Loss JU88 C6 24/12/42

[gilles collaveri]

Hello again,

by chance , would we have any information abut this loss :

Ju88C6 Wnr360082 of V/KG40 Loss on 23/12/42 because of misorientation and loss of fuel, at Langon, 40 Km south of Bordeaux (thanks Matti for all this information)

Any information about the circonstances ?
what happened exactly ?
did the crew bail out ?
what was their name ?
where did the A/C crash ?
is there any archives of KG40 (or book) that could help understand better what happened ?

thanks

GC

[Chris Goss]

Gilles

Surely you knew I had the answer?

One of 4 ac that took off on a Freie Jagd at 1100hrs on 23 Dec 42 (not 24 Dec) . Crashed near Lagon/Langon 40 km SE of Bordeaux. Crew baled out, cause not initially recorded. Pilot slightly injured (but not recorded). Quartermaster's returns say got lost, ran out of fuel. I am afraid that this is as good as you are going to get unless a V./KG 40 KTB turns up..............I wish

[gilles collaveri]

salut Chris,

I did not imagine you had the answer, this is good news, thanks for your feedback;

Any additional information on this crash from anyone from anywhere will be welcome .

Take care of your health

Gilles

[Chris Goss]

Having just communicated with Gilles, a pilot from 13./KG 40 reported landing at Cognac, the only of 4 to land safely due to bad weather. Bloody Biscay lists 3 Ju 88C-6s suffering 25%, 80% and 100% damage but no crew casualties on this date

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Do we have the WX report to comprehend a bit more what happened? Ice building up (they may have de-ice boots, if I remember correctly)...Thunderstorm (even the modern Auto-Pilots can not hold sometimes)? Fog building up (the Germans did NOT have FIDO to give a hand) on the known bases (have a similar experience over Amazony when we only had one airfield available...all the others had closed down due to fog (Haru)...we landed and by the middle of the runway we were on fog...more 5-10 min and we were done...without any suitable field to land, at night, with no parachutes)....

[Chris Goss]

It was Bay of Biscay in mid-December; all I have is it was a day of bad weather which saw a number of sorties turning back

[gilles collaveri]

Thanks a lot Chris for all the information on KG40 operations that day, which I rediscovered in your excellent book "Bloody Biscay".

Adriano, we know the following :
- weather was bad on 23/12/42
- one Ju88 was abandoned by its crew near Bordeaux, due to crew disorientation
- one Ju88 crashed in the Pyrénées mountains 250 km from Bordeaux, with nobody on board. It looks very much like it is the same aircraft.

we can imagine that the aircraft left by itself flew 20 minutes on its own and then crashed, but this is only a supposition.

We will have to go on the crash site in the mountains and look for parts with the aircraft Wnr.
If we find a part with "360082", This will be the ultimate proof that this is the same aircraft.

cheers to both of you.

GC

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Gilles, good morning.

Surely a "Gendarmerie report" must have been written. The crew who bailed out was surely found by some farmers and passed to the "authorities" who may have written a report (Feldgendarmerie or Kommandantur).

I know this is a LONG SHOT, but something may exist somewhere....

I will try to find something about the WX (weather) this day...so we do have a glimpse of what those crews faced and passed through.

Semper Fi., and "Kiss the children for me (us)".

Adriano (and Family saying Hello).

[Chris Goss]

There is a report dated 24 Dec 42 found by Gilles for the crash and that the crew had baled out but they had not been found

[Adriano Baumgartner]

I do quote from "Night Raid Report nº230 - Bomber Command attack to Essen on the night of 24/25 December 1942"

Meteorological Forecast:

Germany and France: The whole of the continent is covered with fog or low stratus as far south as the Alps.

West France: La Pallice will be fogbound, but the Biarritz area may be suitable."

So we do have an idea that fog instead of ice may have been the "hazard" those crews faced on their sorties....Moon was 98% full as reported on the previuos Night-Raid report...which also informed about a Frontal Cold Front over Germany with fog on the boundaries and fog probably over North Italy (Milan, etc.).

A.