Loss of GM Kurt Thomas in 1943

[askropp]

Thank you very much, guys!

[Brian Bines]

Stig,

Air distance Tunis to Manzil Tamim is only 44 miles so I think it likely Kendall got the two Ju 52's . Possible just a case of the navigation/geography being a bit out in a combat situation , as the only definite location appears to be Manzil Tamim for the 1Z+KT crash ,

Regards
Brian Bines

[Mark R.]

One of the other Beaufighter crews (F/O M.J Gloster DFC and F/S R.B. Wall) of the same squadron on patrol 60 miles N of Cap Bizerte saw gun flashes from light naval vessels off the Aegadean [sic?] Islands early on the morning of 6 May. I wonder if the Baldus Ju-52 might have been the victim of sea - air fratricide as it was supposed to be flying from Sardinia to Tunis? Just a thought.

[Dan History]

Originally Posted by Mark R.

off the Aegadean [sic?] Islands early on the morning of 6 May.

Mark,

Great to see you here again! Might the incident that you mention be related to the following event described in MAW Volume III? This took place on the morning of 7 May, not 6 May, but the location is a close match. See below, text from page 576:

Thursday-Friday, 6/7 May 1943
"At 0235 a Beaufighter of 600 Squadron crewed by Flt Sgt Hutton/Sgt Carlaw took from Monastir to investigate a 'bogey'. At 0505 they claimed to have shot down an S.79 16 miles south of the Egadi Islands. It seems likely that their victim was in fact an S.75 of the Sezione Autonoma T which was shot down and crashed into the sea."

Italian Casualties
Sez Aut T - S.75 'SA-21' shot down, crashed to sea; pilot Ten Giorgio Cambise, copilot Serg Franco Grimaldi and crew MIA


For reference, the Aegadian Islands or Isole Egadi are located west and south-west of Trapani, Sicily. Axis aircraft flying along the direct route from the Trapani area to airfields in north-east Tunusia would have flown south and south-west of these islands. Therefore, the aircraft carrying general Thomas and the other Ju 52 lost on the same night may have flown along this route, but it does appear more likely that these transports were shot down by Kendall and Nedahl above Tunisia, rather than lost to some other cause over the sea.

Regards,

Dan

[Laurent Rizzotti]

I was wondering why this general was going TO Tunisia at such a late date (rather than going out) and did a quick search on the Net.

Well, I have no answer, but I found many sites saying he was killed on 1st April 1943, and one Osprey book saying he survived and was killed later that month on the Eastern Front. Typical internet (and Osprey) info...

What I suspect is that he left Africa in April, probably to organize the division full transfer to Africa, leaving another man in command, and then was killed returning to Tunisia.

[Mark R.]

Hi Dan,

It was definitely a sortie that took place during the morning of 6 May according to the 255 Squadron ORB. Their sortie is noted during entry for 5/6 May operations with 0110 take off time from Paddington and 0555 landing at Setif. The Beaufighter crew (Gloster/Wall) didnt claim to shoot anything down but it seemed they might have witnessed something or someone getting shot down. Being somewhat geographically challenged, I did look up the Aegadean Islands whereupon I discovered they were off the west coast of Sicily - which is interestingly on a straight line course between Sardinia and Tunis. :-)

Best, Mark R.

[Dan History]

Originally Posted by Mark R.

Hi Dan, It was definitely a sortie that took place during the morning of 6 May according to the 255 Squadron ORB.

Hello Mark, That is interesting and falsifies my theory about the loss of the S.75. I would say that there is still very strong evidence that the aircraft carrying Thomas was shot down by the Beaufighter crew, as discussed above. It would be interesting to look at Allied and Axis naval documents to try and determine what kind of naval gunfire would have been observed by the 255 Squadron crew, but that would be a big task, of course. Theoretically, they could have observed a surface engagement. Regards, Dan