[Birgir Thorisson]

I guess Friedmans account is the same official one as cited by Brown. How reliable is it re. the bomb size. How did they distinguish between the effects of 500 kg AP and 250 kg SAP bombs? The size of the explosives should not be proportionate? (But it would have been far more embarrazing to have a 550lb bomb penetrate the deck armour than a 1000lb, which was actually a 1100lb bomb).

There must be some german account available, with hits credited to individual pilots, and bomb sizes given.

Juha;
Did the R-1 carry external drop tanks, (giving it max fuel of 1380 liters)? or were the droptanks maybe replacements in the R-2, increasing max fuel from 780 l. to 1080 l. rather than reducing it.

An order of battle for the Stuka groups for the invasions of Jugoslavia and Greece shows a mix of Bs and Rs in individual groups (e.g 9 Rs and 30 Bs). Do we know that II StG 2 and I StG 1 had uniform equipment in january?

I found a range figure for the Type 79Z radar carried by Illustrious. 90 miles at 20.000 feet. I reckon it means less at lower attitude, but is it proportional? (say 45 miles at 10000 feet, or 72 miles at 16000 feet?)

Csaba and Nick. With the bomb crutch being a standard item, why complicate the assembly process with two different types? Certainly the few kilos saved are hardly worth the problems. And if the "standard" crutch was not strong enough for the 500 kg bomb, how did they deal with the 1000 kg. bomb? Was it maybe dropped in level flight? Csaba; your post implies that at some stage, the standard crutch was strengthened. Do you know when? Would the planes operated in januar 1941 have had a uniform fit, or would the individual aircraft maybe have carried different versions, depending on age and sub-type. (was this maybe the limiting factor on ordnance carried by the Ju 87R-1, subsequently removed?)

Birgir Thorisson.