This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: 12 Venturas of RAF No. 487 Sqdrn (New Zealand) were dispatched to attack a power station on the northern outskirts of Amsterdam. One aircraft returned early; the remaining 11 proceeded with an escort of 3 squadrons of Spitfires. Unfortunately, an earlier Spitfire sweep had alerted the German defenses while the Ventura force was still flying at a low level over the North Sea. Unfortunately, also, an exceptional number of experienced German fighter pilots were present at Schiphol airfield for a conference. 69 German fighters were thus up in the air near Amsterdam when the Ventura force crossed the Dutch coast. Some of the German fighters engaged the Spitfires while the remainder attacked the bombers. 9 Venturas were shot down before reaching the target and a 10th was badly damaged but it managed to return to England. The only remaining Ventura was that of S/L L. H. Trent. His Ventura, completely alone, pressed on to the target and bombed it. The bombs just missed but some of the blast caused some damage. This last Ventura was then immediately shot down. The story of this action was reconstructed after the war and S/L Trent was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1946.
....Ofw, Ernst Heesen of 5./JG 1 was killed in action. He had 28 victories to his credit, flying for JG 1 and JG 3 during the war.
....In Iceland, Lt. General Frank M. Andrews, the USAAF officer who was Commanding General European Theatre of Operations, US Army (ETOUSA) was killed in an aircraft crash while landing. There has been specualtion over the years whether Andrews instead of Eisenhower would have commanded the Allied forces in Europe if he had lived. Camp Springs Army Air Field in Maryland was renamed Andrews Army Air Field (now Air Force Base) in 1945 in his memory.

NORTH AFRICA: The US 1st Division along with French troops captured Mateur, 20 miles from Bizerte as they fought their way out of 'Mousetrap Valley'. P-40s flew fighter-bomber missions against a bridge, buildings and docks in the northeast part ofthe country. NASAF B-25s bombed a landing ground near Protville and B-17s hit shipping at Bizerte.

[pbfoot]

Does anyone have info on the escorting Spits which units or wings were used for the 485 RNZAF Sqn Ventura raid

[Njaco]

I'll see what I can find.

Pb I started a S/L Trent thread in the stories section with some links. Looks like from 11 Group Mk Vs and others. No specific Squadron yet.

and I'm sure you mean 487 sqdrn...I think 485 was a Tempest group or at least a fighter squadron.

[Hugh Spencer]

4th May 1943
255 Lancasters, 141 Halifaxes, 110 Wellingtons, 80 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitoes attacked Dortmund - the largest non-1000 raid of the war to date and the largest on this city. 31 aircraft were lost and a further 7 aircraft crashed in bad weather at their bomber bases. The initial Pathfinder marking was accurate but some of the back-up marking fell short. A decoy fire site also attracted many bombs. Half of the large force did bomb within 3 miles of the aiming point and severe damage was caused in central and northern parts of Dortmund. The city's report stated that 1218 buildings were destroyed and 2141 seriously damaged including the Hoesch and the Dortmunder Union steel factories and many facilities in the dock area. The old Rathaus was among 7 buildings of a cultural nature which were destroyed. At least 693 people were killed including 200 prisoners of war and 1075 people were injured. The number of dead in this raid was a new record.
12 Venturas attacked railway yards at Abbeville. 3 Mosquitoes out of 6 despatched bombed power stations at Haarlem and The Hague. No losses.

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: The USAAF dispatched 79 B-17s against the former Ford and General Motors plants at Antwerp. The B-17s were escorted by 117 P-47Cs up to 175 miles from their bases along with Spitfires. The Spitfires and Thunderbolts intercepted the Fw 190s of JG 26 sent to attack the bombers and were successful in keeping the German fighters away from the bombers. A diversion was flown by 20 B-17s and 13 B-24s towards the French coast arousing more than 100 German fighters (about half of the total number in the region) and kept many of them airbourne long enough to prevent their attacking the main effort. No bombers were lost on this mission. A pilot with JG 26 wrote that the Geschwader's failure to destroy the bombers had brought, "a great salvo from Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring. We should be disbanded - our formation leaders should be arrested - we are all cowardly dogs!" Oblt. Konrad von Donner of Stab II./JG 26 was credited with destroying a 4 engined airplane near Scheld-Mundung. A Spitfire was also awarded to Major Josef Priller from Stab./JG 26 for his 85th victory.
....Polish pilots flying in the RAF F/O Dubielecki claimed 2 Fw-190s damaged and P/O Zurakowski claimed 1 Fw-190 damaged. F/O Lipinski in Spitfire IX (EN131, PK-M), was killed in action over Flushing (Vlissingen, Netherlands). Although he virtually never made any notes in his log book, the Northolt Wing's Deputy Commnader S/Ldr Sawicz, after flying that mission had made an entry in it: "An exhausting flight - heavy fight. I got out of a/c on very shaky legs. One Fw-190 damaged."
....After sailing for a week through raging storms, westbound convoy 'ONS-5' made contact with the German wolf pack sent to destroy it. As German submarine 'U-630' was starting its attack run, a Canadian RAF airplane depth charged the U-Boat, sinking it.

EASTERN FRONT: Hitler decided to post-pone the planned summer offensive at Kursk until more of the new Tiger and Panther tanks could be delivered. By mid-May, the Russians had prepared an extensive defense network that was more than enough to defeat the Germans at Kursk.

NORTH AFRICA: In an act of purest desperation, the Italian merchant ship 'Campobasso' attempted to deliver esperately needed fuel and military supplies to the Axis forces in Tunisia. It was intercepted and sunk by British destroyers. Weather restricted most NASAF operations to recon and uneventful sweeps. NATAF fighters attacked gun positions and vehicles near Zaghouan and Massicault and at other points in the surrounding area. A-20s and medium bombers hit Zaghouan in support of the French advance.

[trackend]

May The first MAC (merchant aircraft carrier) ship MV Empire MacAlpine a converted grain cargo vessel of 8,800 tonnes 481 ft long and carrying just 4 Swordfish onboard sails for Halifax with west bound convoy ONS 9 to increase the mid atlantic air cover. Doubts had been expressed about the ability of the aircraft to operate from such small vessels in lively seaways but infact it was found on the return voyage with convoy HX 245 that the Swordfish crews could operate in weather conditions unsuitable for the Grumman Avengers of no 846 squadron aboard the accompanying escort carrier HMS Chaser

[Njaco]

GERMANY: The commander of Luftwaffenkommando Ost, Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim was given command of Luftflotte 6.

NORTH AFRICA: British forces broke through the defenses of 5.Panzerarmee (von Arnim) south of Tunis. After taking then losing the town in very heavy fighting, British forces re-captured Djebel Bou Aoukaz late in the day. This action secured the left flank for the final drive on Tunis. NATAF fighters and bombers flew missions against strongholds on the slopes of Djebel Bou Aoukaz. The British 5th Corps was now commanded by Horrocks and included the 6th and 7th Armoured Divisions and the 4th Indian Division. With the front collapsing on all sides, the German fighters of the Desert jagdflieger lost another experte. Oblt. Gunther Hannak of 7./JG 27 and previously of I(J)./LG 2 and JG 77, was shot down and captured by the Allies, ending the war with 49 destroyed enemy planes to his credit.
....The Axis made one more attempt to supply Tunis, sending the 'San Antonio' to her doom, this time at the hands of American bombers. There would be no more attempts to supply Tunisia.

WESTERN FRONT: Fw. Georg Thurimger of 13./KG 30 lost control of his Ju 88A-4 during take-off at Fliegerhorst Aalborg West and collided with a Ju 88 belonging to III./KG 30 parking nearby. '4D+IX' was damaged and Fw. Thuringer was killed and two of his crew injured.
....Convoy 'ONS-5', now being dogged by over 20 German submarines, began to take serious losses. However, the German U-Boat 'U-192' was sunk.
....An airbourne Lifeboat was used operationally for the first time, when it was dropped from an aircraft of RAF No. 279 Sqdrn.

EASTERN FRONT: Heavy fighting continued on the Kuban peninsula as Red Army forces took Krymsk and Neberjaisk from the German 17.Armee.

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: Heinz Scholz of JG 52 was killed in action. Lt. Franz Schall of 3./JG 52 gained his first victory when he shot down a LaGG-5 fighter.

NORTH AFRICA: The British opened the final assault on Tunis and Bizerte before dawn. The assault was supported by massed artillery fire and the most intensive air bombardment yet employed in North Africa. The British 5th Corps, led by Horrocks, broke through the Axis front, taking Massicault and advanced toward Tunis. The attack along with the heavy air support succeeded in destroying the remnants of the German 15.Panzerdivision. B-25s attacked Furna and Massicault and the surrounding areas. Meanwhile the US II Corps advanced toward Bizerte, Ferryville and Protville and the Free French 19th Corps approached Pont du Fahs.
....NATAF airplanes bombed El Aouina, La Sebala and Ariana airfields during the night. During the day, fighters, A-20s and medium bombers flew over 1,400 sorties, attacking Protville and La Sebala airfields, trucks on the Massicault-Tunis road, Bordj Frendj, Djebel Achour, traffic near Tunis and other strongpoints in extreme northeast Tunisia. B-25s and B-26s bombed 2 beached vessels at Cape Zebib and ships, a lighthouse and parked aircraft near Cape Fortass, Zebib, Cap Serrat and Protville.
....This day saw the largest number of Luftwaffe fighters destroyed in the North African theatre by an American fighter group in one day to date. The record set for the US 31st FG was 11 destroyed German aircraft. one probably destroyed and two damaged, without a single loss. Frank Hill became one of the first aces of the US 31st FG that day; "On the morning mission, I was leading the Spit IXs. That was the newer Spitfire with the bigger engine and I chased 2 109s around the sky, finally got one which dove head-on into the ground just north of Tunis. Just a little before this, I followed one Me 109 north towards Bizerte and shot at him and he continued to dive with black smoke coming out all the way down. There was another Me 109 on our tail, so we had to turn to head into it to avoid getting hit. Just as I turned back, I saw a large explosion just where the first Me 109 was headed, so I believe he went in also. Later on it was confirmed by my wingman. In the afternoon we were up again and this time we ran into about 16 Me 109s and Macchi 202s, which was the Italian fighter. There were 6 of us in Spit Vs and 4 above us in Spit IXs. I started after this formation, came up from underneath where they didn't see us, and shot at one Macchi which I hit. He immediately half-rolled and started down. I don't know if he crashed or pulled out. I just kind of damaged it. After their whole formation split up, and so did ours, a general dogfight was a result. Major Kelly, who was a new replacement at that time who I'd known back at the 40th squadron at Selfridge, was my number 2 man. He stayed with me, even though he lagged behind a couple of times, because he was in a much slower plane. When we sighted more Me 109s and gave chase, two of them turned off and climbed into the sun. So we went right after them, underneath and behind so they didn't see us. When we were able to close in again, I opened fire on the lead one when they both half-rolled and the one went straight down with glycol and smoke coming out. Major Kelly watched him for a long while, and he believed he never did come out of the dive. The other one straightened out right away and I came up on his tail and fired what little ammunition I had left at him and Kelly shot at him and we both broke away. The German must have known I was out of ammunition because he turned right back and started after us. He was almost on Kelly's tail when I told Kelly to break hard left. The Me 109 overshot us and never did attack us again. We were down to our last few gallons of gas, so we landed at an emergency field near the front, re-serviced and came on home. For the day's work, I claimed 2 enemy 109s destroyed, one probably destroyed and one damaged, and one Macchi damaged." Although the number of German aircraft destroyed was mounting, Lt. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert of 4./JG 77 managed to claim a Spitfire near Tunis.

WESTERN FRONT: Hptm. Robert Olejnik replaced Hptm. Dietrich Wickop as acting Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 1 after Hptm. Wickop was killed in action.
....Over 30 German submarines were engaged with convoy 'ONS-5' as the 11th merchant ship was sunk. However 4 more U-Boats were sunk. 20 more submarines would attack the convoy but only one more merchant ship would be destroyed.

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: Ofw. Albert Brunner of 5./JG 5 was killed in action. He had 53 victories against the Allies at the time of his death. Also killed this day was Oskar Loffler of JG 3. He died having destroyed 5 enemy aircraft during his career.

NORTH AFRICA: Fighting in North Africa was coming to a speedy conclusion as von Arnim's Axis forces retreated into the Cape Bon peninsula. 5.Panzerarmee evacuated Tunisia and Bizerte. It was 03:15 am when the order was given for the British to drive into the city. Armoured cars of the 11th Hussara were they first - as they had been in every major town or city captured since El Alamein - followed almost immediately by the tanks. Thousands of civilians lined the streets of Tunis to pelt British troops with spring flowers, bestowing kisses on embarrassed troops of the Derbyshire Yeomanry as their tanks rolled in. Even then, however, the fighting was not over, as small pockets of fanatical Germans continued to snipe from vantage points on public buildings and mosques.
....The final assault on the Djebel Bou Aoukaz hills overlooking the city had involved an artillery barrage of an intensity not known since El Alamein. The technique was to use a concentration of fire, centrally controlled, on all known enemy positions. Shells landed on every two yards of front, causing total havoc. A huge air attack began at dawn, with the RAF flying more than 200 sorties. By 09:30 am the 4th Indian Division had cleared a path for IX Corps tanks.
....Simultaneously, the US II Coprs began its final assault towards Bizerte in the north. After some tough fighting, the US 9th Infantry Division drove into the city in the late afternoon but formal entry was reserved for the French Corps Franc d'Afrique.
....The last remnants of the Luftwaffe abandoned their airfields and flew off for Sicily or Italy. For JG 77, the evacuation from the Cape Bon peninsula was a chaotic affair. The Geschwader had suffered heavy losses in the air and on the ground while claiming 333 kills in total in North Africa. Transport aircraft were in short supply and the pilots found themselves flying a shuttle between Tunis and Sicily with up to 2 passengers in the fuselages of the Bf 109s. Having achieved some 50 victories over North Africa, 4./JG 77 experte Fw. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert was just one pilot to fly the hazrdous over-water flight. Too tall to squeeze into the fuselage of a 109, Reinert took the controls of 'White 7', the Bf 109G assigned to his superior, Oblt. Zeno Baeumel, while Baeumel and a mechanic crammed into the machine. Enroute to Sicily, Reinert sighted a formation of Royal Navy Martlets and swung his heavily loaded fighter in behind one of the British aircraft to deliver the coup de grace before putting down in Sicily, no doubt to the immense relief of his terrified passengers.
....Once back on the mainland and with most of their aircraft unmaintained and even unservicable on arrival in Sicily - the majority of the ground crews having gone into captivity in North Africa - the pilots of I. and II./JG 77 returned by train to Germany to collect new aircraft. Only III./JG 77 remained in Italy, being based in Foggia northeast of Naples. Aircraft were taken on loan from JG 53 in an effort to rebuild the Gruppe. Obstlt. Johannes Steinhoff now took over as Geschwaderkommodore as the Geschwader, now part of Fliegerkorps II, prepared for the Allies to invade Sicily.

WESTERN FRONT: The battle with convoy 'ONS-5' came to an end. In the week long battle, the convoy of 42 merchants and 9 escorts were attacked by 51 U-Boats. the convoy lost 13 ships but the escorts and land-based Catalina planes sank 7 U-Boats, seriously damaging 5 more. Despite the serious losses, the Allies considered this a great success.
....RAF maritime patrol aircraft sank 3 U-Boats in oneday. A Handley-Page Halifax of No. 58 Sqdrn sunk 'U-109' and a Short Sunderland of RAAF No. 10 Sqdrn sank 'U-663', both engagements taking place in the Bay of Biscay. Meanwhile a Lockheed Hudson of No. 233 Sqdrn sank 'U-447' off Gibraltar.

ENGLAND: Lt. General Jacob L. Devers was appointed Commanding General European Theatre of Operations US Army replacing General Andrews who was killed in Iceland.

MEDITERRANEAN: During the night in Sicily, NASAF Wellingtons bombed the docks and shipping at Trapani as a diversion for a mine-laying mission off Malta.

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: The fighters of JG 52 lost Helmut Haberda when the 58 victory experte was killed in action.

MEDITERRANEAN: Fw. Karl Hosmann of 2./JG 77 was listed as missing in action and presumed dead. He had destroyed 8 enemy aircraft during his combat career. Another pilot with JG 77, Oblt. Helmut Mickel was killed in a flying accident. He died having destroyed 25 enemy aircraft during his career.
....NASAF P-38s and NATAF fighters along with A-20s attacked the airfield on Pantelleria Island between Cape Bon and Sicily.

NORTH AFRICA: The British 6th Armoured Division drove from Hammam Lif towards Hammamet, preventing the Germans from making an orderly withdrawl. The Luftwaffe, battered and exhausted, abandoned Tunisia. Admiral Cunningham launched Operation 'Retribution' to prevent Axis armies from evacuating North Africa.
....NASAF B-26s and P-40s attacked small vessels off Tunisia. Weather prevented the success of other shipping sweeps, but B-25s hit a road junction and railroad at Korba and a highway south of Beni Khalled. On the ground, Corps Franc d'Afrique made an official entry into Bizerte as the British 7th Armoured Division pushed north from Tunis toward the US II Corps zone. The British 5th Corps' 1st Division and 4th Indian Division pushed east with the French 19th Corps which met firm resistance near Zaghouan.

[Njaco]

MEDITTERANEAN: In Italy, B-24s attacked harbour facilities at Messina, scoring hits on the ferry terminal, roundhouse, 2 ferries and a ship. B-25s hit the landing ground on Pantelleria Island. In Sardinia, during the night, NASAF Wellingtons bombed Villacidro, Elmas and Decimomannu airfields. In Sicily, B-17s with P-38 escort bombed Palermo. B-26s followed immediately with an attack on the same target. Fw. Josef Brandl of 7./JG 27 was listed as missing in action. He had 7 kills with JG 27.

WESTERN FRONT: A Ju 88R-1 defected to Britain, landing near Aberdeen. Allegedly it was carrying an important agent but the secrets of the 'Lichtenstein BC' radar were also extremely valuable. This night-fighter version of the Ju 88, using BMW radial engines instead of the normal Jumo 211s, with pilot Oblt. Herbert Schmid, r/o Obfw. Paul Rosenberger and engineer Obfw. Erich Kantwill took off from Fliegerhorst Aalborg West on an operational flight and at 16:06 hours the aircraft was reported lost over the North Sea. The crew of the Ju 88 from 10./NJG 3 was believed to have contacted the Allies about their defection and 2 Spitfires intercepted and escorted the night-fighter to airbase Dyce-Aberdeen in Scotland. The Junkers was practically brand new and fresh from the factory with the FuG 202 'Lichtenstein BC' interception radar onboard. The crew were made prisoners of war. This Ju 88R-1, now in the RAF museum at Hendon, is one of two surviving Ju 88s - the other being a Ju 88D-1 in the USAF museum.

NORTH AFRICA: Axis forces facing the US II Coprs in Tunisia, began to surrender. Six generals were among those who capitulated. King George VI told Eisenhower, "the debt of Dunkirk is repaid!" as the Allies began to take 50,000 Axis soldiers prisoners.

[pbfoot]

Originally Posted by Njaco

NORTH AFRICA: [b] ....At 09:50 hours, 5 Spitfires of RAF No. 145 Sqdrn were protecting 12 Spitfires of RCAF No. 417 Sqdrn as they patrolled over the Cape Bon-Tunis area. Near Grembala, they intercepted 2 Bf 109s flying at 16,000 feet and one Spitfire was subsequently shot down. Two claims were made over the Cape Bon region by pilots of 7./JG 53. The first claim was for a Kittyhawk by Lt. Walter Hicke, the second was for a Spitfire made by Uffz. Georg Amon for his first kill.
.....

.

found this at the hanger

[syscom3]

RUSSIA: Hitler now gives in about allowing a full scale withdrawal from the Crimea.

POLAND: Mordechai Anielewicz (1919-1943), commandant of the ZOB during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is killed battling the Nazis.

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen 'Citadel' was approved by Hitler. The attack at Kursk would begin in June. Intelligence reports indicated that the Soviets were expecting the attack and preparing strong defenses to meet it. The fighter pilots of JG 52 lost another member of the Geschwader when Ernst Ehrenberg was killed in action. He had a final victory total of 10 kills.
....Organized resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto ended. SS Brigadefuehrer Stoop declared, "The Warsaw ghetto is no more!"

NORWAY: Lt. Gunter Busse of 14(Jabo)./JG 5, flting a Fw 190A-3, was killed in action over Pummankibukten, shot down by the AA defenses. Another pilot from JG 5, Lt. Gunther Steinmann of 4./JG 5 was also lost over Kowdosero to flak.

NORTH AFRICA: All organized resistance in northeast Tunisia ended as Axis forces began to surrender. Over the course of the next 2 days, 238,243 unwounded Axis soldiers would become POWs. Numerous motor transport and troop concentrations on the Cape Bon peninsula were bombed and strafed as the British 6th Armoured Division drove to Hammamet. The British ended Axis chances of escape by cutting off the peninsula.

MEDITERANEAN: NATAF fighters, A-20s and medium bombers attacked Pantelleria harbour.

WESTERN FRONT: A B-17 on a ferry flight to the UK, ran out of fuel and belly landed on a beach in Ireland. Met by guests from a local hotel, the crew were sent across the border and onto the US 379th BG.

[Njaco]

ENGLAND: A daylight raid by 20 German fighter-bombers on Great Yarmouth killed 26 girls staying at an ATS hotel.
....The US 94th BG (Heavy) and its 331st, 332d, 333d and 410 BS (heavy with B-17Fs arrived at Earls Colne, England from the US. The 334th, 335th, 336th and 412th BS (Heavy) of the 95th BG, also with B-17Fs, arrived at Framlingham, England.

MEDTERRANEAN: The Allies ended a 3 day aerial bombardment of the Italian island of Pantelleria. In Sicily, B-24s struck Catalina harbour, severly damaging the area and several ships. NASAF B-17s, B-26s and B-25s bombed Marsala, hitting the warehouse, docks, railroad yards, seaplane base and city area.

NORTH AFRICA: NATAF fighters and A-20s attacked vehicles, gun positions and troop concentrations in the Zaghouan-Sainte Marie du Zit area on Cape Bon as the British 4th Division completed an uneventful sweep around the Cap Bon peninsul, revealing no important forces there. Resistance in the Zaghouan sector was weakening.