Biscay Action 28th December 1943

[mjbollinger]

There were two units in action that time.

On 28 December four Fw 200 of III./KG 40 -- all those equipped to carry the Hs 293 -- launched an attack on Allied forces attempting to intercede and block the return of blockade runner Alsterufer. Poor weather caused three of the four aircraft to miss the ships entirely and only one attacked HMS Glasgow, with two missiles missing due to their being launched in conditions of low ceiling. It is possible that one of these four aircraft (Hptm Wilhelm Dette of 9./KG 40?) ditched on the way back, but I'm not sure of this.

Later that same day 16 He 177 A-3 of II./KG 40 flew another attack mission in support of Alsterufer. Weather conditions were very poor. Aircraft F8+IN (#535557) was probably lost before the attack and six others never engaged the target due to poor weather. Only nine attacked the Allied ships attempting to block the return of Alsterufer, all without result. Aircraft NN+QY (#535559) appears to have crash-landed on the way back and was lost.

You'll find references to this attack in Waters' book The Royal New Zealand Navy and in Schull's Far Distant Ships. It is also described in Neitzel's book on the Atlantic and North Sea operations.

The ship, Alsterufer, was later sunk by Allied aircraft.

I hope this helps. For what it is worth, I've been researching the deployment and defeat of German glide bombs and have written a 360-page manuscript on that topic, which I hope to publish later this year.

MB