Quote:
Originally Posted by robert_schulte
Just found this in the book "The most dangereous enemy" by S. Bungay:
"The Luftwaffe opened the new month of October [1940] by sending 48 Bf 109s of JG2 and JG53 and the remaining 32 BF 110s of ZG26 on a sweep over Portsmouth. ... Bob Doe led down the six Hurricanes of 238 Squadron in a bounce from 5000 feet above them, and got the Messerschmitt from below as he pulled up from the dive. He reported seeing some four-engined Focke-Wulf 200 bombers - usually used for maritime reconnaissance - in the formation, which the fighters may have joined as they set out for the western approaches."
No mentioning of any other forces like He 111s.
In the appendix of the book, following explanation is given:
"This aircraft, called the Condor, was flown by KG40, which was attached to Airfleet 3 at this time. German records contain no mention of any mission flown by the unit on 1 October, but they were used for nuisance raids on distant targets as well as reconnaissance, usually in small numbers. One of them carried out a nuisance raid on Liverpool during the night."
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I have a 'signed' edition of Bob Doe's autobiography 'Fighter Pilot'.
He describes the above incident on page 44. He states, ".....so I carried on down in a steep dive....and partly pulled out at the bottom to have a shot at two bombers which to this day, I am convinced were four engined Condors".
Bob Doe was I believe the third highest scoring RAF ace in the BoB.