German losses,16/05/1944

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Hello

What were the losses on May 16 in the Parrow/Stralsund/Zingst region?
Sqdr Ldr Charles Scherf (418 ° RCAF) claims 5 victories

He 111=1 "Gedzer"
FW 190=1 "Zingst"
Hs 123 !=1 "Parrow"
He 177 =1 "Parrow"
Ju 86 =1 "Stralsund"

I have DOUBTS about the truth of these claims.

Thanks in advance
Regards
michel

[Brian Bines]

Luftwaffe Aircraft shot down over the Baltic coast in the area covered by the Ranger flown by S/L Scherf and S/L Cleveland were as follows :-

1/ He 111 P CX+ND 2851 of FFS B 35
FF Lt Karl-Heinz Vogt - mentioned in Luft.Officers Career summaries
Bf Uffz Karl Richard
Bm Ogef Harry Obst
Sch Fw Oskar Bunts
Sch Gef Alois Gruber
Shot over the sea south of Gedser Head crew all missing

2/ Fw190 A8 680163 12/JG 3
Uffz Johannes Staasser killed
Crashed by Zingst - see JG 3 loss list

3/ Fw 58 D1 2127 BsSchule 1 based Rahmel
FF Ofw Hoffmann wounded
Bs Flg Friedrich Zeiner killed
Sch Gef Rudolf Henker missing
Sch Flg Sepp Tschunt killed
Shot down over the sea over Prohner-Wiek Bay N/W Stralsund

4/ Arado 66 B1 1885 JG 103
Ff killed
Shot down east of Parow A/F

5/ Si 204 D1 281561 FFS B 2
Ff Uffz Guntermann
Bf Uffz Werner Walter ?
Bw Uffz Bauer
Sch Uffz Borchert Erwin ?
Sch Uffz Duckstein Fritz ?
Sch Uffz Reiff
Shot down between Stralsund and Güstrow crew all killed

Scherf claimed a He111 over the sea, a Fw 190 at Zingst , a He 177 over the sea, a He 123 over the bay and a Ju 86 south of Stralsund . No He177 appears to have been lost , Scherf reported that one man baled out from his victim maybe the Fw 58 from which the only survivor came .

S/L Cleveland caimed two aircraft destroyed over the RT but then lost an engine to Flak and made for Sweden apparantly ditching but he made it ashore . He was interned but his Ob. F/Sgt Day was lost .

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Mea Culpa about the doubt I had about the veracity of his claims (correct number)!!

The He-111 claimed by Cleveland (Kiel Bay) is also Scherf's? or is it another one?

Thanks for the precision.

Michel

[Brian Bines]

Hi Michel

The initial claim by Scherf's Observer F/O Finlayson on behalf of S/L Cleveland for a He 111 has been notated to say strikes seen as it was landing but final results not seen , but an enemy aircraft parked was seen to explode following Cleveland attacking it . The 418 Sqd ORB has a hand wriiten note saying these claims submited on behalf of Cleveland were not allowed , but on his return from Sweden he put in a new report and these were now confirmed .

This new report stamped 7th July 44 says on the approach to Parow from over Kubitzer bay a Do 217 was seen parked on the edge of the airfield which blew up when attacked ( also mentioned on Finlayson's report as ' the nicest explosion ever to have been seen ' ) . Just after a He 111 was seen approaching the airfield to land this was attacked as it touched down , the port wing blew off and it crashed halfway along the N/S runway .

As Cleveland turned to attack 16 seaplanes moored off shore his aircraft was hit by Flak knocking out his starboard engine . He made for Sweden but ditched 3 miles off the Swedish coast and was picked up 3 hrs later however F/Sgt Day had died

I could not find anything to identify this He 111 that Cleveland was awarded .

Regards

Brian Bines