Straffing on Fliegerhorst Agram and Pleso on 11. October 1944.

[markojeras]

Dear Gentelman,

any chance that Luftwaffe reports exist on this event?

I would appreciate any help.

Sincerely,

Marko Jeras
Zagreb, Croatia

[Larry deZeng]

Marko -

Here is all I have ever been able to find on this date in the Zagreb area. You might be able to find some further mention of it in the British National Archives (BNA) or the U.S. National Archives (NARA), but it wouldn't be much .


11 October 1944
"Balkan Air Force Mustangs, in a search for air targets in the Zagreb area, found a single-engine biplane which they attacked. The biplane was seen to crash and burn out. Five miles north of Glina, another biplane was attacked and claimed as destroyed. A Do 17, observed by Balkan Air Force Beaufighters in the Zagreb area, was destroyed in a combined action with the Mustangs."
[Source: Balkan Air Force History, mimeographed, HQ Balkan Air Force, 1945.]


The biplanes were probably Luftwaffe He 46s or CR 42s, but they could have been Croatian biplanes, too. The Do 17 was almost certainly Croatian or a Croatian Legion aircraft.

Hope that helps.

L.

[markojeras]

I am happy to hear from you! Thank you for data!

Event that I research was Day Ranger mission of three RAF no. 605. Squadron Mosquitos.

Possibly aerial photos taken two days later might reveal damage done.

[Matti Salonen]

Is it possible that you have a wrong date? One day before (10 Oct 1944) was:
1944-10-10, 2./NSGr. 7, Fiat Cr 42, 9199, 9 schw, Lapovo
Flugzeugführer Ofw Bormann, Walter, +
Absturz und Aufschlagbrand infolge Feindbeschuß. Bruch 100 %.
1944-10-10, 2./NSGr. 7, Fiat Cr 42, 9221, 20 schw, Kalinovac
Flugzeugführer Ofw Rauer, Helmuth, +
Notlandung infolge Feindbeschuß. Bruch 90 %.
1944-10-10, NASt. Kroatien, Do 17 Z, 3240, 9H+EL, 5 km ostnordöstlich Griz, 55 km östlich Agram (Zagreb)
Flugzeugführer (Staffelkapitän) Hptm Stark, Georg, verletzt
Beobachter (Ia Fl.Führ.Nordbalkan) Major Lube, Paul, verletzt
Bordfunker Uffz Weise, Ernst, +
Bordmechaniker Gefr Fischer, Helmut, verletzt
Absturz nach Luftkampf. Bruch 100 %.

Matti

[Laurent Rizzotti]

I don't know if you can find a Luftwaffe report but the war diary of Heeresgruppe F is available online for this period and should include reports on air activity.

The link below will show you the Lagebericht of 11 October 1944, written the next day:
http://znaci.net/NARA/T316.php?broj=...c=311&roll=194
A Mosquito attack on Agram is noted, but apparently was after a first strafing attack from a formation returning from an attack on Wien, so probably 15th Air Force P-51s or P-38s. At least that is what the Germans were then thinking.

You can search surrounding pages for maybe more details.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

I have also this for 10 October 1944:

"When construction of the Graf Zeppelin was resumed in 1942 the Ju 87C took over the role as a reconnaissance bomber, and torpedo bombers were no longer seen to be needed. Nine of the existing Fi 167 were sent to a coastal naval squadron in the Netherlands and then returned to Germany in the summer of 1943. After that they were sold to Croatia, where their short-field and load-carrying abilities (under the right conditions, the aircraft could descend almost vertically) made it ideal for transporting ammunition and other supplies to besieged Croatian Army garrisons between their arrival in September 1944 and the end of the War.

During one such mission, near Sisak on 10 October 1944, the Fi 167 WNr 4808 of the Croatian Air Force flown by eight-victories Croat ace Bozidar Bartulovic and his gunner Mate Jurkovic was attacked by five P-51 Mustang III of 213 Sqn RAF. Jurkovic had the distinction of claiming one of the Mustangs shot down - possibly one of the last bi-plane "kills" of the war - before itself being shot down. Bartulovic reported that five fighters made two passses on him, setting the aircraft alight and wounding him in the head. Both Croat men bailed out.

Three pilots of 213 Sqn, Sqn Ldr Clifford Vs, Sgt W E Mould and Sgt D E Firman claimed a single-engined biplane shot down over Martinska Ves but the Mustang III KH554 of Sgt W.E. Mould was hit by the return fire and was wrecked in a crash-landing 3 miles northeast Martinska Ves, Yugoslavia.

Source:
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/archiv...hp?t-2979.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieseler_Fi_167
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/...ses/losses.htm (no more online)
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/1944_1.html
"Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 49: Croatian Aces of World War 2", by Boris Ciglic. ISBN 1-84176-435-3
http://maps.google.fr/maps?hl=fr&q=Martinska%20Ves%20Croatie"

From the above Croat and German losses, it seems that the Balkan Air Force History text, while giving the date of 11 October, actually describes events taking place on the 10th. Maybe it is a report written on the 11th and describing what happened the day before (as many military reports) ?

[Larry deZeng]

Zagreb 10–19 October 1944


Balkan Air Force - 10 October 1944
In YUGOSLAVIA 21 fighters and 18 Beaufighters scored hits on the barracks and railway centre at KRIZ. One 500-ton trawler was set on fire. One Do 217 and two enemy bi-planes were destroyed in combat. One Beaufighter and one Mustang are missing.

Balkan Air Force - 11 October 1944
31 aircraft of BAF attacked targets in Yugoslavia. (Nothing further said.)

Balkan Air Force - 12 October 1944
46 Spitfires and Beaufighters attack enemy shipping and other targets along the Dalmatian coast. Two Beaufighters failed to return. (There were no attacks inland, including the Zagreb area.)

Balkan Air Force - 13 October 1944
26 Baltimores and Venturas against Split and other ports along the Dalmatian coast. 46 fighters and 6 R.P. aircraft on armed reconnaissance inland where they claimed two locomotives and 5 M.T. (Nothing further said.)

Balkan Air Force - 14 October 1944
BAF flew 98 sorties against targets in YUGOSLAVIA and GREECE. (Nothing further said.)


This was pursued through 19 October and there was no mention of the Zagreb area or anything fitting the mission you are interested in. Strangely, "Mosquito(s)" operating in the MTO was not mentioned once during this 10 day period. All of the reports for all air commands in the Mediterranean were reviewed: MAAF, MSAF, MTAF, MCAF, BAF.

[SOURCE: Duty Group Captain's Daily Resumé of Air Operations. Nos. 1761, 1762, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770.]

L.

[Larry deZeng]

All -

The reference cited has two pages on the 11 October 1944 mission, covering both the 15th AAF bombers and fighters. It says 8 Liberators from the 484th Bomb Group attacked the railroad bridge at Dravograd/Yugoslavia and 5 more bombed a bridge over the Sava River near Dobova. The 15th AAF's fighters did a lot of ground strafing but it was all in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Austria - none in Yugoslavia. No mention of any activity in the Zagreb area two days before or two days after either, nor any mention of any Mosquitos buzzing around. So it seems that the information in the Heeresgruppe E/F Tagesmeldung - Luftlage should be approached with some skepticism.

Mahoney, Kevin A. Fifteenth Air Force Against the Axis: Combat Missions Over Europe During World War II. Lanham (MD): The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2013. ISBN: 978-0-8108-8494-6. Hb with laminated cover. 485p. Illus. (a few photos). Maps. Appendices (4). Glossary. Source Notes. Bibliography. Index.

L.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

As RAF used Mustangs over Yugoslavia, maybe the Germans thought they were American and so part of the Vienna force.

[markojeras]

Gentelman,
who performed attack is not the issue. Neither date.

Subject is the damage assessment. Damage of Luftwaffe planes, that is.