Storia Militare - No 176

[Neil T.]

I am interested in getting a copy of the article entitled "Bombe tedesche su Bari" by G. Grande that appeared in Issue No. 176 (May 2008) of Storia Militare. Does anyone have a copy they can send me?

[Orwell1984]

A pdf available for free download is available.
Picture reproduction isn't the best though.

http://www.avia-it.com/act/Editorial...he_su_Bari.pdf

[Nick Beale]

An interesting read (although my grasp of Italian is far too limited to do it justice) with a couple of questionable points, perhaps. First there is the account of Werner Hahn, said to be a 2.(F)/122 pilot. He doesn’t appear in Andy Mitchell’s list of the Gruppe’s personnel, nor in the 2. Staffel’s 1944–45 flight log in the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv. Instead the story seems to be taken from Glenn Infield’s book “Disaster at Bari” where Hahn is said to have flown an Me 210 but with no unit mentioned. Although Infield’s acknowledgements name a number pilots he interviewed, there is no Hahn and no other source is given. The Italian article changes the Me 210 to a 410 (understandable as none of the former was operating in Italy in December 1943) and makes the reasonable inference that 2.(F)/122 was the unit concerned in daylight reconnaissance.

Second, the article talks of LT 350 torpedoes being used (as does Siegfried Radtke’s KG 54 history) but none of the units involved had Ju 88s equipped for torpedo-bombing, did they?

P.S. the article could well be right that 6./KG 54 provided the pathfinders but does anyone have a source for this information?

[RudiS]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Second, the article talks of LT 350 torpedoes being used (as does Siegfried Radtke’s KG 54 history) but none of the units involved had Ju 88s equipped for torpedo-bombing, did they?

Entry from a FB of a II./KG 54 pilot:
Oct 1st 1943: Ju 88 B3+IN - port of Napels - 2 LT350 dropped from 1800 meter (isn't this a bit too high to release torpedoes ?????)
Oct 26th 1943: Ju 88 B3+NM - port of Napels - 2 LT350 in basin of the port

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by RudiS

Entry from a FB of a II./KG 54 pilot:
Oct 1st 1943: Ju 88 B3+IN - port of Napels - 2 LT350 dropped from 1800 meter (isn't this a bit too high to release torpedoes ?????)
Oct 26th 1943: Ju 88 B3+NM - port of Napels - 2 LT350 in basin of the port

Thanks Rudi, that's interesting. I understand that the LT 350 was dropped on a parchute, but 1800 meters still seems very high for a torpedo release. However, I see that it was released without aiming and allowed to follow its spiral course. Presumably that means an aircraft carrying it might need a special rack but not the normal torpedo aiming devices.

[Neil T.]

Thank you gentlemen for your comments and assistance.