Luftwaffe losses on 27 December 1941 around Malta

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hello,

On 27 December 1941, according to the now old book "Malta the Hurrican years", two Ju 88s were shot down near Malta:

1) in the morning the Ju 88 3Z+BM of Stab II./KG 77 was shot down in the sea by Flt Lt Carpenter of 126 Sqn. The pilot was Hptm Eberhard Stahle. Can someone provide more details (Ju 88 subtype and WNr, names and fate of the crew) ?

2) in the evening Plt Off Winton of 1435 Flight intercepted a Ju 88 at 2020 hrs and set it on fire over Valetta with many witnesses. The searchlights followed it until it crashed in the sea with a violent explosion. But this loss is not identified in the book.

The book "Call-out: a wartime diary of air/sea rescue operations at Malta", by Frederick R. Galea, said for this day:
"Call-out for HSL128 for a Ju88 shot down. Riddlestone noted: 'Found their dinghy, nothing else.' The distance covered was 35 miles in 2 hours 49 minutes."

The distance is coherent with the morning battle, not with a Ju 88 crashing just off the island.

I would like to identify the second Ju 88 if possible. It may be an overclaiming (a bomber escaping with damage and the explosion being the bombload dropped in the sea).

This day the Ju 88 A4 WNr 1041 of KGr 606 was damaged at 10% by a fighter over Malta and two crew, Uffz Johann Krause (pilot) and Fw Adolf Kronwald (observer), were wounded. In the battle in the morning, the RAF pilots claimed one Ju 88 shot down (by Carpenter) and two other damaged, but the German formation was small (three Ju 88s) and I doubt II./KG 77 and KGr 606 would be both involved in such a small raid, so the KGR 606 aircraft might have been attacked by Tyson and survived.

Another possibility for the evening loss was the Ju 88 A-4 7T+XH WNr 1400 of 1./KGr 606 that is listed in the German loss lists as a total loss (100%) in the area of Marsala, Sicily, on 28 December 1941 for an unknown reason. Three crew, Lt Herbert Beiwal (pilot), Uffz Herbert Diem (observer) and Gefr Ludwig Penader (air gunner)) are listed as killed, the fourth one, Gefr Eberhard Weisspflug (radio), is missing.

But I found one of the crew, Uffz Herbert Diem, in the Volksbund database. He is buried in Sicily and his death place is noted as "north of Sicily".

If someone has another proposal for the evening loss, I will be interested.

Best regards