In connection with my other thread on an air raid on Walsall, I was wondering if anyone can tell me how Luftwaffe operations were carried out. On the night in question, June 11th/12th 1941, only a single aircraft was heard which dropped only one bomb. This was a direct hit on a factory building. Within three thousand metres of the factory which was hit there are in the region of two dozen factories and installations marked on Luftwaffe targeting maps. The factory which was hit was not marked as a target on the map.
So my questions are whether this factory was hit (very accurately) as a target of opportunity? Might it have been mistaken for another target? Or was it hit completely by accident? Were Luftwaffe aircraft sent out individually to make as much of a nuisance of themselves as possible? Is there any way whatsoever of establishing which Luftwaffe units were operating over England that night?
Any information or advice on this would be most gratefully received.
Regards,
kev35
By: AdlerTag - 5th June 2010 at 15:33
Hi Kev,
I’m no expert on Luftwaffe night bombing strategy, but I would discount the Ju88C’s of NJG2 as being responsible for dropping bombs. The Ju88C was a Zerstorer/Nightfighter model, rather than a bomber, and NJG2 were probably carrying out night intruder sorties against allied aircraft. If your information is correct, then it was most likely a He111 responsible for the Walsall bombing.
By: kev35 - 5th June 2010 at 13:12
Thanks for the replies.
It certainly seems to have been a single raider. I’ve not yet come across anyone who remembers the air raid warning being sounded but that’s not to say it wasn’t. No-one remembers any anti aircraft activity either. The idea of Knickebeine or X-Gerat does seem logical. I wonder what the degree of accuracy was for aircraft using either of these systems? Wonder whether June 1941 might have also been too late for these devices as effective countermeasures were introduced late in 1940?
Responses from the LEMB Forum indicate that Walsall, King’s Lynn, Dover, Boston and Bristol were all subject to small scale raids on the night in question. It also seems likely that the Ju88C’s of I/NJG2 or the He111H’s of I or III/KG4 may have been responsible.
If asny of our meteorological expects are reading this, it would be interesting to have their input on the weather situation on the night in question.
If anyone has any more thoughts then please keep them coming.
Regards,
kev35
By: bazv - 4th June 2010 at 23:05
The Luftwaffe was not organised in the same way as the RAF.
One of my favourite books is ‘The Diving Eagle’ by Peter Stahl.He started the war as a corporal JU88 pilot even though he was a very experienced multi engine Lufthansa captain.
At the start of his operational service even the ground crew would not talk to him because he was not a professional soldier,but because he survived – he eventually became an ‘experten’ and as such he could select his own targets when not required for normal ‘ops’…so there is one potential variable.
There could have been many reasons why a particular building was bombed.Weather -a break in cloud etc might allow a clear view !Heavy flak or night fighters could cause alternative target selection or even just a ‘lucky’ jettison to evade interception.
The Stahl crew certainly did do quite a number of lone attacks.
By: Rogier - 4th June 2010 at 22:19
I have just had a check of John Ray’s The Night Blitz 1940-1941. He does not mention the nature of attacks after the last big raid on London in May 1941.
So I can only add my own question to your query and that is would they still have utilised Knickebein or X-Geraet for single raiders?
By: PeterVerney - 4th June 2010 at 21:22
I think single aircraft were assigned specific targets, at least in the initial period. The village I lived in suffered three sticks of bombs, each about 4 smallish ones and one larger. All during the early part of the BoB period.
The first attack was on the road bridge where it crossed the railway just outside the village, luckily the stream ran beside the railway and none of the bombs exploded. In fact the army had great difficulty in finding them and AFAIK some are still there.
The second stick dropped along the village, the only casualties being several fox hounds because their kennels appeared to have been the target, possibly mistaken for some sort of barracks. The worst result of that was that one bomb brought down the village electricity supply and broke the water main.
The last stick was reputedly aimed at the house where Antony Eden used to spend weekends, but it was not hit.
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June 4, 2010 at 7:40 pm