Losses German Bight 18.12.1939

[Marius]

Also looking at the German victory list 37 Sqd flew surely nearby Borkum at the end of the whole "Heligoland formation", right? This was at appr. 14.45 hours (see claims of Lt. Lent at Borkum 14.40 & 14.45 hours).
I am wondering what Wellingtons were attacked at 14.45-14.55 hours near Wangerooge, Spiekeroog or Langeoog ? There are several claims as well as other at 15.00 hours achieved by 2./ZG 76 25 km WNW Borkum - it should be the same formation which apparently did not exist...

Surprisingly the German Luftlagebericht 119 from 19.12.1939 does confirm this "ghost formation" of 22 aircraft at Borkum and Norden at 14.45 as it flew eastwards. If it was so the British official story is only 50% true. Or German documents were reporting science fiction together with pilots from I./ZG 76 & II./JG 77.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

How many of these a/c fell on land? We're trying to do color profiles for the EoE Project of an a/c from each of the three SQ that participated in this raid. I've so far located only three photos of wreckage of one a/c, identified as 37 SQ N2936, apparently flown by Sgt Ruse and captioned as SD over Borkum. Were there any other wrecks photographed by the Germans on land after this action?

There is one a/c that participated in this mission, N2980 "R" of 149 SQ, that is being restored at the Brooklands Museum in Weybridge. It was recovered from the waters of Loch Ness after ditching there a year after its Heligoland episode. Does anyone have any photos of this a/c as it appeared in Dec., 1939? I do have the book, "The Battle of Heligoland Bight 1939" by Robin Holmes, which has a photo of the a/c more or less as it appears today as "R" for Robert, but apparently without a SQ code. Other photos of it are on the Brooklands Museum website.

Does anyone have any matching SQ codes to fit with the SN of the a/c listed by Martin that participated in this mission?

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

[Chris Goss]

I have 4 codes for 9 Sqn, all for 37 Sqn & none for 149 Sqn-source F540/541. Didn't Lent & Schumacher's kills crash on land/almost on land?