This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago - Page 10 - Aircraft of World War II

syscom3 · 04-27-2007, 10:41 AM

USSR: Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas: Shipping loss. Training Ship TS "Svir" is sunk by aviation, at Leningrad.

GERMANY: The RAF bombs Rostock for the fourth night in a row. 70% of the city has now been destroyed and 100,000 are homeless.

UK: The first operational sortie is made by the de Havilland Mosquito night-fighter. Armed with four 20mm guns it can reach 407 mph.

Czechoslovakia: Theresienstadt: 1,000 Jews are deported to their deaths at Belzec and Sobibor.

MANCHURIA: In the worst mining disaster in history, 1,527 miners have died at the Honkeiko colliery.

USA: Washington: Roosevelt places the US economy on a full war
footing.

syscom3 · 04-28-2007, 12:47 AM

ATLANTIC: The US Navy's Task Force 99, consisting of the battleship USS Washington, heavy cruisers USS Tuscaloosa and USS Wichita and four destroyers, sails from the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. This is Force "Distaff," a joint RN-USN task force that will be positioned northeast of Iceland to protect convoy PQ-15 sailing for Murmansk in the Soviet Union. The RN force consists of
the battleship HMS King George V, the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, the light cruiser HMS Kenya and five destroyers.

Njaco · 04-29-2007, 05:52 AM

ENGLAND: The Luftwaffe returned for more of the "Baedecker Raids", this time against the city of Norwich, causing more damage and fires. A Bf-109F-3 of 3(F)/123 succeeded in taking post-raid photographs of Bath, as well as photographing Avonmouth and the Nailsea Munitions store, its long-range drop tank falling at Pill around midday.

GERMANY: The RAF attacked Kiel for the evening mission. 88 aircraft - 62 Wellingtons, 15 Stirlings, 2 Hampdens and 1 Halifax - were dispatched but only 54 aircraft claimed good bombing results in bright moonlight against strong flak and fighter defenses. Kiel records show that damage was caused at all three shipyards, to the hospital of the Naval Hospital and to the university libraryas well as to private homes. 15 people were killed and 74 injured. 5 Wellingtons and 1 Hampden were lost. Only two bombers were credited to nightfighters with claims going to Ofw. Heinz Struning of Erg./NJG 2 and Oblt. Gunter Koberich of Stab II./NJG 3.

WESTERN FRONT: Hptm. Joachim Muncheberg of Stab II./JG 26 shot down a Spitfire near Le Tourquet for his 74th victory. His victim was probably the great Polish ace Major Marian Pisarek, commander of the I Polish Fighter Wing.

syscom3 · 04-30-2007, 10:31 AM

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day: Shch-401 Northern Fleet off Fulei Island (sunk by German craft in Tana Fjord, former Shch-313)

Njaco · 04-30-2007, 11:48 PM

EASTERN FRONT: The German seige of the Crimean fortress of Sevastopol by 11. Armee (von Manstein) continued with a ceaseless bombardment by batteries of heavy guns (up to 800mm "Big Dora") and hundreds of bombers (up to 1,000 sorties a day) of Luftflotte 7 (von Richtofen). Heavy fighting also continued on the front around beseiged Leningrad whose inhabitants were suffering from bombing, disease and starvation. 4(F)/122 was now to be found at Saki/Crimea under VIII Fliegerkorps and supported the recapture of eastern Crimea and the seige of Sevastopol while maintaining close surveillance of enemy forces in North Crimea and the Black Sea.
....At Kholm and Demyansk another large Russian attack was launched. The pocket, which had now shrunk to less than 1km square in size, was almost overrun as Russian forces came within 100m of the eastern bank of the Lovat River. Again German companies swung into action and halted the Russian assault.

syscom3 · 05-01-2007, 11:08 AM

ATLANTIC: Force "Distaff," the combined US Navy and Royal Navy force that is protecting convoy PQ-15 enroute to Murmansk, is off Iceland when the
RN battleship HMS King George V collides with and sinks the destroyer
HMS Punjabi. The US battleship USS Washington (BB-56) is unable to
maneuver around the wreckage and must sail through it and the depth charges in HMS Punjabi explode underwater damaging the Washington's fire control systems.

syscom3 · 05-04-2007, 12:32 PM

ATLANTIC: In the Caribbean, two U.S. ships are torpedoed by German submarines.
An unarmed freighter is sunk while an armed tanker is abandoned but is later reboarded and towed to port.

UK: The North American Mustang Mk. I enters combat for the first time today flying with the RAF's No. 26 Squadron from Gatwick, Surrey, England.
The Mustang has excellent low-altitude performance but unsatisfactory high altitude and the RAF has equipped the aircraft with cameras to fly low-level tactical reconnaissance missions.

Lucky13 · 05-08-2007, 06:02 AM

Today 62 years ago....

V-E DAY!

Njaco · 05-08-2007, 09:47 AM

EASTERN FRONT: Rested and refitted, the Gruppen of SchG 1 arrived at Itshki-Grammatikovo in the Crimea for duty with IV Fliegerkorps of Luftflotte 4 for support of 11 Armee's reconquest of the Kerch penisula (Operation Trappenjagd). Outfitted with Bf 109E-7s, I./SchG 1 arrived and was immediately put into action as was the II Gruppe with 5. and 6. staffeln equipped with Hs 129B-1s and 7./SchG 1 with Hs 123As. After arrival operations started almost immediately with ground attack missions in the eastern Crimea until 15 May and then switching to the Izyum salient southeast of Kharkov at the end of the month. Attacks were carried out against Soviet positions along the front and on troop and supply columns immediately behind the front with such a concentrated effect that the German infrantry assault units were able to break through the forward defenses on the first day of the attack. Over the next several days, 4./SchG 1 attacked various ground targets, shot down an I-16 fighter and destroyed an estimated forty other aircraft during a low-level strafing attack on an enemy airfield in eastern Crimea. Major Siegfried Freytag of Stab II./JG 77 scored his 40th victory.

syscom3 · 05-08-2007, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucky13

Today 62 years ago....

V-E DAY!

This thread is for "65" years, not "62" years.

Njaco · 05-09-2007, 07:04 AM

MEDITERRANEAN: "Operation Bowery" - US Navy Carrier "Wasp" and Royal Navy carrier HMS "Eagle" delivered 64 Spitfires to Malta, four of which failed to make it. The mistakes of Operation "Calendar" were ironed out in this operation. Prior to leaving Gibraltar, experienced pilots were flown in by a Hudson (piloted by F/O Matthews) from Malta to train the new pilots in what operations were like over the island and to instruct them in new procedures where each aircraft, on landing, would be met by groundcrew carrying a numbered sign which they would follow to a safety pen, re-fueled and re-armed as fast as possible and get back in the air to meet the Axis aircraft sent over to destroy the new aircraft on the ground. HMS "Eagle" returned to Gibraltar and, loaded with another shipment of 16 Spitfires, returned to Malta as Operation "LB".

EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army launched a counter-offensive against Kharkov. An Hs 129B-1 belonging to II./SchG 1 was shot down by Soviet AA fire, possibly over the eastern Crimea. The pilot, Hptm. Max Eck, was listed as missing.

Njaco · 05-10-2007, 06:28 AM

MEDITERRANEAN: The Luftwaffe ended its air assault on Malta and German air units began to relocate from Sicily to the Western Desert in support of the Afrika Korps or to the Russian Front. As a consequence, although German air raids continued on the island, their intensity was considerably reduced and the RAF was able to regain air superiority over Malta. Moreover, during May, the RAF was able to resume its air offensive against enemy shipping, which led to a sharp drop in Axis supplies reaching North Africa.

syscom3 · 05-10-2007, 12:00 PM

AFRICA: USS Ranger on a transatlantic ferry trip, reached a position off the African Gold Coast and launched 60 P-40 Warhawks of the Army Air Force to Accra, from which point they were flown in a series of hops to Karachi, India, for operations with the 10th AAF. This was the first of four ferry trips made by the Ranger to deliver AAF fighters across the Atlantic, the subsequent launches being accomplished on 19 July 1942, 19 January 1943, and 24 February 1943.

Njaco · 05-11-2007, 08:18 PM

EASTERN FRONT: Two Bf 109E-7s belonging to I./SchG 1 were lost over the eastern tip of the Crimea peninsula, both probably shot down by AA fire.

MEDITERRANEAN: The British destroyers "Jackal", "Jervis", "Kipling" and "Lively" left Alexandria to search for reported Axis shipping bound for Benghazi. There was no fighter cover. On being sighted they turned back, but north of Sidi Barrani they were attacked by a specially trained anti-shipping group of German Ju 88s. "Kipling" and "Lively" were sent to the bottom that evening and "Jackal" was scuttled on the 12th May. Only "Jervis" with 630 survivors reached Alexandria.
....Hptm. Heinz Baer was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 77.

syscom3 · 05-12-2007, 09:56 AM

RUSSIA: Russian attacks near Kharkov begin. They are attempting to trap German forces against the Sea of Azov.

POLAND: The first mass-killing of Jews in Auschwitz Birkenau. The victims are some 1500 Polish Jews.

GULF OF MEXICO: German submarines sink two U.S. merchant tankers, the first off Louisiana and the second east of Barbados.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Navy lists submarine K-23 Northern Fleet off Nordkinn Cape (lost off Oske Fjord)

04-27-2007, 10:41 AM	#136
syscom3 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 10,814	April 27th 1942 USSR: Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas: Shipping loss. Training Ship TS "Svir" is sunk by aviation, at Leningrad. GERMANY: The RAF bombs Rostock for the fourth night in a row. 70% of the city has now been destroyed and 100,000 are homeless. UK: The first operational sortie is made by the de Havilland Mosquito night-fighter. Armed with four 20mm guns it can reach 407 mph. Czechoslovakia: Theresienstadt: 1,000 Jews are deported to their deaths at Belzec and Sobibor. MANCHURIA: In the worst mining disaster in history, 1,527 miners have died at the Honkeiko colliery. USA: Washington: Roosevelt places the US economy on a full war footing. __________________ "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"

04-28-2007, 12:47 AM	#137
syscom3 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 10,814	April 28th 1942 ATLANTIC: The US Navy's Task Force 99, consisting of the battleship USS Washington, heavy cruisers USS Tuscaloosa and USS Wichita and four destroyers, sails from the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. This is Force "Distaff," a joint RN-USN task force that will be positioned northeast of Iceland to protect convoy PQ-15 sailing for Murmansk in the Soviet Union. The RN force consists of the battleship HMS King George V, the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, the light cruiser HMS Kenya and five destroyers. __________________ "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"

04-29-2007, 05:52 AM	#138
Njaco The Pop-Tart Whisperer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States Posts: 11,833	29 April 1942 ENGLAND: The Luftwaffe returned for more of the "Baedecker Raids", this time against the city of Norwich, causing more damage and fires. A Bf-109F-3 of 3(F)/123 succeeded in taking post-raid photographs of Bath, as well as photographing Avonmouth and the Nailsea Munitions store, its long-range drop tank falling at Pill around midday. GERMANY: The RAF attacked Kiel for the evening mission. 88 aircraft - 62 Wellingtons, 15 Stirlings, 2 Hampdens and 1 Halifax - were dispatched but only 54 aircraft claimed good bombing results in bright moonlight against strong flak and fighter defenses. Kiel records show that damage was caused at all three shipyards, to the hospital of the Naval Hospital and to the university libraryas well as to private homes. 15 people were killed and 74 injured. 5 Wellingtons and 1 Hampden were lost. Only two bombers were credited to nightfighters with claims going to Ofw. Heinz Struning of Erg./NJG 2 and Oblt. Gunter Koberich of Stab II./NJG 3. WESTERN FRONT: Hptm. Joachim Muncheberg of Stab II./JG 26 shot down a Spitfire near Le Tourquet for his 74th victory. His victim was probably the great Polish ace Major Marian Pisarek, commander of the I Polish Fighter Wing. __________________ "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" http://www.njcacoa.org/ Last edited by Njaco; 06-02-2009 at 01:08 PM.

04-30-2007, 10:31 AM	#139
syscom3 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 10,814	April 30th 1942 U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day: Shch-401 Northern Fleet off Fulei Island (sunk by German craft in Tana Fjord, former Shch-313) __________________ "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"

04-30-2007, 11:48 PM	#140
Njaco The Pop-Tart Whisperer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States Posts: 11,833	1 May 1942 EASTERN FRONT: The German seige of the Crimean fortress of Sevastopol by 11. Armee (von Manstein) continued with a ceaseless bombardment by batteries of heavy guns (up to 800mm "Big Dora") and hundreds of bombers (up to 1,000 sorties a day) of Luftflotte 7 (von Richtofen). Heavy fighting also continued on the front around beseiged Leningrad whose inhabitants were suffering from bombing, disease and starvation. 4(F)/122 was now to be found at Saki/Crimea under VIII Fliegerkorps and supported the recapture of eastern Crimea and the seige of Sevastopol while maintaining close surveillance of enemy forces in North Crimea and the Black Sea. ....At Kholm and Demyansk another large Russian attack was launched. The pocket, which had now shrunk to less than 1km square in size, was almost overrun as Russian forces came within 100m of the eastern bank of the Lovat River. Again German companies swung into action and halted the Russian assault. __________________ "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" http://www.njcacoa.org/ Last edited by Njaco; 06-02-2009 at 01:09 PM.

05-01-2007, 11:08 AM	#141
syscom3 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 10,814	May 1st 1942 ATLANTIC: Force "Distaff," the combined US Navy and Royal Navy force that is protecting convoy PQ-15 enroute to Murmansk, is off Iceland when the RN battleship HMS King George V collides with and sinks the destroyer HMS Punjabi. The US battleship USS Washington (BB-56) is unable to maneuver around the wreckage and must sail through it and the depth charges in HMS Punjabi explode underwater damaging the Washington's fire control systems. __________________ "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"

05-04-2007, 12:32 PM	#142
syscom3 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 10,814	May 5th 1942 ATLANTIC: In the Caribbean, two U.S. ships are torpedoed by German submarines. An unarmed freighter is sunk while an armed tanker is abandoned but is later reboarded and towed to port. UK: The North American Mustang Mk. I enters combat for the first time today flying with the RAF's No. 26 Squadron from Gatwick, Surrey, England. The Mustang has excellent low-altitude performance but unsatisfactory high altitude and the RAF has equipped the aircraft with cameras to fly low-level tactical reconnaissance missions. __________________ "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"

05-08-2007, 06:02 AM	#143
Lucky13 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: A Swede living in Glasgow, Scotland Posts: 17,331	Today 62 years ago.... V-E DAY! __________________ JAN "Felicis Tredecim" "I´m going back to the front to relax" "THE BLACK CATS FLIES TONIGHT" "Find your enemy and shoot him down - everything else is unimportant!" "When you're out of F-8's... You're out of fighters!"

05-08-2007, 09:47 AM	#144
Njaco The Pop-Tart Whisperer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States Posts: 11,833	8 May 1942 EASTERN FRONT: Rested and refitted, the Gruppen of SchG 1 arrived at Itshki-Grammatikovo in the Crimea for duty with IV Fliegerkorps of Luftflotte 4 for support of 11 Armee's reconquest of the Kerch penisula (Operation Trappenjagd). Outfitted with Bf 109E-7s, I./SchG 1 arrived and was immediately put into action as was the II Gruppe with 5. and 6. staffeln equipped with Hs 129B-1s and 7./SchG 1 with Hs 123As. After arrival operations started almost immediately with ground attack missions in the eastern Crimea until 15 May and then switching to the Izyum salient southeast of Kharkov at the end of the month. Attacks were carried out against Soviet positions along the front and on troop and supply columns immediately behind the front with such a concentrated effect that the German infrantry assault units were able to break through the forward defenses on the first day of the attack. Over the next several days, 4./SchG 1 attacked various ground targets, shot down an I-16 fighter and destroyed an estimated forty other aircraft during a low-level strafing attack on an enemy airfield in eastern Crimea. Major Siegfried Freytag of Stab II./JG 77 scored his 40th victory. __________________ "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" http://www.njcacoa.org/ Last edited by Njaco; 06-02-2009 at 01:10 PM.

05-09-2007, 07:04 AM	#146
Njaco The Pop-Tart Whisperer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States Posts: 11,833	9 May 1942 MEDITERRANEAN: "Operation Bowery" - US Navy Carrier "Wasp" and Royal Navy carrier HMS "Eagle" delivered 64 Spitfires to Malta, four of which failed to make it. The mistakes of Operation "Calendar" were ironed out in this operation. Prior to leaving Gibraltar, experienced pilots were flown in by a Hudson (piloted by F/O Matthews) from Malta to train the new pilots in what operations were like over the island and to instruct them in new procedures where each aircraft, on landing, would be met by groundcrew carrying a numbered sign which they would follow to a safety pen, re-fueled and re-armed as fast as possible and get back in the air to meet the Axis aircraft sent over to destroy the new aircraft on the ground. HMS "Eagle" returned to Gibraltar and, loaded with another shipment of 16 Spitfires, returned to Malta as Operation "LB". EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army launched a counter-offensive against Kharkov. An Hs 129B-1 belonging to II./SchG 1 was shot down by Soviet AA fire, possibly over the eastern Crimea. The pilot, Hptm. Max Eck, was listed as missing. __________________ "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" http://www.njcacoa.org/ Last edited by Njaco; 06-02-2009 at 01:11 PM.

05-10-2007, 06:28 AM	#147
Njaco The Pop-Tart Whisperer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States Posts: 11,833	10 May 1942 MEDITERRANEAN: The Luftwaffe ended its air assault on Malta and German air units began to relocate from Sicily to the Western Desert in support of the Afrika Korps or to the Russian Front. As a consequence, although German air raids continued on the island, their intensity was considerably reduced and the RAF was able to regain air superiority over Malta. Moreover, during May, the RAF was able to resume its air offensive against enemy shipping, which led to a sharp drop in Axis supplies reaching North Africa. __________________ "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" http://www.njcacoa.org/ Last edited by Njaco; 06-02-2009 at 01:11 PM.

05-10-2007, 12:00 PM	#148
syscom3 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 10,814	mAY 10TH 1942 AFRICA: USS Ranger on a transatlantic ferry trip, reached a position off the African Gold Coast and launched 60 P-40 Warhawks of the Army Air Force to Accra, from which point they were flown in a series of hops to Karachi, India, for operations with the 10th AAF. This was the first of four ferry trips made by the Ranger to deliver AAF fighters across the Atlantic, the subsequent launches being accomplished on 19 July 1942, 19 January 1943, and 24 February 1943. __________________ "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"

05-11-2007, 08:18 PM	#149
Njaco The Pop-Tart Whisperer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States Posts: 11,833	11 May 1942 EASTERN FRONT: Two Bf 109E-7s belonging to I./SchG 1 were lost over the eastern tip of the Crimea peninsula, both probably shot down by AA fire. MEDITERRANEAN: The British destroyers "Jackal", "Jervis", "Kipling" and "Lively" left Alexandria to search for reported Axis shipping bound for Benghazi. There was no fighter cover. On being sighted they turned back, but north of Sidi Barrani they were attacked by a specially trained anti-shipping group of German Ju 88s. "Kipling" and "Lively" were sent to the bottom that evening and "Jackal" was scuttled on the 12th May. Only "Jervis" with 630 survivors reached Alexandria. ....Hptm. Heinz Baer was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 77. __________________ "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" http://www.njcacoa.org/ Last edited by Njaco; 06-02-2009 at 01:12 PM.

05-12-2007, 09:56 AM	#150
syscom3 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 10,814	May 12th 1942 RUSSIA: Russian attacks near Kharkov begin. They are attempting to trap German forces against the Sea of Azov. POLAND: The first mass-killing of Jews in Auschwitz Birkenau. The victims are some 1500 Polish Jews. GULF OF MEXICO: German submarines sink two U.S. merchant tankers, the first off Louisiana and the second east of Barbados. U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Navy lists submarine K-23 Northern Fleet off Nordkinn Cape (lost off Oske Fjord) __________________ "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"

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