommiers was attacked on May 26th by KG 3. The AIR 35/192 document I referred to above records that three aircraft of 24 Squadron were badly damaged during that raid. The 24 Squadron ORB (AIR 27/293) is very detailed up to and including 18 May 1940 detailing individual transport sorties, but after that date it is very sparse for the rest of May. Under May 16th in the F.540 part of the ORB it is recorded that two DH 89s and a Vega Gull were all damaged beyond repair at Coulommiers, plus two more aircraft and a vehicle abandoned at different airfields. I am doubtful that all of these were actually written off on the same day, and I suspect that the three at Coulommiers were actually lost on the 26th - as per your initial reply – and not on the 16th .
If Coulommiers was not bombed on the 16th , then it appears to me that the 26th was the correct date for the loss of these three aircraft.
I have looked at several other primary documents, but none can clarify this matter.
Any assistance would be much appreciated.
Regards,
Martin.
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