Arabella-Cox
September 26, 2010 at 9:40 am

Whirlwinds, shipping reccos & BC minelaying

Good evening all, hopefully this query isn’t too far in left field.

With the roadsteads and shipping reccos carried out by 263 and 137 Squadrons in particular, does anyone know if they were carried out to directly follow up a gardening operation by BC in an attempt to catch the German minesweepers in a known location.

Alternatively were they in response to information supplied by the French and Dutch resistance movements?

Or were they just regular patrols carried out at times likely to catch German shipping in the open?

TYIA.

Paul

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By: Arabella-Cox - 27th September 2010 at 03:48

Thanks Ian.

Paul

PS I’ll send you an e-mail later today with a photo I think you’ll be interested in.

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By: EN830 - 26th September 2010 at 11:51

Hi Paul

I was told a few years ago that acting on a tip off from the chaps at Bletchley and also to disguise the source, coastal command would often send out an aircraft to stooge around the Channel Islands looking for suitable targets, this would then be followed up by 10 Group and their squadrons to catch the surface vessels on the move.

How true this is, I have no idea, and unfortunately can not remember the exact source to re-check the details and how they knew this.

There are certainly accounts of Sunderlands flying low over Jersey, which must have been frightening for the crews considering the AA concentration on the Island.