III./ZG26, 11th January 1941

[jeanba]

Hello

Did the III/ZG 26 participate in the raid that put out of actions the Illustrious and how many planes were involved ?

Most sources do not talk about any escort, except warpaint, saying that 2 ennemy aircraft were claimed ?

On the other hand, it was not usual at this time from the luftwaffe to send unescorted stuka raids

THank you in advance

[Larry deZeng]

According to Shores, Cull and Malizia in Malta: The Hurricane Years 1940-41 (London: Grubb Street, 1987) pages 108-21, the answer to your question is "no".

The Stukas and the Italian S.79s flew the attacks of 10 and 11 January 1941 without escort. In their lengthy and very compreheisive account of both days' action against Illustrious and the other RN surface units, there is no mention of any fighter escort nor is their any mention in either the German or Italian after action reports. This is also confirmed in Karl Gundelach's Die deutsche Luftwaffe im Mittelmeer 1940-1945, 2 Bde (Frankfurt/M., 1981) as well as in the Gen.Qu.(6.Abt.) Verlustmeldungen.

From 9 to 14 January, III./ZG 26 was still en-route from Caen via Neubiberg and Treviso to Palermo but had not fully arrived yet. It flew its first mission on 16 January when 20 Bf 110s escorted 17 Ju 88s and 10 MC 200s and 10 CR 42s escorted 44 Stukas in an attack on Illustrious while she was under repair at Malta.

L.

[jeanba]

Thank you very much

[mmourato]

I casually stumbled upon this old thread. Michael Holm's Luftwaffe 1933-45 site gives III/ZG 26 in Palermo between 14 december 1940 and january 1941. So where was ZG 26 at the beginning of 1941?
Cheers,
M

[Johannes]

Hi Guys

To consolidate Larry's claim that there was no III./ZG 26 escort, III./ZG 26's earlier form micro film exists beautifully clear and complete, there are no claims for 11th Januar 1941, Major Karl Kaschka flying for the Staff claimed a Hurricane on the North coast of Malta at 1050 hrs on the 19th January 1941 from 800 metres altitude, which is III./ZG 26's only claim in that month, and III./ZG 26's first for quite some time!

Regards

Johannes

[Andrei Demjanko]

I was looking through old threads when I found this one.

The answer to the original question is "Yes". Thirteen Bf 110's escorted Ju 87's on 11 January. There were no claims. No operations against HMS Illustrious were flown by X. Fliegerkorps on 11 January.