Walrus Combat 18 Oct 40

[Chris Goss]

Early evening 18 Oct 40, 6 Do 17s from KGr 606 attacked 2 British cruisers and 4 destroyers in Quadrat BF2746. During the course of the attack, the lead Do 17 engaged an aircraft believed to have been a Walrus in air combat. Can anyone throw any light on the air combat?

[Martin Gleeson]

Chris,

Maybe the date was the 17th. No mention of the air action or any air attacks in my source but there was an interesting surface encounter when four German destroyers "were sighted near Brest by British aircraft" at 0719 on the 17th. Erich Steinbrink, Hans Lody, Karl Galster and Friedrich Ihn were attempting a raid on the Bristol Channel.
The RN light cruisers Newcastle and Emerald left Plymouth at 1100 (17th) to counter this raid, along with destroyers Jackel, Jupiter, Kashmir, Kipling and Kelvin.
A long-range gun action took place from 1600-1800 hours with damage to neither side. Jupiter has engine problems before the engagement which would then leave the RN force with the composition you quote.
"Both forces were back in their respective ports early the next day".

My source is the excellent 'WORLD WAR II SEA WAR', Volume 3, page 45 by Donald A. Bertke, Don Kindell and Gordon Smith.
See www.naval-history.net

Regards,

Martin Gleeson.

[Chris Goss]

Martin
You are right. The German report must have been written at 0100 hrs on 18 Oct so must refer to 17 Oct. Digging deeper, a Ju 88 of 4/121 reported 5 destroyers and 2 cruisers at 1145 hrs on 17 Oct, they were picked up again by another Ju 88 of 2/123 at 1440 hrs. Thanks but whose was the Walrus? It would appear that Newcastle has the Walrus and Emerald the Seafox, both from 700 Sqn
Chris

[Laurent Rizzotti]

The report of this action is available on fold3 in the Admiralty War Diaries. Date is 18.10.1940 but the action took place the previous day (on th 17th):
http://www.fold3.com/image/302028763/ (and next pages)

There was a Walrus airborne, and the British ships reported German floatplanes and then attacks by Dornier medium bombers.

At 1839 hrs, "Newcastle's Walrus aircraft landed in the sea and was hoisted in to Newcastle, the pilot Lt Gough making a good landing in spite of being wounded in an engagement with a Dornier 17. After engaging the Walrus the Dornier retired being apparently chased away by one of our Blenheim bombers."

So the attack on Walrus is confirmed, but on the 17th.

[Brian]

Hi Chris

I have this, but it may be a different combat (see date)

On 27 October, the light cruisers Newcastle and Emerald together with escorting destroyers (Force F), out from Southampton on a search and destroy mission against the German destroyer force operating in the Channel, made contact. The initial exchange of gunfire failed to achieve any results, so Newcastle’s Walrus (possibly L2331) was launched to assist with spotting. The crew - Sub-Lt Austin Gough and Lt Colin Campbell-Meiklejohn, observer - had an immediate success when they observed a salvo of torpedoes approaching the British force, warning the ships in time for them to comb the tracks. Up until now, only one Do17 had been seen but with darkness rapidly descending, three more bombers appeared, making an ineffectual pass at the Walrus before releasing their bombs, none of which fell close to the ships. With the German destroyers having made their escape, the Walrus crew was ordered to make for Plymouth rather than return to the cruiser. Flying near the Lizard, the Walrus was suddenly attacked by a Do17 and damaged, Gough receiving a bullet wound in the chest, necessitating a landing on the sea, from where the Walrus was hoisted aboard. It was alleged that when the wounded pilot was later approached by a fellow officer with the remark, ‘Hello, chum, I hear you were shot down’, Gough replied: ‘I certainly wasn’t shot down; I may have been shot up, but the bastard wouldn’t stay and give battle!’

It would seem that I have the wrong date!

Cheers
Brian

[Chris Goss]

Thanks all so it is substantiated-evening of 17 Oct 40. Presume 700 Sqn then-wonder what eventually happened to the crew?
Brian-yes you are 10 days out!