London Victoria Station Bombed 9th October 1940

[Maximowitz]

On the night of 9th October 1940 at 22:25 Victoria Station in London was extensively bombed by Luftwaffe forces. I realise that this is a fairly open ended question, but can anyone tell me which KG units were operating over London that night?

Thanks in advance guys.

[Larry deZeng]

As finely detailed as The Blitz Then and Now is, the coverage for Wednesday, 9 October, is less than adequate (see Volume 2, pp.174-76). No mention is made of any bombs on Victoria Station and there is no identification of the Kampfgeschwader participating in the night's activities. It just says that the most intense periods over London were 1900-2100 on 9 October and 0300-0600 on 10 October. The night of 9/10 October throught the U.K. resulted in 19 killed and 74 injured, but only part of those were in London. Only St. Paul's Cathedral is singled out for mention as a notable target that took a significant hit.

[Chris Goss]

This weas termed a Grossangriff and the chances of finding out who might have done the deed are almost nil. For example, I have the following units from Luftflotte 3:

II/KG 76 9 ac 2000-0200 hrs
I/KG 77 7 ac 2210-0130 hrs
I/KG 27 26 ac 2030-2200 hrs
II/LG 1 11 ac 2022-2215 hrs
III/LG 1 8 ac 2041-2217 hrs
I/KG 27 16 ac 2205-2345 hrs
II/KG 27 11 ac 2045-2205 hrs
I/KG 51 8 ac 0100-0200 hrs
II/KG 51 7 ac 0150-0310 hrs
III/KG 51 3 ac 0305-0315 hrs
Stab & I/KG 55 8 ac 2105-2200 hrs
II/KG 55 19 ac 2147-2350 hrs
III/KG 55 7 ac 0010-0105 hrs

Noting your times, this would preclude I/KG 27 (first op), II/LG 1, II/KG 27, I/KG 51, II/KG 51, III/KG 51, III/KG 55. However, the only Geschwader that mentioned seeing bombs exploding near a 'central railway depot' was II/KG 55.

[Maximowitz]

Many thanks for your help gentlemen, most kind.