Ju 52 (See) deserters?

[Adam]

I have a reference to a message passed by 'Admiral West (Norwegen)' stating:

"Treat as hostile Ju 52 (seaplane) with German markings in the Stadlandet area. If possible take occupants prisoner." With relevant copies to RAF Coastal Command..

The date is listed as 15.10.1943 and time stamped early afternoon local time.

Does anyone have any further information on this incident and what exactly it was in reference to?

TIA

Adam

[Adam]

Sorry - my bad, the date should read 1944...

[Andy Mitchell]

Adam,

Just found this in Martin Pegg's Transporter v2.....

This is a caption to an image of a Ju 52/3m Floatplane on page 163.

"A Ju 52/3m floatplane, almost certainly of TGr 20 in Norway, where the main purpose of the Gruppe was to convey urgent stores, such as aircraft spares, to points as far north as Billefjord. In the latter months of 1944, operations by this Gruppe were so severely restricted by a lack of fuel that it suffered long periods of inactivity. In a little-known incident on 25 October 1944, aircraft of the 2. Staffel were due to make a temporary transfer fromTrondheim-Hommelvik to a destination in the far north of Norway in order to assist in the evacuation of key personnel and important material threatened by the Soviet advance.Take-off was delayed owing to bad weather, but as their aircraft had been fully fuelled and made ready, the pilot and W/T operator of the Ju 52/3m floatplane 7U+IK took advantage of the opportunity to desert to the Allies. After taking off, they headed north-west in the hope of reaching Iceland but encountered poor weather and bad visibility until, eventually, a shortage of petrol forced them to come down in a rough sea.They were later picked up by a fishing trawler and learned with surprise they were far south of their planned route and had come down 48 kilometres off the east coast of Scotland, near Aberdeen."

Now this could be the same or a similar incident (given the date difference).

Stadlandet is approx 350 km SE of Trondheim-Hommelvik so, given where 7U+IK ended up this could well be that plane although the stated course of NE is a bit of a problem to explain unless there were problems with the weather.

Assuming we are talking about one incident, this then leads to the question - whose info is incorrect?

[edNorth]

Hi, this story has appeared in print before. At the moment I do not recall where and when, except it might have been a request for info in some readers column in an old issue of an english-language magazine such as Air Pictorial or Aviation News...

[Adam]

Many thanks,

I've since received off board a copy of the K report concerning this incident and it states the date as actually 25 and not 15 October.

Thanks for helping clear it up