Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Thompson
That should mean that the word greifen - "attack" was left out so save space, so the text means "at 22.45 our torpedo aircraft attacked a Russian squadron". However, one can also speculate that the staff clerk knew that a torpedo-bomber unit was operational that night, but did not know that it was not carrying torpedoes on the specific mission in question 
Warm regards,
Paul |
Whilst you could infer the absence of »greifen«, it just looks like the clipped language that armed forces use the world over: "From 22.45 hrs. own torpedo aircraft against Russ. formation."
It's not anything provable but I think that if the clerk wrote "torpedo aircraft", that's likely what they carried. Look at KG 26 in Summer 1944 when the II.
Gruppe was converted from torpedo to conventional bombing. This entailed fitting bombsights, bomb shackles and oxygen for the crew (none of which a torpedo machine needed) so switching a Ju 88 from one role to the other wasn't a quick process.
it is a great shame that the card index has either been lost or is yet to be rediscovered.
On the other hand its absence does enable you to read and draw your own conclusions from the material …