11 April 1943 in the Bay of Biscay

[Jérémie Tarpon]

Hello,

On 11 April 1943, two Beaufighters of 248 Sqdn attacked Ju 88 D-1 WNr 430359 from 3.(F)/123 over the Bay of Biscay. The Ju 88 and one of the Beaufighters (WR-A, probably JL422) were shot down at about 1730. Afterwards, the crew of the remaining Beaufighter observed their two comrades climbing on a floating fuel tank and, one mile away, four German airmen in and around a dinghy. The Beaufighter apparently succeeded in alerting two (probably French) fishing boats nearby and then had to return to its base. During the following night, the Seenotdienst sent a boat and a plane that searched the area between 0115 and 0854 without success.

The CWGC website tells us the fate of the downed Beaufighter crew: F/O R G Stringer (Pilot) rests in the Bilbao British Cemetery, while P/O S Hunter (Nav W) is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Regarding the Ju 88 crew, Hptm Helmut Schuke (F) and Ogfr Robert Rössel (Bs) are listed as missing, but Lt Eberhard Sommer (B) and Fw Wilhelm Steffens (Bf) were wounded and saved.

Does someone knows what happens to these two crews after the departure of the surviving Beaufighter and by whom were Sommer and Steffens rescued?

Best wishes,

Jérémie

[Chris Goss]

At 1905 hrs on 11 Apr 43, 3 Ju 88s took off to search for the missing aircraft. At 2010 hrs in PlQ 14W/4775, a dinghy with 2 men was spotted. At 2050 hrs, a Bizerte from Brest landed and picked them up. They were picked up not far from the crash location (judging by the wreckage) but St Kap plus one was not found

[Jérémie Tarpon]

Hello Chris,

Thank you, you always have first class information! BTW, can you confirm that Hptm Schuke was the Stk of 3.(F)/123?

I would be very interested if you have more details about this combat (especially from the German side) and the following rescue operation. I guess that the three Ju 88 sent for the search were from 3./123 from Rennes and the Bizerte a seaplane of 1. Seenotstaffel operating from Brest, or maybe Hourtin.

Best regards,

Jérémie

[Chris Goss]

I am afraid I have no further details on the combat and would guess that V/KG 40 went searching-I will check my logbook copies. To send out 3 relatively unarmed recce assets would have been a dangerous thing!

According to the Luftflotte report, Schuke was the St Kap and the report says Brest, not Hourtin

[Jérémie Tarpon]

Chris, I think you are right about V./KG 40.

The British 'Y' Service described the activity of V./KG 40 on 11/4/43 as follows:

HEAVY FIGHTER PATROLS in BAY OF BISCAY by Ju 88's of ZG 40 - LORIENT:
[...]
4 aircraft - F8CX/DX/IX and F8MZ were heard in W/T between 1000 and 2148:-
F8DX was heard at 1427,
F8IX was heard operating with RENNES 2043 - 2046; aircraft was not heard to land.
F8CX signalled "Returning" at 1812: aircraft homed on KERLIN BASTARD 2136 - 2146.
F8MZ homed on KERLIN BASTARD 2137 - 2139 and landed.
All aircraft had landed by 2155.

The mention of F8+IX communicating with Rennes (3./123 base) at about the time the Bizerte rescued the downed airmen is interesting and may refer to the incident we are discussing. There is therefore a good possibility that the 3 Ju 88 were from 13./KG 40 with F8+IX as leader.

Regards,

Jérémie

[Chris Goss]

I am afraid I have no logbook entries for that date

[Jérémie Tarpon]

OK, thank you Chris.

Jérémie

[Siko54]

Thread resurrection time.....just found this on the net! I've just been given Fg Off Stringers logbooks and have been researching his history. His entry for the 11th Apr, obviously competed by the Adjutant or similar does indeed list aircraft 'A' and states 'Ops missing, 1 JU88 destroyed'. He also destroyed a Fw200 on the 12th Mar 43 and had a long career flying Blenheims and Lysanders from 1940-42.

[Jérémie Tarpon]

Hello Siko 54,

My 2008 postings were for a paper that was published in the French Aéro-Journal n° 15 (April-May 2010) describing the 11 April 1943 encounter between two 248 Sqdn Beaufighters and a 3.(F)/123 Ju 88.

Besides the spring 1943 events, I have little knowledge of F/O Stringer life and I would be very glad to learn more about him.

Best wishes,

Jérémie

[Siko54]

Hi Jeremie,

I'll dig some stuff out tomorrow for you on Fg Off Stringer, he had a relatively interesting career and flew operationally on Blenheims over the North Sea and Beaufighters over Malta and the Bay of Biscay with a few shared kills.
I'm not sure how I can post scans on here, I have promised Chris some information and I am happy to send you anything you may be interested in. If there's nothing specific I'll post what I know on here tomorrow, otherwise pm me your email address and what you would like.
Small world though....he was an RAF pilot killed shooting down a JU88 and his logbooks have been given to an (ex) RAF pilot whose great uncle was killed flying....JU88s!