Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Goss
Nick Beale will no doubt have this chapter and verse
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This coming from the man who literally wrote the book!
From Air Operational Watch reports in National Archives HW 13/37:
24 December: 8 sorties by 1./128 from Brest (Fw 190s) and 14 by Ju 88s of I./ZG 1; from KG 40, 6 He 177s and 9 Fw 200s; 1 Ju 88 heard between 2115 and 2310 BST, thought to be Kdo. Kunkel night fighter; 1 Ju 88 of 1.(F)/123 on reconnaissance.
25 December: 7 Fw 200s up from 1030 BST, staying in the air for 12 hours. "Escort to the blockade-runner Osorno reported at 0414/25 continuous bombing, and requested fighters from first light. Continuous fighter escort was not possible due to the situation with reard to forces available, but the following were to operate: 14 Ju 88s up at about 1100, 10 Ju 88s up at 1445 … returning 1830 … Close escort by Fw 190s was also intended for the ships as soon as they should come within s/e fighter range, which was expected to be about 1500."
26 December: Bf 109s to cover the Gironde Estuary for the arrival of Osorno.
27 December: reconniassance for Alsterufer started on the 26th and continued on the 27th but the Allies don't seem ot have detected any Ju 88 fighter activity. However the reports says: A ship tought to be Alsterufer was sighted by Coastal Comman at 1030 in 46º 50' N, 19º 29' W, course East, 15 knots and was shadowed. At about 1700 a Liberator of 311 Squadron made an attack evidently on this ship and has reported that the ship was set on fire and sank, about 70 survivors seen in 4 lifeboats.
28 December: reconnaissance for the blockade runner carried on so it seems the Germans didn't know it had been sunk.
On 3 December, Flifü Atlantik had 16 (7) Fw 200s; 26 (11) He 177s; 64 (32) Ju 88 fighters; 9 (6) Fw 190s. For reconnaissance 7 (3) Ju 290s and 9 (2) Ju 88s. Kdo. Kunkel had 7 (0) Ju 88 night fighters.
If you want more from the German side you can get the Kriegsmarine diary for December 1943 here:
https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-zmsbw/so...s/id/1/rows/10
Each month can be downloaded in pdf format and is searchable, so you can just search for Osorno and Altersufer and see what comes up.