Luftflotte 5 reports for 18 September 1942

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hello,

I have some questions on the German air attacks against PQ 18 on 18 September 1942. I have the losses for both sides (a Ju 88 of KG 30 and a He 111 of KG 26 shot down, two other KG 26 He 111s damaged returned to base (one damaged beyond repair) vs the US merchant Kentucky sunk), and a good view of the Allied side both naval and in the air (a CAM Hurricane launched by the SS Empire Morn).

According to the Allied,
_ first attack was launched at 1020 hrs (0820 hrs in some naval report, but I guess it is UK time, or GMT, 1020 should be local time) by 9-12 (depending of the source) torpedo-bombers He 111s.
_ another torpedo attack was launched one hour later (so around 1120-1130 hrs), this time from both sides of the convoy. The Hurricane pilot was launched against this attack and reported 15 He 111s in one group and 10 in another.
_ starting around the time of the first attack (before according to the report of the Hurricane pilot) until 1230 hrs, Ju 88s attacked with bombs through the clouds at a height of some 2,500 feet.

I would like to compare this with German reports, telling how much aircraft and of which unit were sent to attack this convoy this morning. I don't know if such reports still exist, but some of the forum members have many data on this theater, so I hope the data will be available.

I checked the book "Achtung Torpedo Los" and this raid is described on page 158-159, but with few details (and unclear date in the text, but as it is the third attack by KG 26 against PQ 18 it should be this action).
An interesting part is that this book says III./KG 26 moved from Banak (his usual base) to Petsamo, 300 km more east, to be able to attack again the convoy. On the other hand, the British estimated that the convoy was out of range of German bombers on the 16th and so the escort carrier Avenger was detached to join convoy QP14. So this move could have caught the Allied by surprise, leaving only the CAM Hurricane and a weakened escort to defend the convoy.
But the surprising part is that both aircraft returning with damage have Fl Banak as the loss location. Petsamo was closer for damaged aircraft to land, so I wonder if this is correct.

Thanks in advance