Go-242 glider - aerial victory?

[keith A]

I was looking at 213 Squadrons victories in 1944 and note that they shot down one Go- 242 and claimed another on the ground. My question is... the Go-242 is a glider, no engine. After its He111 or other towing aircraft is shot down then frankly it's going in one direction, and that's not up. You could argue it might glide into friendly territoy but that's as Doctor Johnson said a triumph of hope over experience. Manfred von Richtofen could not make a Go-242 into something more than a balsa-wood DIY project

Thoughts?

The Luftwaffe did have powered gliders but the Go-242 wasn't one of them.

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

Your incident?

The day of 8 September (1944), turned out to be even more productive for an offensive sweep led by Smith with Vorner, Moor and Rorvik. Having attacked a Ju 52 over Belgrade, they encountered two He 111s towing two Gotha Go 242 gliders. As the section attacked, both Heinkels were seen to crash along with one of the gliders. The other glider cast loose and made for a nearby field and, when it came in to land, it was effectively strafed and attacked again as it came to rest in a hedge. None of the four Mustangs received any damage.

See:
The Hornet Strikes The Story of No.213 Squadron Royal Air Force.
Leeson,Frank M.
Tunbridge Wells:Air-Britain (Historians),1998.
p.142

and ...

8th September, 1944.

213 Squadron, RAF: Mustang III - Op "Ratweek": patrol over Belgrade area, Yugoslavia.

328807V Lt Victor Vorster SAAF shot down a He 111.

HB894 542700V 2/Lt Ronald Erling Rorvik SAAF/328551V 2/Lt John William Moor SAAF shared a Go 242 glider shot down trying to land at Grocka, south of the Danube River (after release from He 111).

The seconded SAAF pilots of 213 Sqdn had more success on the 8th during a sweep to the Belgrade area, when F/L Smith* led 2/Lts Vorster, Rorvik and Moor. They found two He 111s towing two Gotha gliders near Belgrade. Vorster shot down a He 111 while Rorvik and John Moor shared a Go 242 cargo glider shot down as it tried to land after being cast off by Victor's Heinkel. F/L Smith got the other He 111.

* 106027 F/Lt Claude Douglas Alston Smith RAFVR (later DFC).

See:
Springbok Fighter Victory Vol.5 1942-1945.
Schoeman,Michael,
Nelspruit:Freeworld Publications,2011.
pp.28 & 203. (and Vol.1)

Col.

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Hello.

I have seen similar claims for Horsas on the LW side....a famous combat of a KG 40 pilot is widely described and he was claimed (from memory) both with the B-24 AND the Horsa glider, who aligned on the water (see). It was a transit transport flight to N. Africa Theater of war...so...it is possible indeed.

Regarding the other possibility, it would be related to poor identification....was it a Go 242 (pure glider) or a Go 244? Maybe someone who has the LW loss list can share a light onto it....

If a Go 242, I believe the claim is genuine...maybe 2 were in tow and one was definetely shot down in flight (e.g.: hit and loosing a wing, then diving, etc.) and the other rather claimed on the ground, after it landed safely (or was it there on the Landing Ground at the Airfield?)...

Just glimpses of ideas passing through my mind...you certainly do have the Combat Report (does it exist?) and perhaps can share more details...

A.

[Adriano Baumgartner]

CORRECTION where it is written "he was" > he had claimed.

[Adriano Baumgartner]

COL BRUGGY, thanks for adding more details about the Combat...so one Go 242 stuck with the cable and came with the He 111 it was towing it...interesting...was it being towed by the rigid "metal and short bar" rather than the towing rope???

[Graham Boak]

For B-24 read Halifax. There is a well-published account of one such combat where the glider pilot released the tow allowing the Halifax to escape (as I recall). However, in Merrick's last work on the Halifax he describes a combat on 14th June involving 2 Condors of 7/KG.40 (Hptm Geoerg Schabert and Oblt Ludwig Progner) shooting down Halifax DK130:EE and the enforced release of the tow. 21 Horsas were safely delivered: one was lost when the towrope broke (3rd June) and other one went missing on the 27th: EB135:XX

[Chris Goss]

Condor combat plus photos in my Condor book and V./KG 40 combat plus photos in Bloody Biscay

[keith A]

Many thanks chaps. On 8 September was the Ju52 destroyed or did it escape?