Shot down Fw 189 on 16.5.1940

[Marius]

Chris,
what was the hour of the losses for both Fw 189`s accodring to German documents ??
Marius
P.S.I have Peter`s book, but cannot read what is English & what is German info. Sorry.

[Chris Goss]

I have no German documents and the time is 0830 hrs

[Marius]

So the documented time is 8.30 p.m. according to English documents, right ?
I cannot believe the 79 Sqd spoted 3 Fw 189 and 1 Do 215 ? Maybe 1 Fw 189 and 3 Me 110 ?

Could it be that 79 Sqd shot down this 1 Fw 189 - Lt. Seehase`s aircraft. And the Staka`s aircraft was shot down earlier the day ?

I would like to know what German documents are telling us about these losses?

Marius

[Chris Goss]

Oops-being military, 8:30 should be 0830 but checking Peter's book it was 2030 hrs which matches with 79 Sqn's 3 claims by Parker, Clift & Cartwright as being 'PM'. I contacted Clift who remembers the combat clearly. Admitedly, 2 recce ac flying together is unusual so if anyone can disprove, so be it

[Marius]

Indeed it is more complicated than I thought at the beginning. In this case any researching is not possible without knowing more German details. And you must add French fighters too, like the GC III/1 (Marche,Chciuk,Gnys). They shot down a "Do 17" in Gembloux area at 14.10 hours.

[Peter Cornwell]

Marius,

You can make it complicated if that is your wish. For my part, I note claims for Fw189s filed by No.79 Squadron in the right area - these being, as far as I am aware, the only claims for such a type filed by any Allied pilot on the day in question but please correct me on this if I am wrong. As the Fw189 was an unusual type to meet on operations at the time, I see no reason to question the validity of these claims.

[Marius]

Peter,
I am sure the type could has been misifdentified by French pilots as a "Do 17".
Otherwise, the 79 Sqd achieved all 3 victories in the evening. The simplest way to compare and check both Fw 189 losses is to find out when exactly they flew their missions.
Any idea who could know these details ?

[Seaplanes]

Considering that not a single FW 189A-1 series had left the production lines by 30 June 1940, one must anticipate that any aircraft must have been a V-muster or one of a few A-0 pre-production series. On 30.6.40 most of these were serving as test aircraft either at Focke-Wulf or at Rechlin.