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Old 6th February 2020, 11:58
Graham Boak Graham Boak is offline
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Re: Rocket anti-aircraft fire

People see what they are told they will see. There are reports from RAF gunners of attacks by Me163s - anything less likely than an night attack by Me163s is difficult to conceive. There are many reports from the Mediterranean (and maybe elsewhere) of attacks by long-nose Fw190s, long before the D actually saw service. The He113s in the Battle of Britain are perhaps a more famous example. Plus the "scarecrows" seen by night bombers. Or master searchlights being bluer than the others. If the intelligence officers were warning crews to look out for rocket attacks than it isn't surprising that crews reported seeing them. That they actually happened in any organised fashion is exceedingly unlikely to have escaped notice in German documents. Or indeed evidence found on the ground in the occupied land.

I wouldn't rule out crews seeing individual examples, either of trials or perhaps operators seizing the chance of a live firing should a bomber formation pass near.
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