12-15th June, 1941

[takata_1940]

Hello everybody,

I'm looking for East-Mediterranean operations between 12th-15th June, 1941 involving Luftwaffe's level bombers around Palestine's coasts and reported in German sources.
Any informations would be very appreciated.

Thanks,
Olivier Bacca.

[takata_1940]

Hi,
More precision:
I would appreciate if somebody may check that in Peter Taghon's book:
"Die Geschichte des Lehrgeschwaders 1" band 1
I ordered this book but I'm still waiting for it.

Several allied reports are recording Ju-88's attacks on shipping between 12th and 15th June. C. Shores pointed that those attacks involved II/JG1 comming from Cretian airfields.

On 13th June 1941, No.3 Squadron RAAF logged an interception of 8 Ju-88s, three of them being shot-down. Other German raids are reported on 15th June when the Destroyer "Isis" is damaged.

So, if someone got this book and could check what missions were flown by LG1 between 12th and 15th, it would be usefull.

Thanks,
Olivier Bacca.

[DDT]

Hello Olivier,

This is what I found in Peter Taghon's book :
12/05 : III./LG 1 -> attack against Tobruk; Hits : gunboat 'LADYBIRD' hit midships by 2 bombs and sunk;
13/05 : III./LG 1 -> 12 crews attack a british flotilla (JUNO;KINGSTON; KANDAHAR; ORION;AJAX and PERTH) Divebombing around 17:00hrs. no hits scored; Losses 1 :
(ff) Oblt. Ernst Häseker (vm)
(bo) Uffz. Gerhard Scheffler (+)
(bf) Uffz. Franz Tomuschat (vm)
(bs) Uffz. Karl Rössling (vm)
(88A-5,L1+AD)(2295)
Hit by AA-fire from HMS AJAX, possibly crashed into the sea at Pl.Qu.5454/23 Ost.
14/05 : I./LG 1 -> attack on british ships in the Suda-bay/Crete; Freighter DALESMAN (6.343BRT) hit and sunk; after rearming I./LG 1 went back for another attack, no hits.
III./LG 1 -> armed recce.
15/5 : III./LG 1 -> 3 crews : between 04:15 ~ 05:15 hr. : attack railway station of Marsa Matruk;
between 16:30 ~ 18:35 : attack at british groundforces around Sollum-Capuzzo. On this day I./LG 1 moved from Plovdiv-Krumovo (Bulgaria) to Eleusis (Greece)
Hope this will help, e-greetz,

Dirk

[takata_1940]

Hello DDT,

Many thanks for your informations, that's exactly what I was looking for.

Here is one report on British side. No.3 Sqdn was flying from Lydda airfield (Palestine, East of Jaffa)

No.3 Squadron RAAF report :
"13th. Eight Tomahawks took off at 1450 hrs. to provide a protective patrol over H.M. Ships off SAIDA. Our formation arrived over the ships at the same time as a formation of eight JU-88's had commenced or were about about to commence a bombing attack on the vessels. Three JU-88's were shot down into the sea, one each by S/L. Jeffrey, F/L. Perrin and F/O. Sauders and at least two were damaged. The a/c. carried Italian markings. No damage was sustained by any of our aircraft and all returned to base at 1620 hrs."

Now, is it possible that this flight, 1450-1620 hrs. match the bombing around 1700 hrs. with German/British time difference?

The Ju-88 lost crashed into the sea at Pl.Qu.5454/23 Ost, any idea how to convert that into coordinate to check if it's close enough to "off Saida" (North of Tyre, Lebanon)?

On the other hand, C. Shores reported this same event on June 12th :
"at 14.50, the eight Tomahawks intercepted eight Ju88s", which were attempting to bomb the ships, identifying these (incorrectly) as Italian-flown aircraft. Three of these were claimed shot down by Squadron Leader Peter Jeffrey, Flight Lieutenant Perrin and Flying Officer J. W. H. Saunders, while two more were believed to have been damaged. These were in fact Luftwaffe aircraft of II/LG1 from Crete. Two of the German bombers actually failed to return, one from 4 Staffel (L1+DM) flown by Leutnant H. Diekjobst, and one of 5 Staffel, flown by Leutnant R. Bennewitz.

Is there any precision in Peter Taghon's book about those losses (apparently on 12th June) and recorded by II./LG 1?

Regards,
Olivier Bacca.

[Stéphane Lehuédé]

Hi

Take care, DTT is giving informations about LG 1 operations between 12th and 15th may 1941

12/05 : III./LG 1 -> attack against Tobruk; Hits : gunboat 'LADYBIRD' hit midships by 2 bombs and sunk;

[takata_1940]

Hi Stephane,

Merci, I didn't noticed it as well, so I may understand pretty well DDT's error ... :-)
The good point is that it brings me to work out the Luftwaffe localisation system from this report and I understand how it works now (Thanks Andreas Brekken). I wondered why the Royal Navy was so close to Crete on 13th of June. Now, the reason is easier to understand too.

Regards,
Olivier Bacca