Damage Inflicted by Mistels off Normandy

[DavidIsby]

What damage did Mistels actually inflict to Allied targets off Normandy?

Unfortunately, the Library of Congress has lost their copy of Forsyth's book on the Mistel, so I cannot check that?

Was the damage to HMS Nith inflicted by a Mistel? Or was the only ship they seem to have damaged the scuttled French battleship Courbet?

thanks,
davis isby

[edwest]

I do recall reading the Nith was a very near miss, with one wing of the Mistel slicing a lifeboat in half before exploding shortly after hitting the water.


"While Mistel pilots claimed hits, none of these can be correlated in Allied records, and they may have been made against the hulk of the old French battleship Courbet, which had been included as a component of the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches and specially dressed up as a decoy by the Allies. Serious blast and shrapnel damage from a near miss was also suffered by HMS Nith, a floating headquarters, on 21 June. There were 9 killed and 26 wounded and the Nith was towed to back to England for repairs."


Best,
Ed