Who shot down 4 Lancasters over the Bay of Biscay on August 19-20, 1942

[sergey]

Aircraft R.5661 reported a target and intended to attack, after which contact was lost. It was likely shot down. But the other two...

[MW Giles]

Were these detachments common practice, or was this a one off occurrance?

The following had detachments with Coastal in 1942
44 Sqn 6/42-6/42
51 Sqn 5/42-10/42
61 Sqn (as listed in previous post)
77 Sqn 5/42-10/42
405 Sqn 10/42-3/43
10 OTU 8/42-7/43

Plus 58, 144, 304, 311 and 455 Sqns that left BC and never came back

Martin

[Chris Goss]

As Martin says a number of Sqns were detached (see Bloody Biscay) but the diligence of the F540 writers varies

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thanks Guys

Cheers
Stig

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Originally Posted by Chris Goss

As Martin says a number of Sqns were detached (see Bloody Biscay) but the diligence of the F540 writers varies

From my own experience regarding squadrons dispatched from UK to MTO for short durations, the ORB writer seems to often remain at the UK base, and so the ORB often has close to nil about detachment operation. More can be sometimes found in the appendices (when available) with reports made by the detachment.

Maybe it is the same for BC squadrons going on small detachments with CC (that usually include a change of base).

Regarding the 61 Sqn losses for 19 August 1942, you can see the German point of view here: https://archive.org/details/wardiary...e/226/mode/2up (and next pages). Weserland claimed one shot down around 1745 hrs and Uckermack claimed another between 2245 and 2300 hrs. A possibility for the other loss was that the 61 Sqn crew, not used to fly over Biscay as the CC crews, get lost and ended in the sea without enemy action.
Anyway checking Form 541 in 61 Sqn ORB may help to know the time period when aircraft were lost, as there is a 6 hour difference between German ships claims, and possibly identify one of these losses.