Luftwaffe - Bomber Units over Metz-Frescaty on 10 May 1940

[Horst Weber]

Jerome !

This mission was at least carried out by STUKA's of I.(St.)/186 (T). This new unit was in the late 1939's initially intended to equip the German aircraft-carrrier "Graf Zeppelin", which was then under construction. The Gruppe should be the dive-bombing element of the aircraft equipment of this carrier.

By the beginning of the hostilities in September 1939, the unit was finally handed over to the Luftwaffe and became on November 11th, 1939 a tactical unit in the STUKA-force like al other units, even if the they still carried their unusual (T) like Träger = Carrier).

On May 10th, 1940, the Gruppe was stationed at Hennweiler, about 4 km North of Kirnn, which is located about 65 Km South of Koblenz, Germany. The take-off for the mission to Metz was scheduled for 5:00 hours in the morning and it was carried out that time. The Grupppe was ordered to land after this mission at the front-closer newly constructed airfield of Ferschweiler at the Luxembourg border, which they did at 6:40 hours, only to receive the next order for a new target on those rolling missions those days.

You may gain more information about the preparations prior May 10th, 1940 and the days around that date in the book "STUKA Angriff : Sturzflug" from Helmut Mahlke or in my book "Zielpunkt Südeifel - Ein Tagebuch über die Luftkriegsereignisse in den Kreisen Bitburg und Prüm 1939 - 1945 in zwei Bänden", here Band 1: 1939 - August 1944.

The unit I. (St.) 186/ (T) was renamed on July 2nd, 1940
into III./St. G 1, which completely wiped away their Naval-touch, only to be a normal Luftwaffe unit.

It is possible, that other STUKA units also carried oüt missions that day to Metz airfield, as I./St. G 76, which took off that day from the airfield Köln-Ostheim for a mission to France and occupied for some days the newly constructed airfield Dockendorf, about 10 km East of the Luxembourg border.

In the hope, that helps, best wishes !

Horst Weber