Time over target ~ Peernemunde August 1943

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Hi Gnome.
I got a map of the Area, although not so detailed as I wanted. Yes, there are a lot of claims that we can discard - too far away to the West, or over the Sea, or to the South.
But, there many claims over Peenemunde without any other clear indication...and that will be our problem!
From the site bomberslost ( I passed you on a previous reply ) 619 Squadron lost only 3 Lancasters and that of your uncle was the last one to take off!
Did you find the book of Middlebrook? We could have an idea of the flight made by the heavies that night. For example: if the first leg was direct to somewhere over Denmark; the second leg apparently crossed the Baltic from W to East almost directly to Peenemunde. This way we can "guesstimate" the actual ( or most probable time ) of your uncle´s Lanc over the target.
What seems strange on this story is that he and his crew were buried in Poland. If they crashed 200 m from the center of Peenemunde, why did the Germans buried them so far away?
And there are many considerations: Like I told you, depending of how badly damaged a Lancaster was he could fly for some time until crashing...
But gladly for "our" research, most of bombers were shot down around 2,000-3,000 meters this night.
I looked all the claims and like you - started to eliminate some candidates. But there are so many Luftwaffe pilots that claimed victories over Peenemunde that we would have to calculate the ETO to have an idea - or check with 619 Squadron survivors their times over the target. So, for example, an aircraft that took off at 21:45 arrived over Peenemunde at 00:55hs - your uncle should have arrived around 01:05hs...
I will keep in touch...Have you got contacts with other 619 Squad veterans? Is there a 619 Squadron Association? Maybe 619 Squadron ORB at the Public Record Office at Kew ( UK )?
I´ll be waiting more news from you.
Yours as ever
Adriano