Franek,
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Originally Posted by Franek Grabowski
Anyway, if it was so obvious mistake, why CJE asked for year?
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The mistake wasn't obvious at the time that CJE asked the question, but it was readily apparent after the two postings by RT and Jim P within the next couple of hours.
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It is a fact, Zebrowski claimed in 1970s that he was the first man over the beaches.
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He makes no such claim in his autobiography, "Nachts über den Wolken", published in 1989. In the book, Zebrowski says his Kommandeur ordered one of the Stakas, Hauptmann Ebersprächer, to conduct an early Aufklärungsflug, which verified the arrival of Allied ships off the Normandy coast. The unit is then ordered to make Schwarm-level attacks on the ships "mit Bomben und Bordwaffen." Zebrowski assembles a Schwarm for take-off at 11h00, but he mentions receiving confirmations from returning flights (i.e., ones that were dispatched before his) that the invasion was in full swing.
Near Le Havre, he notices that he's lost his three comrades. He then turns westward to fly along the coast to the Orne mouth at an altitude of 300m. He experiences the "indescribable" and "unforgettable" sight of "just ships, far and wide, all the way to the horizon", as well as the gruesome sight of "masses of GI's being systematically mown down on the coverless beaches by German machine guns." He doesn't mention firing on the beaches. He then flies over the ships and decides to attack the "middle ship in a group of three battleships on the eastern flank of the invasion fleet." Diving from cumulus clouds at 2000m, he achieves complete surprise, strafing the deck with his cannons and machine guns before releasing his 500kg bomb at 600m. A massive barrage of flak opens up during his pull-out, but he miraculously suffers only a nick to the bridge of his nose.
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There was a lengthy discussion in Jaegerblatt or similar Luftwaffe veterans journal IIRC.
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When I have the time, I'll attempt to find the article. If you happen to recall roughly when it appeared, that'd be a big help.
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That he missed the target and got lost. Strange for a quite experienced pilot to say the least.
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Yes, that is strange, but whatever happened during Bodenplatte apparently didn't happen on D-Day.
Leon Venter