Use of Captured "Vindicators" by the Luftwaffe

[Calhoun]

I bought a book entitled "War Planes of All Nations" the other day in a used book shop. Author is William Winter and the book was published in 1943. In the listing for the Vought SB2U Vindicator, the author makes the following claim:

"In July of 1940, American-made planes bombed Dover! It happened this way. The French had ordered a number of of Vought-Sikorsky model 156 (export model of the SB2U) divebombers for their Naval Air Service, some of which saw service later in the Battle of France. When France fell, the Germans captured the 156's and quickly threw them into the Battle of Britain, where they made several raids on Dover."

Can anyone confirm this?

[Brian]

Hi Calhoun

Not true! The aircraft encountered by Spitfires from 610 Squadron on 24 July 1940, although thought initially to have been 'Chance-Vougts', were in fact two Skuas from 808 Squadron up from Worthy Down. Both were attacked and damaged, one pilot suffering an injury to his leg.

Cheers
Brian

[Calhoun]

Brian:

OK, I guess I can understand a friendly-fire incident where Skuas are mistaken for Vindicators. Aircraft identification skills, especially early on, for most combat pilots were quite poor. Such accounts for "Me-109s" being shot down in the Pacific. Of interest, however, is the authors claim that "they made several raids on Dover." Your explanation covers only one "raid."

Don't get me wrong, I find it extremely hard to believe this happened even once, let alone "several" times. Why the Germans would use captured Vindicators for anything other than hacks or trainers makes no sense.

Calhoun