Luftwaffe action on 20 21 July 1944 in south of France

[Chris Goss]

Alfred Price was in touch with Cescotti but not much in the files apart from one photo of him. As I said in my post yesterday, there is nothing precise out there it would appear

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by gilles collaveri

Thanks very much Rich, I am amazed by the compilation of information about Bongart Kommando. Gilles

You will find another 50,000 words about Geschwader Bongart on my webpages. I posted the original piece in 2013 and have been adding to it ever since (and there will be more whenever I post the first update of 2026). The page devoted to III./KG 100's anti-partisan operations is here.

X. Fliegerkorps (in SW France) reported that it operated five aircraft against guerrillas in a camp 25 km NW of Carcassonne on 20 July (1.5 tonnes of HE, 1.5 tonnes of incendiaries and 2 Hs 293).

On 21 July, Geschw. Bongart and Jagdgruppe 200 were heavily committed in support of the Vercors operation. There is no mention of any other land action by bombers.

On 20 July X Fl.Kps. recorded 5 night and 12 day sorties; on the 21st, 0 night and 9 day. Of these, 5 on the 20th were anti-shipping ops west of Brest, with 8 more on the 21st.

Figures from Bindesarchiv RL 2-IV/40: Invasions-Kalender Normandie 1. Juli 1944 bis 1. Aug. 1944 (Durchbruch bei Avranches).

You might find more about some anti-partisan operations by searching in the records of German army units operating in the relevant areas. I've looked at the Bundesarchiv's digitised material for OB West and Army Groups B and G but I didn't find very much.

[gilles collaveri]

Thanks a lot Chris and Nick.
All best
Gilles