Ju 88 and HMS Welshman

[Daniele Gatti]

Dear friends,

I have a trouble.

On July 15, 1942 an Axis air formation sighted and attacked near Bizerte the minelayer HMS Welshman... without, however, causing damage to the ship.

The air formation was definitely comprising: one or two Cant.Z.506 (146a Sq) some Fiat CR.42, ten italian Ju 87 (102° Gruppo) and one S.79 (10° Stormo).

Some sources also report the presence of some Ju 88 ... both as "recce" (first plane that sighted the HMS Welshman) ... both as bombers that attacked the ship after the italian aircrafts.

Can you help me to find the Luftwaffe units involved (and possibly the crews)?

Thanks a lot, Daniele.

[Andrew Arthy]

Hi Daniele,

From the German daily summary report:

- There were six Ju 88 reconnaissance sorties from Sicily
- Five Ju 88s were meant to attack British shipping, but failed to sight the enemy.
- Five more Ju 88s did attack shipping and claimed a hit on what was probably a cruiser of the London class. Smoke columns were observed coming from the vessel, although it continued sailing at the same speed

Unfortunately I don't have any details on the units involved, but it seems very likely that they did attack the HMS Welshman (which looks a bit like the HMS London, with three funnels and two masts, albeit 70 metres shorter).

Cheers,
Andrew A.
Air War Publications - www.facebook.com/airwarpublications

[Daniele Gatti]

Thank you Andrew.

[Daniele Gatti]

Possibly...

For Ju 88 D-1 "recce":

Aufklärungsgruppe 122 or Aufklärungsgruppe 123?

For Ju 88 A-4:

Kü.Fl.Gr.606 or Kü.Fl.Gr.806 or KG 54 or KG 77?

I can not find the correct unit involved on July 15, 1942...

[RudiS]

Hi Daniele,

It couldn't have been a KG 54 Ju88:
I./KG54 ceased operations June 25th till July 19th 1942 as far as I know.
II./KG54 was operating on the eastern front at the time.

Regards,
Rudi.

[Andrew Arthy]

Hi Daniele,

To add a little more to the story, a report from a German reconnaissance aircraft at 12:50 on 15 July 1942 placed the 'cruiser' in 03 Ost/7864, course 90 degrees, speed 27 knots. That location is off Bone, Algeria.

From British Y-Service reports: "On 15/7, aircraft of K.Gr. 806 were heard during an attack on the cruiser 'Welshman'; one sustained a damaged engine and was obliged to have escort back to base."

K.G. 77 seems to have been transferring to Crete and then North Africa on 15 and 16 July 1942, and as Rudi says, I./K.G. 54 was resting (according to it's war diary).

So that might be mystery solved, unless anyone has additional information.

Cheers,
Andrew A.
Air War Publications - www.airwarpublications.com

[Daniele Gatti]

Perfect Andrew,

then, most likely 6 Ju 88s D-1 were of Aufklärungsgruppe 122 and 5 (take off 6) Ju 88s A-4 were of Kü.Fl.Gr.806.