Special Mission 27 Sep 42

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Originally Posted by Brian Bines

One other thought on this at around 1630 hrs on the 27th the U-165 was sunk to the S/W of Lorient by a Wellington of 311 Sqd , which crash landed on return at 1958 hrs. with combat damage and wounded crewmen . Is it a possibilty that the two Ju 88s were operating over the Channel to the south of Coastal Command bases in the S/W of the UK in support of the U-Boot , which when attacked was on the surface . Weather was reported as 4/10 to 6/10 cloud cover and poor visibilty

The usual procedure would be for V./KG 40 to protect U-165 by flying patrols SW of Britanny rather than N of it. From what I understand from the Bloody Biscay book and the Luftwaffe claim list, 8./JG 2 will be active in Britanny area while KG 40 Ju 88s will fly more south and west.

According to the Enemy Activity Report cited by Brian, "4 Fw 190 attacked shipping south of Plymouth at mid day". This period is consistent with the interception of two Ju 88s by 257 Sqn (1225-1315 hrs), while the attack on U-165 was several hours later.

By the way I can't find any trace of a German air attack on shipping that day on British Admiraly War Diary on fold3, and there is nothing either in Chris' book "Luftwaffe fighter-bombers over Britain".

What I see on the other hand on British Admiraly War Diary (https://www.fold3.com/image/30133006...r-ii-war-diari and https://www.fold3.com/image/30133012...r-ii-war-diari) is that 5 British destroyers and four MLs were deployed from Plymouth to search airmen, presumably the Spitfire pilots lost the day before. Maybe it was this naval activity that prompted Luftwaffe to send two Ju 88s check what was happening.