I have an elderly friend who was brought up during the Second World War in Dublin. He remembers all too well the air raid of May 31 1941 in which 28 people died when for some reason the Luftwaffe dropped four bombs on the city with many casualties.
He tells me that he is quite convinced that as a boy – he would have been nine at the time – he actually saw a Messerschmitt 109 flying over the city in daylight. However, he’s also fully aware that memories can play tricks on you after 70 or more years so he’s not too dogmatic on the point.
Is there in fact any evidence of Messerschmitt incursions into Irish territory? It seems to me that Dublin would hardly be within range of a 109, even if based in the nearest German bases in Brittany.
The same friend tells me that there has long been a theory in Ireland that the May 31 raid was in fact a warning shot across de Valera’s bows in an attempt to make him deny RAF overflight rights across the Donegal corridor from Lough Erne into the North Atlantic. It was, after all, a Catalina using the Corridor that had located the Bismarck just a few days earlier.
Anything in this, or is it just a coincidence of dates that makes for a good conspiracy theory?
By: D1566 - 13th January 2014 at 14:36
Didn’t Pierre Clostermann claim (in ‘The Big Show’) that he was involved in combat with a reconnaissance Bf109 over Scapa Flow? if one could reach there, then Dublin would have been possible?
How interesting that the combat in question should have been chronicled in Flypast, but Clostermanns part in it appears to have been much less than detailed in his book …
By: Moggy C - 16th December 2013 at 09:18
I don’t think that ventral tank saw much use. Two or three 900L underwing/underfuselage drop tanks were a more successful option.
Moggy
By: DazDaMan - 16th December 2013 at 09:11
No, I think these were aircraft that took part in one or two of the northern raids – fitted with a large ventral fuel tank which could not be jettisoned.
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By: QldSpitty - 16th December 2013 at 00:10
Yes out of all the raids Erp 210 did suprisingly well.Just read the BoB Jubillie issue book.
By: Moggy C - 15th December 2013 at 22:14
They were kinda slaughtered…!
Epr 210 didn’t do that badly.
Moggy
By: D1566 - 15th December 2013 at 21:35
Just to muddy the waters even further, there’s always this clip to be found on YouTube, allegedly based on a real event. Personally, I’m surprised the Stork hotel isn’t in there somewhere:D
Someone stole Riverside Station!!
By: DazDaMan - 15th December 2013 at 21:13
If it happened I would guess it was more likely Bf110
Moggy
If you tell someone “it’s a Messerschmitt”, chances are they probably think you mean the ‘109.
There were some long-range Bf110s used in the Battle of Britain. They were kinda slaughtered…!
By: Moggy C - 15th December 2013 at 19:31
Just to muddy the waters even further, there’s always this clip to be found on YouTube, allegedly based on a real event.
If it happened I would guess it was more likely Bf110
I used to love riding ‘The Overhead’ when I was a kid.
Moggy
By: D1566 - 15th December 2013 at 19:27
Thanks for putting some figures to it.
By: Richard gray - 14th December 2013 at 23:42
Possible, but not a lot of time for sightseeing.
M109 Range, 850kls. with extra tanks 1000 kls
Stravanger to Stormness. = 518 kls.
Guernsey to Dublin. 512 kls.
By: Scouse - 14th December 2013 at 22:30
Just to muddy the waters even further, there’s always this clip to be found on YouTube, allegedly based on a real event. Personally, I’m surprised the Stork hotel isn’t in there somewhere:D
By: colin.barron - 14th December 2013 at 07:49
Yes I remember reading that . I recall it was a 109G, probably fitted with extra fuel tanks.
By: D1566 - 14th December 2013 at 00:06
Didn’t Pierre Clostermann claim (in ‘The Big Show’) that he was involved in combat with a reconnaissance Bf109 over Scapa Flow? if one could reach there, then Dublin would have been possible?
By: antoni - 13th December 2013 at 22:29
I remember when I was a student in the 1970s someone making a sarcastic comment that the only mention of WWII in Irish history books was that a bomb fell on Dublin Zoo. It was in fact a bit more serious than that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dublin_in_World_War_II
A Bf 109 might be able to get to Ireland but it woudn’t be able to go home.
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December 13, 2013 at 10:20 pm