Lost during operation Steinbock

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Hi Schalabeer,

Welcome to this forum! I'm working on a book ("Chronik") about the history of I./KG66, the Zielfindergruppe to which Wilhelm Schmidt's Ergänzungsstaffel belonged. I can not add much to Wilhelm Schmidt's personal details as I got most of my info myself from Melvin Brownless (for which a huge thanks again, Melvin!).
However I can add that your relative would have used the so called "EGON-Verfahren" technique to mark the target. With this technique, the aircraft's transponder (FuG25a IFF) is interrogated by 2 Freya radars and it's course plotted on a huge glass table. Corrections are then passed on from the ground station to the aircraft using coded radio or Morse signals.

Regarding the raid itself: The raid on Bristol (target being the Docks area with a subsidiary attack on London) can be regarded as a total failure. Of the 139 bombers sent, 112 were plotted over England and 13 aircraft were lost. Target marking was poor and as a result the bombing was scattered all over Southern England, not a single bomb of the 100 tonnes of bombs hitting the intended targets...

Apart from the Ju 88 S-1 of the Besatzung Schmidt, I./KG66 also lost a Ju 188E of 2./KG66 due to Flak and nightfighter damage, the Besatzung of Lt. Fara finally bailing out near Dunkirk in France. Another Ju 188 of 2./KG66 had to abort the mission because of engine failure.

Hope this helps. I would be very interested to hear from you, please see the PM I sent to you.

Best regards,

Marcel

[Melvin Brownless]

Hi Marcel,

I hope the work on your Chronik is going well, I have had contact with Schalabeer and he is a very nice guy whom I am sure will help you further!

Best wishes,

Melvin

www.aircrewremembrancesociety.com

[schalabeer]

Are there any relics of Montdidier airfield?
Are there any descriptions or something about it?

Kind regards

Schalabeer

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Hi Schalabeer,

[quote=schalabeer;126880]Are there any relics of Montdidier airfield?

I'm no expert, but I thought so.. Have you tried Google Maps? Maybe one of our French members can help? Is there still an active airstrip or flying club today?

Are there any descriptions or something about it?

I have an Allied intelligence document including aerial photographs describing the airfield. You can have a copy if you want.

Best regards,

Marcel

[Nick Beale]

Go on to Google Earth and enter the name Fignières (this is a village just north of Montdidier itself). If you look very carefully, you can see that there are lighter strips in the fields to the south of the village, corresponding to the three runways which intersected in a star shape.

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Thanks Nick! With some help from a friend, here's an aerial photograph of Montdidier Then & Now. Original photo was taken on 17 July 1944, for bomb assessment. What a typical shape it had!

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile311...-July-1944.htm

Regards,

Marcel

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Go on to Google Earth and enter the name Fignières (this is a village just north of Montdidier itself). If you look very carefully, you can see that there are lighter strips in the fields to the south of the village, corresponding to the three runways which intersected in a star shape.

[schalabeer]

Thank you for help!

@ Marcel: Is there a list of members of 15./KG 6 in "Wir flogen gen Westen" Vol. 1 ? I've got Vol. 2.

Kind regards

Schalabeer