[Roger Gaemperle]

Hi Rod,

Thanks for the name of Hans Fryba.

Regarding 'Hfw. Lippert' (sic) and a 'Ofw. Gabriel': I don't doubt the authenticity of the document. There could be several reasons why the document seems not to correspond to any known RAF raid. Lippert may have overestimated the bomber force and instead of 50 there were only 20 of a diversion raid. Or Lippert wasn't sure about the area where they sighted the bombers (if the location wasn't measured from the ground at the moment when he sighted the bomber force).

I have attached a map with the flight locations according to the document. If one assumes straight lines between the single cities the distance ist about 600 km (in reality it was probably more). Flight duration was 1.5 hrs which gives an average of 400 km/h.

Perhaps it helps to compare with RAF raids in spring 1945. The bombers were sighted in the area Nienburg (which was not exactly on a straight line between Hannover and Lüneburg).

Regards
Roger Gaemperle