Luftwaffe planes lost in Spain

[Laurent Rizzotti]

As a general advice, when you post a date on forums, try to put the month in letters: 1/4/44 might be 4 January 1944 ou 1 April 1944, and as you write it 1/4/44 and 4/1/44 on two lines it is confusing.

In the evening of 11 May 1944 62 bombers of I. and III./KG.26 and I./ and III./KG.77 attacked the convoy UGS 40. Beaufighter of 153 and 256 Sqn intercepted a part of the raiders, losing two of their own. The remaining German bombers attacked the convoy in four waves off Cap Bengut and claimed a destroyer and seven cargo ships sunk and more damaged. But no ship was hit in reality and 19 German aircraft were lost.

Your other losses should be recon flights, as I can find no major convoy attack on these dates.

Best regards

[Nick Beale]

15 August 1944

7./KG 100: Ofw. Freiberg's crew shot down by ships' AA on mission to St. Raphael, interned in Spain. (Source: Ulf Balke's "Kampfgeschwader 100, Wiking."

[Agustin Ruzafa]

Thank you very much both.
Laurent is right in what I said, it was a mistake on my part not to check the date format, hereinafter, will put the dates as you told me, thank you very much for data resolves many doubts.
Thanks Nick for the tip that gives me what I need to know something about the incidents of aircraft and crew dead and buried in Spain.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Back home, and checking some French books, found some more data:

1 April 1944:
Do 217s of KG 100 attacked a convoy off Cape Tenes at night. Two did not return, one crashing in flames northwest of Barcelona, the other at sea south of Baleares Island. No Allied ship was hit.
Source: Pilotes français sur l'Afrique du Nord et la Corse, by Daniel and Alain Decot

11 May 1944:
This day two Allied convoys were sailing off North Africa and among the Allied air units covering them were three French fighter groups. After two unsuccessful scrambles, two P-39 of GC I/4 "Navarre" took off from La Reghaïa at 2016 hrs and were able to catch and shot down a Ju 88 at 2030 hrs 40 miles northeast of Dellys.
More bombers followed and were intercepted by Beaufighter and Mosquitoes of 153 and 256 Sqn that claimed four bombers shot down between 2049 and 2110 hrs, and three more damaged
Source: Pilotes français sur l'Italie, by Daniel Decot

31 July 1944:
Several German recon aircraft were reported during the morning and the afternoon near two Allied convoys (code named "Gaberdine" and "Tambourine") off Algeria and unsuccessfully chased by French P-39 of GC 1/5 "Champagne", GC 3/3 "Ardennes" and GC 3/6 "Rousillon".
Torpedo-carrying Ju 88s of III./KG 26 took off at around 2200 hrs from Valence and attacked both convoys between 0015 and 0140 hrs on 1st August 1944 between Algiers and Bougie, Algaria, but without success. One German crew reported that six crews did not return from this attack.
Source: Pilotes français sur l'Italie, by Daniel Decot