10th July 1940 British tanker Chancellor hit

[andy bird]

Trying to establish which Luftwaffe group attacked the vessels at the northern end of Falmouth harbour on 10 July 1940.

A single line in an AM summary reads:

A single Blenheim T 236 climbed to engage after a second stick was dropped.

Kind Regards

Andy Bird

[Larry Hickey]

Andy: this must have been one a number of Luftflotte 3 Nuisance Raids on the morning of July 10th. Here are most of the morning raids in that general area as reported in the Heinrich Weiss manuscript for 10 July (manuscript and translation copywrite). You'll have to look through these and see if anything fits. There are others in the early afternoon (German time) which may still be in the morning by British time, if these don't provide what you're looking for:

"Luftflotte 3
Owing to the weather situation no combat missions in larger formations were possible. On the other side the weather did suit for nuisance raids flown by single planes or by smaller formations like sections or pairs. Thus both Air Corps: IV and V dully used the opportunity. Both air corps mounted in total 31 sorties:
1.Two Ju 88 of III./LG1 took off at 05.23 hrs and were targeting Plymouth.
a)one crew dropped five SC50 bombs on halls and five SC50 bombs at Victoria jetty, reporting explosions in warehouses and the dock area (07.35 hrs)
b)one crew attacked the airfield at Bournemouth, the bombs were aimed too short and hit a track, which was leading to airfield (07.50 hrs).
2.Four Ju 88 bombers of III./LG1 began to take off from 08.25 hrs onwards in the unit’s operational area. Each plane was carrying 2 SC250 and 10 Sc50 bombs.
a)one Ju 88 attacked port facilities in Plymouth hitting the Victoria jetty (09.55 hrs)
b)one Ju 88 attacked a steel works in Cardiff, observing explosions in the factory area; one barrage balloon was shot down (11.40 hrs)
c)one Ju 88 aimed it bombs at harbor installations at Looe with unknown results (11.45 hrs)
c)the fourth Ju 88 returned to base with its bomb load
3.Four Ju 88 of III./LG1 took off at 09.07 hrs for missions in the unit’s operational area. The planes were armed same as above.
a)one Ju 88 attacked (oil?) tank facilities in Cardigan; the crew observed four direct hits and fires (11.30 hrs)
b)one Ju 88 attacked (oil?) tank facilities in Pembroke; the crew reported explosions and fires (11.35 hrs)."

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Andy,

As you can see above, none of the morning attacks directly relate to Falmouth, but some afternoon attacks specifically mention targets there:

9.Five Ju 88 of II./LG1 began to take-off from 13.40 hrs for anti-shipping sorties over the Bristol Channel. Each plane carried four SC250 bombs. The sky was still covered by think clouds with showers and only two crews managed to find targets.
a)one crew attacked at 15.35 hrs with four SC250 bombs the harbor in Falmouth and reckoned two hits on large tanker ship with erupting fires.
Actually the German crew attacked a tanker ship “Tascalusa” (1913; steamer; 6 499 BRT; 10 knots; ex Socony Cacuum Company; home harbor: London) lying along the Northern Arm. The tanker was sunk and was only raised at the end of August and dragged to a beach by Mylor Flats. In June 1945 it was finally scrapped...

....12.Three Ju 88 of II./LG1 began to take off at 15.00 hrs for anti-shipping missions over the western part of the Channel. Each plane had 4 SC250 bombs aboard.
a)one Ju 88 attacked a small convoy sailing off Falmouth, aiming its four bombs at a merchant vessel estimated for 5000 BRT. All bombs fell wide of the target (16.25 hrs).
b)one Ju 88 attacked a merchant vessel of ca. 10 000 BRT heading in a convoy off the harbor in Falmouth. The crew observed as all bombs exploded some 30 meters off the target.
However the attacked ship, the English tanker “British Chancellor” (1921; motor ship; 7 085 BRT; 10 knots; home harbor: London), was hit. It was heading without load from Constance to Falmouth. The ship was set alight and had to be beached. On 24.7.40 it was taken in tow to dry dock in Falmouth for repair. Four crew members were killed by this air attack..."

Somewhere in these reports you should find the answer to your question.

Regards,

[Alex Smart]

Hello Andy and Larry,
If you can, try to get David Barnicoat's book "Sailing Ship to Super Liner".
It has photos of the ships involved the names of the shipyard workers killed (George Eric Bastian;Samuel Prouse;Walter Samuel Knott; Charles Palin; Henry Arthur Pellow and Leonard John Tallack) and a copy of Charles Pears painting of the raid.The real think is now removed from the Shipyards Main Office and is in the Town's Municipal Building.

Ships hit were:
British Chancellor,Tascalusa and the Marie Chandris. The Dutch Salvage tug Zwarte Zee was damaged and later sank.
Three crew of the British Chancellor who lost their lives were:
Chief Engineer Officer Charles Halley Lennox
2nd Engineer Officer William Joseph Crocker
3rd Engineer Officer Philip George Lucas Samuels


All the very best
Alex

[andy bird]

Hi Larry & Alex,
Wow! Amazing, thank you.
I have been sent via 'Sam' McHardys daughter a copy of a single dairy page of an Australian F/O Powers on 236 he mentions that three of his Sgt's had gone to Lister St in Falmouth to view potential rooms for their girl friends/wives to stay in shortly before the raid. They'd view a nearby beach and just boarded a RAF utility van when the first bombs are dropped, managed to get one civilian report whose house No 71 was devastated to tie it in and thought I'd try and tie up the loose ends.

Once again many thanks for your help to-date.

Yours faithfully

Andy Bird

[Chris Goss]

Coastal Command Int Sum makes no mention of an interception

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

What we're trying to do with the Weiss manuscript is use it as a skeleton around which to build the story of the events of the airwar 1939-40, through the eyes and experiences of those who were there, including observers or participants on the ground. Otherwise the volumes will be an invaluable historical reference source for researchers, but will end up largely being a dry endless recitation of units, times, bomb loads, targets and results--something that only the most dedicated historian would ever want to read. So the info that Andy Bird, Alex Smart and Chris Goss have added to the German outline of what happened at Falmouth that day are extremely important for our EOE research project. Any help from anyone in fleshing out the human side of the story is greatly appreciated. Further to the German side, few of the German pilots/crewmen are mentioned by name of these kinds of reports, but we're scouring the contemporary German literature of the time, eBay collections, and doing Flugbuch transcriptions, as well as translating the few surviving unit KTB (Kriegtagbuch) to help put real people in these stories. Many source accounts, such as Chris Goss has published from his correspondence and interviews, and Peter Taghon has made available, both published and unpublished, from his work in Belgium during the Western Campaign, are also invaluable reference sources for this dimension of the project. Similar work by John Vasco and Peter Cornwell for their work on the Bf110 during 1940 is also being fully exploited, including material not in their previously published work. Local newspapers, despite wartime censorship, will also undoubtedly prove very useful "local color" to the events.

The participation of anyone who wants to help, and has something to contribute, is much appreciated.

Regards,

[andy bird]

Originally Posted by Chris Goss

Coastal Command Int Sum makes no mention of an interception

Hi Chris,

The summary does not but the page dated 10 July 1940 does from Australians Powers diary. Having been trawlling the summaries and the summaries appendex's - seems the AM appendix has more info in than the actual summary.
ie: Caostal Command combat reports
and actual full times up, down etc.,

Requested to see full diary but due to the deadline looming unsure whether I'll be able to use it as I've missed 2 deadlines now.

Andy