German Losses after 9th AF strafing April 5, 1944 on French airdrome

[Henofred]

Hello,

Yes, at Romorantin fighters were practically "bumper against bumper"! As the report said: “…there was considerable traffic congestion.” In addition, two Bomb Squadron of 2nd Combat Wing dropped their bombs on the airdrome, several aircraft having misunderstood orders. Tours, their primary target, was covered and on their way to Orleans-Bricy, secondary target, the Combat Wing flew over Romorantin. The 1./JG105, the German unit which was there, was wiped out that day.

Best regards,
Frederic

[Larry deZeng]

Allied claims at Romorantin seem to have been excessive on 10 April. Do you have the actual German losses?

10 Apr 44: bombed by 21 B-24 Liberators and strafed by VIII Fighter Command P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts – claimed 1 x Bf 109, 5 x Fw 190s, 1 x Hs 123, 2 x Hs 126s, 4 x Bü 131s, 3 x Bü 133s and 21 x unidentified aircraft destroyed, plus 1 x Bü 133 and 14 x unidentified aircraft damaged for a total of 52 destroyed or damaged aircraft.

Larry

[Henofred]

Bonjour Larry,

Amazingly on the list about JG105 losses, I have only this one for that day:
Bü-131 - WkNr 183 - 100% - Gef. ZOTZ Kurt (killed) - Crash following enemy shootings.
This seems a bit “light” compared to USAAF claims.

Best regards,
Frederic

[Larry deZeng]

Hi Frederic,

Yes, those 8th AAF boys must have been out drinking in the English pubs the night before! Here are my notes for Romorantin:

Romorantin (FR) (a.k.a. Pruniers) (47 18 N – 01 41 30 E)
General: airfield in C France 61 km SSW of Orléans, 6.5 km SW of Romorantin (Romorantin-Lanthenay) and 1.2 km SE of the village of Pruniers-en-Sologne.
History: a former French factory airfield occupied by the S.N.C.A. du Centre firm, which managed to evacuate all of the machinery prior to the arrival of the Germans in Jun 40. The Luftwaffe used Romorantin as an aircraft park in 1940, but by the end of 1941 this activity had been moved elsewhere and the airfield nearly deserted. It became active again in 1943-44 as a ground training base for Luftwaffe recruits.
Dimensions: approx. 870 x 1235 meters (950 x 1350 yards).
Surface and Runways: sandy soil on top of clay sub-soil that is unserviceable after heavy rain. Some drainage work had been carried out at the E end. No paved runway.
Fuel and Ammunition: fuel storage facilities existed.
Infrastructure: had 2 very large and 3 large hangars of the NW boundary with separate workshops to the rear of them. Barracks were behind the hangars and off the W corner. A light guage railway passed by the NW boundary.
Dispersal: the 2 areas – South and Perimeter – had a total of 24 large open aircraft shelters.
Defenses: there were 3 light Flak positions, one of which was tower-mounted.
Remarks:
24 Jun 40: German report this date gave measurements of 1000 x 800 meters and said it was ready for use as an operational airfield with accommodations for 600 personnel. A French air park had been located here.
20 Apr 41: employed 700 non-German workers, most of which were probably on the payroll of the Feldluftpark.
18 Nov 43: the surface of the landing area seen to be in poor condition.
3 Feb 44: airfield reopened after being obstructed to prevent use (Qu./Feldluftgaukdo. W/F).
10 Apr 44: bombed by 21 B-24 Liberators and strafed by VIII Fighter Command P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts – claimed 1 x Bf 109, 5 x Fw 190s, 1 x Hs 123, 2 x Hs 126s, 4 x Bü 131s, 3 x Bü 133s and 21 x unidentified aircraft destroyed, plus 1 x Bü 133 and 14 x unidentified aircraft damaged for a total of 52 destroyed or damaged aircraft.
19 Apr 44: landing area surface rough and in poor condition.
30 Apr 44: dive-bombed by a squadron of P-47s.
4 Jun 44: bombed by 72 B-24s.
Operational Units: none identified.
School Units: 1./JG 105 (Mar-Apr 44); Fluganwärter-Btl. V (Jun 42); II./Flieger-Rgt. 91 (1944).
Station Commands: Fl.H.Kdtr. E 10/VII (Aug 40 – Mar 41)?
Station Units (on various dates – not complete): Feldluftpark Romorantin (1940-41); Lw.-Bauleitung Romorantin (c.1940-44); Flieger-Geräteausgabestelle (Eisb.) 13 (Jul 40); Nebelsäure-Nachschublager 2/VII ( ? – Aug 44); RAD-Abt. 3/225 (Jun 40 - ?).
[Sources: AFHRA A5260 pp.2286-88 (19 Aug 43 updated to 19 Apr 44); chronologies; BA-MA; NARA; PRO/NA; web site ww2.dk]

I wonder if they made these claims for Romorantin but it was actually another airfield? Or maybe most of the aircraft claimed were wooden dummies?

L.

[Henofred]

So many claims on different aircraft types...would Germans have built so many different wooden dummies for each type?

I have spoken several years ago with Bud Powell, a pilot of 352 FG, about a claim he made at Avord airfield. His aircraft had been damaged earlier at the time of its attack on Chateaudun airfield and I asked him, how he had been able to fly, strafe and destroy on the ground an enemy aircraft at Avord. Bud told me that he had never been at Avord that day but had returned to England accompanied by another fighter. He also told me that sometimes, the Officer who filled the report could make mistakes about the place. It is perhaps the case for Romorantin because there are several airfields in this area (Blois, Chateauroux,Tours, Orleans…). Now, who knows?

Frederic

[Larry deZeng]

Thanks for that, Frederic. It must be a mistake for one of the other airfields and quite possibly the date may be wrong, too. I checked my data base but could not find a match for either the German losses, date or Allied claims. So it is still something of a mystery.

L.

[Henofred]

Larry,

I thought of something: as the Stab of the I. Gruppe and the 3./JG 105 were at Bourges (while 2./JG 105 at Chateauroux), could it be possible that all planes damaged or destroyed that day at Romorantin-Pruniers had been taken into account by the Gruppe and not by the Staffel? I consider that losses reported as having occured on the Bourges airfield (…stated by Germans) are a bit "enormous". I may be wrong but it seems to me that for only a Stab and one Staffel, that is quite a lot of planes losses. Remember, claims for 355th FG (354FS) at Bourges on April 10 are 5-0-10 on the ground.

All the best,
Frederic