Circus N° 20 23 June 1941

[Chris Goss]

Northolt War Diary says 12 ac of 303 sqn rendezvouzed with 6 bombers over Maidstone and 242 Sqn. Claims:

Sgt Wunche- seen to crash near Desvres
Sgt Wojciechowski-Ac exploded; "...black fusleage with witty yellow longitudenal stripes"
Sgt Adamek-In flames; 2nd ac probable
Plt Off Strzemborz-in flames on land
Sgt Szlyowski-engine stopped, went straight down but claimed probable
Plt Off Bondar-close to the ground with airscrew stopped; probable

Plt Off Gladych force landed near Manston and was badly not seriously injured. In a handwritten it it says "He destroyed one and collided with a second, destroyed that by cutting off its tail"

[Franek Grabowski]

Originally Posted by Chris Goss

Sgt Wunche- seen to crash near Desvres

Proper spelling Wunsche with umlaut. Me 109F, standard camouflage with yellow bottom of engine cowling.

Sgt Wojciechowski-Ac exploded; "...black fusleage with witty yellow longitudenal stripes"

Me 109F with light blue undersurfaces and black fuselage with mentioned yellow markings, lost both wings in the explosion.

Sgt Adamek-In flames; 2nd ac probable

Me 109E exploded and went down in a mass of flames, red nosed Me 109E in standard camouflage, completely covered in black smoke, went down, claimed as destroyed.

Plt Off Strzemborz-in flames on land

Proper spelling Strzembosz. Red nosed Me 109E in flames seen to crash on land in unspecified place.

Sgt Szlyowski-engine stopped, went straight down but claimed probable

Proper spelling Szlagowski. Me 109F not seen to crash but claimed as destroyed, emitting black smoke and having an airscrew stopped.

Plt Off Bondar-close to the ground with airscrew stopped; probable

Me 109E last seen diving vertically, not seen to crash. Claimed as destroyed.

Plt Off Gladych force landed near Manston and was badly not seriously injured. In a handwritten it it says "He destroyed one and collided with a second, destroyed that by cutting off its tail"

Initially credited with 3 destroyed due to misunderstanding. Claimed 2 destroyed, Me 109 in flames later downgraded to probable and Me 109 destroyed due to collision. His wounds were face wound, broken skull and broken collar bone.

[robert]

Hi,

following German fighters were lost in this evening combat:
- 4/JG2 Fw.Georg Bock KIA Bf109F-2 6756 100% crashed by Condette
- 9/JG2 Olt.Carl-H.Roeders KIA Bf109F-2 6764 brown 1 crashed by Desvres
- 9/JG2 Uffz.Johann Straub DOW Bf109F-2 5763 crashed NW St.Omer
- II/JG2 NN Bf109F-2 6763 emergency-landed Abbeville-Drucat 60%
- II/JG2 NN Bf109F-2 12643 belly-landed Berck-sur-Mer 40%
Sources: J.Prien "JFV Part 5", P.Watteeuw "Les Pertes de la... Vol.2", D.Caldwell "The JG26 War Diary Vol.1".
Perhaps someone could write-down all allied claims?

Regards

Robert

[Brian]

Hi Robert

In addition to the 303 Sqn claims, I can offer:

242 Sqn 2-1-2
Demozay 109, De la Bouchere 109, Grassick 109 probable, 109 damaged, Redfern 109 damaged

92 Sqn 3-2-2
Malan 2 109s, Dougall 109, Wade 109 probable, Le Cheminant 109 probable

Buys (611 Sqn) 109
U/k pilot (603 Sqn) 109

Hope this helps
Cheers
Brian

[robert]

Yes thanks Brian it seems to be nice overclaiming.

Regards

Robert

[Erik Mombeeck]

Hello Gentlemen,

a lot of thanks for these very useful answers.

Regarding the German assault, Gerhard Schöpfel had nice remembrances that he told me 15 years ago. It was his sole combat with Balthasar at his side.
It appears that the first unit to be in contact with this Circus was 4./JG 2 having started from Abbeville Drucat. They claimed a lot, but also suffered the loss of Bock and probably the 109 which was damaged at Drucat. The other damaged 109 certainly belonged to the 5th Staffel and was lost a bit later.
About 20 minutes after this first battle, Stab III./JG 26, Geschwaderstab JG 2, III./JG 26 and III./JG 2 also rejoined the RAF formation and started fighting Belnheims and Spitfires… which seems to counter-say a bit what our friend Don Caldwell wrote : "The two JG 2 Gruppen claimed five Blenheims before the German were set upon by the late-arriving escort."
Is there any report that states that the escort arrived a bit late?

Thanks, best regards and the very best for 2008!

Erik

PS : just found this excellent page : http://orb.polishaf.pl/unit/303sqn

[Frank Olynyk]

Eric, (and Brian)

603 Sqn's Sgt John Hurst claimed and was credited with a Me-109F damaged at 2035, 8 m S of Dunkirk, in Spitfire Va R7305. This is the only claim by 603 Sqn on this date.

Frank.

[Franek Grabowski]

Erik
303 and 242 Sqns were on rendesvous point at Manston and escorted Blenheims according to plan. 242 Sqn was Close Escort and 303 - Top Escort. I cannot say about other units but it looks they were all from Target Support, thus not directly involved in escort of Blenheims, although Northolt Combat Diary mentions one Spitfire Squadron joined the dog fight. This would need a drawing to explain how such an operation looked like.
The formation was first attacked over the coast (Desvres) and then over the target, but descriptions are conflicting, and reading reports the one has no impression of separate combats.
By the way, do you have any account of Schöpfel concerning his combat on 28 June 1941 - Circus 26?