Osprey Combat Aircraft 075 - JU-88 Kampfgeschwader in North Africa and the Mediterranean (

Osprey's primary Luftwaffe author/artist, JOHN WEAL has written and/or illustrated more than 25 titles in the Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft and Aviation Elite Units series since 1994. Possessing one of the largest private collections of original German- language literature from World War 2, his research is firmly based on this huge archive. Fluent in German, Weal has also spent much time establishing contact with ex-members of the Luftwaffe, from General Staff Officers of the RLM to front line aircrew. He has often used these private sources to gain access to further archival material, including complete Luftwaffe orders of battle for the various fighting fronts and individua l combat reports. A freelance airbrush artist since the days of the monthly RAF Flying Review, and its various successors, Weal also helps his German wife run a small technical translation and interpreting agency.

Los PRE Y

COM B Al

A I R CR AF T • 7S J

In 88

I{AMPFGESCHWADER OF NORTH AFRICA AND THE MEDITERRANEAN

SERIES EDITOR : TONY HOLMES

OSPREY COMBAT

AIRCRAFT • 7S

JOHN WEAL

Front cover The most famous Luftwaffe fighter pilot in North Africa was undoubtedly Hans-Joachim Marseille of Jagdgeschwader 27 . His name is

Firs[ published in Grcat Bri tain in 2009 by O sprey Publishin g Midland Housc. W est Way. Borl cy. O xfo rd . O X2 OPH 443 Park Ave nue So uth ,

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still familiar to enthusiasts today . But his counterpart in the bomber arm, one Joachim Helbig, is now

© 2009 Os prey Publ i,h ing Limited

all but forgotten. ' Jochen ' Helbig , as he was universally known, was a somewhat unwilling recruit to the

All ri ghts reserved . Apart fro m a ny fa ir dea lin g for th e purpose or pri vate slUd y,

Luftwaffe when he was transferred from his first love, the artillery, to the fledgling air arm of the Third Reich in 1936. Despite this initial reluctance, however, he rose to

a rerri cva l sys tem . or transmitted in any form o r by a ny m ea ns. electro ni c,

prominence in his new role, beginning the war as an oberleutnant and observer with Lehrgeschwader ILG) 1 and subsequently rising to the rank of oberst and becoming Geschwaderkommodore of the unit. And just as Marsei ll e is associated with Bf 109s bearing the numeral ' Yellow 14', so Helbig , after being appointed Staffelkapitan of 4./LG 1 in the spring of 1940, always preferred to fly a Ju 88A coded 'L 1+AM'. Even more remarkably, he apparently retained not just the same markings but the same aircraft too . According to some sources, Helbig 's 'Anton-Marie' was the only Ju 88 in the Luftwaffe to complete over 1000 flying hours - some 750 of thenl on operations. The partnership between man and machine that had lasted for over three years finally came to an end when ' L 1+AM' fell victim to a US heavy bomber raid on Pordenone airfield in northern Italy. In Helbig's own words, ' She was only a m ac hine, but to her pilot, her loyal crew and her inconsolable chief mechani c she had become a living , breathing something ... and now she was taking her leave of us'. Wi ek Luijken 's striking cover painting, reconstructing one of the many camouflage schemes ' Anton -Marie' wore during its long career, neatly encapsulates two of the aircraft' s roles in the Mediterranean theatre as it takes time out from supporting the Akrika Korps in the Western Desert to attack an Allied convoy at sea I Cover artwork by Wiek Luijken )

resea rch , criti cism o r rev iew , as permitted und er the Copyright , D es ig n and Pate lll; Act 1988 . no pa rr of this publi cati o n may be reprodu ced , ;to red in eleCt ri ca l, chemi ca l. mec hani ca l, o ptica l, photOcopyin g, recordin g o r mh erw ise with o ut pri o r wri rrCll permi" io n. All enquiri es sho uld he addres,ed to the publi sher. IS BN : 9 78 I 8 46033 18 6 1:- boo 1< ISBN 97 8 I 84 60 3 88 R 4 l': d itcd by Tony Ho lmes Page d esig n by Ton ), Tru scott

Cove l' Artwo rk by Wi ek Luijkcn Aircraft Profiles by J o hn Wea l I nd ex by M ichac1 Fo rd eI' Ori gin ated by PDQ M edi a, Bun gay.

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Print ed in C hina throu gh Bookbuild er, 0') I 0 I I I 2. I 3

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Fo r a ca tal ogue of .111 boo ks puhl i,hcd by O sprey pl ease co ntact ; ' o l'1h America O sprey Direc t, C/o Rand o m H o use Di st ributi o n Ce m er, 400 Hahn Road . W e't minster. MD 21 157 I:- m aiI; uscustOlll er;crvice I/lo, preypubl ish ing.com

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CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE

BATTLE IS JOINED 6 CHAPTER TWO

MARITATOMERKUR 16 CHAPTER THREE

MALTA OR CAIRO? 45 CHAPTER FOUR

TWO-FRONT WAR IN AFRICA 71 CHAPTER FIVE

THE 'SOFT UNDERBELLY' 78 APPENDICES 90 COLOUR PLATES COMMENTARY 92 INDEX 95

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irst flown in prororype fo rm o n 2 1 D ece mber 19 36, Junke rs' rw ineng ined J u 88 was subsequen ri y LO evo lve into w hat was arguab ly the m ost versati le ma chin e ro se rve wit h th e Lutrwatte in Wo rld

Wa r 2 . And no w he re was that ve rsatility more g rap hi ca ll y d e mon strated than in the M ed iterranea n th earre, w he re th e Ju 88 - initia ll y d es ig ned

an d cl ass ifi ed as a SchneLlbornber, o r h ig h-speed bo mbe r - ope rated as a d ive- bom be r, m edium -alti tud e leve l b o mbe r, to rpedo-bombe r, heavy fi g h ter, n igh tflgh te r, reco nn aissance a ircratr, co n voy esco l"( a nd m a ri t im e patro l fi ghte r, co uri e r a irc ratt and e m e rge ncy trans pon. The Lu Ftwaff"e's invo lve m e n t in th e a ir war in the M editerra nea n ca m e abo u t as a direc t resu lt of Ita ly's d ecl a ri ng wa r o n Fra nce a nd G reat Brita i n o n 10 Ju ne 1940 . W ith the BLitzkrieg in the wes t by th e n at its heigh t a nd Fra nce alreadyo n the po in totcol lapse, th e Ita li a n Duce, Be ni ro Musso lini , saw thi s as a go ld e n o ppo rtunity ro sha re in the spoi ls ot vicro ry w ith G e rma n co -di ctaror Ado lf H itl er. In stead , Ita lia n to rces soo n tound the m se lves in d ire troub le. At sea, the Roya l Navy e ngaged Ita li a n vessels, infli cting a success io n ot d eFeats a nd giving the lie to M usso lini 's proud boast that the M ed ite rra nean was mare nostrum - 'our sea '. In

lo rth

Atri ca, th e Italian arm y in vaded Egy pt, o n ly to be dri ve n back h a l~vay across Libya a nd all but d es troyed by British a nd C o mm o nwealth troops. U nab le to ig no re the grow in g instab il iry o n h is so uth ern fl an k, Hid er o rd e red that Lu Ftwaff"e u n its be se nt to the a rea to res to re the situ ati on .

The two m ost famou s Luftwaffe

T he comma nd sel ected to make rhe tra nsFe r was Ceneral del' Fliegel" H ans

units, one fighter and one bomber, that dominated much of the air war in N orth Africa and the Mediterranean were JG 26 and LG 1. Here, a representative from each Geschwader - a Bf 109F-4/trop of 6./JG 27 and a Ju 88A -4 of 12./ LG 1 - stand ch eek by jowl at Martuba, in Libya , during th e spring of 1942

Ge isler's X. FliegerkOt/H, rh e n station ed in No rway. An d to pro vid e the

Korps w ith the necessary str ik in g power, rwo Crllppen each o f J u 87s an d J u 88s were add ed to its o rd e r ot battle. For th e S tu b s, the mo ve sout h wou ld give th em the cha nce to regai n somcr h ing ot the tearsome reputat ion they had lost aFter be ing trou nced by the RAF in the Batrl e otB ri ta in . T he Ju 88 had no need to p rove a nythin g. By late 1940 it had alread y fi rml y es ta b li shed itself as the bes t bo mbe r in th e LuFtwaff"e 's arm o ury. T he rwo Ju 88

Cmppen in vo lved

in tht: in i tial tran sfe r both ca m e tro m th e sam e pa re nt Ceschw{/der,

LefJlge,·chwader I . O ne ot o nl y two su ch un its es tabl ished by the Lutrwaffe (a thi rd had bee n p la nn ed but neve r reac hed tu ll stren gth), th e Lehrgeschwader we re un ique in t ha t th ey were c reated as o pera tio lu l tra ini ng and eva lu a tio n w in gs, w ith eac h of rh e ir cOlllpo ne nt

Cmppen

be ing equipped with a d iffere m ey pe ot a irc ra ft. Lehrgeschwfuler I , for 6

ex;:trnp le, w hi ch was first act iva ted

In 1936, ultim ately co mprised fi ve Cruppen - two fl yin g bombers, one fl ying fl ghtel's, another operatin g ZerJtorer and the fifth equipped with di ve- bo mbers. It was the task of th ese d isparate Crupper! ro develop and refin e the combat tacti cs ro be used by th e many new aircraft enterin g Luftwaffe service in th e run -up ro Wo rld Wa r 2. W ith the outbreak of hosti lities in September 1939 their wo rk was effecti vely done. By the time of the Battle of Britain , three of LG I's Cruppen had th erefo re been re-equipped with Ju 88" and this pa n ort he unit was, to all intents and purposes, operating as a standa rd KampJieschwader (the t\vo remai ning Crupper! would later be redesignated and incorporated inro the nightfl ghte r and di ve-bomber arms). And it was in la te 1940, just as the night Bli tz on Britain was intensify ing, that II . and '" .l LG 1 were suddenly withd raw n fro m Lllji:flotte 3 in western France and ordered to the Mediterranean. Depaning their bases at O rl ea ns-Bricy and C hateaud un, respecri vei y, they were ro stage, via Lechfeld , in Germany, down the lengt h of Italy ro Catania, on the island of Sicil y. Altho ugh they d id not know ir at the rime, theil' so journ in the so uth was to be a le ngth y one. In fac t, LC 1 wo ul d not return ro Lllfiflotte 3 in north wes t Euro pe unr il recall ed ro co mbat the Alli ed in vasion of No rm and y in Ju ne 1944. In the intervenin g three-a-half yea rs, LC 1 fo rged fo r itself a name as the Med ite rranea n KarllpJieschwader. It be ame th at thea tre's bomber equ iva lenr of the fa med J{/gdgeschwader27 'Afrik{/ ~ And just as JG 27 had its Hans-Joachim Marse ille, so roo did LC 1 prod uce one outstandin g persona li ty. St{/ffi,lkapitiill of 4.1 LG 1 at th e time of the tra nsfer ro Sicil y, and already a holder of the Kn ight's C ross in recogniti o n of his operatio ns ove r Poland , orway, Fra nce and G reat Brita in, Hauptm ann Joachi m 'Jochen' Helbig wo uld subsequentl y beco me Ceschwaderkomrnodore of LG I. He was also o ne of th e few Luftwa ffe bomber pil ots whose name wo ul d be fam ili ar ro both fr iend and foe ali ke. Befo re it fin all y left th e Med iterra nea n in mi d- 1944 , th e unit he co mmanded, whil e still offic iall y Lehrgeschw{/der I, was being more co mmon ly referred ro by both sides as the ' Helbig Flye rs'. Th e British we re full y aware of X Fliegerko,ps' initial migrati on south wa rds, the RAF's wireless interception service reporting the first fo ur Ju 88s of LG 1 as hav ing arri ved at Catan ia, on the eastern oas[ of Si ily, by [he evening of 26 December 194 0. T he Luftwaffe's

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One of LG 1's early arrivals in the Mediterranean theatre runs up its engines prior to take-off. A sin g le he avy bomb is just visible beneath each wing centre-section . Note too the sma ll f airing immediately behind the nose glazing (beneath th e windscreen gun), in dicating th at this is a Ju BBA-G, which had presumably b een fitted with a ba ll oon -cab le fender and cutter during the recent night Blitz over Britain

Hauptmann Joachim Helbig (right) and his crew pictured in the coc kpit of their trusty 'AM '. This photograph was taken sometime after 30 August 1941 , when Ob erfe ldwebel Franz Schlund - seen at the rear - became the Luftwaffe 's first wireless-operator/air gunner to be awarded the Knight's Cross

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Sitting in the midday sun at Catania, 5./LG 1' s 'DN ' is checked over prior to departing on its next mission . Although the white aft fuselage band of the Mediterranean area is clearly in evidence, there is no correspond ing white tip outboard of that sma ll underwing individual aircraft letter ' D'. There is every likelihood that this is the 'L 1+DN' that was lost in action on 21 M arch 1941 attacking Allied con voy AN -2 1, carrying Commonwealth troops from Alexandria to Greece

movemenrs cominued ro be closel y monirored In rh e weeks that foll owed , and by mid-January 194 1, signals inrelligence had not o nl y es tablished th at 49 J u 88s of Stab, II. and 11 1.ILG I were co ncemrated at Ca tania , they had even pinpoinred a number of stragglers, beset by mcchani cal problems, strun g out o n fields dow n rh e leg of Italy, including o ne ar Reggio nell ' Emilia, (WO at Pisa, and ano ther at Naples. General der FliegerG eisler set up his Ko rps H Q in th e H otel Do mcni co at T ao rmin a, a holi day reso rt so me 30 m il es up th e coast From Catani a. G iven its relat ive ly limited numbers. rh e list of o peratio nal tasks rhar X Fliegerlwrps was expected ro carry o ut was daumin g, ro say th e least. Firstl y, it was ro close th e ce mral Mediterra nea n (i. e. the Sicil ian Narrows) ro th e passage of Alli ed co nvoys betwee n G ibralta r a nd Alexa ndri a, thereby starvin g th e island of Malta of essem ial supp li es. Seco nd ly, ir was ro d isrupt th e lin es of supply of Ge n Wave ll 's Dese rt Arm y by mining the Suez Ca nal (a job fo r rh e Korps' He II I s). Thirdl y, it was ro suppo rt Itali an land fo rces in Libya in o rd er ro halt th e furth er ad va nce of Bri tish and C omm o nwealth troo ps, and thus retain hold of Tripoli, th e imcnd ed po rt of d ise mbarkati o n fo r Rommel's Aji-ikfl Korps. And fo urth ly, it was ro secure th e Ax is co nvoy ro utes transpo rting suppli es across th e Mediterranean fro m Italy ro No rth Africa.

INTO ACTION Lehrgeschwllder I's operati o nal debut in rh e Med iterranean was low-key

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and fa r from successfu l. O n th e aftern oo n of 10 Janu ary three Ju 88s were se nt o ut again st th e Royal Navy carr ier HM S Illustrious, whi ch was li mpin g rowa rds Malta afte r bein g seve rely damaged by J u 87s. But the tri o was imerce pted and dr iven off by Hu rricanes, whi ch fo rced them ro jerr iso n th eir bo mbs and rurn tail fo r home. A seco nd raid by several mo re III . Gruppe mac hines sho rd y aFterwards proved equ all y fru itless . Wo rse was ro co me. Two days later I JJ.I LG I were o n the receiving end. Aft er first tak in g the precauti o n of despatchin g a reco nnaissa nce machine ro overfl y Catania - whi ch was mea nt ro persuade the Germans that their prese nce o n the field had been detected fro m the air, and thus d isguise th e fa ct th at their approach and arri va l had , in reali ty, bee n cl osel y mo ni ro red by radi o intercepts - the RA F mo umed a ni ght raid by Ma lta-based Wel li'ngro ns. Five Ax is aircra Ft were des troyed o n th e ground , in cl ud ing twO of III. Gruppe 's J u 88s. It was 15 Janu ary befo re th e bu lk of II ./ LC I reached Ca tania. T h:n same evenin g 16 o f th eir number rook oFf again ro arrack IflustrioUJ', whi ch had by 11 0W reached rh e dub io us safety of Malta's G rand H arbo ur. Th e Ju 88 s bo mbed rhrou gh clo ud and registered no hi ts. At rhe sa me tim e the Welli ngro ns were back ove r Catani a, where they des troyed fo ur aircraFt a nd in fl icted the first casualties (0 be suffered by LG I in - rhearre. O ne of rhe two ki lled was Leurn ant H o rst Nagel, a 6. Staife! pi lot whose J u 88 had bee n declared unserviceable and who was o n tempo rary du ry in

The Royal Navy carrier HMS Illustrious is hidden by fountains of water thrown up by near misses (right) close to its berth at the entrance to French Creek in M alta's Grand Harbour

It was not only in the ski es over Malta that LG " s m ach ines were at risk . Here at Catania, one of the unit's Ju BBA-5s h as been rammed by an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM .79 bomber. The caption to the original print - on which Mount Etna may ju st be seen in the left background - read s simply ' A difference of opinion!'

th e ops room. T he CeJchwader also reported eight wounded . T he fo ll owing day witnessed X Fliegerkorps 'first majo r raid on Malra. Th e target was aga in Illustrious, and amo ng the atracki ng force were 17 J u 88s from II. and II I.ILG l. Due to poor wea rh er cond itions, rhe Bf 110 esco rts f'li led to make the rendezvous so th e J u 88s pressed on alone. Two of th eir bombs ex ploded in the wa rer between the carri er's hull and rhe harbo ur wall ar the entrance to French Creek against wh ich ir was moored, causing th e vessel furr her damage. A number of cla ims we re made by the island 's defend in g fl ghrers and ami -aircraft gunners, bur only one Ju 88 was in fa ct lose. T his was 9. Staffil 's ' LJ +CT', whi ch was engaged by a Fleer Air Arm Fu lmar and we nt dow n into rh e sea, rakin g O berI eumal1t Ku rr Pichl er and his crew with it. Three oth ers crash-landed back ar Catania due to com bar damage, and a fo urrh , pilored by OberIeutnanr Theodor Hage n, jusr reached Sicil y before makin g an emerge ncy landi ng on rh e beach of Pozza llo. In add iri o n, rh e CesclJluaderwas to lose rwo more Ju 88s befo re rh e day was our, wrirren offon rhegro und when an Italia n aircraFt coll ided wirh them. FOfly-e ighr hours larer, III. Crllppe reporred anoth er crew miss in g when Leutnant H orsr Dunkel was forced to ditch ' LI+ER ' after being attacked by Hurrican es dur in g a raid o n Malta's H:t1 Far airfield. T he nex t day, 19 Jan uary, the Cesch/IJader rurn ed its ~me ntion back to 1111IS17-iolls. Although rhe isla nd 's defences cla imed eight of the 30 atrac kin g Junkers destroyed , on ly noVo mac hines - borh from 8. StaffiL, one being rhat of rhe Srajfolkapitiil1, Hauptmann W il helm DLirbeck - fa iled to retu rn. DLi rbeck's ' LJ +AS' is listed by one source as having fa llen victim to a Hurrica ne, but Feld webel Herbert Isachsen, the pi lot of the aircraFt fo ll owing him down in the di ve on the carrier, described aFter his rerurn to Cma n ia how he saw rhe Staffetkapitiin '-Illachin e h it by Rak and brea k aparr in the air. A rhird Ju 88 chased out to sea with an engin e on fl l'e by a lurri ca ne was alm ost certa inl y the aircrafr of Ill. Crt/ppe's Sttlbskette that was desrroyed when it too fo rced-landed nea r PozaJlo. T h is strerch along the sourheastern coast of Sicily, the nearesr piece of Fricndly terri tory fo r any badly daillaged Illachinc srruggli ng to nuke it back frolll Malta, was soon to ;lcqui re a "epuration as sOlllcthing of an ail-crafr graveya rd! Bad wearher ove r Sicil y 0 11 20 Janu ary kepr rhe resident LuFtwaFfe . . . . . units' •ICti V l ll CS to a mlnl lllUIll dur ing the day, but d id not preven t Ma lta 's Well ingto ns frolll aga in

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bo mbin g Ca ta n ia afte r d a rkn ess had fa ll e n . Th e nex t eve nin g. th e refo re,

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t he J u 88s mad e the shorr hop ac ross

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mai nl a nd . in ord e r [0 esca pe furt her arrack . These overn ight deploym e nrs [0 Reggio wo uld become a regul a r fea rure in the weeks ahead. By 23 J an ua ry IlLustriollS had Here, the pilot of Ju 88A-5 'Wh ite N ' (from either 4. or 7 ./LG 1) has managed to pull off a successful belly landing back on Sicily after being attacked by RAF fighters over M alta - note the chewed-up fin an d rudder .

bee n su fficienriy patched up

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all ow it to slip und etected o ut of Ma lta.

W he n a reco nn a issance m ac hin e repo n ed th e vessel' s abse nce, II I.1LG I despa rc hed I I Jun kers

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find it. H eavy cloud a nd freque nr ra in squ a lls

o ut to sea ha mpe red th ei r effo rts. Eight a irc raft retu rn ed

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a n ho ur's fru iri ess se3 rch, hav in g ex peri e nced strong inte rfe re nce w ith th e ir r3d io a nd nav ig3 riona l equ ipm e nt. Bur rhree Ju 88s of8. Staffil. led by Le u tn anr H e rm a nn Bo h mer, re main ed un acco unted fo r. It bre r tra nspired rh3t all rh ree had ru n o ur oHue l in thi c k cl o ud

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so ut h of I ta ly. Altho ugh un sure of rh e ir posit io n , Bo h me r had g ive n th e o rde r [0 ba il o ut. Of th e 12 c rew m e n , o nl y Feldwebe ll sac hsen - th e pi lot \\l ho had w itn essed rh e d e mi se of hi s StaJJakapitiill ove r G ra nd H a rbo ur four d ays ear li e r - ca me d ow n on land a nd survived

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te ll rh e ta le. Five

bod ies were subsequ e ntl y was hed as ho re alo ng the coas t of so uth ern Ita ly, a nd a sixt h was fou nd weeks later o n a beach in Albania, 150 mi les away.

IlLustriollS and its four attendant destroye rs were sighted tw ice by reco nn aissance a irc raft on 24 Ja nu ary, a nd 3 1Ju 88s of II . and III .l LG I were ordered off from Catan ia. It is not certai n w heth e r the bombe rs found the ca rrier on this occasion, let a lone arracked it, but 9 . Staffi/di d, so m ew hat in ex pli ca bly, reporr damaging twO cru isers. Runnin g low o n . . . but not everyone was so lucky . In this fortunately rather blurred print, a crewman lies dead among the blazing wreckage of h is unidentified Ju 88 'somewhere on M alta'

fue i. so me bombers put down at Benina, in Libya, where th ey stayed overn ight. Ot hers se t co urse for the lo ng, two- ho ur hau l back to Sici ly; 'T he a utomar ic fli g ht co nr ro l sys te m was sw itched back o n an d the pil ot [Ook hi s feet off th e peda ls. As a lways durin g th e ho m eward fli g ht , th e te nsio n eased. We c ha rred , su ked swee ts a nd choco lare. o r st uffed b iscuirs im o each orhers' mouth s.' Two Junk e rs we re dama ged in c ras h bndin gs upo n rh eir re turn

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Cata n ia. So m e a ircraft ofLG I we re c1 e:u ly also in actio n ove r M a lta o n thi s sa m e 24 Ja nu 3ry, w ith 4. SlItjfel re port in g

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mi ss in g afte r 3n attack o n H a l Fa r 3irfl eld. ' L1 + H M ' was d ow ned by rhe meteoro logica l G ladiato r rhar ir cha nced upo n whi le approac hin g the

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un wisely, fired at in passing, for the bipl ane prom prly forsook irs weat her duties and chased rheJu 88 down in to the dive and [h e n o u t to

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sea 'ya pp in g at its heels li ke a re rri e r.'

The fo ll owing day IllustriollS reac hed Alexandri a. ~ro m [h e re rh e vesse l wou ld make irs way, via rh e Suez Ca nal, £0 [h e eas r coast of Ame ri ca, where ir was

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und ergo ma jor repairs. Althou gh rhese wo uld

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kee p rh e ca rri e r o ur of rh e war for a full yea r, rh e bombers of X Fliegerkorps had rhus fa il ed £0 acco mplish rh e firsr ras k rh ey had bee n g ive n in rhe Medirerra nean - nam ely, £0 se nd rhe 23, OOO-£On ca rri er £0 rhe bo[[om. Bur rh ere were pl <: nry of orhe r o bjec rives [0 kee p rhe J u 88s occupi ed In rh eir new rhea tre o f operar ions, nor leas r rh e island of Malra irself,

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whi h sa r foursqu are a~rr id e rh e direc r sea roure berwee n Iral y a nd Tripo li , rh e sea port ca piral of Libya. Th e isla nd forrress was righrl y d esc ribed ar th e rim e as an ' un sink able a irc ra fr ca rri er o n Mu sso lini 's d oo rsrep '. Irs neutrali sa tion a~ a n air and sea base was rh erefore a ma[[e r of prime importan ce if rh e lin es of suppl y were £0

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Ax is troops in North Africa

be kepr o pe n. And J u 88 crews wou ld find th emse lves rerurn ing

it rime and time again in (h e weeks a nd monrh s ro co m e. No r wa" ir just th e bombers rhar had

watch need ed

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brave Malta 's d efe nces. A close

be kepr on All ied shi ppin g movcm enrs and or her

X Fliegerkorps'sole lon g- ran ge reco nn ai ssa nce Stnffel. 1.(F)1 12 1, whi ch were

acr iviri es o n and arou nd the island. And ve ry soo n rh e Ju 88s of

based a longsid e LC I ar Ca tania , were also di scover ing jusr how d a ngero us th e sk ies above Ma lra could be. One of rhe unir 's earliest casua lti es was Le umanr H e lmut Fund 's '7 A+ DH ', reporred mi ss in g on 26 Jan uary after co min g und e r arrac k from

(WO

of rh e isla nd 's Hurri ca nes.

Durin g rh e clos in g week of Janu ary :lIld th e firsr half of Febru ary 194 1 The white bird emblem (variously described as a swan or a wild goosel visible on the nose of this early reconnaissance Ju 880 identifies it as a machine of 1.(Fl/121 . This is corroborated by the fuselage code, ' 7A+GH', although the total lack of white theatre markings may indicate th at this photograph was t aken prior to , or during X . Ffiegerkorps' move from Norway t o Sicily

rh e rwo G'ruppen of I.e I co nrinued

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a[[ack Malra. They usuall y rim ed

th e ir ra ids ro com e in around dusk, o r larc r, in order

minimi se rhe risk

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from enemy fi g h re I's. Th ey non ethel ess had s ix J u 88s eirh e r d amaged or wri[[cn -off du rin g rhi ~ pe ri od , m o~ r of rh em in c rash-landin gs ar Cara ni a. It was ar rhis junc ture roo th a r LG l 's Ju 88s bega n

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ve nrure furrh er

a fi e ld. Ar dawn on 9 Febru a ry unirs of Force ' H ' (rh e Roya l Navy's \X/es rern M edire rranean Fleer) co mpris in g rh e a irc rafr carri er Ark ROJ,a!' rh e ba[[lcship Malaya a nd ban lecrui se r Renowl/, accompanied by rh e cru ise r Sheffield and rcn d es troye rs, ca rri ed o ur a surpri se air a nd sea bo mba rdmenr of (h e I ta lian po rts of Genoa, Spez ia and Legho rn . Althou g h so me 4 0 of LG I 's bombe rs had bee n over Ma lt3 o nl y ho urs ea rlier , 2 1 m:J chin cs, led by H auptmann Cerhard Ko ll ewc, the

Crl.lppmkomrnflndeur of II.1LG \ , were ordered to find Jnd a[[ack rhe Bri ti sh vesse ls as th ey headed back [Q

G ibra lra r. Th ey were re ported

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th e coasr of so urh e rn France. But once aga in rh e weathe r inte rve ned. H eavy clouds prevented Koll ewe's c rews from s ig h rin g th e e ne my, a nd all rh ey go r for th e i r pa ins were so me II1 Jcc urare

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nervous Italian anri -airc raft gunn ers as th ey passed close to the island of Sardini a, a nd 3n escort of suspi cio us Regia Aerol/alltim fi g hte rs, wh ich shadowed them until rh ey we re sa fe ly o ur of ran ge. This fo ray to the no rt hern reaches of t he M edi te rra nea n was so me thin g of 3 one-off, howeve r. Dur in g rh e 13ne r half of Febru3ry t he m ai n fOcus of military acti vity in th e are3 - 3nd t herefo re o f LG I 's o pe r3tio ns - was to shift so uth wa rd s to the shores of Afri ca . T here, Briti sh fo rces had ca ptured Be ng haz i from the I t31 i3ns on G February a nd ad v3 nced towards EI Agheil a, o n rh e G ulf of Sine. Tripoli itself wo uld soo n be comi ng under threa t. Bur on I I Febr uary the first ships ca rry in g troops o f the Afi'ika KO/psdocked ill th e Lib ya n c3 p ira l. O n th3t sa m e (bte airc raft oFLG I we re d es patc hed 0 11 an arm ed reco nn a issa nce swee p a lo ng rhe

orth Afri ca n coas t. T hey fl ew cas t as fa r as M e rsa Marruh , in Egy pt,

but fa iled to spot a ny shippin g. On the fo ll owi ng d ay , wh ich was ma rked by General Ro mm el's a rrival in Afri ca, 18 Ju 88s of II. a nd II I.ILG I attacked Bri tish troops a nd e ncam pments alo ng th e coasta l hi g hway be rwce n Bengh az i 3nd 1::1Agheib. T hcy suffe red a sin gle loss w hcn G. StajJel's ' L1 +1P' was dow ned by :lI1ti -a ircrah: fire so urh wes t of Soluch. Alrhough th e pi lot a nd air-gunn e r survived th e c rash-la ndin g, th e lan e r W3S kill ed by a ma raudin g band of a rm ed Arabs two ni ghts bte r as rh e pair tried to reach rhe Ita lia n lines. Eve n as the 18 J u 88s we re sea rchin g for rargets 310ng Lib ya's Via Ba lb ia, a noth er six were esco rrin g a troop co nvoy ac ross th e Mediterra ne3n , a nd three more were raid ing Ma lta. This d ivisio n of labou r was ind icative of LG I " pri o ri ti es in th e imm ed iate weeks ahead. Ma lta wo u ld be tempOl'ar il y re lega ted to thi rd pbce whil e the Ceschwader's Ju 88s first co nce ntrated th eir efforts on sheph e rdin g convoys to Libya in order to bui ld up rhe stre ngth of rh e Afrika KO/ps, a nd th en in supporting Rommel 's rroops in th e field ,

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rathe r rh e d ese rt, a, th ey set o ut to push British and

Co mmon wea lth forces back from whe nce th ey ca me - to th e Egy ptian bo rd er and beyo nd.

ATTACKING BENGHAZI Th e firsr major targer of the

orrh Afri ca n ca mpaign for LG I was th e port

of Be nghaz i. Captured by th e British JUSt a wee k ea rlie r, th e e ne m y we re alread y usin g it to brin g in suppli es a nd reinforce ments to strengthe n th e ir positions a ro und EI Aghe ila. Th e Ceschwac/er's Ju 88s took off from Ca ta ni a to bo mb the harbo ur o n a regul a r, a lmost d ail y basis. During o ne such raid b y \ 5 machi nes of I \ I.

Cruppe ea rly o n th e morning of 15 February, fl a k damaged one of rh e arrac ke rs. Fb th e r than ancmpring to m ake ir back ro Sic il y o n jusr one e ngin e, th e pi lot d ec id ed in sread 1'0 cras h-land in th e d ese rt o u rsid e Tripo li . It was a lucky esctpe for future Swo rds win ner Oberleurn anr H erma nn H ogebac k. Anorh e r c rew we re no t so fortun a re. Inrerce pred an d c hased our to sea 12

by a Hurri ca ne, 7 . StajJel's' L1 +LR'

Tu cked in close togeth er, a pair of 6./lG 1 machines - 'll +OP' in t he foreground and ' ll+CP' to the rear climb hard aw ay from Sicily as they set out on another mission

was Forced ro ditch. All Four crewmen were picked up by a British vessel after spending more than eight hours in their din ghy, bur one subsequentl y di ed oF his wo unds in a Benghazi hospital. Des pire losses such as these, not everyone was impressed by rhe strength of Benghazi's defences. Afte r anoth er ea rl y morning raid two days later, one Cesc/u/I{/dl'r member noted somewhat facet iously in his logbook. 'The 'Tomm ies" have been out shopp ing and bought themselves th ree sea rchlights' . On 18 February, durin g a ra id on a sma ll convoy rhat had just put in to Benghazi harbour, the crews or II I.ILG I repo rted the prese nce then: of rwo Brit ish crui se rs. In Fact, the shi ps were rhe anti-aircraft crui ser Calle/wy and the 7 200-ron moniror Terror. T he lane I', a shall ow-dra ught vessel mounting twO enormous hi gh-a ngled 15- in ch guns and eight small er 4-in ch weapon" had kept pace with the adva nce oFGen Wavel l's troops along th e coast road out of Egypt, harass ing the retrea tin g Italians all th e way wirh a succession of devastatin g inshore bo mbardm ent, . Hav ing helped ro dri ve Italian fo rces back over rh e Egy ptian bord er, Terro r's guns had rhen cut off th eir lin e of withdrawa l by blasting away a I SO-ya rd stretch of th e esca rpm enr leadin g up ro rh e in famo us l-lalFaya Pass (inevitably ' H ellfire Pass' ra the Brirish), wh ich was rhe onl y majo r route up on ra the Libya n platea u. Thev nex t po ured nearly 600 ram of high-ex pl osive shells in ro Bardi a, the firsr Ita li an srro nghold jusr 12 miles im id e Libya. beFore addin g th eir we ight to rh e nava l bOlllbardlll enl ur Tobl'Llk . a furth er 7 5 miles along th e coast. M indful of th e havoc lerror co uld wreak on th e Afrik{/ Korps as Rommel 's troops prepared ro laun ch rh eir push back along rh e coa,ral highway ra regain rhe terrirary lost in the recent Itali an retreat, rhe o rd er was give n ro sink the elderly moni rar. Th us, on rh e aFte rn oon of I ') Feb ru ary, whi le the bulk or lll. / LG I was attacking a convoy so me 30 mi b off Bcnghazi, five Ju 88s we rc dcsparched to di ve-bomb T(:,.,.or, , till berr hed in Benghazi harbour. ereeted by a Feraciou barrage of ;Inri-aircraft tire, and harried by a single Hurrica ne, none of rh e J u 88s succeeded in hining the vessel. They ca me clo!>er durin g a mornin g raid three days later, however, when rwo near misses caused considerable damage ro l error's hull plares. The mo nitor bega n ro rake on wa rer, and when rhe vessel was !>ub jected ro ye t another arrac k th at same evening, rh is rim e by mac hin es of II. Cruppe, it was clecicleclth at Benghazi was becoming roo hor Fo r [he wars hip, and th ar it should retire east alo ng th e coast out of harm 's wa y. Bur just uncleI' 24 hours later, ar 1822 hI'S on 23 February, Terror was caughr off Dern a by tWO Ju 88s of 1ll .lLG I engaged o n an anri-shipping sweep. T wo bombs ex ploded in the wa ter close alongside level with her bridge. Her hull split open, ir rook on a heavy list and slowly sa nk beneath th e waves. The Wo rlcl Wa r I mall iro r wou lcln or be the last wars hip of rhe Roya l Navy to fa ll vicri m to J u 88s in the Mediterranean. Indeed , jusr 24 hours were ro pass beFo re rh e nex r one fo ll owed it to rh e borro m. T he sinking of Terror had removed at leasr o ne rhreat ro rhe Aji-ik{/ Korps as ir began irs dri ve easr.vards. Rommel's rroo p~ had initiall y encountered Brirish Forces nea r EI Aghei la on 20 Feb ru ary, and rhe first armed clash berween the rwo sides occurred Four days larer. j: or rhe nex t Few weeks theJ u 88s ofLG I wo uld d ivide rh eir rime betwee n shepherding

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co n voys across the Med iterranea n in o rd e r ro ensure a sready fl ow of suppli es ro the troops in

o nh Afri ca, a nd in prov idin g di recr suppo rt to

those troo ps as rhey began ro push the British bac k rowa rds Egypt.

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FIRST ATTACI{ ON TOBRUI{ In th e ea rl y ho urs of23 Februa ry, three m ac hin es of l l.lLC 1 had litted o fffro m Ca rani a ro ca rry o ut the ir fi rs t bo m bi ng raid o n To bruk. Situ a ted less th a n 9 0 mil es fro m th e Egypti a n fro nti er, th is sm a ll ha rbo ur row n had bee n ca ptured by British forces a mo nrh ea rli er, a nd its d efe nces had sin ce bee n signifi ca ntl y stre ngthe ned . T hey ce naini:- co nsisted o f m o re tha n the ' t hree sea rchlig hts' prev io usly arrri huted

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Be nghaz i, a nd t he trio o f

J u 88s we re lu c ky ro esca pe u nsca rh ed fro m th e rece pti o n th ey we re g ive n. T he fo ll ow in g eve nin g, a la rge r fo rce of 14 bo mbe rs a lso head ed tor T o bruk ro atrack shippi ng repo n ed ro be in the ha rbo ur rhere. \Xlhe n rh e~' a rri ved over th e ta rge t a rea sho rtly befo re 1900 hrs. rhe J u 88s spo rred rwo Royal Navy d esr roye rs jusr purrin g o ut ro sea . Seve ra l of lhe crews o pl ed ro d ive o n rhe wa rs hi ps rarh er rha n o n the m erc h:lIlrm e n be rth ed in th e harbo ur. One bomb pi e rced t he sid e ofH M S Dfl ill ty3 nd pe netrared d ee p inro irs o il bun ke rs be fo re ex p lo din g. Th e 137 5- ro n d estroye r was qui ckly e ng ul fe d in fl a mes a nd soo n we Il[ d ow n . O n 25 Febru ary the J u 88s of 7.1 KC 30 flew in ro Ce rb ini - a no th er fi eld o n rhe Cat3 ni a n plain so uth of Mo u nr Etna . T hi s Stflffel wa, led by Obericu t na nr H ajo H e rrm a nn who, a lth o ugh now better kn ow n as

M any of LG 1 's ea rly Mediterranean missions were flown in pennypacket numbers, but not always in such neat arrowhead formation as displayed here - especially if RAF or FAA fighters were about!

th e or ig inatol' o f the Wi/elf' Sfl lI n ightfl g h te r force la te r e mpl oyed in the d efe nce of lh e Re ic h, had hee n a hi g h ly successfu l bombe r p il or durin g th e ea rl y wa r yea rs. H e was already wea rin g th e K.ni gh t's Cross by th e rim e of hi s a rri va l o n Sic il y. T he rest of III .lKC 30 was sc hedu led ro fo ll ow 7 . Stflfff:! dow n fro m H o lland so me fi ve d avs la ter. ntil it di d so, H errm a nn 's unir was ro be subo rdin ated

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the Stfib of LG I . LilLi e lime was losr in callin g upo n th e ir

se rvices. Th e grou nd crews, who had acco mpani ed lh e: Stfljjd ro Sicil y abo ard

twO

J u 52/3 m rra nsports, had sca rce ly had tim e ro wash the blac k

d iste mper off th e und ersid es of th e bo mbers (3 legacy o f th e ir rece nt pa rti cipati on in the n ig h t Blitz ove r Bri ra in ) w hen O be rst Fried rich- Ka rl Knusr, the Geschwflelerkommodore of LG I , was o n the lin e ro H ajo H errm ann . X. Fliegerkorps had o rdered rhat a majo r ra id be mo uIl[ed aga inst Ma lt3 the fo llow ing d ay, a nd eve lY availabl e bomber was ro ta ke pa rt - Ju 87s, H e III sa ildthe Ju 88s o fll. a nd III.ILG 1 a nd 7.1 KG 30. Th e actack of 26 Feb ruary 194 1 was o ne of the heav iest ra ids Ma lta had

ex peri e nced

to

d a te.

And

altho ug h tht: i, la nll', a illli -a irc rafr g unn e rs we re c red ited w ith a Ju 88 sh o t d ow n into th e sea, a nd a Hurri ca ne pil ot cla im ed a no th e r as a pro bable, ir a p pea rs rhar no ne we re in fact lost. T he Ju 88s wo uld co ntinu e ro mo unr sm all er-scale 14

ra ids

0 11

M alta, a nd th ey wo u ld

The next Ju 88 bomber unit to join LG 1 on Sicily was 7./KG 30 . This is '4D+DR', one of the Staffers A -5s, pictured at Gerbini taking a breather between operations, with Mount Etna aga in providing the backdrop

suffer losses in rh e process. In another atrack on Luqa exactl y a week later, for examp le. o ne of 4.1LG I's mach in es f:1 il ed [0 return . H oweve r, for most crews th e end of February and the beginnin g of Ma rch mea nr a res umpti on of their routine co nvoy esco rt duties, interspersed with missio ns in supporT of Romm el's troops in Libya. On 28 February aircraFt of III.ILG I bo mbed T obruk. Alth ough RAF fi ghte rs rose [0 intercept them, all rh e Ju 88s return ed saFely ro Sicil y. Meanwhi le, 7.1 KG 30 had been des patched again sr a small Fo rm ati on of enemy ships reported [0 be head in g wes twards along the Afri ca n coas t. Afrer searching in va in for the vessels in poor visib il ity, Hajo H errmann and his crews subseq uentl y put dow n at Tr ipo li to refuel, before rh ey too headed back to Sicil y. O ne mac hin e rhar detoured to arry out a reconna issa nce of Benghaz.i en rOllte fai led to make it. Emerging from low cloud over th e harbo ur area, Unreroffiz.ier Perer Mi.ill er's '4 D +H R' fe ll victim (Q an RAAF Hurri ca ne. T hat same evening the Kni ght's C ross-wearing Majo r Arved C ri.i ge r, CruppenRommflflcleur of 111./ KG .10 , land ed in SiciIy wi rh hi s 8. and 9 . Stllffi1fl. Fo r Illuch o f rhe (irst lu lf of Marc h 194 1, rhe aircraft of LG I co nrin unl wirh nurilim e parro l and convoy esco n acrivili es. Th ey also Ill o unted several harass ing atracks o n Malt;! , both by day and by night. 13 March was typ ica l. W hile III. Cmppe spen r mo,r of rh ar day sheph erdin g ye r more suppl y co nvoy, across rhe Med iterranea n, II.ILG I d ivided iIS stren gr h by despa t hi ng mac h i nes on two sepa rate bom bi ng r:t id , borh in th e ear ly hours of the mo rnin g. One group targe red Medta's G rand H arb our, whil e th e orher srru ck :t t 1:1 Ade m airfi eld in the dese rt sourh ofTob ruk . ow occupi ed by the Brir ish, EI Ade m had been th e largest Irali an airbase in Libya . As rh ey left rh e targe r area crews repo n ed seein g hanga rs and park ed airc rafi: burnin g fi ercely, alrhough man y o f rh e lan er may have been unservi ceabl e mac hin es abandoned and left scam:red abo ut the field by the fl eein g Ita li ans. 'fh e J u 88s d id nor rerurn imm ediately to Sicil y, bur fl ew insread ro an airfield near Tripoli where they we re refu elled :tnd bombed up again . Then rhey headed back ro Tobr uk, attac kin g rroop pos itions nea r the tow n, before fin all y headin g northwest for Catania and home, whi ch they reac hed shordy before midday - an II -hour shuttle mission ca rried our without loss. By rh e end of March th e Germ an :td va nce along rh e Afri ca n co:tsr was ga in ing mom entum. In the Face of in ex pli ca bly weak resistance, what h:td initiall y bee n laun ched as a reconn aissa nce in Force soo n developed into :I fu ll -blow n oFfensive. Rommel's superiors in Berlin and Ro me rri ed to rein him in , bur rh e ge nera l was having none of ir. H e urged his troops on. They wou ld rerake Agedabia on 2 April and enter Benghazi just rwo days after that. Now he had his sights ser on To bruk . He was bein g ably supported throughour by rh e J u 87 Stubs of FliegerfiihrerAfrikfl. Bur rh e Sicili an-based Ju 88s were co nspicllo us by rh eir absence. T he main focus of theira rrention s had ab ruptl y sw itched to th e eastern Medi ter ranean. Just as their initial rransfe r From the C hann el front to Sicil y had been brought about by Musso lini 's ill -judged declararion of war against the Alli e in June 1940, so rh e Ju 88s' latesr chan ge of di rectio n, away from North Afri ca and towa rds rh e eastern end of rh e Med iterranea n, was :tlso the res ult of another botched offensive by the Iralian Dllce.

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MARITJlTO MERKUR nlike H irlcr's rerritorial acqu i, iti ons in rhe period prior to \'(Io rld War 2 - th e annexat ion of Austria and the occupat ion of Czechos lova ki a spring iIllmediately to III ind - M usso lini ' s ar lll ed sea born c invasio n of Albania at daw n o n 7 April 1939, is 110 W all but forgortcn. Eighteen monrhs late r, having bui lr up his forces on th e far side of th e Adriaric, Mussolini laun ched an arrack on Greece. Expecring an easy vicrory, the Duce had neglected to tell H itler of hi s plans. And like so man y Itali an fora ys, this one qu ickly I'a n inro troub le. Th e embatri ed Greeks accep ted Britain '5 offe r of ass ista nce and the in vaders were not simply stopped in th eir tracks, but chased back into Albania. Havi ng dri ve n rhe British Arm y ou r of northwes t co nr inenral Europe in the ea rl y summ er of 1940, the nihrerd id not no w wa nt hi, enemv - in th e ea rl y sp rin g of 194 1 - settin g fi rm foot in rhe so uth easrern reaches of hi s dom ain. He rherefore ordered meas ures to be take n to di,rupr the fl ow of All ied shipping tra nspo rrin g men and materials from Egypt to rheir forward base ar Souda Bay, on rhe island of rete, and th ence o nwards to southern C reece. Ir is more th an a little ironi c thar whi le the Axis we re pouring suppli es so uthwards across the Mediterran ean to bui ld up th eir forces in No rth Africa, th e British were despatching convoys northwards every three days in suppOrt of the G reeks. It was this furth er wea kening of Gen \'(Ia vell's ove rstretched and overburdened Desert Army that was all owing rhe Afi"ika KOlps to make such signifl ca nr ga ins in its adva nce thro ugh Libya. LG I's Sicilian -based CmppclI were heavil y in vo lved In this rvvo-way traffle. W h il e III.ILC I co nrinued to devo te much of its tim e to escortin g Romm el's supply co nvoys, II.ILG I was given the job of inrerruptin g the fl ow of Allied shi ppin g berwee n Egypt an d C rete.

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The Ba lka ns camp a ign resulted in LG 1 s witc hing its atte ntio n s fr om Ma lta to the eastern Medite rra n ea n . This wa s to become its main area of opera tion s for ve ry nea rly th e next three years

On 18 March 194 I, 17 of th e Cn/ppe's J u 88s we re se nt ofr on an arm ed reco nnai ssan ce of the sea areas around C rete. H av in g been give n strict instru cti ons not ro violate Greek airspace, th e crews fai led ro spot any enemy vessels. After putting down on th e I ta lian island of Rhocl es ro refu el, they return ecl ro Ca tania wit h noth in g to reporr. It was to be a different srory three days later, however, when a small formation of Ju 885 led by Hauptma nn Joachim Helbig (the Kapitiin of 4 .Staffib sighted a co nvoy of merchanr vessels, escorted by ca pi tal ships of the Roya l Navy - includin g th e aircraft carri er Formitiable and cruiser B Oil UeJl lII re off th e Kith era C hann el betwee ll C rete and G reece. Helbig ca lled up th e rest of II. Crt/ppe, whi ch wa, ready and waiting ar Ca tania. In a late afte rn oon attack north of C rete, th e bombers claim ed two of th e fo ur merchant men sunk and a third seve rely damaged. Bur it wo ul d appea r that no ne of th e ships actu all y weill dow n. Th e ' la rge tanke r' credited to GruppenkOr1l11lillltielll' H auptmann Ge rh ard Ko llewe was, in all probability, the 827 1-ron Danish tanker A/III·ir A1tlrrsk, whi ch alth ough badl y damaged and on fire, managed to reach C reece - onl y ro he bombed and sunk in Pirae us harhour on 12 April. This operation of2 1 March res ulted in LG I __ first co mbat loss of th e month when one of the machin e, that had initiall y , ighted rh e co nvoy sho rd y after midda y was engaged by a Fulll1 ar fro m Form idfl ble. In tryi ng 10 esca pe from th e f1 ghtcr, 5. StrtjJeI:<'L I +D ' ve ntured roo clo,e to rhe ships and was brought down by na val aIII i-aircraft fire, Further anti-shipping strikes were Hown over th e nex t few day'. On 22 Ma rch IWO vessels we re hit offCa vdo bla nd to th e so uth of C rete, one of whi ch - rh e 8070-ton No rwegian tanke r Solheim - W ;IS bo mbed again and se nl to th e bottom by II.ILC I 24 hours later. Eleven aircraft of II . Cmppe Fa il ed to locare seve ral cruise rs so uth wesl of C rete on 24 larch, but an arrack o n a co nvoy in th e sa lll e area th e fo ll owin g day res ulted in a clai m by a member of LC I" Ce,'c!}//lflc!erstr,b for one merchantman sun k; ' My three SC bombs hi t rh e water d ire dy :1 longsidc th e largest fre ighter in the co nvoy. A~ I wir hdrew, th e shi p ex ploded in a cloud of white smoke. I land ed back at Ca tania at 1850 hI'S. Sho lTl y afterwards I was credited in writin g with rh esin kin gofan 8000-tonn er.' Des pite this, th e vessel in qu estio n, th e 699 2-lOn Ball/rbistall, survived the three nca r misses - and for anoth er 11 month, afte r th at, until fin all y f:1 l1ing viCtim [0 a U-boat off th e coas t of West Africa in Ma rch 1942. Irri ta rcd by th e (~1 t thar Luftwa ffe bo mbers we re shoulderin g Ih e Cu ll burden of th e eastern Mediterranean anti-co nvoy operat ions, Hid er pressurised Mussoli ni [0 add his weight, insistin g that 't he Itali ans illUSt fi t fenst do so methin g [0 prevent Brirish supp li es from rea ching G reece'. Rome decid ed that the honour should ra il to the Italian navy. O n th e evenin g of 26 March a lXH tl cs hip , fi ve cru isers and ten destl'oyers sa il ed from ports in so uthern Italy to ca rry out a sweep to th e ,o utheas t of C rere. Bur instead of illlercc pting their inrencied target - a con voy bound for Piraeus - th e Iralians we re mer by un its of rh e main Sritish Heet. T his was a far super ior force including three ban leships and th e ca rri er Forlllidflb/e. The ens uin g Barri e of Cape Marapa n - an engage ment described by th e Allies ar rh e time as ' th e 111 0>1 mom enrous naval vicro ry since T rafa lga r' ended disast rously for the Italians. Lacking th e benefit of radar, th eir ships suffered heavy losses dur ing th e n ight of 28/2 9 March. The battl es hip

Three unid entified crewmen pose somewhat se lf-conscious ly in front of the shipp ing scoreboard painted on the tailfin of the ir Ju 88. The indivi dua l i n the centre does, however . . . .. manage to summon up a broad smile for the officia l war photograp her, whose shot was later used on t he front co v er of the Berliner lIIustrierte Zeitung of 15 May 194 1. He is pointing proudly to a hit scored on a '35 ,OOO·ton' warship on 24 M arch, which ties in neat ly with III. / KG 30 's claim s for hits on a 'b att les hip and a patrol boat' north of Bengh az i on that date. But what of that top si lh ouette recording a hit on a ca rrier (almost certa inly HMS Formidable) dated 29 M arch . ..

17

Cl

~ I-

a: w l-

e...

<{

::r:: u

. . . which also features prominently o n the tail of th is mach ine? This oft-see n photo , show ing a fourth m erchantman sunk being added to the crew's overall score, has in the past been att ributed to LG 1 . ..

18

Vittorio Veneto was damaged, and three heavy Cl'lllser;, and two destroyers were sunk. After first sighting and reportin g the lightly defe nded ren-ship convoy that the Italians had hoped to ann ihi late (but whi ch esca ped detection by reversing course und er cover of darkn ess), th e J u 88s of LG I had played little Further direcr parr in the Barr ie of Cape Matapan. T hey we re, however, charged wirh prorecrin g rhe surviving Italian warships throu ghout the daylight hours of 24 March as rhey made th cir way back to rh eir ho mc POrts. Thi;, cosr rhem onc of th eir l1umber, so me sources sugges tin g that 6 . Staffel's ' LI +E P' wa~ de;, p:nchcd by a Fulmar over rhe G ul Fo(Ta ranro. However, seve ral e rcw~ repo n ed seein g a Ju 88 shot dow n by Ihl< from o ne of rhe I ralian vessels rhat it was supposed to be esco ning. In rh e wake of Marapan , with II I.1LG 1 sri ll prim arily emp loyed in the essenrial. bur gene rally uncvclHful. shepherdin g of ;,eabo l'll e ;,uppli es to No rth Africa, II. Gmppe re!. um ed irs campaign aga inst th e co nvoys plyin g between Egypt and Creece. On 2 April, eight machine;, led by H auprman n Joachim Helbig cli"covered rwo empry convoys :,o uthbound offGardo Island on their way back to Egypt. Two ships were sunk , o ne of rhem the 5324-to n freightCf HOlllefie/d, and a rhird wa;, damaged. Ar abo ur the same rime, a formarion of Ju 88, headed by GmjJjJmkommandellr Ce rhMd Kollewe found anotber convoy, rhi, one fully lade n, head ing no nh IOwa I'd!. G reece. The 6054-ron merchantman f)el1iswas h ir, but was abi<: to cOIH i n ue o n to Pirae us, o nl y to ;,u fFe I' Further damage rhere durin g a bombing raid on 6 April. Before the co nvoy reached rhe illuso ry safery of the Greek POf(, howeve r, it would be subjected ro a second allack by H auprmann Ko ll ewe and his crews. This was deli ve red so me 24 hours larel', at abour 1900 hrs on 3 Apr il , whe n rhe vesse ls we re in rhe Antikirh era C hanne l nort hwest ofCretc. Alrho ugh rhe co nvoy's esco n had bee n strength ened in the: mean time by rh e add iti on of rhe anti -aircraFt cru ise r Calclltta, this d id nor prevent th e Ju 88s Fro m hi ll ing th c Nort/J('m Prince with fo ur bo mbs - two of the III d irecr hi ts ami dshi ps. It im illediarely ca ughr (Ire and bega n giving off clo uds ot smoke. T cn minurcs later rhe vessel was rom apan by a huge cx plosio n, rhe towering smoke and Ram es being visib le 40 mil es away. Th e 10,9 17-ro n vesscl had been packed wirh mun itions and explosives. II.ILG 1's anti -convoy operatio ns from Cata nia ro the sea areas around and beyond Crete ofren enta il ed Rights lasring anythin g up ro six hours. Yer despite all their efforts - and successes such a~ the sinking of rh e Nort/;em Prillce - supp lies were still gerring through to G reece on a regular bas is, and rh e posirion of the Italian forces in Albania was wo rsenin g daily. And ir was his all y's plight, co mbined with instabi lity in Yugoslav ia, where a pro-Axis gove rnment had JUSt been toppled by a popubr uprisin g, which prom pred Hider ro rake further anion. \Xiirh hi s

pla nn ed invas ion o f th e USS R on ly wee ks away, he co uld not a fford to have th e Balkans in turmoil to th e rea r of hi s ad va nce into Russ ia. Hitl er had long ago d ecided to occupy G reece should this beco m e necessary in o rde r to sec ure hi s positi o n in th e eas te rn Mediterran ea n.

ow he add ed Yugos lav ia

to hi s ta rge t list, d etermin ed to e radi ca te thi s un ex pecred thorn in hi s sid e befor e emba rkin g on th e m o re diffi c u lt task of subju ga tin g the Greeks a nd dr ivin g th e ir British alli es back in to th e sea . H itl e r's fury a t rhe Yu goslav peo p le for ove rt hrow in g th e rece ntl y installed Ax is- fri e nd ly gove rn m ent m ay be

· .. but another shot clearly identifies it as 7./KG 30' s '4D+MR '. It is obviously a different aircraft

gauged from th e wo rdi ng of hi s War Di rec t ive No 15, dared 27 Ma rc h

from that featured on the cover of the Berlin newspaper. But is it a replacement machine flown by the

as a nat io na l e nr ity' . Yugoslav ia, he we ill" o n to say, \Va, to be pu lve ri sed

same crew? Almost two months have passed since the earlier photographs were taken. The top silhouette superimposed on the tail swastika of 'MR' records a hit on a battleship scored on 23 M ay possibly HMS Barham retiring after bombarding Scarpanto - and th e life -jacket ed figure see n here looks suspiciously like th e individu al on t he left of the original trio . Definitely one for the historians to get their t eeth into!

194 1, in whi h he states t hat he wo u ld d es troy rh e co umr)' ' mil ita ril y a nd ' wit h m e rc iless bru ta lity in a li g htnin g o pe ratio n '. Th e re was a lread y a >ma ll Luftwaffe prese nce - main ly , in gle-e ng in ed tl ghte rs a nd tacti ca l reco nn aissa nce un its - stat io fll:d in Rum a ni a to th e no rth eas t of Yu gos lav ia. Bur mu ch more strikin g powe r wa required for rh e forthcomi ng ca mpai g n , a nd a rapid bu il d - up of Luftwaffe ,r re ng rh in rh e a rea was se t in mot io n. Foremost a mo ng th e bo m ber un its transferred to southeasr Eu ro pe we re th e three Gmppm of Maj o r H am Bruno Schul z- H ey n's Ju 88-equipped Kflmpfgeschwflder5 1 ' Edel we iss'. From th e ir field s so uth of Paris, th e units' 7 8 Junkers staged at low-level across France a nd Cerman y d ow n into Aust ri a ro take up res idence on rheir new bases aro un d V ie nn a - Stab, I. a nd II. Gmppen ar W ie ner Ne ustadr and III. / KG 5 1 at Schwechar. H ere, th ey formed th e larges t sin gle co mpon elll of LII/iflotte 4, the air

Although of dubious qu ality , this wartime cutting showing 8./KG 51 's ' 9K+DS ' getting clearan ce for t ake -off is sufficiently clear to illustrate the obvious difference between the white aft fuselage band of the Mediterranean theatre and the yellow markings lapplied here to the machine's engine nacelles and rudder) carried during the brief campaign in the Balkans. Note that the gefreiter in the foreground is waving a white fl ag with a green cross on it, signalling the pilot th at he is clear to take-off, while holding the red one Iwhich, when raised, instructed to crew to remain where they were) close to the ground beside his leg

19

o

S f-

a:: lJ.J

f-

a..

«

:r:

u

fl ee r charged wirh lhe major ac ri al offensive agai nsr Yugoslav ia fro lll rhe north. At abour the saille rime a si ngle Ju 88 Crupperhar had also bee n serv ing in France was attac hed (0 VIII. f-liegerkorp,-, rhe Luflwaffe's primary close-s uppo rt co mma nd , whose Sru kas a nd ground -a nack aircrafr we re ga rhering in Bu lga ri a in prepa rati o n for an assa ult o n Yugoslavia from rh e eas t. T his unir was I.ILC I , rhe o n Iv compon cnr of th e Le/Jlgesc/Jluflder rha l had co nrinued (0 o pe rare over Crear Brita in afrcr th e rransfer of Slr/b, II. and II I.1LC 1 ro Sicily in lare 194 0. But I. Cmppe had rem ained ar O rl ean s- Brie), fo r ba rely anot her monrh befo re being ordered back (0 Ge rm any, and fro m rhere - via Ausrri a and Rum ania - (0 Bulg;l ri a, where ir (Ouc hed down ar rlo vd iv-Krumovo in rhe seco nd wee k of March. Fin all y, almosr cl osing rh e rin g of sleel being drawn around Yugoslavia, II . and III.1LC 1 we re remporar il y moved forwa rd from Catani a (0 Crorragli e, on rhe heel of Ira I)" from where rhev would make rhe , han ho p across rh e Adr iaric to arrack Yugoslav ia from rhe so urh east. The other occupanrs of Carani a, Major An'ed C ri.i ge r's II I.1KG 30 , rema in ed on Sicily (0 cOlllinu e rheir swee ps of rhe eaS lern Med ire rra nea n sea lanes.

ACTION IN YUGOSLAVIA

20

Ir was rh e Austri an-based hombers of Luftflolte 4 (rhree of rh e seven Cmppm in vo lved being rhe Ju 88s of KG 'S I ) rhar were ro srrik e rhe flrsr blow againsr Yugos la via. H iLler's o rde rs (0 lh e air fl ee r were clear; 'As soo n as suffl cienr forces have bee n asse mbl ed and rh e wearh er permirs, rhe Yugoslavian air fo rce's g roun d o rgan isar io ns and Belgrad e are (0 be des rroyed by th e Luftwaffe in co nr inuous day and ni ght J.rr3c ks' .

An unidentified Ju 88A-5 of LG 1 I'BN ' or ' B5 ' 71 , purportedly photographed during II. and III. Gruppen 's two-d ay dep loyment to Grottaglie, in Ita ly (note the twin engined Regia Aeronautica Caproni Ca .310 in the background) . Th e bombers' short-lived involvement over Yugo slavia presumably did not warrant the application of yellow Balkan campaig n markings An other cutting from a wartime magazine, the original caption to this illu st ration describes it as 'The bombing of Fortress Belg rade ', adding that ' the smoke and fl ames were visible from a distance of 70 kilometres aw ay '

That ti me ca me at 0 '5 I 5 hI's o n 6 April 194 I when, with o ut a ny pri o r declaration of war, Luftflol1e 4 's bom bers srn.lck at Belgrade's gove rnm ental

quarre r and

every

-I

o

majo r Yugoslav airfi eld . From 10,500 Ft o ut o r a clo ud less blue sky, KG 5 1's Ju 88s unload ed th eir hi gh -explosive bombs and

in ce ndi ari es o n

th e

enem y ca p ital, ca usin g wid espread devas tat ion. During anothe r raid later

III

the

d ay,

H auptm ann

H einrich H ahn 's I. Cruppe came under fi e rce attack from Yugoslav fi gh ters and three of their machines Like every Blitzkrieg that preceded it, the assau lt on Yugoslavia opened with pre-emptive strikes on the enemy's airfields. Here, they were evidently successful, although just how great a threat to the invaders these particular machines - they appear to be Rogoza rski trainers might have posed is open to question

return ed ro base with barrle d a mage. At t he sa m e tim e, far ro the so uth , I.ILC I new three mi ss io ns to wid ely differin g large ts. T he first o f th ese ope rat io ns saw it arrac k in g d efe nce positions in th e mounta ins bo rd e rin g G reece. Late r th a t morni ng the Ju 885 stru c k at a n army H Q in Skop lje, before bo mbin g the m uni t io ns worh in Krusevac in mid -afternoo n. 10 a irc ra ft were lost. Meanw hil e, th e Itcdi a n-based el em en ts o f LG I had c rossed th e Adriari c to trike:\l a irfield ~ in ce ntral a nd so u thern Yugoslavia. Stab and III. Cruppe hir SJrajevo, whil e II .1 LC I head ed fo r Pod go rica. H aup tm ann N ietsch's II I.1LC I then und ertook a seco nd o perati o n, di viding their stre ngth to attack harrac k> at M osta r a nd the sea p la ne base a r Koror. II . and III. Crllppe each repo n ed a ircraft dam aged in cras h-landin gs back at G rotragli e, a nd th e rema ind er ret urn ed th at sa me evenin g ro Ca tani a, their

The fuselage codes on this Ju BBA-5 taxiing out to take off appear to be ' L1 .. GN', which would indicate its being a machine of 5./LG 1. As it is clearly wearing Balkan campaign yellow markings on na cell es (and rudder). it not only gives the lie to the caption of the photograph on page 20, it is also a perfect illustration of the old adage so dear to many ex-members of the Luftwaffe - 'the only hard -a nd-fast rule in the wartime Luftwaffe was that there were no hard-a nd-fast rules! '

shon-li ved pa rr in th e Yugoslav ian ca mpaig n over. Afte r rhe cl ea r b lue skies of5 Apri l, a band ofpe rsistclll bad weat he r se r in ove r th e V ie nna a rea fo r th e nex t five d ays. This did nor make KC 5 1's rask of mo ulllin g 'co ncinllo lls day an d ni gh t a ttac ks' a ny easie r, bur the c rews kept up th e press ure o n th c e ne m y. O n 7 A pr il it was I. Cmppl' that again bore the bru nr o f d ete rm in ed Yu gosla v res istance, losin g o ne aircraft from eac h of its three co mpo nent Srfljfefn, w hil e II. a nd II I.1 LG I repo rted a machin e api ece w ritten offin cras h-land in gs. Poor weat he r co ndi t io ns a lso ha mpe red o pera rion s in th e so uth of th e co umry o n 7 April. I.ILC I flew a n ea rl y Illornin g ra id aga inst roa d a nd rail ta rge ts a roun d Vel es, bur a seco nd :llTac k o n th e enem y H Q on Skop lje p la nn ed for the afte rn oo n had to be aborted. During th e co urse of the day twO of th e Cruppe's Ju 88s were d a m aged in c ras h- la nd in gs upon returnin g to base. O ne of th c m W.l~ fl o wn by Future Kni g hl's C ross winn e r a nd ' Wi ld e Sa u' pilot Le u tnanr I ro Il k. H e tri ed to p ur d ow n J r th e nea rby iv il a irfi e ld nea r 1) lo vdi v, but unlik e th e w id e expa nse o f ne ig h bo urin g Krumovo a irfie ld , th is proved roo sm a ll for a machin e th e size of a Ju 88.

21

8 Apri l w illl essed a re- run o f rhe prev io us d ay fo r I. / LG J - a a: UJ

I-

m o rnin g ra id o n road junc ri o ns

a..

a ro und


aga in

:r: u

N is before rh e wear he r c losed

a fte rn oo n .

In

durin g

H eavy snow

in

th e the

Plovdi v- Kr um ovo area o n J J a nd J2

April

fi na ll y

bro ug ht

th e

Cruppe's ope rarion s to a to ta l sta ndsti ll. I t a lso effecti ve ly e nd ed I.I LG J's pa rt in th e war aga inst Yugoslav ia, fo r w ith th e Yugos lav a rm y alread y o n th e rop es, th e

Cruppe's ac ri viti es we re now be ing d i rec red aga i nst G reece. W hil e the ca m paign had COS! I.ILG J just (wo a ircraft d a m aged , KG 5 J conr inu ed to pay a pr ice. albe it a s ma ll o ne, a ft er a n improve m enr in t he wea ther in rh e V ie nn a reg ion all owed th e res umption o f inre nsive bo mbin g o pera ti o ns in th e north . D eta ils a re skerchy (a nd co nfl ict in g), bur in ra ids o n suc h ta rgets as Nov i Sad , Ba n ja Lu ka, Mosra r a nd Dubrov nik , rh e Ceschwaders uffered th e loss of severa l m achin es . T hese inclu d ed II . Cruppe's '9 K+ LP', d ow ned by a Yu gos iJ.v Hurri ca ne nea r

This photograph of an unidentified l./lG 1 aircraft, taken over Yugoslavia early in April 1941 , muddies the waters even furth er: instead of yellow nacelles and rudder, it appears to have a yellow (some sources suggest white) nose and elevators!

Ba nj a Luka, a nd th e a irc raft of H a u p tm a nn H a ns Be rl in , the Kapitan o f

6.

StaJfe~ w ho was kill ed toge th e r w ith his e ntire crew. Co nve rse ly. t he

rear gunn e r of a no th e r Ju 88 sho t do w n a n arr3ck in g Hu rri ca ne durin g the bombing of M os ta r airfi eld. O n J3 Ap ril KG 5 J pa rti c ipated in a se ri es of heavy ra ids o n th e Sa ra jevo regio n. T hese were ca rri ed OU! o n the pe rso nal o rd ers of Hitl er, who had apparentl y bee n in fo rm ed that the Yugos lav gove rnm ent had so ugh t re fuge in seve ra l la rge h o tel s in the spa resort o f lIid za juS! !O the wes t o f the tow n . III. Cruppealo ne fl ew 29 in d ividu al sort ies aga inst these ta rgets. By thi s t im e the end in Yugoslav ia was clea rl y in sigh t. O n J 4 Apri l the a rmy's co mm a nd er-in -c h ief bcga n nego ti at io ns for a ge ne ral cease- fi re. Th e fo ll ow in g day KG 5 J fl ew so me o f its fina l misio ns of th e campa ig n whe n it di ve- bo mbed shi pp in g in Dubrov nik harbo ur. Fo rry-e ight ho urs Iare r Yugos lav ia cap itulated . W hi le Stab, II . a nd II 1.1 KG ') J re ma in cd at rh e ir basesaro und V ie nn a. I. C ruppes taged via Arad , in Ruman ia, do w n to Krum ovo . H e re it wo ul d o pe rate alo ngs id e th e Ju 88s o f I.ILG J aga inst G reece fo r th e bes t pa rt of :lIl ot he r m o nth , befo re re jo inin g its pa rent u n ir in Austri a in mid - May in

22

Another 'difference of opinion'. In this instance, 9./KG 51's '9K+lT' appears to be the guilty party, as both the Bf 110 and the Do 17 pictured on the right are swathed in tarpaulins, and were presumably stationary at the moment of impact

prepa rari on for th e m ove in to Po lan d , its jumping-off po int for th e in vas ion of th e USS R four weeks late r. But this was not th e las t the M edite rra nea n rheatre had see n of th e' Edelweiss' Ceschwader. II .l KG 5 1 would re rurn briefly to G reece in th e a urumn of 1943.

ASSAULT ON GREECE 6 Ap ril 194 t had nor o nl y witnessed th e start of th e savage a rial bo mbardm ent of Belg rad e, ir al so saw rhe laun c h of rh e g round a nd air onslaug h t on main land Greece. But at leas r rhe Greeks received a d ecla ration of wa r, eve n if it was delivered by Hitle r's a mbassador in Ath ens at 0530 hI'S th ar mo rnin g, and delibe rately rimed to co in cid e w ith th e Firsr Ge rm a n rroops cross in g rh e Bulga rian borde r and beginnin g th eir dri ve o n Sa lonika in Greece's no nheastern prov in ce oFThessalon iki. Unt il now th e LuFrwaFFe had bee n concenrrarin g its efforts on rhe ~uppl y co ll voys ferryin g British troops up from Egypt. However, with th e

Fiihrer's stri cr ba n o n viol atin g G reck airspace a thin g of th e pas t, th e war aga insr rh e Britis h and Gree k Royal Air Forces co uld begin in ea rn es t. But w ith all rhree Crt/ppm of LG t e ngaged over Yugos lav ia on t his ope nin g day of th e twin ca mpaig ns, it Fell to rhe Ju 88 units still based in Sicil y to sco re th e Firsr successes, a nd su ffe r th e Firsr cas ualties of Ope ra tion Mfl rilfl, as th e in vas io n oFGreece had bee n cod e- nam ed when plan s we re First drawn up back in D ecembe r 1940. The Fir t loss sustain ed was o ne of th e t 4 Ju 88Ds of 2.(F)/t 23, a seco nd long- range reco nn aissa nce S/fljft/ th a t had joined 1. (FJ/ I 22 a r Ca tani a in mid -Marc h. H eadin g For th e Arh e ns area, U nre roffi zie r Fritz Dreyer's '4U+E K' was inte rce pted by a n RAF Hurri ca ne over th e G ulFor C orinrh a nd shot into th e sea oFF Pa rras. I ndi ca ri ve of the reco nn aissa nce unirs' wid e a rea of ope ra rion - and prooF that th e campai g n in G reece was no r being Foug ht to rh e ex clusion oFo rh e r Fro nrs - ' EK 's' siste r-s hip , '4U+ fK ', was reponed mi ss in g in ve ry similar circum stances just 24 hours late r, sho t dow n b)' a I ur rica ne some 400 mil es away! Ca ug ht over Tobruk ha rbo ur, OberFeidwebel We rn er Reilli cke's Ju 88 D c ras hed in to rh e sea off Bard ia. And w he reas t he loss of the First Ju 88 ove r G reece ma)' admittedl y have bee n of littl e sig nifi ca nce (exce pt to th e unFortunate U nrero fFi zier Dreyer a nd hi s c rew), the Junke rs' First success of th e cam paig n was a devastat i ng raid o n Pirae us harbour. Se rvin g as th e desti nation fo r th e vast majoriry of the wpp ly co nvoys th a t had bee n bring in g me n and mate rial s fro m Egy pt sin ce ea rl )' February, Piraeus was p acked w ith shippin g o n th e evenin g of 6 April whe n 20 J u 88s o F! II .1 Ke 3 0 liFred o f-f From Ca tania. Most of [h e bo mbers we re a rm ed with jusr two ae ri al min es api ece, the ime ntion bein g to bloc k the narrow entra nce (0 rh e harbo ur. But H a uprm a nn H ajo H e rrm a nn had ordered th a r his 7 . S/fljftl mac hin es sho uld each b loaded w ith two 25 0-kg bombs as well. At the e nd of the 465- mil e fli g ht (0 th e ra rget a rea, he did nor want to sec hi s mincs drift down o n th eir parachures a nd simpl y disa ppear into the water. AFter all th at effo n, he was d ete rmin ed (0 atta ck th e m ercha ntm en berthed in th e ha rbo ur - it was to pro ve 3 m o m en to us decision. Th e m o re heav il y loaded airc raft of 7.1 KG 3 0 were fl yin g the low positio n in the loose formation as th e J u 885 swooped dow n on Piraeus from rhe direcrio n of Co rinth at 2 100 hI'S. After releasin g th eir min es

23

as d irected. H e rrm ann 's c rews m ad e for th e ships. At least three of th e

lJ.J

StaJJd's bombs - H e rrmann 's amo ng th e m - stru c k the 7 529- to n Clfln Fraser, a rece nrl y a rrived ammunit ion shi p packed with 35 0 to ns of TNT,

I0...

o nl y 100 ron s of w hi c h had bee n un load ed wh e n t he attac k ca m e in.

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As we ll as the three direc r hits. ir was surround ed by nea r mi sses, which d es rroyed buildin gs and sro res on rh e qu ays ide. Th e initial blasr lifted rh e vessel out or th e wate r a nd snapp ed its moo ri ng lin es . The shockwave from th e exp los io n was felt by H e rr mann a nd hi s crew as th e ir '4 D +AR ' was thrown a bout ' lik e a leaf in a squa ll ' 3300 ft abovc rhe ha rbour. Bur worse w3...~ ro follow. As rhe Clflll Fmserdrifred, irs plare. g lowing from th e fires rag in g insid e her, rh e Ram es pread ro orh er vessels in rh e h arbour, includin g rhe 7 1OO - ron City ofRollbaix, wh ich was also ca rry in g munirion s. D espire rh e dan ge r. d es perate efforts were made ro ge t rhe siru ar io n und er contro l. Bur rhe blazin g ships cou ld nor be rowed away for fea r rh at rh ey wou ld hit a mine and bl ock rh e harbo ur approach cha nn e l. S udd e nl y. in rh e ea rl y h o urs of 7 April , the CII/I/ Fmser erupted in a g ia nt fir eba ll. Minutes later the City of RoII bfli.x· we nt up as well. Th e res u ltant sc ries of exp losions, w hi ch d es rroyed nin e or he r m erch ant m e n a nd d evas rared rhe parr of I) irae us. sha tte red w in dows in Arh ens seve n miles away , and we re repo rt edl y hea rd ove r a di sta n ce of up ro 150 miles. In :dl , close on 100 vessel s were lost, includin g some 60 sm ailli g hre rs a nd barges . Grievous as thi s was, th e d amage ro rh e port of Piraeus itse lf was ~H more ser io us. In rhe ex pl os ions, d esc rib ed h v o ne hi stori a n

:15

'of

nea r nucl ea r pro porTions' , it had b ee n razed a lm osr from end ro e nd . Adm S ir A ndrew Cu nnin gham , C - in -C of rhe M edire rr:lIl ca n Fleet, ca ll ed th c raid on Piraeus a 'd evasta tin g bl ow'. At a sin gle stroke it h ad d estroyed th e on e parr sufficie nrl y a nd adequa tely equipped to se rve as a base thro ug h w hi c h th e Brit is h Ar m y co uld be suppli ed. Piraeus \You ld be closed ro all sh ippin g for rh e next ten days . Duri ng th i ~ rim e in co min g vesse ls had to be di ve rted ro other pons such as nea rbv Sa bmis, o r Volos far up o n Greece's Aegea n coa ·r. And eve n after it had been pa rti all y r<:opened , such was rhe da m age that it was no lon ger able ro operate prope rly. The master or o ne vessel th ar put in ro Sahm is on 9 Apri l and visited Piraeus twO d ays later d escribed rhe pla ce as bein g ' in a srate of chaos caused

by th e exp losion

of the ClfI/I Fraser, w hi ch had bee n hit w hil e disc hargin g a mmuniti o n. The ship had di sa ppeared a nd blown up rhe res r of rh e docks, a nd pi eces of he r we re li rre red abo ut th e sn·eets.' T he man rcspom iblc for mu ch of thi s chaos a nd mavhem, H a uptmann Hajo H errmann , had no t escaped rora ll y unsca th ed. At so m e stage durin g rhe raid the porr eng in e of hi s J u ilil had becn d amaged hv a nti -a ircrafr fire. And forsafery 'ssa ke. 24

rarh er th an risk the lon g Ri ght back

This aerial shot of the Piraeus area, taken in late April 1941 , gives little indication of the mayhem that occurred there earlier in the month during the night of 6-7 April , except, perhaps, for the dark streams of oil still leaking from the half-sunken sh ips

to C.l[ani ~, he headed eastwa rd, and l'lnded on Rhodes - only [0 run his aircrafr off the end ofrhe runwayl Adm C unnin gham \Va, undoubted ly ri ght. The destructio n of Piraeus IVIIJJ disasrer. Bur even if the porr Iud been ful ly functiona l, it is unlikely thar it would have alrered the outco me of the brief bur bloody ca mpaign in Greece. T he in vader; were [00 powerfu l for th e Greek and British Com mon weal th troop' opposing t he III , irrespect ive of how many lastminute reinforcemcnts might have come through a still intact Pirae us. I n fact, in less than three \Veeb th e Briti sh would be driven back down the length of G reece ro some of rh e counrrv's so uth ernmost beaches, where they were rc,cued in a Dunk irk-l ike evacuation. This was nor the end of rh eir Grecian odvs;t:y, ho weve r, tor instead of being transported back to Egypt , rh ey were delive red to the island of C rete, from where rh e ; urvivors would undergo a seco nd evacuati on just over a 1110nrh later.

TARGETING ALLIED SHIPS Although the Medirerranean J u 88s new a number of so rt ies in suppOrt of th e Ge rman army in the field in C reece (w hile at th e S3 mc time also operating ove r Malta, No rth Africa and on co nvoy esco l,( duti es), mosr of the actiom they were involved in during th e Greek and Creta n ca mpaigns were directed ag3 in;t Allied shipping. And during rhe comb ined ten days of th e evacuation; in wh ich the two G llll paigns entI.:d, t hey would exact 3 gre;l(er toll o f Allied \v;lI';hip, ;\I1d mcrchammen than they had don e durin g the entire len wceb of allli-co nvoy mi,;iom no",n before the ground fighting began. The armed recon nais;ance sweeps of the se~ areas arou nd C rete by aircraft of LC J on 8 and J 0 Apri l produced no sigh rin gs. But durin g a simil ar operation north of the island onrhe J110rnin g of J J Apri l machin es of 9. StafFI tOllnd th e Roya l Navy's HIVtS eli/mila. This anti-air raFt ve~,eI see med ro bear a ch.lrmed life. It had been dll.lCked o n numeraL!' occas ions whil e eKorring convoy~ fro m Egyp t during th e previous weeks, and Iud been o ne of the lhree crui,ers presenr in I)iraeus harbour on rh e night of G Apr il thaI had managed to PUI to sea before Ihe second ;lIaciys l1li ex pl osion of rh c eillll Fmser. Eve n now iI, luck held . Although bra keted by bombs to pon .1I1d starboa rd the vessel susra ined no hit . In rh e even ing of th3t same 11 April, eager ro takl' advan tage 01' the full moon , X f-liegerkorps o rd ered a ma ximum effo rt by th e Si ilian -based Ju 88s aga inst any shipping sti ll ro be found in the Piraeus 3re;! (w here 20 merchant vessels were anchored 01T the harbour, shon of fue l). SOl11e 4') bomber, took off in two waves, 29 machines of LG J from Catania at 1800 hrs and 16 of llUKC 30 from Ge rbini shonly after midnight. Four ships were sunk , inciuding the damaged D.1I1ish ranker /'vllll·ie Mllersk. The laSt of the LG 1 air raFt 10 anack was thaI fl own by llauptl11ann Joachim Helbig, Kllpitiinof4 . lafft!. Recove rin g From rhedive. hi Ju8 8 was co ned by searchlights at an altirude of on ly so me J 300 Pt; ' I was a sitting du ck For any nightflghter. And suddenl y there one was, a twin-engi ned mac hin e hurrling down at me from hi gh on my ri ght. At Full thronle I pulled up h;trd ro th e lefr, and the fighter fl as hed past me. My radio-operator, Oberfeld webel han z Schlund , had him in hi s sights for just a split second . Bur that was eno ugh. The enemy went down on fire and we saw him exp lode as he hit the ground. '

elf

25

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H elbig's opponenr was a lm ost certa inl y the Blenheim IF orNo 30 Sq n reported lost that ni g ht. Forty-e ig hr hours I:n c r, e le m enrs of Il l.IKG 30 werc bac k over the Pirac us-Sa lam is a reas, wherc rh ey claim ed a m e rchan tma n damaged , bur los t two or rheir own numbe r. 5.1 LG 1 a lso repo rred a crew mi ss in g o n thi s 13 April w hen o ne of irs Ju 885 was forced to ditc h arrerarrack in ga co nvoy wesr of C rere. By thi s stage l.ILG I was a lso beginning ro operate aga inst Greek targcts from irs base at Krumovo, in Bu lgaria. On 13 Apri l 20 of its Ju 88s pa rr ic ipa ted in a major ra id o n Vo los H a rbour. T he port was seve re ly d a m aged , and a m o ng the ships sunk was t he 7 140- ton City ofKarflchi, a vessel di ve rted

to

Vo los aFte r th e d es tru ct ion of Pirae us. Bur Hauprm ann

H offma nn 's Gruppealso had a price to pay for rh is success, ror a machin e from I. Staffi/ was shor down by one of the RAF Hurri ca nes statio ned ar nearby Larissa . Later that sa m e afte rnoon I.l LG 1 arracked Ausrra li an and New Zea land troop pos itions around Servia . Lare in thc eve n in g of 14 April eigh r J u 88s oFCatania- based Il.I LC 1 aga in attacked Piraeus a nd th e G ul Fof Ath e ns. U po n rh e ir re rurn to S ic il y rhey reported h its o n rwo vesse ls. T he d amage infl icted was obvio usly greate r than rea lised, fo r bor h th e 7 264-to n British stea m er Clan

Cummillgand a smaller Turk ish vesse l we nt to the borrom. The fo ll owing day, 24 of I.l LG 1's a i rcraft returned ro the Piraeus area. Amo ng the seve n vesse ls cla im ed sunk were the British m erchantm en Quiloa (77 65 ton s) a nd Goa/pm'a (53 14 to ns), bot h of w hi c h we re subsequ e ntl y be:lC hed a nd aba nd o ned in Ele us is Ba y. On e c rew fa il ed to re rurn fro m rh e ra id , U n teroffizier Ka rl Sturz's ' LJ +SK' laSt bein g see n fou r m il es so u rh of At he ns, where ir reported ly fe ll vicr im to ye r anorher RAF Hurri ca ne. It wou ld appear that I.ILG 1 was accompan ied on this occasion for th e first rime by aircraft of I.IKG 5 1, which had just joined ir in Bulgaria, for rwo bad ly-damaged 'Edelweiss' machin es we re wri rre n offi n crash- la nd in gs back , I[ Krum O\'o o n th is date. Two Ol hers pu r d ow n w irh m in o r d amage at Saio ni ka, rhe major sea pon in n orr h c:L~te rn G rcece rh ar had been occ upi ed by Germa n trOOps six days ea rli er. H eavy s now showers preve nred operations our ofKr um ovo on 17 April (a lthough the field was large, ir W:1S nor equipped f'o r bad-weather flying). Cond iti o ns improved sufficienti)' th e fo ll owi ng day to allow various

26

The duty NCO holds 2./LG 1' s 'L 1+BK' with a raised red flag while he checks that the runway is clear. This photograph was reportedly taken at Krumovo, in Bulgaria , and the low range of hills in the background certainly seems to support this - even t he patches of snow on their fl anks match the known weather con ditions. But the machines are clearly Ju 88A·4s . Were this pair among the first of the improved series to be delivered to the Geschwader, the one in the rear not even wearing a white fuselage band yet?

StaJftfn ro ca rry o u r :1 number of mi ss ions in supporr of rh e gro und fl ghrin g. These includ ed bombing and srra fln g arracks o n Al lied posirio ns aro und Lariss:1 a nd Yan in a. Bur whe n rh ick cloud d escc nd ed over rh e mo untain s :1lon g rh e Greek- Bu lgari31l bo rd e r, Majo r Kun o Hoffm a nn , rh e Gruppenkommaneleur of I.ILG I , o rd e red hi s c rews ro diverr ro Salo nika-Sed es ra dl er rhan ro arrcmpr ro make ir back ro base. This prec:1 urion was clearl), necessa ry , as rhe Kapitiin oF2.1 LG I , H auprm ann Siegfri ed vo n Eichh o rn , was bad ly injured when he crash-la nd ed hi s mac hin e du e ro seve re ic in g- up. By now Brirish and Co mmonwca lrh fo rces we re in full rerrea r. On 19 April t he G e rm ans occupi ed both La ri ssa a nd Tr ikbb. That afte rn oo n , hav in g rerurn ed ro Krumovo, I.ILG I m o uilled a heavy ra id

011

Kha lkis

ha rbo ur , claiming four freig hte rs sunk and rwo d a maged . Twelll),-four ho urs larer ir pur in ano th e r arrack o n th e ship p in g sti ll clustered aro und Pirae us. Am o ng rhe vessels sunk W:1S th e G reek h os pital ship £llenis. Bur lhis rim e th e Gruppe did not c~cape sco l- free. lHeroFfizie r H elmut Be nk e's ' LJ +Z H ' was d ow ned by Hurri ca nes nca r Athcm a nd a 2 . StaJftI ma c hin e, bad ly d :1 m aged :1 nd w irh rhe nav igaro r d ead o n boa rd , was lost whe n ir was forced ro ditch in sh all ow wa re r six mil es nort h o fKari es. It was on 20 A pril that II. a nd Il I.lLG I res um ed th eir acr ivi ti es in Creta n waters, fl y ing operat io ns ro th e north a nd so uth eas t of the island res pectivel y. Th e next day, II . Gruppe underrook

it

seco nd a rm ed

reco nn a issa nce mi ss io n , thi s rim e so u t h of C rete, where ir ca ugh r a nd sa nk th e 6098- ron tanker Britis/; I,ord Also o n 2 1 A pril , 1.I1.G I fl ew a n umber of whar we re term ed '/reie Jf/gel swee ps aga in sr shippin g' in th e An unidentified merchant vessel burns fiercely from a direct hit 'somewhere on the Greek coast'

Kh a lk is a re:1, w hi c h nett ed rh e c rews involved at leas t three G reek vesse ls. I.ILG 1'5 ant i-s hippin g ope rat ions were tak ing a heavy ro ll of Alli ed m e rc hantme n , and no ne more so than th o~e flown over so uth ern G reece ,[nd C rete o n 22 Apri l. By rhe e nd of that day rh e Gl'llppe had cla im <:d seve n vesse ls pro babl y sunk a nd cI

Further rwe lve d amaged . Among

rhe known losses we re six ~ m a ll Greek ships. IYbjor H offman n's crews may, howeve r, also have been responsib le Fo r sinking o ne, o r both , of th e G ree k d em'oye rs PSfira and

Yelra, each of 1389 ton s, that we re reco rded as lost in acr io n aga in st Ge rnl an a irc raft o n thi s d a te. I.ILC I kept up the pressure throughout 23 an d 24 April , fl yin g num ero u ~

a rm ed

reco nn a issa nce

swee ps - mosriy in {(etten of jusr rhree

aircraft -

ove r

th e S;lme

3reas be twee n southe rn G reece a nd Crete. On the seco nd of th ese two dares in particular, Alli ed shipping losses hi t a n all -time hi gh w ith no fewer than fo u rteen vessels bein g reported sunk. Aga in, most o f the

27

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t-

a:: L.U

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cas ualt ies we re Greek, but numblTed a mo ng them we re twO British me rci13 ntm en , th e 4665-ro n Sallla C/rlrrl Vallrya nd the 2269-ro n Caoallo, both of whi ch were ca ughr and bombed at a uplia (the Lmer, J lrho ugh aba ndoned , did not actua ll y sillk until the Fo ll owi ng day). Ge rm an gro und Forces had bee n matching the LuFtwaFfe success For success. T he British had by now bee n driven back ro rh e so uth crn most reaches of Greece. and it was on rh e evening of 24 Ap ril thar Ope rJtio n Demoll. th e Roya l avy's has ti ly o rga ni sed pl ans For evac uation from eight small so uth e rn G reek pons, was put in ro effecr. All o f Ad m Cu nnin gham 's ava il ab le li ght forces, From c ru ise rs down ro land in g c rJft - so me 35 ships in all - p lus a dozen transporrs, wcre ro take pa rr. Over the co urse of th e nex t five ni ghts (lacking air cove r, ope rat io ns cou ld o nl y be ca rri ed our dur ing t he ho urs of da rkn ess) th ey wo uld succeed in li fting ofF just over 50.000 rroops - abour 80 pe rce nt of th e numbe r o ri gin all y rran sported ro G reece prior ro , a nd durin g, th e shon- li ved ca mpaig n. Throu gho ut that tim e it had bLLn lh e: Alli ed merc ha nl nav ie, tha t had bo rn e t he b run t of t he Luftwa ffe's attacks. But now, durin g th e evac ua ti o n fro m G reece and subsLqu e nr o pe ratio ns aro un d C re te, it wou ld be th e wa rshi ps of Ih e Roya l Navy rhat beg:ln ro fee l th e full fury of t he Ge rm a n bo mbe rs a nd di ve- bo mbc:rs. Th e re we re, however. a numbe r of unarm ed me rc ha ntm e n sti ll to be los t beFore th e las t troops leFt th e so il of G reece. Late in the JFte rn oon of 25 April , elem ents of I.ILe I d iscove red a g ro up of so m e half-dozen ships headin g rowards G reece as pan of the prepJrations For t he second night of the evaCUJtio ns. A single bomb hit th e I 6,38 1-ron Du tch ve,sei Penll/and. At first t he shi p tri ed ro co nrinu e its journey. but it WJS soon Forced ro turn back rowards C rere. Shorrly afrerwards the vesse l was attacked aga in , two more bomb, se nd in g it ro the bottom . Penllwndwas the largest m erchantm Jn lost durin g the Greek a nd Cre ta n ca mpaign s. On IhL mu rnin g of 26 April th e J u 88s tl ew one last mi ss io n in support of Ih e gro und fig htin g. Short ly after sunri se several mJchin es from both I.ILG I an d I.IKG 5 1 li Fted off from Krulll ovo to arrack the Alli ed troops ho lding o ut alo ng th e Corinth Cana l. \Xlh il e the Lrhrgesc/}/uatier crews ca rr ied out low- level passes, strafing and droppin g li ght bombs, the Ju 88s from I.J KG 5 1 deli ve red the ir loads fro m h igh alritud e. T ha I' aftern oo n much of I.I LG I spell( seve ral hours searc hin g in va in For a large co nvoy repo n ed ro be asse m blin g north C rete. T he fo ll ow in g day - wh ich sa w rhe firsr Ge rma n ITOOpS e!Her At hens - I.ILG I was back in Ihe sallle a reJ to th e no rth oFC ret(: where it ca ught J nd sa nk th e 8672-to n Dutch fre ighter Costa Rica.

or

CRETE UNDER ATTACK By 29 Ap ril , w ith the eVJc uati o n of British forces From G reece co mp leted, the Luftwaffe's Jttenrio ns were Focuss ing entirely o n C rete. I.ILG I carried o ut an arrack o n 28

shipping in So uda Bay o n this date,

Merchantmen were often little more than sitting ducks. Fast and manoeuvrable warships in open w ater were a different proposition altogether, being much hard er t o hit, as witness this attack on the needle-like form of a Royal N avy destroyer heading into the glare of a sun-d appled patch of sea . Th e length of the vessel' s wake and the puffs of smoke from its overworked boilers are vivid testi mony to the speed at which the warship is travelling . It has evidently put the attacking Ju 88 off its aim , for wh at appea rs to be a full sa lvo of four SOO-kg bombs has gone harmlessly into the w ater a good 250 yards off the vessel's port bow

claim ing dam age to three vessels. This was to be its las t o perationa l miss io n of th e campa ign. Althou gh perso nnel cas ualti es had bee n rel atively light, th e past three weeks-plus o f nca r cont inual Aying had bee n cos tly in terms of material attrit io n. Down to JUSt 17 serv iceable machines at month 's end , the

Gmppewas taken off ope rat io ns for a well-ea rned res t.

-I

o

W ith Yugos lav ia and Greece hav in g been d ealt w ith , Hide r now bega n to co nsid er th e ques ti on o f Cre te. H e co uld hardl y ig no re th e prese nce of a n isla nd base ho usin g thousa nds of e nem y troops JU St 62 mil es off th e so uth ern ex tremities o f hi s new ly ex pand ed Fesl'lIllg Europfl. On 25 April th e Fiihrerr herefo re iss ued hi War Directive No 28 for Ope ra ti o n Merkur (,Me rcu ry'), th e a irborne in vas io n of C rete. Howeve r, his primary reason for the und erta kin g was, he d eclared in Paragrap h I of th e Directive, to secure th e isla nd ' a ~ a base for a ir wa rfa re aga inst Grea t Britain in the Eas re rn Med ite rra nea n '. It wo u ld rak e seve ra l wee ks to ga the r toget her t he troo ps a nd tran sport ai rc rafr requ ired for th e a mbili o us o pe rati o n, a nd durin g th at t im e an un easy lu ll d esce nd ed on th e regio n. To fill rhe ga p I.ILG I W:lS ca ll ed bac k into actio n. O n .1 Ma y, d es pite hav in g bee n sto od do w n o nl y d ays ea rli e r, I.ILC I took off o n :l noth e r six- hou r m iss io n to So ud a Ba y, rh e m a in a nchorage o n Crete's north e rn coast. It was acco mpa ni ed by a ha ndful of ma c hin es fro m I.IK C 5 1. An d a lthou g h they wo uld cl a im hits o n th e 7 258- to n British m ercha ntman Araybrl/lk, t he ra id cost th e a rracke rs lWO casua lt ies. Bot h we re a irc raft of I .l Ke 'i I a nd bot h were repo rTedl y bro ug ht d ow n by Hu rri ca nes, '9K+ LH ' c r:l,hin g o n th e ishnd a nd '9K+G H ' go in g inl o the sea off So uda B:lY. Th e next day ma ch in es of t he two uni rs were bac k ove r So ud a Bay aga in , the luc kl ess Araybtlllk receiv in g furt her damage th :lt m ea nt t ha r it had to be run agro und to preve nt it sinkin g. T he ve"el was dechred a tota l loss after be in g bo mbed for a third rim e on 16 1ay. O n 13 rV by I.IKC 5 1 ha nd ed its re m a inin g a irc raft ove r ro I.ILC I a nd th e perso nnel d eparted northwa rd s by rai l to re jo in rh e ir pare nt Geschwflders/ab, re-equippin g in readin ess fo r th e forth co min g in v:ls ion o f th e Sovie t

ni o n. T h us re inforced, I.ILG I found itse lfh eadin g back

to So ud a Bay th e fo ll owin g day. In fa ct, it Aew twO mi ss io ns aga in st the a nchorage o n 14 M ay . Wilh ba re ly an ho ur o n th e gro und a t Krumovo in w hi c h to refuel a nd bo mb- up , the c rews we re in th e a ir from 0 535 hrs unr il 1800 hrs. And at th e e nd they had ve ry littl e ro show for it. T he o nl y co nfirm ed sink in g was tha t of t he 6 343 - ro n Brit ish stea mship Dfi/esrrtrlrl . Fo rtun e sti ll smi led o n

CfI/Clltifl,

howeve r, as J lrho ugh the c ru ise r was

ra rge ted in bo th ra id s, not a hit was sco red on it. On 15 May I. / LC I le ft Krum ovo a nd tra nsfe rred dow n jo in ed by II.

10

Ele us is, nca r Ath e ns, whe re it was

Gmppe, whi ch Aew in fro m Ca tania th e fo ll ow in g d ay.

O n th e afte rnoon of 18 May I.ILG I was bac k over its fam ili a r So ud a Bay stampin g g rou nd. Co mpa red to the prev ious long hau l d ow n fro m Kr um ovo, in Bulg:lr ia, t he no rth e rn coas t of C rere was now but a SlOne's th rowaway, a nd rh e Ju 88s co uld thus carry a mu ch g rea te r bomb load. It was in So ud a Bay, while execurin g temporary repa irs, that rh e heavy cruiser HM S Yo rk had bee n a ttacked and seve rel y damaged by a n I ra li a n exp losive Ill oro rboat back o n 26 Ma rc h. To prevent it from beco min g a tota l loss, th e vesse l had bee n rowed into shall ow water and gro und ed . Alrhough subj ected to num erous a ir attacks sin ce, th e c rui se r's ma in

29

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u

In enclosed waters naval and merchant vessels were equally vuln erable. This is Souda Bay on the northern coast of Crete, the island' s main anchorage. It was the target of numerous raids by the Luftwaffe

arm a me nr of six 8-inch g un s had rem ain ed inra cr, :lIld ir srill posed a considerab le rhrear ro any in vader. During irs raid of J 8 May rh e c rews of I.ILG J g rearl y redu ced rhi s rhrea r by knoc kin g o ut rh e York's rwo forward rurre rs wirh rh eir J ODD-kg bombs. Wh e rh er rh ey had bee n specifi ca ll y orde red to ta rget th e c rui se r on thi s occas io n a nd w irh thi s partic ul a r purpose in mind is no longe r cl ea r. Th e res u lts ac h ieved were ce rta inl y op portune, however, for just 48 hours late r th e , kies above So uda Bay reve rbe rated to t he sound of h undreds of airc raft e ng in es. T he a irb o rn e in vas io n of C re te had begun. Th e J 3-d ay batrle for C re te is now re me mbe red m ain ly for rh e enormous casualti es in fli cred up o n t he in vad in g fo rces and th e t ra nsport airc raft t har ferr ied them a nd rh eir supp lies to rh e isla nd. Th e Lu frwaffe co mbar co mm a nd cover in g th e ope rat ion was Ceneral der Flieger von Ri chrh ofen's VIII. Fliegerkorps. Th e Korps'S tubs had ga in ed fame no toriery wo uld perhaps be rhe be rte r word - for rh eir close-s u pport of Ge rm a n g round troops in th e Polish a nd Fre nc h ca mpai gns (and more rece nrl y. the Yugos lav and G ree k). But C re te added a new dim ensio n rh e wa rers surroundin g th e isla nd . Vo n Ri chrhofen 's units now faced a rwofo ld ras k. No t on ly were rh ey ex pected to offer direCt support to German forces on the g round , th ey we re also cha rged w ith kecping th e British M edite rran ea n Flect away fro m the isl a nd wh ile th e fi ghtin g was go in g on and, more importantl y, ensurin g that th e re was no repetition of th e successful seaborne evacuation from Greece. To enab le it to ca rry out th is larrer co mm itmenr, rhe predominantl y Ju 87-equ ipped VIII. Fliegerkorps was tempora rily ass igned seve ral lo nge r range Kampfgruppen. Th e on ly J u 88 units among the m were I. a nd II.ILG J, now based at Ele usis togeth e r with Obe rst Friedrich- Ka rl Knu st's Cesclnurldemab. Shor tl y afte r mi d d ay o n 20 May - t he ope ni ng day of Merkllr - I.f LG J raid ed So ud a Bay aga in , registe rin g two di rect hirs o n a 6000-ro n vessel (possib ly rhe w rec k of t he 6 200-ro n Dales/1lrln, alread y cla im ed sunk by rhe Cruppes ix days ear li er). Th a t afrern oo n borh I. and l l.lLG J we re se nt ou t ro sea r~ h for a rorce of 'six Roya l Navy ships' reponed by reco nn aissa nce ro be off rhe so uth eas t coas r of C rete. T he e nem y wa rshi ps (rhe twO crui se rs and four des troye rs of ' Force C ') re m ain ed elusive, however, and after a long a nd frui tl ess sea rch m osr crews un loaded rheir bo mbs o n So uda Bay w hen en rOllte back ro Eleusis. ex r day, the twO Cruppe" could hard ly fa il ro find the numerous warsh ips co nve rging o n C rete from see mingly all directions. Ea rl y morning reco nnaissa nce reponed gro ups of enemy vessels to rhe so utheas r, norrh and wesr of rh e isla nd. I.f LG I's first arrack was directed agains t th e lane r,

30

whi ch was the main Brirish Battle Squadron co mprisin g rhe two battleships

Warspile an d Vflliant of 'Force A' , plus a number of crui se rs :1 nd d es troye rs. II .l LG I , mea nwh il e, had fin all y located ' Force C' off the easrern end of C rete W ith li ttl e fea r of All ied air intervemion ,

aircraft

hadowed

and rracked th e ships' move mem s throughour rhe d ay as o ne attack aFrer rh e other wenr in again st them. 2 1 M ay 194 1 was ro pro ve ro be the beginning of o ne of rh e bi ggest air-sea engage menrs of the wa r ro dare, and by its e nd th e twO Cmppm ofLG I alo ne had dropped GG ro ns of bo mbs. Coll ect ivel y, rh ey c!:timed fi ve hi ts o n battles h ips and six o n cruise rs, with consid erab le damage probab ly infli cted o n rhrce of rhe vessels. Th e I'ca liry fe ll fa r sho rr o r thesc o pt im isri c cla ims. In fa ct, fo r th e effo rt expe nd ed , the net resu lt of th e d ay's o per:1 ti o ns was abys mal - th e crui se r Ajflxs li ghrl y d am aged by a ncar mi ss! Th e Lufrvvaffe 's' WIIIic/erbolliber 'had rotall y fa il ed ro li ve up ro it, reputati o n on this occas io n. Indeed , th e Roya l Navy's on ly cas ua lry - Lh e d estroye r J UliO

-

had fa ll en victim to Ju 87, .

Bur the J Ll 88s were to red ee m them selves 24 hOLlrs bre r. 22 M :1y found Lhe fOLlr g roups of wa rs hips (,Fo rces A LO D ') still ga th e red in C re ta n waters. H ea rte ned by the Lufrwaffe's re lat ive ly poo r pe rfo rm a nce th e prev io us day, rh e ROy:1 1 lavy had rem a in ed o n sta ti o n , d etermin ed ro fru , tra te the Axi, anc mpts ro follow up th e a irbo rn e la nd in gs o n C rete wit h :1 n in vas ion by sea. One co n voy of small cra ft

A vi ew of Souda Bay from the ground, reportedly taken during I./LG "s raid of 20 M ay . Columns of dense black smok e from two burning merchantmen darken the whole sky. In the centre of the photograph another merch ant vessel has ju st been hit, while to the f ar left white smoke is pouring from the bow section of the unmistakable twin -funn elled shape of the listing and half-submerged crui ser York - p erhaps from the attack two days ea rli er when I./LG , had claimed to have knocked out its two forward turrets

crowd ed with Ge rm an troop had :11read y b ee n re pulsed wi th heavy 10 se, durin g th e ni ght. No t lo ng afte r dawn th e stre ngth e ned ' Force C ', now co mpri si ng four c ru isers, plus d es troye rs, was ca ught to the no rrh of C rete by a irc raft of I.ILG 1 a nd subj ec ted to th e fi rst of a se ri es of susta in ed arrac ks IasLin g nea rly rhree-a nd -a- ha lf ho urs in a ll. So m e so urces sugges t that II I.IKG 30 was ca ll ed in from Sicil y ro add its we ig ht to th e assa ult , wh ic h res ulted in co nsid e rab le damage ro th e c ruise rs Naiacla nd Cflrlisle. In the mea nt im e ' Force C' had enco unre red a se o nd Axis co nvoy :1 nd fo rced if ro rurn bac k. But th e wa rships we re now da nge ro usly ex posed so m e 90 mil es no rth of C rete, :1 nd th e fo rce co mm a nd er o rd e red that the p u rsuit be abandon ed a nd rh e (orm at io n w ithdra w

[0

th e sout hwest to

jo in u p w ith rh e m a in Ba rri e Squ adron. In rh e a Fte rn oo n I. and II.ILG I res um ed th e a rrac k o n the co mbin ed Briri sh fo rces in the areas ro th e west and southwes t of C re te. T he rwo barrl es hips of Force A' were d a maged and th e rlVo cruise rs of th e d etached ' Force B' sunk - r;lollcesrer in t he Kyth era C ha nnel and Fiji85 mi les ro th e south of it. Th e d es troye r Creyhollllclaiso wenr down clo e to the Clollr('srer. Many other units, most notably th e Ju 875 of VIII. Fliegerkorps, had played a major parr in the day- lo ng assault, but Oberst KnUSt, with hi s rwo

Crt/ppm hav in g flown 84 ind ividua l so rties, had no hes itation in claiming credit for all three s inkings in th a r eve nin g's report [Q Korps HQ. Two of hi s J u 88s had bee n los t ro naval a nti -airc raft fire, a th ird d es troyed in a cras h a nd two o th ers d amaged.

31

C)

S

I rres pecti ve of who had actu all y

f-

se nt th e three wa rships ro th e

cc

bottom , th e Luftwaffe had achi eved

L.U

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its objecr. Shorr of both fu el and a nri -a irc raft a mmunition , th e Roya l layy vessels we re forced ro retire ro Al exa ndri a so m e 42 0 mil es away ro the so urh. But a noth e r batrl e squadron , bu ilt a round th e a ircraft ca rri er FormidabLe a nd co mprisin g two ba trl eships, tWO c rui se rs and nin e d es troye rs, return ed to th e J.rea durin g the ni ght of 25/26 May ro bo mba rd th e isla nd of Sca rpan ro, east of C rete. Many Ax is a irc r;l ft we re based o n th e isla nd , a nd it was ho ped tha t if th e ir ope ra tion s co uld be di s rupted , it wo uld brin g some d es peratel y need ed reli e f ro the ha rd - pressed troops o n C re re. Reco rd s wo uld seem ro indi c ltc, however, t hat jusr o ne a irc rafr was d es t royed o n rh e g ro und an d nin e othe rs d a maged. And , in evitab ly, the Roya l Navy t;l, k force was qui ckl y located by air reco nnaissa nce the nex t Ill o rnin gas it was w ithdrawin g. For nin e ho urs th e ve,sels we re subj ected ro arrack. I.ILC I ke pt up a co nrinual assa ulr for six of rhose hours, se ndin g its a ircraft our in Kl'tlen of rhrees co mm encin g ar 0 94 0 hrs. In mid-afrernoon I.IL.C I was reli eved by rhe a irc raft of II . GruppI', whi ch co minu cd th e aer ial onslaugh r for a further rhree hours. Desp ite this a ll -o ur effo rt no ~ hips were , unk , a lrh ough rh e Formidable, hatrl es hip Bar!Jam, crui se r Orio/l a nd d esrroyer Nubia/l a ll suffered dam age ro va ry i ng degree (some of th e wors t being infli cted by th c J u 875). Throug ho ut rh e day o nl y rwo Ju 88s we re lost, borh being clai med by Fulmars laun ched b v Formidable. One Jun kers ex ploded in mid -a ir after co min g und er arrack, w hil c rhe orher was forced ro dirch , bur nor before rhe rea r-gunner had hir th e e ng in e of the Fu lm a r on its ta il. Th e two mJ. chin es wenr inro th e water only so me 2 00 ya rds 3part, 3nd hor h c rews were qui c kl y picked up by rh e dew'oye r f-Iereward. 27 Ma y aga in found th e machin es of I. a ndll .l LC l out huntin g fo r units of rhe Royal Navy ro th e sout h an d cas t of C re te. Among th e vesse ls sig hted was t he fa st min elaye r AbdieL, haste nin g bac k ro Alexa nd ri 3 3fte r o nc of its many aud ac ious ni g ht sup ply ru ns ro C retc. Th e 265 0- ron min elaye r esca ped un sca th ed , bur th c d cstroye r NiZtl11l was hi t and furth c r dama ge was infli cted o n th c ba ttl es hip Barham, whi ch had o nc of irs main (Urrets put out of acr ion. During th e afte rn oo n .a formarion of six Ju 88s had th e mi sfortun e ro run inro three RAF flghrc rs - two Hurri cJn es and a Blenh eim - fl y in g no rth from Afr ica ro arrack rhe Ju 52/3 111 transports st ill pouring su pp li es inro Cretc. The three British machin es eac h cla im ed a Junke rs d es troyed. In facr o nl y one bomber went dow n. I twas ro be th e last J u 88 loss of rh e ca mpa ig n , for a[ about rhe sa me rim c as L.eurn anr H a ns-Gco rg Frcyso ldr 's ' L1 +E \x/' di sa ppea red be nea rh rhe waves so uth of C retc, the d ec isio n was be in g made ro evac uare [h e isla nd. Once aga in rh e Roya l Na ,'y was

32

[0

come

beleague red army. The re were 32, 000 tTOOpS

[0

[0

rh e resc ue of th e

be rake n off C rcre and

III. /KG 30's '4D+Lr is refuelled and readied for another mission

Aircraft ' L 1+TH ' of 1./LG 1 perches forlornly on a trest le as it awa its a replacem ent starboard wing and eng in e. This photograph was t aken at Tanagra, in Greece - possibly the site of a repair and m ai nten ance unit (note the sorry looking Bf 110 on the left) . One source has suggested that the Ju 88 is in the process of being given a coat of overall d esert tan camouflage p aint . But refer back to the planview shot of the Ju 88 on page 22 . This is exa ctly the area of forw ard fu se lage covered by that machine 's Balkan campaign markings

on ly fou r poinrs of cmbari
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on anoth er rescue missio n. Kelvin was the seco nd of this little gro up forced to turn back (the Kandahar hav ing suffered a mechanical fa ul t some three hours ea rli er). T he remaining two des troye rs got to Sphakia, took on board more (han 1500 troops, and by 0230 hrs o n 3 1 May were ready to run the gauntl et back to Alexandria. T hey both made it, but not without incident. At 0850 hrs the twO wars hips we re attacked by a doze n Ju 88s ofIl.ILG 1. Napierwas nea r-mi ssed and damaged, but the vessel's anti-aircraft gunn ers claimed o ne of the attackers shot down. Three of the RAF aircraft sent to the des troye rs' aid also claimed a bombe r ap iece. But on ly one Ju 88 was lost, hav ing been writ ten-off after a forced-landin g at Heraklion on C rete due, reported ly, to anti-a ircraft dam age. During th e night of 3 1 Mayl I June, ' Fo rce D ' made the last run to Sphakia. It returned to Alexa ndri a with 4000 men, but another 12,000 or more had to be left behind on C rete. The Royal Navy had done its bes t, but Ax is air power had simp ly proved too overwhelming. Eve n o n this fin al trip, th e Ju 88s of LG 1 were on the prowl. Machin es of 1. Gruppe sighted th e force sho rtly after dawn , but were dri ven offby a trio o fRAF Beaufighters. To provide th e returnin g ships w ith additiona l suppo rt, th e ant i-aircraft crui se rs Calcutta and Coventry had sailed from Al exa ndri a to meet up with them. Howeve r, befo re makin g the rend ezvous, they were themse lves di scovered by twO mach ines of II.! LG 1. Diving out of the sun , the lead machine - piloted by Hauptman n Joachim Helbig - narrowly missed Coventry, but Leutnant H ans Sauer's bombs hit Calcutta with devastating effect. The gal lant warship's luck had finally run out, and it sa nk within minutes with heavy loss of life. Landing back at Eleusis, the two crews claimed th e sin king of a destroyer. Calcutta was t he Roya l Navy's las t loss of th e campaign. Aircraft of LG 1 fl ew a se ri es of ove rl app in g patrols throughout th e daylight hours of 1 Jun e sco urin g the wate rs betwee n C rete and Egypt, but not a sin gle vessel was sighted . ' It was as if the sea had bee n swept cl ea n' , remarked o ne Ju 88 pi lot. The end of the Balkan and Cretan cam paigns also marked th e close of th e most co nce ntrated and successful period of operations the J u 88 was to experience in the Mediterranean co nfli ct. T he Luftwaffe's 'Wunderbomber' would continue to provide a prese nce in th e th eatre for th e nex t three yea rs. Its numbers wo uld eve n increase as other Cruppm ca me and went. Lehrgeschwader 1 remain ed the one co nstant throu gho u t. But it, like all the other units that operated in this theatre, would find itself pushed gradu all y but inexorably on to th e defensive. T here were still sig nifi ca nt indi vidual successes to be had in the mo nths to co me, but rarely aga in wo uld th e J u 88 bask in the nea r undisputed mastery of th e ski es that it had enj oyed in the spring of 194 1.

The tiny harbour and beach at Sphakia, where the last act of the evacuation of Crete was played out

MALTA OR CAIRO?

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hil e rhe wo rld was followin g rh e evenrs in Yugoslavia, G reece and C rere, ir was srill very much business as usual for rhe Ju 88 Cruppen based on Sicil y. II.ILG 1 (unri l irs rransfer ro Eleusis) and IlL/KG 30 mounred spo radi c raids on Malra and III.lLG 1 was stil l engaged in rhe unremirring rask of prorecting Axis co nvoys ferrying men and mare rials across rhe Medirerranean ro No rrh Africa. H ere, developmenrs were also raking place. Wirh British forces in Libya wea kened by rhe diversion of so many rroo ps ro G reece, Rommel's ' reco nn aissa nce' eastwa rd s along rh e coasral hi ghway was by now in full swing. T he harbour rown ofTobruk had been bypassed an d irs garriso n cur off by mid-April. And alrhough Berlin was srill urging caurion o n rheir firebrand ge neral, recom m ending rhar he srop and co nsolidate along a line ar So llum o n rhe Libya n-Egyptian border, Rommel was ar leasr being given som e add itional air support. T he nine machines of 8.1LG 1 rhar transferred from Carani a ro Benghazi-Benina o n 18 Apri l were the firsr Ju 88s ro be subordin ated ro the Fliegerfohrer Afril?a, and thus rhe first ro be direc tly engaged in rhe desert war. T he 20 Junkers rh at raided Tobruk the follow ing day, howeve r, were aircraft oflII.lKG 30 fl ying across from Sicily. Two machin es of8 . Staffa fai led ro rerurn from this ope rarion , one of them being '4D+KS' flow n by StaJfefkapitan Hauprmann Alfred Neum an n. On 2 1 April8.1LG 1, already down ro just seve n serviceable machines, moved fOlward from Benghazi to Derna, li rtle more rhan 60 mi les shorr of rhe Tobruk perimerer. Twen ty-four hours la rer rhe unir losr one of rhose seven durin g an armed reco nn aissa nce ofTobruk. References differ as ro how rhe casualty came abour, some records indicaring rhar rhe Ju 88 fell foul of pan'olling fighrers (Fulmars of rhe Fleer Air Arm), whi le orher so urces suggesr rhat ir was broughr down by an accurare bursr ofa mi-aircrafr fire. T he rown's fl ak defences wo uld playa viral role in rhe ep ic 240-day siege thar rhe To bruk ga rri so n was abo ur ro endure. The gu nn ers of rhe six ami-aircrafr barreries waged a COl1Sra nr, al mosr personal, war aga insr rhe Luftwaffe, and developed a love-hare relarionship wirh rheir opponenrs in th e process. T he Ju 88s were frequently se nr over Tobruk in individual Ketten of rhrees. One particular ra rger was rhe supply dumps, whi ch seemed ro be bombed every mo rning just as rhe rarion rrucks we re drawing sro res. Co nvin ced rhar they we re dealing ..... with rhe sa me rhree aircrafr every

In April 1941 8./LG 1 became the first Ju 88 unit to be based in North Africa . The small fairing behind the nose glazing reveals that this machine - ' L 1+AS' - is another of LG 1's A-6s. It is presumably a replacement for the earlier' AS' (a Ju 88A-51 in which Staffelkapitan Hauptmann Wilhelm Diirbeck was killed over Malta on 19 January (see text on page 9), but is it also the mount of the current Staffelkapitan and future Swords winner Oberleutnant Hermann Hogeback?

45

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rim e, rhe gunn ers soon chri ste ned rh e tri o ' Pi p', 'Squ c;1k' :lI1d ' W il fred '

a: :r: ~

after three popular ca rroon st ri p

a:

characte rs of th e day. Similarly, whenever a pai r of

UJ ~

Cl..


:r:

J u 88s ap pea red ove rh ead, th e), were always ' Mi ckey' a nd ' M innie'. Th ese

u

twO we re accused of a pa rti c ularl y und e rhand tri ck - one wo uld CO I11 (, roa rin g no isily our of the sun in a sh3 11 0w di ve w hil e the ot her snea ked in from rh e o ppos ite d irect ion w irh irs e ngin es just ti ckin g ove r. It was reckoned rhat thi, co u pk's ;1ctivit ies The rest of III./lG 1 join ed 8 . Staffel in libya in early M ay . It w as not long before th e Gruppe 's aircraft -

"5

like 7./ lG well wrapped-up ' l1+KR' see n here - began to sport camou fl age fini shes more suited to t he unit's n ew desert environm ent

I:med fo r the bes t pa rt of two monrh s beFo re fin all y bein g brou ght rO;1 h31r whe n a d i rec t hi I lOok , Vill e Ih rec reet o rf th e end of o ne of ' M ickey's' (o r was ir ' M innie's'» wings. Lasrl y, an y si ngleto n - e ith e r a lo ne bOIll be l' ca rry i ng OUI :I hi I-:l nd - run :I[[ack o r a so lira ry reco nn a issan ce snoo pe r - was auro m ari ca ll y ca ll ed 'Jilllm y' . O n on e occas io n , 'J im m y' hi t a n a mmuniri o n dump nea r rhe H Q of th e 9r h A ust ra li a n In fa nrry Di vis ion, leaving a n c no rm ous c loud of s mo ke ;1n dthund ero us exp losions reve rbera rin g t hro ug hout rhe a rea fo r ho urs afte rwa rds. On J ,\ by rh e res r of ll l.lLC I join ed 8 . Stajfe/ in No rth Africa. bur nor before mountin g ar leasr o ne m o re raid o n Malta. Flow n in th e ea rl y eve ning of 29 Apr il. th is had cos t rh e Cruppe a sin gle cawalr y when 9. Stajfers' L I +BT' was shor down over Va len;1 , its e ntire c rew bail ing out to become prisone rs of wa r. Lare r riut S;1 me night th e island had also been sub jected ro a n mack in Cmppestre ngrh by Il l.IKe 30. Sran i ng o n 4 1\ 1a)' , 111 .1 lC I bega n a wee k of susra i ned bomb in g raids :I nd a rm ed reconna issa n ce sweeps in a nd J ro und Tobruk. \X' hile I I 1.1 LC I were rhus engaged in rhe d irec t supp o rt of rhe d ese rt wa r, the British were trying to run a con vovoHi ve fas lme rcha ntm e n , lad e n with ranks for th e Arm v of th e N ile, th e length of th e Mediterra nea n fro lll wes t to cas t. T hi s ri sky o pe rat io n , code- n;1med Tiger, was grea rl v helped by th e poor wea rhe r co nd it io ns. I)ass in g throu g h rh e St ra its of C ibra lr:.lI' o n 6 May, t he sh ips d id no r cOlll e within r~l n ge o f Ax is a ir arrack until rwo d a y~ lare r. Eve n rh e n , rhe co mbin a ti o n or bad wearh e r and a powerful naval esco n preve nted rh e vessels From suffe rin g :l n y a pprec iabl e d a mage. O nl ), o ne of the fi ve would be lost , a nd thi s a Fte r hitt ing a m ine o ff Ma lta on 9 May. T wo days la re r still , on II May, nea rl y a d oze nJu 88so FII I.I LC I rook off fro m D e rna ro att ac k the rem a inin g ships, wh ich we re now reported ro be north - nort heas r o fTobr u k. C rews cla im ed no hirs o n rh e vessels and lost o ne of the ir numbe r whe n a 7 . Stajfel ill achi ne was in vo lved in ;1 mid -a ir co llision w irh a defe nding Fulm a r in Illurky co nditi o ns. Ir l.llG I had more success rh e nex r day when it rerurned to Tobruk. Although the crews' primary objecrive was th e town 's pumping sta ti o n, rwo direcr hits we re clai m ed on a sma ll wa rship anchored in th c harbour. This was rh e Roya l Navy's 625 -[On rive r gunboat Ladybird, reca ll ed fro lll rh e C hin a sta rion ro rake part in rh e ea rli er bombardille nt ofl3ardia. Jus t

46

how Illan y Ju 88s ra rgeted the lirri e ves el is no lo n ge r cl ea r, bur ce rta inl y

fewer rhan rhe Lflc0,bird's ca ptain d esc ribed at rhe rim e;

S

»

r-

-I

' So m c 47 bombers swoo ped rowards us. My chi ef g unner's m a te

»

saw the first ae rop lane dropping

n

o :D

»

o ut of th e sun shin e, a nd it la id a

:D

o

sti ck of bombs so near that the ex pl os ion s fl u ng the c rew

0 11

the

deck. T he n th ere was a terrific screech , a lld th e re ca m e a not her lot, one or w hi ch got us ri gh t aft, almost immedi a te ly

pU ([ln g

th e

d eck

under water. Then a nother bomb go t us in the eng in e roo m. The ship shi ve red from ste m ro stern a nd was obviously sinkin g.'

Lrlt6,bird we nt d ow n in a mat te r of minures, bur a mi xed Force of Brir ish c rui se rs and d ew 'oye rs e nco unte red off rh e coasr o r I.ibya rh e (o ll ow ing a ft e rn oo n ( 13 May) did Il or offe r suc h a n easy targe r. In d eed, th e CruppellJtflU of II I.ILC I los t a mac hin e to a n t i-airc ra ft fire fro m rh e c rui se r IIjflxwhen ' LI +A D ' a p pea red ro take a direc t hit ill Ih t: coc kpir w hil e in th e middle of irs di ve. T hrougho ut th e lanc r ha lf of May 1941, whil e th e fig hti ng raged on a nd aro un d C re tc. III.ILC I co nti nued ro suppOrt Ro mm el' s d esert advance. H a uptm a nn

iet,ch 's II I.ILG I crews also fl ew.t n umber of

co n voy escor t an d ma ri time reco n naissance mi ss ions dur in g rhi, period . T he ir ma in ta rget, howeve r, remain ed the British and Com mon wea lth

Although based in Greece, 1.{F)/121 maintain ed a permanent presence of f our aircraft Ion a rotational basis) in North Africa throughout the latter half of 1941. This elaborately camouflaged example has barely made it back from Libya before be lly-landing on a Cretan beach . One source st at es that thi s is the machine in which future reconnaissance Knight's Cross w inner Oberl eutn ant Alfon s Muggenthal er w as flying as navigator/observer

g ro und forces fa lling back on rh e Egyptian frontier. They artacked troops a nd vehicles in rhe Sollum and Fort Capuzzo areas, a nd attemp red ro block th e H a lfaya Pass. Bur ir was ro Tobruk th:[[ they return ed rim e an d rime aga in. Th e bartered but srubborn ga rri so n was ro be a rhorn in Rom mel' s sid e fo r th e nex t six months. Success ive attempts

to

take

Tobruk by d irect land a,sau lt all e nd ed in fa ilure, a nd bot h th e rown a nd l13 rbo ur wo uld featun.: large ill 111 .l LC 1'5 act ivities in the wee ks a hca d .

FORCE REDEPLOYMENT Fo ll owing th e successfu l co nc lus io n o f rh e C re[;1 n campa ig n ea rl y in Jun e, th c re was a w ho lesale red e ploym e nt of LufrwafFe unirs in Ihe M edite rran ea n rh ea tre. Clea rl y beli ev in g hi s e ne my ro be o n t hc ropes a n ass umpr io n that was, a r th e tim c, no r roo fa r from th e rruth - Hitl e r o rd e recl thar press ure be kepI up on th e Briri sh. T he OKL. (L.ufrwaffe Hi gh Co mm a nd ) t he rd-o re rra nsfe rred X. Fliegerkorps ell bloc from Sicil y ro Greece and rh e Aegea n in order to pursue 'o perat io ns aga ins t England (s ic) in the eas tern Med ire rranea n '. Already ar Ele usis, I. and II.ILC I were we ll pl aced ro ca rry o ut such operar io ns. A nd th ey we re wo n jo in ed in Greece by rhose J u 88 units sti ll stat ion ed on Sicil y - II I.IKG 30 a nd rhe KOlps' two st rategic reconnaissance Stfljfiln, I .(F)/ 12 1 a nd 2.(F) / 123. The bombers faced a formidab le rask.

or onlv we re th ey to swee p the

easte rn Medirerranean for Alli ed nava l a nclm e rc ha nr ships, rh ev were also to arrack pons a nd coastal towns in rhe a rea, bo mb military insra ll a rions a nd RAF airfields in rh e Ni le Delra region and min e st rareg ic ha rbours

47

t.J.J t.J.J

a: :r: I-

a: t.J.J

l-

e...


:r: u

48

and warerways, including rh e Suez Canal - J ra il ord er fo r a force of juSt four Kamp!gruppen (in cl ud ing rh e H e I l ls of II .1 KG 26) Jnd one, moreover, th ar could fi eld barely 50 se rvi ceable mach ines from rhe ourser. Li tt le time was lost in ge tri ng the offensive und erway. I. and l l.lLG I fl ew rh eir flrsr operarion (a raid on Alex and ria) du ring rh e night of 7/8 Jun e. Des pi re ir bein g a max im um effo rt - all but twO of the 33 se rviceable aircrafr des patched reported ly arri ving ove r th e targer area - rhe bomb ing had little effect. And alrh ough no J u 88s were losr, fi ve suffered damage when landing back ar eirh er Eleusis or Rhod es-G adu rra. In rh e monrhs ahead ir became not un co mmo n fo r crews of I. and II .1 LG I ro pur down on Irali an-held RJlocles afrer a fora y dee p inro the eastern Med iterranea n. T his was osrensibl y ro rop up fll el ran ks befo re rhe long ove nvarer fli ghr back ro base in Greece (and la ter C rete) . Bur rhere was anoth er reason why the Ju 88s li ked ro d rop in at Rhod es 'for safety's sake' . Provi sions ar rh eir own recently-occupied airfi elds were nor exactl y ab und anr, and the long-es tablished Ira lian airfi eld ar Gad urra, on Rhod es, could nea rl y always be reli ed upon ro com e up with some add itional deli cacies that could eith er be consum ed on the spot or taken bac k ro base ro augmenr and acid vari el)1ro rheir own meagre mess tables . T he foll owi ng nighr (8/9 Jun e), II .1 LG I ve mured fu rth er easr srill wirh a ra id o n Hai fa , in Palestine, dur in g whi ch Haup rmann Joachim Helbig hir o n an oil ra nk fa rm. Nex t afte rn oo n the Ju 88s of I.ILG I sraged fo rwards ro Rhodes with rhe in tenrion of mount ing a seco nd ni ghr arrack on Ha ifa. But this plan was aba ndoned when ir was caughr by a dusk RAF bomb in g raid o n Gadu rra. Ir rhus Fell ro II . Crllppero make rh e eighr-hour ro und trip from Eleusis ro H aifa alone. T he 16 J u 88s started a number of fires and one crew also reported a hi t o n dle 545 0-ro n li ght cruiser Phoebe thar was lying in rhe harbo ur. Wi th I. Cmppe sti ll li ckin g irs wo unds on Rhodes , 11 .1 LG I retu rn ed ro H aifa o n 10/ II Ju ne for rh e rhil·d night in a row, bomb in g rh e har bou r and mining its entrance. T hen, on rhe morni ng of 13 June, aeri al reconnaissance sigh red a group of Roya l Navy shi ps - reported ro be a cru iser and six dew'oye rs - off rh e Palesrinian coast. I. and II .l LG I (rhe former having rerurn ed ro Eleusis rh e da y before) were despatched ro arrack the wa rsh ips. They we re the vessels of the 15th C ruiser Squadron , which were parroll ing close inshore as part of the naval force support ing rhe brief cam paign currend y being foughr agai nst the Vichy French in Syri a. And th e ships enj oyed ae rial pro tection , courtesy of Tomahawks of rh e now Pal estini an-based No 3 Sqn RAAF. Un forrunarel y for rh e LG I crews, eighr fig hters arri ved on rhe scene jusr as rhey commenced rheir cl ive on rh e wa rships. T he Ausrr:llians co rrectl y idell[ified rhe attackers as J u 88s, bur described them as 'wearing Iralian markings' - perh aps th conFu iOIl arose from rhe Junkers' white afr

Straw -hatted groundcrew of II./LG 1 ride a bomb-train of 500-kg Luftmine A parac hute mines out to the wa iting aircraft at Herak li on

Fusel age bands? Be thar as it may, the sudden appea ran ce o f the To mahaw ks put th e bo mbe rs off th eir a im. 0 ships were hit and twoJu 88s o fl l. Gmppe CLI +DM ' and ' LI +CN') we re los t.

S

,l> -I

l>

Th e twO Gruppen had m o re success w hen th e)' return ed to th e S)' ri an coas t to attac k [h e wa rships o nce aga i n 48 ho urs later. H its were cl aim ed o n fo ur vesse ls, includin g th e I 370- tOn d es troye rs l /ex andlsis, bot h of whi ch we re bad ly dam aged. T he fo ll ow ing d ay's OKW co mmuniqu e a nn ounced

('")

l>

:c

o

th at a light crui se r had bee n sunk after sufferin g fo ur d irecr hits a nd that a heavy cru ise r had bee n bad ly d amaged! T hi s time th e Royal N avy's ae ri al umbrella was bein g prov ided b)' Hurri ca nes of N o 80 Sqn. Two a irc raft: o f 5.1 LC I we re forced to make eme rgene)' la ndin gs, w ith 'L I +EN' putt ing d ow n to th e no rth in neutral Turkey, w here Stlljfilkapit.iin Oberlcutn anr \'(I i1ge r Schacht a nd hi s crew we re pro m p tl y inte rn ed . W h ile I. a nd ll .l LC I we ree m ploycd in th cses trategico perati o ns in th e easte rn M ed iterra nea n, III. Gmp;)(' had bec n e ngaged in th e Luftwa ffe's mo re c ustOm ar)' tacti ca l ro le Ayin g in , uppo rt o r ROIll mel " troops in the Westcrn D cse rT. Durin g th e pas r wee k the ir ra rge ts had includ cd e ncm y positi ons at Sid i Ba rrani , M crsa, Fuka a nd , o f course, Tob ruk. Bu r th en o n 14 jun e - th e d ay H a uptm a nn Kuno

o rTlll a n n, A'onllllrlllr!mrot l.l LC I ,

was awa rd ed th e Kni ghr 's C ross fo r h is (,'mppe s perfo rlll ancc in thc rCCC Ill Ba lka n a nd C reta n ca m pa ig ns - the Briri sh laun c hed Ope rari o n Bllrtlellxe, a lim itcd co ulHe r-o ffe nsivc a im cd at rh , reli ef ofT ob ruk . Alth o ug h d ow n ro less t han a d oze n serv icea ble m ac hi ncs, II I.! LC I fl cwa co ns[anr ro un d of mi ss io ns durin g th c d ay li g ht ho urs o f' 15 jun e aga inst g ro und ta rge ts in rh e So llum - Fo n Cap uzzo a reas of th e Egy pti a nNo su ch lu xuries as bomb troll eys in the d esert, apparently - but who needs them wh en ei ght men are all it t akes to roll a 1000-kg bomb into posit ion beneath this Ju 88A -6 of III ./ LG 1, perh aps in preparation for yet anoth er raid on Tobruk . The origin al print of this photograph is d ated 13 June 1941, just one day prior to Operatio n Battleaxe

Libya n bo rd e r, whe re Ro mmel 's t roops we re of'fe rin g fl ercc res ista nce. T hree days late r, o n 18 june, I. a nd ll.!LC I we re o rd e red d ow n fro lll EJ eusis to add t heir we igh t to t he aerial assau lt on th e ,nta ckin g Briti, h arm o ur. Bu t by rh c n Bflttleflxewas a lrea d ), in se ri o us tro ub le. Th e re we re re po rts of mo re th a n 150 British ta nks hav in g been kn ocked OUI , a nd Ih c Brirish rh e mse lves we nt so fa r as ro admit th a t ' rh e la nd hattl , has swu ng very mu c h in th e enc m y's favo ur'. W ithin ho urs Bllttleaxe had bee n aba nd o ned a ltoget her. Britis h a nd Co mm o n wea lth troo ps pu lk d b ~l c k, a nd a pe ri od a lmos t of sta lem a te se rri ed ove r th e \'(Ies te rn D ese rT, a t leas t o n th e gro und , as bo th sid es so ug h t to bu il dup t he ir ' trc ng rh fo r t he nex r Ill ajo r co nfronrati o n. Fo r th e Eleusis-basecl l. a ndl.lLC I it was qui ckly back to busin ess as usual in [he easre rn M edi terranean. Th eirj u 88s ra ided Alexa ndri a durin g the night of 20/2 1 june and again 48 ho urs later. T he two Gmppm visited Alexa ndri a at least th ree m o re times.


(,'rllppe, fi nd in g few ta rge ts

o f o ppo rtun ity in the ir swee ps o f Egy pt's wes te rn front ie r reg io ns,

49

LJ.J LJ.J

ex: I f-

ex: LJ.J

f-

a.. <{ I U

50

more ofren rha n nor rounded off their miss ions by un loadi ng rh eir bombs on lo ng-s uFFerin g Tobr uk dur ing rh e fli ght back (0 base ar Dern a. T hey also regularly atrac ked the small coasra l convoys rhar ran rh e ga unrl er from Egypr (0 Ferry supp lies (0 rhe Tobruk ga rriso n. One such operation on 29 Ju ne resu lred in rhe loss of the J 100-to n desrroye r Wflterhm oFF So ll um. A nca r mi ss holed rhe vesse l's engine- room , and although it was rake n in tow, rhe w
Ismaili a a nd H a iFa, a nd a rracked rh e a irfi eld ar Ab u Sueir, where ir was claim ed - som ewhar opr imi sricall y, pe rhaps - rh a r over 100 a i rc raFt were d es rroyed on the grou nd , t h ree han gars were leFt blaz in g fi e rce ly a nd rh e w ho le field was 'just o ne

a :n ("')

l>

:n

a

hu ge sea of fl a m es'. But its g rea tes r con fi rmed success of rhe momh was ac hi eved durin g rhe ra id o n shippin g in Suez Bay o n th e ni gh t of 13/ 14 Jul y when rwo bombs h it rh e Yet another ' AS' -coded machine, this one being '4D+AS' of 8./KG 30, pictured on a bright but breezy summer's day sometim e around the end of June 1941 - shortly before t he Staffel was withdrawn

27,75 9- ton li ne r Ceorgie, now se rvin g as a troop tra nsporr. Fire raged

from the Mediterranean

th e vessel aga in 48 ho urs late r. Hit by a no th er Fo ur bo mbs, th e Deftnder was take n in tow by the d em 'oye r Vendett{/, but Found ered o ff Sidi Ba n-a ni.

throu gh the gia m vessel, w hi ch was at first g ive n up as a tota l loss . II I.ILG 1 also had a n ant i-s hippin g success to repo rr, albeit o n a less gargamuan scale. H av in g a lready dam aged the 1375- ron d estroye r

Deftn der nort h oF So li um in the ea rl y hours of9 J u ly, rh e Cruppe located

But , as usua l, it was Tobr uk th at rece ived most of 111.l LG I 's atte mi o n in Ju ly, a lth o ugh ot he r ta rge rs a rrac ked durin g th e momh includ ed a rroop enca m pment nea r M ersa M a rruh a nd the a irfi eld a t Fuka. G ive n rh e ime nsiry a nd frequ e ncy of the o pera ti o ns fl ow n , ir is in c redible thar th e e ntire CesehllJ{/cier suffe red just one co mbat Fata li ty throu gho ur the wh o le of Ju ly. This was a 6.

StaJfel air g unn e r k ill ed b y

a mi -a ircraft fire du ring th e arra ck o n Briti sh shi ppin g oFF H a iFa o n the 8 rh . T h ree of th e Ceschwacier's a ircraFt had bee n w rit ten o Ff, howeve r This si lh ouette, clearly depicting a sm all twin -funnelled warship, together with the tonnage 11300) and date 111 .7.41) recorded alongside, all point to the sam e thing - this must be the aircraft responsible for sinking the Roya l N avy destroyer Defender off Sidi Barrani

o ne in a n RAF bombin g ra id o n Elc usis (also , co in c id e nta ll y, o n the 8 th ), a no th e r in a d itc hin g a nd rh e third in an e me rge ncy la ndin g. In terms of operati o ns fl ow n, August was ve ry much a co ntinuati o n of Ju ly. But successes we re beco min g fewer a nd losses we re start in g to climb. Th e most seri o us materi al loss occurred o n 17 Au gLlst when th ree Ju 88s were des troyed at E leusis, a nd ano th er twO seve rel y d amaged. T he Ceschw{/der reported these as bein g the result of yet a nother RAF ra id , when in Fact it appears that o ne of th e ae ri al m ines bein g load ed aboard th e aircraft for th at n ight's miss io n had bee n acc id em aliy deto nated . Th e neares t th e Ceschwader ca me to a sinkin g in August was w hen 111 .l LG 1 dam aged the d estroye r Nizam no rrhwest oFM ersa M atruh o n the 2 1sr. But two d ays later, when attackin g a coastal co n voy off Sid i Ban-ani , III. Cmppe losr a n aircraFt in a runnin g fi gh t with th e ships' esco rtin g T o mahawks. Th e month was ro end o n a happi e r no te, however, when, o n 3 0 August, Eleusis witn essed another Kn ight's C ross prese ntatio n by Cesdnvaderkommotlore Obersrl eum anr Knu st. On th is occasion rhe recipi ent was OberFeid webei Fra nz Schlund , a m mber of H auptm a nn Joachi m Helbig's c rew. H av i ng fl own 200 + m iss ions a nd success Fu lly Fought off 13 fi g h ter attacks, Schlund was rhe first LuFtwa ffe wirel ess-operaro r/a ir gunne r to be honou red w ith th e Kni ght's C ross. By mid -Septembe r 194 1 ir was beco min g a ll too ev id ent that Romm el was losing rhe \'\fes te rn D esert su pp ly race - a nd los in g it bad ly. It was clea r that th e ea rli e r d ec is ion ro tran sFe r X. Fliegerkofps From Sic il y to Greece and C re te had bee n no t m erely pre m ature, b ut a maj o r blu nd e r.

51

UJ UJ

Hauptm ann Jo ac him Helbig, right, report s his 4. Staffel all present and correct to LG 1 ' s Geschwader-

a: I f-

kommodore Oberstleutn ant Friedrich Karl Knust. The date is

a: LU

f-

30 August 1941, the place Eleusis

"-

«

airfield,Greece, and the occasion .

I U

... the presentation of the Knight 's Cross to Helbig ' s wirelessoperator/air gunner, Oberfeldwebel Fran z Schlund, see n here (centre 1 between Helbig and the Geschwader's sta nd ard bearer

Th e task of keep ing Malta in check had bee n e/l[rusred rh is had proved

[0

[00

the Itali ans, b ur mu ch for th em

alo ne. M alta 's streng th had bee n all owed

[0

grow and now its a ir a nd

sea forces we re aga in w reak in g ha voc o n the Ax is su pp ly co n voys Afri ca. In a n attem pt ROlllmel 's

vital

[0

[0

No rth

safeguard

seaborn e

sup ply

lin e, X Fliegerkorps was ordered

[0

suspend its strategic operati o ns in the eastern Med ite rra nea n an d d ivert all its e nerg ies instead to co nvoy esco rt and p rotectio n mi ss io ns. Th is, It was hoped, wo uld help all ev ia te so m e of t he imm ed ia te press u re bei ng fe lr by Ax is forces cur ren tly ho ldi n g fa st a lo ng the

52

Libya n- Egypti a n bo rd er reg io n. But

Hauptmann Herm ann Hogeback, the Staffelkapitan of 8./LG 1, w as awarded the Knight 's Cross in Afric a on 8 September 1941 . He is shown h ere (seco nd from leftl in early, 1943 w ea ring the Oak Lea ves as Gruppenkommandeurof III./KG 6 (the ex-III./LG 11 . By war' s end Oberstleutnant Hogeback h ad received the Swords and w as Geschwaderkommodore of KG 6 . But perh aps his greatest claim to fame is that by then his w as the only bomber crew in the entire Luftwaffe with every member sporting the Knight's Cross l

it did nothin g

[0

add ress the roo t ca use o f th e p rob lem - t he res urge nce

o f Malta. T hi s wo uld requ ire mo re dras tic acti o n. And drasric act io n was abo u r [0 be ta ke n . W ith hi s a rmi es in Russ ia slow ly g rindin g

-l

l> [0

lul t a nd beg in n in g

[0

d ig in Fo r t he w in te r in Fro n t o f Moscow, Hitl e r d ecreed th at rhe H Q of the air fl ee r respo nsibl e Fo r rhe ce ntra l sec[O r, Luf iflotte 2 - [Ogeth e r w ith o ne oF irs co m po ne n t fl.iegerkolps- sh o uld be w i rhd raw n Fro m th e easre rn Fro m a nd tra nsFe rred lo ck, s[Ock a nd ba rre l

s: l> ,

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Sicily

[0

o :0

n l> :0

o

res um e rh e a ir

o FFe nsive aga inst Ma lta. But rhe co mb at units in vo lved in thi s la rge-sca le m o ve wo uld need tim e

[0

re-equip a nd recupe rate Fro m rhe rigo urs of rhe

Russ ia n Fro nt' . An d tim e was so m ethin g Ro mm el did n o t have. O n 18 No ve m ber Ge n Auch in leck, th e Brirish C- in-C M idd le Easr, bun ched hi s now co nside rable a rm o ured srre ngrh in a wide sweeping move m em rhro ug h the d esert a round rhe so uth e rn fla nk of th e G e rm a nheld H alFaya Pass posirio n. At fl rsr Ro mm el was unsure whe rh e r rhi s was Ill e rel y a reco nn a issa nce o r a majo r o ffe nsive. H e was nor left in u t1 ce rtainty Fo r lo ng. O pera rio n Crusader was a very d iFFe rent pro pos iri o n in deed An equally informal shot of Hauptmann 'Jochen ' Helbig and his crew. They are, from left to right, Major Stefan (navigator/observer), Helbig (pilot). Oberfeldwebel Schlund (wire less-operator/air gunner) and Unteroffizier Czirpa (air gunner) . N ote the badge of II. /LG 1 - the coat-of-arms of the city of Schwerin - on the machine in the background . Compare it with the stylised geese of III. Gruppe (the later III./KG 6) shown in the photo at bottom of page 52. Loss tables indicate that Wk-Nr. 4371 seen here was ' L 1+KS ', which was subsequently shot down by a Hurri cane east of Derna on 27 December 1941 (see text on page 55)

Fro m rhe earli er ill - prepa red a nd poo rl y executed Battleaxe. And all d o ub r was d ispell ed whe n th e ad va ncing troo ps linked up wirh rhe d e Fen d ers o f T ob ruk , brin ging to an end the hi sto ri c eigh t-m o n th siege. Ro mm e l bega n to retreat ac ross Cyrena ica, mo untin g a se ri es of co ume r-a rracks, but w ta lly un able

[0

halt Auc h inl eck's p rogress . Be nghazi

was retake n o n C hri stm as Eve 194 1 a nd Ro mm el Fe ll back on EI Ag he il a. By yea r's end p rac ti call y the who le of Cy rena ica was in British lunds (alt ho ugh Bardi a a nd H alFaya co ntinu ed w ho ld o ut unril Ja nu a ry 1942) . But Ro mmel 's a rmi es had no t bee n co mp letely d es rroyed. Tru e, he had suffered a se rio us reve rsal , a nd ove r 3 0 ,000 oFh is m en had bee n cap tured , bur, cr uc ially, th e Aft-iRa KOlpsrem ain ed in being - a nd imm edi a tely bega n p reparin g fo r a re newed co unter-offe nsive or its ow n . So m uch For rhe situat io n o n the gro u nd in N o rth Africa du ri ng th e last six weeks o f 194 1. Bur w hat o f LC I 's acrivities dur in g rh ar sa m e pe ri od ) H eavy sa nd and ra in s[O rm s in the Benghazi regio n o n 17 No ve mber (rhe eve o f Crusader) h;1d kep r 111 .l LC 1 on rh e gro und Fo r mu c h of t he d ay. And the n, indi ca rive of rhe co nFusio n in rhe G e rm a n ca mp a r rhe srarr of Auchin lec k's o FFe nsive, a grea rer part of th e nex r 4 8 ho urs was spe n r by rhe Ceschwader o ur o ve r rhe M edirerranea n Ayin g co n voy-esco rr a nd a nt i-s h ip p in g pa tro ls. It was no r unti l 20

o ve m ber rh ar III. Cruppe

interve ned in rhe gro und ca mpa ign by arrac ki ng rroo p m ove m e nts alo ng rhe Egypr ia n bo rd e r. All a irc raFr re rurn ed sa Fely, but a surp ri se ra id by RA F fl g hrers rh a r sa me d ay d esrroyed three of 111 .l LG I 's J u 88s a nd d a maged fi ve m o re, rhree o f w hi c h we re written off. D es pite - o r pe rh aps beca use of - rh ese losses, rh e bulk of I. a nd II .l LC I fl ew in Fo llow in g day. O n 22 No ve mbe r all rhree

lO

Ben i na fro m Ele usis th e

Cruppen o perated in suppOrt o f Ro mmel 's

troo ps. Two bo mbe rs we re losr, I . Staffil $ ' L 1+J H ' be ing d ow ned by anti -a ircra fr fire w h ilc 3n acking ta n ks and a n un id e nrifl cd J u 88 o f 4 .l LG I Fo rce- la ndin g in rh e d ese rt afrer be in g ser upo n by Hurri ca nes_ It was rh e sra rt of a cosrl y peri od fo r rh e Ceschwacler. By yea r-end ir had losr m o re th a n a d oze n J u 88s, wirh alm ost as ma ny aga in d a maged . Afre r jusr five d ays a r Ben i na m osr of I. a ndll./LC I ' s airc ra fr re turn ed lO

Ele usis. H e ncefo rt h, rhe cwo

Cntppert wo uld o pe ra te pr im a ri ly Fro m

53

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lh eir ho m e base in Greece, arrac kin g British and

lin es

of co mmuni ca ti o n

supp ly routes to

th e

rea r

o f Auc hin lcck's ad van c in g t roops . A frequ e llt ta rget was the Egypt ia n coasta l

ra ilway ,

part ic ul a rl y

wes tern te rmlllus -

ItS

th e ra il head

and la rge sto res d epots at Sid i Ban·a ni. O n occasion t hey wo uld also d ep loy bri efl y ro o ne o r other of [he Cy renaica n ai rfi e ld s still in Lufrwaffe ha nd s ro o ffe r more d irec t suppOrt ro th e e mbattl ed Afi·ikfl Korps. Late in th e afte rn oon of29 Novembe r. for exam ple, II .l LG 1 fl ew in ro D c rn a. The Cruppl' wou ld rem a in here for o nl y a fcw h o urs be fore staging, via Be nin a, bac k ro Eleusis. But it was lo ng e nough both for

4. Staffers ' LI +C M ' ro be bro ugh t d ow n by a ni gh tflghter a nd for H a uptm a nn Joac him H elb ig (w ho had bee n a ppo illtcd Koml'f/fllldeurof I. Cmppeo n 5 ovember) ro be slightl y wo und ed in a n RAF bomb in g

Although b ased prim arily in Greece, I./LG "s Ju 88s flew numerous missions in support of the Afrika Korps. 2 . Staffers desert dappled ' L' +EK ' (note 'last two' repeated on the rudder in white l is idea ll y garbed for such operations

ra id o n Benina . It was at thi s tim e, roo , that LG 1's estab lishm ent was in c reased ro four

Cmppen. Like nea rl y eve ry othe r Kflmpjgeschwflder, LG 1 had long had its ow n ErglinzlIlIgsstafJeLn. T hese we re th e ope rat ional tra inin g sq uadron s that prepared new ly qualifi ed c rews for fro ntl in e se rvice with the un ie Bac k in Septe mbe r the fl rsr of LG 1's ErgtinzlIlIgsstflffeLn had bee n tra nsfe rred from th e homeland ro Salo ni ka , in G reece, where it was to ga in operatio na l ex pe ri ence by flying co nvoy esco rt mi ssions in the Aegea n. On 23

ovember the three trgtinz /illgssmffeLIl we re amalgamated a nd

red es ignated officiall y to beco me IV.l LG I . Still based at Salo ni ka , their prim:lIy task now was to condu ct anri -s ubmarin e patrob ill th e Aegean a rea. T his led to the poss ib ly u n iqu e situatio n of th ere bein g

[WO

entirel y separate

Cruppm curren tly o n the Lufrwaflc 's o rder of batrl e, each bea rin g rhe sam e d es ignati o n. Fo r in the Far no rthern sector of the Russ ian front the o riginal d ive-bo mber Cmppe of th e pre-wa r Lehrgeschwflder was sti ll operating as IV.(St)/ LG I. Presumab ly it was felt [hat th ere was lirtl e fear of co nfi.lsio n

54

Having been given the green and white flag, 5./ LG "s 'L' +FN ' roar s down the runway - at Eleusis? - and is ju st about to lift off

given the geographi c.1.1 sepa rat ion of th e twO uni ts, one Aying Ju 87s in th e Arctic and th e other AyingJ u 88s in the Aegea n. I n th e event, the matte r was resolved twO months later wh en the fo rm er was fI nally redes ignated I.lS tG 5. By I I D ece mber I. a nd II.ILG I we re bac k in ort h Afri ca, a t D e rn a and Tm imi res pectively. T oge ther w irh III. Gruppe, whi c h was still o pera tin g out of D e rn a, raids were Aow n aga ins r T o bruk a nd attacks ca rried out on m oto ri sed columns nea r rh e dese rt fo rtress ofBir H ac heim . I .l LG I lost its seco nd Staffilkapiliill in JU St ove r four month s wh e n Oberleurnant H einri c h Pa ulu s' ' LI +HH ' Was forced to land in th e dese rr afrer heing er upo n by a mi xed form a tion of Tomahawks and Hurri ca nes. Paulus a nd his crew were all ta ke n into ca ptivity.

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By thi s stage Romm el was fa lli ng back on th e Gazala Line to the west of T o bruk. The Lu ftwaffe's airfi elds in Cy re n aica were coming unde r increasing air artack, and as the flghring front approached th ey were abandoned o ne after rh e o th er, a ny un servicea bl e m achin es bein g blown u p to preve nt rheir fa llin g into e nemy hand s. During th e afternoo n of I I Decembe r all three Cmppm of LG I bega n w ithdrawing to Ele usis. In th e week th a t fo ll owed t he re was a brief res urge nce in ant i-s hi pp in g ac ti vity , with in co nclusive arrac ks o n Roya l avy warships on both th e 14 th a nd 17 th. The latter d ate also wirnessed th e new IV. Gmppe's first opera ti o nal loss when ' L I +K \XI' fai led to return fro m a n a rm ed reco nn aissa nce swee p of the sea to th e west of C rete. But still th e Cesc/JllIac/er co ntinued ro o~Ter wha t help ir co uld to the hard -pressed Afrika Korps. se ndin g o ne or morc Gmppen across rh e M editerranea n to arrack targe rs in rh c Wesre rn D ese rt every day unril yea r', end. At leas t three J u 88s fell victim to RA F fighte rs during th is rim e, th e las t - 8. Staffil's' Li +KS' - being claimed by rh e CO of th e Hurri ca ne-equipped 0229 Sq n between Gazala and Derna o n 27 December. Three d ays late r. thc surv ivin g desert vetera ns of III. Cmppe departed Elcusis for alo nika , whe re they passed th eir aircrafr ovc r to IV.lLG I before e ntrainin g for C erm any to res t a nd re-cquip. Red es ig nated to bcco m c II I.IKG 6 in 1942, rhe Cmppe would return brieAy ro th e M edite lTan ca n in Ihis ncw g ui se durin g th e Iattc r hal f o f 1943. By now th e HQ of LuJiflotte 2 had a rri ved in Sicil y from Russ ia. T he co mbat units of II. Fliegerkorps also began to a~embl e o n the island in preparat ion fo r the renewal of the assa ult o n M alta. The Korps'main striking power was co nce ntrated in its fi ve Kamp/gruppen, ;t11 Ayin g J u8 8s - I.IKC 54 based at Ge rbini , II. and III.IKG 77 at C omiso a nd KartlpJiruppen 606 and 806 at C atania, th esc last nvo bein g se mi -a utonom ous bomber uni ts crea ted o ut of the Kiisle!lfliegergruppen (coastal reconnaissance wing) of th e ea rl y war years. Including X. Fliegerkorps' three Ju 88 Crupper! in G reece (I. , II. and IV.lLG I), the re we re thus eight Kamp!gmppm equipped with Ju 88s in th e Mediterranean theatre at the beginn in gof 1942 (a lth ough none curre ntl y based in North Africa) .

BACK TO MALTA Th e opening of th e seco nd ro und of the air bombardment of Malta was another very low-key affa ir. I t was alm ost as if the Lufnvaf'fe had taken a leaf from th eir e ne my's book. IJ. Fliegerkorps' ope ra tion s, consisti ng of sm a ll formations of bo mbe rs - ofte n as few as three or four pe r mi ssio n stro ngly esco rted by fi ghters, we re ve ry re mini sce nt of th e 'C ircus' ta cti cs

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employed by the RAF when it bega n its 'lean inro France' in the summerof 194 I. Raids at this level , amounting ro li ttle more than harassi ng attacks, wo uld continue to be fl own aga inst M;tlra unri l ea rl y March. There we re, however, cwo Fu ndamcnra l differences from the earlier RAF operations over north west Eu rope - a succession of such missions wo uld he sent against Malta nearly every day, up ro a max imum of some 40-50 indi vidua.l bomber sorti es, and the LuFtwaffe also attacked the island by night. Wh ether rh ese ra ids achieved their desired eFfect is J moot point. They cerra inly took a small but steady ro ll of the Ju 88s ordered ro fl y them, both in term s of co mbat Glsualties and losses from other causes. Some of the earliest casualti es we re reco rd ed eve n before 194 1 was out I I.fKG 77 and KG r. 806 eac h lost a mac hine on 24 December. And by th e end of J anuary 1942 everyo ne of th e fi ve J u 88 Crt/ppm based on Sicil y had suffe red similarl y. The aw· ition continued throu ghout th e followin g month . Among th e crews lost was that of Oberl eutnant Herbert Loerz, th e Sta/felkapiliin of 7.1 KG 77, whose '3Z+ DD ' was shot inro the sea nonh of Ma lta's G rand Harbour on 12 February. T en days b rer II. Fl.iegerkorpswas rein forced by th e arri val at Catania of I.!LG I. T his was ro be the I·; rst of a number of deployments ro Sicily by cl ements of LG 1 fro m their bases in G reece and C rete, pres umab ly ro add rh eir Mediterran ea n ex pertise ro specific missions or operati ons. O n this in itial occasion I. Cruppeca rri ed O Ul rhree raids o n Malta before returnin g ro Herak lion, on C rete, on 24 February. The tempo of th e att3cks on tvlJ lta , irs docks, and airfields gradu all y began ro in crease dur in g th e first half of March. This was reflected in the growin gcas ualry returns oftheJu 88 Cmppen. Includecl amo ng them was ,)nother of KG 77's lu ckl ess Slllffil.kapildne - '3Z+ LP', the machi ne piloted by O berl eut nant Ge rh ard Gecker of 6.1KG 77, was brought down by gunfire ovc r Hal Fa r o n 9 March. Th e previous aftern oo n I. / LG 1 had fl ow n back in ro Cata nia fo r another three-day stint of Malta operations. Th c Crf.lppe's m3chines participated in a 40+ raid on Luqa ancl Hal Far airfi elds on 10 i'vl arch when, For the first tim e, the Luftwaffe encoulllereci RAF Spitfi res in the skies abovc Malta. On 16 Ma rch it was the rurn o f II.l LG 1 to tran sfer from C retc ro

Some found Si cily a little hard er to get used to . 'M7 +DH ' of 1./KGr 806 has nosed over in the soft soil , the result of a t axiing accident at Cat ania on 4 Janu ary 1942

As the evening clouds gath er over Comi so, an unidentified m achine of KG 77 , all fus elage and t ail m arkings bl acked o ut, prepare s for th e co ming night' s raid on M alta. Note th e Do 24 air-sea rescue flying-bo at of th e Taormin a-b ased Seenotstaffe/6 ov erh ea d

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Once arrived at Com iso, on Sicily, the crews of KG 77 quickly got down to business if those bombs in the foreground are anything to go by. The one on the left is a 2200-lb SC 1000 ' Hermann', whilst that on the right a 3960-lb SC 1800 ' Satan '. Both appear to be painted the standard light sky blue, and each has the yellow stripe between the tail fins denoting its SC category i .e. Sprengbombe-Cy/indrisch Ithin -cased GP bomb)

C atania , whe re it wou ld re m a in unril th e e nd of Apri l. O n th e day of th e ir a rri va l, H aupt m a nn Ko llewe's c rews we re res pons ible For nin e of th e fi Ftee n minor in cursions logged by Ma lta's d eFe nd e rs betwee n 0 733 hrs and 1842 hrs o n that d ate (th e re m a ini ng six attac ks bein g ca rri ed ou r by m ac hin es oFKG 77) . Twe nty- fo ur ho urs la te r, II.ILG I was join ed at Ca ta ni a by J./LG I , but aga in t he latte r's stay las ted just three days be Fore it ret um ed on ce m o re ro C rete. Th en , o n 20 March , rh e LuftwafFe's assa ul t o n Ma lta und e rwe nt a dra m at ic cha nge. Th e day bega n in th e usua l mann e r, w ith pen ny- packe ts of Ju 88s (From II .l LG I a nd II .l KG 77) attackin g va ri o us targe ts across the island. Th e o n ly note o ut of th e o rdinary was prov id ed by a pair of LG I ma chin es that atta cked the Roya l Navy's submarin e base a t Manoel Island w ith rocket-ass isted PC 18 00 RS armour- p ie rc ing bombs - a lbe it ro littl e eFFect. T hat eve nin g, howeve r, a m assed ra id of some 7 0 bombe rs draw n From a ll six Ju 88

Kantpfgruppen

c urrently based on Sic il y was

directed aga inst Taka li a irfield. It was re peated th e Follow in g d ay, w he n twO of th e attacke rs were shot d ow n by th e fi eld 's AA gunn e rs - '7T+FH ' of KGr.60 6 cras hed in th e midd le of the run way a nd 5.1KG 77's ' 3Z+FN ' spu n ro eart h min us a w i ng close ro the pe ri me re r. This m a rk ed th e start of a susta in ed b li tz on Ma lta that wo uld be kep t up thro ughout a lm os t a ll of Apri l 'on the heav ies t sca le ye t brou ght ro bear by th e LuFtwa fFe aga inst a ny sin g le ob jecti ve For so long a pe riod ' . AFte r t he isla nd had bee n suFfi c ie ntl y weake ned b y b lockade a nd a ir bombardm e nt , t he Ge rm an inte nt ion was ro captu re Ma lta by a irbom e in vas io n , JU St as C re te had bee n take n t he prev ious year. T h is inte nti o n was neve r ca rri ed o ut. But so intense we re th e ra ids e ndured by th e popul ation of Ma lta dur in g thi s spri ng o f 1942 t hat H M Kin g George V I was late r mo ved to awa rd th e Geo rge C ross ro t he w ho le island in recog niti o n of th e ga ll a ntry und e r fire d isp layed by its inh a bita nts. Whi le it fe ll ro th e isla nd 's Hurri canes a nd S pitfires ro counte r the a ir ra id s, it was th e job of the Roya l Navy a nd Merchant Mar in e ro beat th e bl ockade. On 20 M a rch a con voy of' fou r sh ips - [h ree large me rchan tmen and th e nava l sup ply vesse l Breconshire, ca rry in g be twee n th em nearly 30, 000 to ns of' urge ntl y- need ed supp lies - had sa il ed From Alexa ndri a

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with a strong esco rt of warship. After beating off a succession of Ax is air and sea attacks in the eas tern M editerran ea n , th e convoy ca me with in

effective

range

of

I/,

Fliegerkorps ' units based on Sicily. The J u 88s were the first to engage, amon g th em the machin es of II.ILG I and Stab KG 77. The latter's attack, ca rried o ut late in th e afternoon o f 22 March , COSt it dea rl y wh en '3Z+AA ' , p il oted by M ajor Arved C ri.i ge r, ex-Cmppenkommr/lldl'llr of \I I./KG

30

and

KG

77's

new

Ceschwaderkommodore of just nin e days' standing, was shot into rh e sea by rhe sh ips' gu n ners. T he fo ll ow ing m orn in g rh e slowest of rh e three me rcha ntm c n, th e 7255- to n Clan Cnmpbell, wass unk by J u8 8s (probab ly of l I./J. G I ) when 2 0 miles shorr of Ma lra. No r lo ng afte rward s the Breconshire, eve n c lose r

The Norwegian Talabot under attack in Malta 's Grand Harbour on 26 March

co the isla nd , was di sa bl ed by bomb-c:trry in g Bf 1095 of I O.Uabo)/) G 53 . After a rri vin g in Gtan d H arbo ur, the two surviving fre ig hte rs becam e a prime ta rge r for the Luftwa fFe, whose c rews were ord e red to d estroy them at th e ir berths ro preve nr th e unl oading of th e ir ca rgoes . More attac ks were ca rri ed out over the nex t t hree d ays, res ulting in th e loss of six Ju 88s co th e island 's d e Fe nces, befo re a se ri es of d evas tarin g ra ids on 26 M a rch ac hi eved th e d es ired res ults. T he 6 758- ton No rwegia n Talabotwa s hit seve ral times , ca usin g fires to brea k out in its a mmunition ho lds. Th e vessel was scutrl ed co preve nt th e blaze from spreading. Three hours la re r, Oberleutnant Erw in Sy, Stflffilktlpitdll of 4.1 LG I, cla im ed a direct hit o n a '6000- ton frei ghte r' . Th is was in all like lih ood rh e 54 15-to n Pampas, whi eh also we nt d ow n when a bomb pe netrated its fu nn ..:1 :lIld

flo oded

rhe eng in e

room. At the tim e of th e a ttacks l es~ th a n ten pe rce nt of the vesse ls' vital supp lies had bee n un load ed . Seve ral other shi ps were sun k in these

ra ids

on

Valetta 's

G ra nd

H arbou r, in cl uding the d es troyer

Legion a nd the su bma rin e P .19. M ea nwhi le, th e batte red Brecowhire -

vete ran of e igh t ea rli er M alta

suppl y run s - had been towcd in to Marsax lokk

Bay o n th e island 's

so uth ern coast, where, afte r being subj ected

to

further a ttack, she

finally capsized on 27 M a rc h.

I/. Fliegerkorps' Crt/ppen contin ued their raids o n Malta throughou t 58

Apri l and into M ay. During rh i,

M alta's airfields w ere also suffering. The original caption t o this picture claims that these are bombs bursting on Luqa ...

period num e rous w3rsh ips were sunk or seve rel y dam aged in raids on Grand H arbo ur , including the subm arines r 36 and Pfilldom, both of which were sent to the bo rrom on I April. Three weeks bte r th e rem aining boats of th e Royal ary's 10th Subm arin e Floti ll a were ordered to leave Malta fo r Alexandria. With th e island's underwater

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teet h effectivel y drawn, the Ju 885 were now free to co nce nrrate on th e island 's airfields in an attemp t to neutralise th e enemy'; ae ri al strikin g powe r. Savage bombing arracks were moulllcd 3ga insl Luqa, T~lka li and H al Far alm osl daily. And th ese in led to icngth cnin g casm llY lists fo r eac h of rh e six KfllI1pjgruppen in vo lved, as crews were eith er

lUrn

broug ht down in o mbat over or nea r th e isbnd , o r crash-landed dam aged m 3chines upon relurn to their Sicili3n b35e;. · .. and this is a reconnaissance photo of the same target taken by a Ju 88 of 1.\F)!122 on the evening of 18 April 1942. The small white rings indicate fresh bomb craters that have appeared since the morning raid of 14 April. Photographic intelligence has also pinpointed and annotated five single-engined machines visible on the ground , plus five twin -engined aircraft, 15 wrecks and one still burning 6./KG 77 's ' 3Z+AP' at rest between night raids over Malta . The machine' s undersides have been painted black and the forward firing MG 81 machine-gun in the windscreen appears to have been fitt ed with a glare shield

One of Ap ril " earl iest lo;ses was Oberleulnanl OllO Bischo Ff. th e Slfljftlkflpitiill of 4.1 KG 77. whose '3Z+ LM' was d ow ned by a l3e3uflghter

on the ni g ht of I Ap ril. Ha vin g alread y distinguished him selrdurin g th e ni g ht blitz o n Britain a nd in Russi3, Bischoff was awa rded a post hum o us Kn ig ht 's Cross on J May. J.lKG 54's Stfljfel/?tIpiliil1. H :ll1ptm a nn \V ilhclm Schmidt , wa; mo re fo rtun ate w he n he wa; forced lO dil ch afler bein g hit by a nti -aircr3fl fire o n 26 April. Although wounded, he was found a nd pi ked up by th e German air-sea resc ue se rvice. Forry-eig h t hour, arte r Il a uptm ~Uln Schmidl '; 'B3+N L' ;a nk benearh rh e waves eas t of Va lella, II. Fliegerkorpsordered a m ax illluill eHo rt to be mo unted against ' all of Malta'; rem ainin g import:lnt milita ry targets not yet des troyed '. T hree ~e parare raid s - each co mpri; in g so me 50-60 + bo mbe rs a nd di ve-bo mbe rs, stro ngly escorted by fl g htc rs - we re flo w n o n 28 Ap ril. It was th e b st ma jo r atla ck t he island was to su ffer. T he ' U ln'a' in te rce pts tha t had fI rst wa rn ed of th e Ju 885' a rri va l in th e Med iterran ea n lh eatre nea rl y 18 mo nth s ca rl ie r, we re now indi ca t ing lhal II . a nd 111 .1 KG 77 were preparing to lea ve ' ic il y for France. And wit h l U lL I abo ut to return to G reece, to be followed by el e m e nts of UKG 54 in mid- M ay, rhis left on ly rwo fu ll Cmppm of

Ju 88s -

Kflmpjgmppen 606 a nd 806

- to m ainta in the press ure o n Ma lta.

This was to prove a diffi c ult and ex pe nsive task. I r has been suggested tha t th e turnin g po int in the isla nd 's fortunes

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ca me on 10 May. On rh is dare rh e island 's defend ing fi ghters alo ne claim ed 40 aircraFr destroyed or damaged. Eleven of th ese clai IllS were Fo r J u 88s, alrh ough in reali ty on ly Four f:1 iled (0 rerurn from th e day's raids - ['wo mach ines each Fro m KGI' 80G and I.IKG 54 . Th e form er unir wou ld continue ro suffer regular a[[ri rion in th e weeks ahead. Amo ng rh e casua lries were two of the Gruppe's three Stflffi1kflpildne, borh of whom fe ll (0 Spitfires. I .l KGr 80G's Hauptmann Emi l Br:lUn wa, down ed in an arrack on Ma lta's airfields on 14 May, an d Oberleurnan( Kurt Kehrer of2.1KG r 80G was piloting one of rh e twO aircraft shot into th e sea in fl ames wh ile arrack ing a convoy on 15 Jun e.

Aircraft of KGr 806 ('M7+BA' in the fore ground ) returning fro m another mission over M alta ..

MALTA RELIEF

60

Two reaso ns have been give n for rh e easin g of the heavy air raids on Malta. One is rh at man y of th e airerafr se nr (0 the Medirerranea n were needed back in Russ ia in readiness for th e 1942 summ er ca mpaign on rh e easrern Front. Th e oth er was that the renewed offensive by ROlTlmel was makin g such tremend ous ga ins in irs adva nce on Egypr rh at th e ultim are fa ll of airo, and subsequ enr Ax is co nquest of rh e N ile Delra , were now rega rded ve ry much as forgo ne co nclusions. This in turn mea nr [har an airbo rn e in vas ion of Malta was no longe r a necess ity. For rhe seco nd year in a ro w rhe bo mbin g of Malra had been prem arurely ca ll ed off - or at leas r allowed to wirh er on the vine. T he Ax is powers wo uld nor be give n rh e chance (0 make rhe sa me mi stake a third rim e. Rommel 's res ilience had indeed bee n relllarbble. Lau ncheJ back o n 18 ove mber 194 I , Ope rar ion Crl/Sflc/er had ca rr ied Briti sh forces ri ghr across Cy renaica (0 Benghazi and beyo nd . They had recaprured all the terr i(Ory rhar they had t:akcn frOIll rh e Italians rhe yea r beFore, but had rh cn lost to Ro mmel's first deserr offe nsive. Now exaccl y rh e sa me thing was abo ut to happe n aga in. T he momem Ro mmel sensed that his oppon ents we re runnin g out of mom cntum he imill ediatel y bega n preparat ions Fo r a counterattack . The suppl y siruat ion at T ripoli to his imill ed iate rear had improved co nsiderab ly. Now ir was rh e British who we re hav in g LO operare at the end of a lo ng and vuln erab le supp ly lin e. T he eas rern M editerranean Crupper! of LG I had been harass in g rh e enemy's lengr henin g lin es of co mmunicatio ns throu ghout rh e recem Ge rman retreat, hirting not onl y at road and rail rranspo rt, bur also th e porrs of Bardia and Tobruk , as we ll as the coasral supply co nvoys. It was towards the end of rhis period , on IG Janu
... and one of the photo grap hs they brought b ac k. Although understandably so mewh at out of focus - pilot Leutn ant Kissling is o nly just b eginning to climb aw ay after th e dive - the bomb burst s are cl ea rly vi sibl e . Wh ether by accide nt or design , th e aircraft 's o rdn an ce h as struck th e Custom Hous e area of the Grand Harbour w at erfront, almost exactly abov e th e island's underground operation s ro o m s and office s

freighter Thermopylae. T h is vessel had been part of a four-ship co n voy m ak ing for M aira, but after d eve lo pin g a n engin e defect it had bee n d erached and re- roured instead to Beng h;1Z i und er srro ng naval escort. Bad ly d a m aged by th e J u 88's bo mbs a nd bl azin g fi ercely, the shi p - lade n w irh mun irio ns - had to be sunk . T he fo ll owi ng eve n in g 12 a ircra Ft of I./LC I le ft Eleusis o n a hi ghly secrer m iss io n. Prov i ng th a t rh e w ireless inte rcept wa r was not al l o ne-sid ed ,

o :OJ

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o

Lu ftwaFfe signals intell ige nce had lea rn ed rhar the I-I Q of th e e ne m y's Dese rt A ir Force was ho used in a large vill a on the OutskilTS of Ba rce. Th e m iss ion was fl own und er srri ct radi o silen ce. Th e exact res ults o f rhe raid a re no t known, bur at leas r o ne crew cla im ed h irs o n th e bui lding, for wh ich each m e mber received rh e I ro n C ross, First C lass' O n 29 Ja nu ary Romme l's rroops reroo k Be ng haz i. Th e Briri sh had jmt gO t the po rt up a nd run ni ng aga in , bu t now rh ey we re forced to evacu are 'thi s ve ry va lu a b le ad va nced base' in a hurry, hav in g bee n abl e to lan d o n ly 6000 ro ns of suppli es (nea rl y ha lf o f it p er ro l) durin g rh e ir brief fi ve wee ks' occupati o n. Bur Rommel did not stOp rh e re. By th e e nd of rhe first wee k in February rhe Afrika Korps h ad adva nced as fa r as t he Caza la Lin e, less tha n 4 0 mi les fro m To bruk. T hi s was a lin e of d ee p m ine fl eld s, in te rs pe rsed by d efe nsive ' boxes' has til y se r up by rhe rerrea rin g Brit ish. It stretched from EI Cazala, o n rhe coas r road, so m e.'35 mi les d ow n in tO th e d ese rt , w he re irs so u rhe rn e nd was a nc ho red on the ' fortress' o u rpost ofB ir I-I ac he im. A nd it was he re lh at Romm e l paused to ga rh er stre ng rh. O pe ra ti o n Crusader was n ow we ll ,lnci tru ly ove r. And fo r the next three m o n ths, in t he wo rd s of o ne no ted hi stO ri a n , th e re was 'a lu ll in desert a ir o pe rat io ns', w hil e rh e eas te rn Med ite rra nea n w irn essed 'a ce lTa in a m o un t of d es u lto l-y harass in g ac tiv iry by Luftwaffe bom b er Fo rces b:lsed in C reece a nd C re re, d irec ted m a inl y aga inst th e h a rbo urs of Po rt Sa id a nd Alexa nd ri a, a nd British supp ly d epots and lin es o f co mm un icat io ns in Egyp t' . An an o nym o u s Ju 88A -4 lI ast two code lette rs are 'EN' ) alread y bomb ed u p a nd n ow bein g refu ell ed 'so m ew here in N o rth Afri ca '. Th e pranci n g b lac k horse b ad ge on t h e door o f t he Opel Blitz f u el bowser ou ght to p ro vid e a cl ue as t o t he wh ere and wh en , but so far t hi s h as defi ed posit iv e identificat io n

To th e crews of LC I ac tu all y fl y in g th e e ig hr - h o ur mi ss ions ac ross th e eas re rn M ed ite rra nea n , th e ir ope ra ti o ns d id no t see m 'd es ul ro ry' in th e leas t. W ith th e gro und fi g h t ing sra ll ed a lo ng rhe Caza la Lin e ro th e wes t o f Tob ruk , LC l 's three Cruppen - ra re ly mu ste ring on ave rage m o re rh a n 4 0 se rvicea bl e m ach ines betwee n t he m - we re h a rd pressed to ca rry o u t rhe m a n y tas ks t hey we re be i ng as ked ro pe rFor m . No r, co n trary ro rh e so m ew ha t d ismi ss ive qu o te above, we re th e ir o bj ec t ives co n fi ned

61

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to Egypr. Th ey also accac ked cargecs close to ch e fronrlin es in Libya and can cin ued to mou nc chei r an ci -sh ip ping sa ni es. 1n che ea rl y hou rs of 12 February, fo r exa mpl e, every ava ilable mac hin e of I.l LG 1 rook aPr from Eleusis ro acrack Tob ruk harbour. And i r was on this sa me date rhac a three-ship co nvoy, protected by four Roya l Navy cruise rs and 16 destroyers, left Alexa ndr ia fo r Malta. Lare the Foll owing day nine of the Geschwader's J u 88 s attacked the merchan tm en, damag ing o ne so bad ly that it had lO be rowed inco T ob ruk by two of rh e esco rting des troye rs. T his was rh e 7255- ron Clan Campbell whi ch wo uld be sunk durin g irs next arrempt ro reach Malta, as alread y described above. O n the aftern oo n of 14 February fi ve aircraft of I. Gmppl' ca ughr. d ive- bombed and sa nk the Clan Cr'l71pbell's 7262-lO n sisre r-ship , th e Clcw Chat/an . Finall y, that sa me eve ni ng, 14 machin es of II .1 LC 1 we re des parched From Elc usis ro attac k th e one remaini ng freighte r. Already damaged and und er row, the 77 98-ron Rowa!!an C{/Jdesuffered tWO Further hits and had ro be sunk shon ly afte rwa rd s. at a sin gk merchantm an of con voy M W 9 reached Malta. Meanwhile, [h ere was once aga in a J u 88 presence in No rth AFri ca, albeir in iti all y onl y a lOke n one. During the last wee k of Janua ry 194 2, Oberleutllanr Rud olFMeier's 12.1 LG 1 had been detac hed from IV. Grllppe in Greece lO prov ide direct supporr For the Afrika KOIjJs. Operating ar fi rsr From desert landing gro un ds asrride Cyrenaica's border wirh Tri politani a, Meier's Stajjel moved up lO Benina aFre r che reca prure of Benghazi. 12/ LG 1 wo uld lose ar leasr rwo or its aircraFt to enemy fighters in the Tobrukarca in the weeks ahead. During the same peri od, from mid- Febru ary ro mid -Ma rch, Hauptmann Joachim Helb ig's I. Gmppe could perh aps be Fo rgive n fo r fee li ng gidd y, being transFerred no fe we r th an seve n times belwee n Eleusis, Herakli on and Catani a. T his nom adi c ex istence o nly cam e ro an end when it was decided on 16 Ma rch to depl oy IULG 1 to Catani a on a morc perman ent bas is - or at leasr fo r the d uration of the aeri al ba m bardmcnt Malta. Befo re tak ing up residence on Ca tan ia, however, H auprmann Kollewe's pi lots had notched up another minor success by sin king two slllall BI-irish coasra l vessels, rhe 2825-to n Bitl{ong and the 1360-ron H fl/'lile (r he for mer cla imed by rhe Gruppe to be an 8000 ton ner!), off Barclia on 22 Febru ary. The attackers did nor ge r away scot-free. Th ey ran in to a formati o n of Hurri ca nes o n convoy patro l, which sho t 6. Staffil's 'Li +LP' into th e sea. During the latte r half of March and throughout Apri l the Ju 88s of both I. Gmppe and 12. Stajjel co ntinued to strike at grou nd targers in No rth Africa. T he latter - based at Beni na and Berca, but also making use of Dema as a forwa rd land ing ground - operated primari ly over Libya n territory imllledi ately behind rhe Gazala Line. Objecti ves sllch as

or

62

On 28 April 1942 a n a ircraft code d 'l1+AA ' w as s hot down ove r Al exandria . It is not known whether this w as the a ctu a l m achine in qu e stion (the Wk -Nr. is indeciphe ra ble on th e ori g in a l print), but wha t is on record is tha t the a ircra ft los t w as not being fl own by lG 1's Gesch wa d erkom modore, t o wh o m it w as offici a lly assigned , but by a n NCO cre w of 2 . S taffei. Wh at was tha t a g a in a bo ut the only ha rd-a nd-fast rule?

Tob ruk a nd the co mp lex of fi g h te r aro u nd

a irfi eld s a u acked

on

M ea nwhi le,

Ga mb ut

we re

regu lar

bas is.

a

'Jochen'

I.

H elb ig's

Cruppe, now based at H eraklio n alo ngs id e the Ceschwaderstab und e r new Fran z

Kornrnodore Obe rsd eu m a m vo n

Be nd a,

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conce ntra ted

ma in ly o n ta rge ts in Egypt Furth er [0 th e e nem y's rea r. T hese incl ud ed li nes

of co mmun ica tio n, supp ly

d epo ts and a ir field s such as the RAF 's bo mbe r base at Qotafi ya. On the day fo llowing the loss of 'AA ' in the east ern M ed iterranean , 12./lG 1's ' l1+lW' was ca ught on camera as it b eat up Benina airfield outside Bengh azi after returning from anoth er successful raid o n Tobruk

e ith e r uni t suFfe red a ny comba t casua lt ies ove r the d ese rt du rin g th ese wee ks, b ut I.ILG I did lose two a irc ra ft in ra id s o n Alexa nd ri a.

2. Staffil's ' L1 +K K' d isa ppea red in [O t he sea afte r be ing d a m aged by am i-a irc raft fire ove r the ta rge t a rea o n 16 Ap ril. And 12 d ays la te r, o n the eve nin g of 28t h, ' L1 +AA ' was bro ug h t d ow n by a ni g h tfl ghte r. D es p ite thi s a ircraft's cod e letTe rs, whi c h id e ntifi ed it as t he mach in e o ffi c ia ll y ass ig ned ro the Ceschw({derko/"l'll11oc/ore, it roo was be ing o pe ra ted o n this o ccas io n by 2 . StaffiLa nd now n by a n a ll -NCO c rew, o n ly o ne of w ho m su rvived

[0

be take n inro Br it ish ca pt ivity.

I.l LG I mo ret ha nm ad e upfo rth ese lo sses when ,o n II May, they were d espa tched

[0

an ack Fo ur Roya l Navy d es troye rs that had sai led from

Alex an dri a [0 interce p t a n Axis supp ly co nvoy reported ma kin g fo r Be ng haz i. Fo urtce n of th c Cmppe;' a irc ra ft ca ught the wa rshi ps so uth of C rete an d qui ckl y sa nk th e 192 0-[On LiveO,. A fo ll ow- up arrack by II.ILG I (by now rerurn ed

[0

Eleusis) la te r that sa me a Fte rnoon was

un success fu l. Bu t a seco nd mi ss io n mo umed by H elbi g 's I. Cruppeat du sk cla imed th e two I 7 60-[On j({1Ielin cl ass s ister-s hips Kipling a nd jack({l a ltho ugh t he la ne r d id not go dow n unt il the nex t d ay. O nl y the fo urth vessel of [he qu a rtet, jervis, esca ped I.ILG l 's o nsla ug h t, re turnin g

[Q

Alexa ndr ia w it h 630 survivo rs Fro m the othe r three o n boa rd .

DESERT OFFENSIVE By thi s tim e, as d escribed ea rli er in t hi s c ha pte r, the seco nd a ir offe ns ive aga inst Ma lta had co me

[Q

a c lose a nd Ro mm el was prepa rin g

th e nex t stage of hi s d ese rt ad va nce. His pl a n was

[0

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laun c h

o u tna nk t he Briti sh

a nd Co mm o nwea lth Forces, d es troy the m fro m the rea r and t he n m a rc h un opposed o n Ca iro. U n d erlinin g the impo rta nce anached

[0

th is

a mb iti o us un d e rra ki ng - a nd a t the sam e ti me d e mo nstrat i ng JU St how fa r the emp has is had sw un g away From Ma lta - I-1 Q Llififlotte 2 was mo ved fro m T ao rmin a, in Sic il y, to No rth Afr ica sh o rd y be fo re Ro mm el bega n h is arrack o n 26 Ma y. T he o nl y Ju 88s prov id in g direc t sup pO rt at th e sta rt of t he o FFe nsive were tho se of 12.1 LG I . Co mmand ed s ince 2 0 Ma rc h by O be rl eutnant H einri ch Boecke r, thi s StaffiL had now bee n a m a lga m ated with [he J u 87s of StG 3 [0 Fo rm th e CeJechstverband'S igel'. But Romm el was also to benefit Fro m t he ra id s ca rri ed OUt by I. a nd II .1 LG I from C rete and G I·e ce, mosr notab ly o n sll ch ta rge ts as Bi r H ac heim a nd Tob ruk. A newco m e r to th e No rt h Afri ca n a re na ar t h is po int was I.IKG 54 , whose

63

w w

J u 88s we re rransfe rred fro m Eleusis

a::

o n I Jun e ro d iv id e rh e i r st re ngt h

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ben vee n T y mpak io n , o n

C rete,

and O ern a, in Libya . The unit 's in troduc tion ro rh e d esen war was no t w ith o ut in c id e nr. It los t one of th e fo ur m ac hin es e nr ro bo mb S ir H ache im o n thi s d a re whe n ' S 3+A H '

fai led

ro

re turn.

Th e

d ese rt forrre. s, stubbornl y held by rh e Free Fren ch , wou ld fi nall y fa ll te n d ays la re r a fre r bein g po und ed in to sub m iss io n by an es tim a ted 1400 ind ividu a l so rti es flo w n aga inst it by rh e Luftw:lffe. H av in g broke n thro ugh th e Br irish defe nces, th e Afriktl KOlps ad va nced rap id ly. And thi s tim e Ro mm el wo uld not be d ive rted by rhe need to bes iege Tobruk. Alm ost unbeli eva bl y, th e rown - whi ch had held o ut for e ight lo ng mont hs the previo us year - wo uld be tak en o n the run in JU St o ne day! Ax is forces then crossed th e bo rd e r in to Egy pt, o nl y ro be bro ug ht ro a halt a r EI Ala mei n :It th e beginnin g of Ju ly. Anothe r o pe ra ti ona l sra nd -off ensued as borh

Rivulets of molten aluminium coag ulate on the desert sand like the very life blood trickling from this mortally wounded Ju 88 of 6./LG 1 th at was reportedly brought down by anti -aircraft fire from the Free French defenders of Bir Hacheim

sid es aga in so ug hlt o bu il dup rh e ir su pp li es . Bur now, d es pite a d o ub li ng of th e nu mbe rs of Ju 52/3 m tra nsport a ircra fr in rh e Med iter ran ea n thea tre from 150 ro 300 be fore th e mo nth was o ut, it was Ro mm el w ho was very mu ch at a di sadva ntage. During thi s peri od th e ba trl e for suppli es also d o min ;u ed eve nts in the ce ntral Mediterranean , whe re M alta , alrho ugh no lo nge r su bjected ro such intense a ir a ttac ks, srill found itself in a ve ry preca ri o us situ ati o n. Th e firsr twO weeh ofJ un e sa w six J u 88s lost o ver, o r close ro , the island. All bur one of th ese casuairi es were from the ra nks of KG rs 606 a nd 806. Th e exception was KG 54's ' B3+AA', whi ch was dow ned by a ni ghtfi gh te r late o n 10 Jun e. Alt hough o ffi c ially an o th er CesclJ/utlderkorrimodore's machi ne, ' AA ' was bein g fl ow n o n th is m iss io n not by Obe rsrl eurn a nr W ,rlte r M arienfcld himself, but by his Adj uranr, H a uptm an n H ans Humburg. Three ni ght s later, a numbe r of coo rd in 3ted co mm a nd o raids were ca rri ed o ut on LuFrwa ffe a irfields in Libya a nd

0 11

C re te. T he

orth

Africa n ra ids ac hi eved link, bur :l sm all raidin g pa fTv th at la nd ed o n C rcte From th e G ree k subm a rine li·/toll was ab le to pl ace del ayed -acti o n c ha rges o n wme 20 airc raft ar H erak li o n. I.ILG I repo rted [har seve n of irs bombc rs we re seve relv dama ged , as we re two Ju 88 0 s or 2.(F)/ 124, a reco nn a issa nce Sttlffil also curre nrly based o n rhe fi eld. T hese co mm an do acn Oll>, d esig ned to neutralise a t least some of the Luft waFFe's stri kin g

POWLf' ,

we re pa rt and parcel of a much large r 64

ove rall plan - ro sa il rwo suppl y

1./KGr 606's '7T +FH ' appears to be engaged here on routine convoy escort duty. The crew' s obvious success in the more offensive anti -shipping role may be gauged from the impressive rudder scoreboard, which suggests this could be the machine flown by Leutnant Johannes Geismann . Al so just visible on the nose of the aircraft is KGr 606' s 'cockerel' badge, introduced by long ·serving Gruppenkommandeur Oberstleutnant Joachim Hahn (Hahn being the German for cockerell , who was killed in action on 3 June 1942

convoys to Malra sim ul taneously Fro m eirher end of rhc Medi rerranea n. T he westcrtl rorce, code-namcd Ope rari on Harpoon and co nsistin g of fi ve merchanrmen and one rankcr, was srro ngly escorred by uni rs of th e Royal avy, including rwo ca rri ers. T he vessels sli ppcd rh ro ugh rh e s O'airs of G ibra ltar inro rh e wes rern Medi rerranean durin g rh e earl y hou rs of 12 .J une. Th e firsr opposirio n rh cy Faced came Fro m Ita li an fo rces based on Sard in ia. T he firsr Lu frwa FFe machines ro make co nrac t wirh rhe co nvoy we re th e lo ng-range reconna issa nce J u 88 Ds of I .(F)I 122, operarin g our of Libya . T hey pa id Fo r rh eir 'snoo ping' by losing two of rh eir numher, horh, ir is believed , ro Sea Hurrica nes lau nched Fro m H MS Fagle- ' F6+ H H ' cras hed in Algeri a ea rl y o n th c afrern oo n of 13rh , and ' F6+ EH ' came down in rhe sea rhe fo ll ow ing morn in g. By rh e cvcning of rhat ,a me 14 J un e, th c vessels we re wi rhin ra nge of rh c Lufrwaffe's Malta- based bo mbers. N ine mac hin es of KGr 606 d ive- bombed the c1dnly ca rri er A lgIIS, narrowly miss ing it. T wo of rhe uni r's Ju 885 also succu mbed to Sea Hurricanes, '7T +IL' and 'TL+Hl.' both failin g to return from this m iss io n. T he acrion pea kccl th e nex t da}'. Th e first J u 88s ro arrac k we re a small Force Fro m I. I KG ')4 thar had been hcld bac k :H Co mi,o when rhe bulk of the Crujlpe rransFcrred to C rere a fo rrn ight ea rli cr. Th rec bombs srruck rhe ') 600-to n Cha/ll, an America n Ill crchanrm an, which slowlv sank bcllt:a rh th e wavcs, whi le th e ()JOS- ro n US 1:lI1kcr KI" IfIlCk)' w :1S disahled by a nea r m iss . T he I.IKC 54 mac hi nes rcturn ed to the co nvoy shortl y beForc noon. Thi, rim e rh ey d:l magcd rh c ')(,0 I-ton Briti sh freightcr Bu rd/l'lll/. Cl ose on rheir hec b ca me aircraFt From KC r 606 , who morc rha n madc up for rheir poo r perfor man cc o n th e prev iolls day hy qu ickly sendin g hoth th e Bll rrlil'rlll and rh e I\'m ill ek)' to th e bo n o m. Wi rh anm her of rhe co nvoy's ve"cls hav ing already been sunk by Iralian torpedo- bo mbers, onl y I WO of th e o ri ginal six re main ed to ma kc th e fin al das h fOr Malra. This they succceded in doing, desp ire o ne las r an empr to stop rhem by about a dozen machi nes Fro m KC r 80G. Com ing in ar dusk, thi s :m ack wa, broken up by Malra- based s pirfl rcs, who claim ed twO of rhe J u 88s, in cl udin g ' M7+FK' pil ored by Oberlcurn anr Kurt Kehrer, rhe Srafje/kapiliill of2.1 KG r. 80G W h ile Hllrpool/ was bartlin g irs way rowa rds Ma lra From rh e wes r, an even largc r co nvoy - I I vcssels in all - had sa iled fro m po rrs in rhe castern Mcditerranean. O ffi ciall y co nvoy M W I I , rh e merchanrm cn rogcrher with rheir cruise r and destroyc r esco rt - we re operaring und er rh e codenamc Vigorolls. And rh e grearesr perce ived rh rca r ro Vigoro/lswas rh e prese ncc of rhe l.ufrwaffe's Ju 88.., o n C rerc. By 14 Jun e rh e ships wcre rrave rsin g ' Bomb All cy', th e srrerch of warer betwec n C rere and rh e o rrh AFri can coastl ine. T hcy had becn und er nea r consranr arrack all day long, mainl y FrOIll J u 875 based in Libya. I n the cve ni ng ir was rh e rurn of rhe Ju 88s. In one rhree-ho ur peri od alone, rh e crews of l. and lI .1 LG I , rogerher wirh elemcnts of 1.1 KG 54, fl ew no Fewer rhan scve n se pararc arrac ks, ro tall ing c1 0sc o n 90 ind ividual sorti cs in all . Despire rh is max i mum efforr (whi ch res ulred in rhe loss oFfi ve bo mbers, wirh as ma ny aga in damaged or wri rren-off in cras h-land in gs bac k o n C rerc), o nly o ne merchantman was sunk - rh e Gl 04- ron Brirish Freighrer Blmlill/,

o :xl

:xl

o

65

LU

The intensity of the a ir attacks d id have o ne other res ult, however. Altho ugh on ly halfway ro M alta , the con voy's esco rtin g wa rsh ips were alread y runnin g se riously low in anti-aircraft ammunition. And when, on rop of th at, an RAF reco nna issa nce Spitfire reported th at heavy uni ts of the Italian battl e fl ee t had p ut ro sea with th e apparent

LU

0::

:r: I0:: LU

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a...

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intent io n of engaging th e co nvoy, the decision was reluctan tl y taken ro o rder the m erchantmen ro retu rn to Alexa ndria. Betwee n t hem , In this well -known shot of unfortunately less than perfect quality, the predatory shape of a KG 77 machine is silhouetted against Malta ' s Grand Harbour. Note the large merchant vessel at th e mouth of Dockyard Creek just in front of the aircraft 's port wing

This p hotograph of a KG r 806 form ation over open water is as gra i ny as the one above, but it too is of intere st for on the origina l p r int it is just possible to make out the m arking s of the aircraft at th e top of the picture - 'M7 +DH'. Is this perhaps the machine flown by Leutnant Karl -Erich Ritter, th e first Luftwaffe bomber lost i n th e hi storic Pedestal convoy battle?

66

Operatio ns Harpoon/Vigorous were to have deli ve red 115,000 to ns of sup pli es to beleaguered Ma lta. In rhe eve nt, o n ly 15,000 tons reac hed the island. T hi s was just enough to stave orfa n imm ed iate cri sis, but it was clear to bo th sides that another co nvoy wo uld be need ed , and needed soo n . Unt il t hat t im e t he Ju 88s 0 11 Sic il y we re instru cted to ll13 inra in as m uch press ure as possible o n M alta. To help them do so , Obersrl e utn ant H erma n n Sch lli ter's Stab KG 77 , together with h is II . and Ill. Cmppen, were t ransferred back from France at the end o f Jun e to rejo in

Kanlpfgruppen 606 and 806 and I.IKG 54 011 Sicily. Throughout Jul y th ese fi ve Cruppen fl ew an almost u nbro ke n success io n of raids aga inst M alta in strength s ra ngin g from single aircraft to fo rm ation s o f cwo-dozen o r more, mainl~' target ing th e island 's airfields. It COS t th em over 30 m ach ines in all, plus m any oc hers da m aged. T wo-t hirds of th e casualci es ca m e from the ranks of KG 77 . They included rwo Stajfolkapitdneof th e particularl y unfortunare 7 ./KG 77 , both of whom were brough t dow n by Sp itfires - Oberl eutnant Erich Behr 's '3Z+G R' fai led to return from a raid o n Luqa o n 8 Ju ly and Oberl eutnant Josef Z imm er's '3Z+ J R' wa shot intO the sea on 27 Ju ly eve n before he co ul d reach hi s target at T aka li . By t h is t ime t he fi rst vesse ls of w hat was to be the nex t Ma lta co nvoy we re already beg innin g to co nve rge o n th e Ri ve r Cl yd e in Sco tl and. O nl y tOO awa re of the Lu ftwaffe 's cu rrent do m i nati o n o f t he easte rn M editerranea n , and not w ishi ng to repea t the unhap py ex pe rience of Vigorous, Operati o n Pedestal was a less elaborate plan calling fo r one large co nvo y, heavily escorted by u n its of the Roya l lavy , to sa il throug h the Strai ts of G ibraltar and app roach M alta from th e wesc. It co nsisted of 13 fast, mod ern m ercha n tmen , not one of rhem of less tha n 7000 tons, and a single tanker, whi ch together were tran sporting over 85 ,000 tons of

suppli es. Protection was ro be prov ided by main covering and escorring torces co mposed ot tour ca rr iers, twO batticsh ips, seve n cruisers and no tewe r than 26 desnoye rs. The asse mblage of an armada ot this size could not escape detection for long and , ro oppose it, Ax is :tir strength on Sa rdinia and Sicil y was increased ro over 650 machin es. Almost 150 of this total was made up of the seven Ju 88 Klllllpjgrllppen now g:tthered on Sicil y (the five res ident Cmppen being temporari ly re in torced by I. and II.ILG 1 fl ying in Fro m Greece an d Crete) . T hus the battle lines were drawn For the i:tst great Malta convoy actio n of the Med iterran ea n war.

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CONVOY ENGAGED PedestflL slip ped through the Straits of G ibralrar in the ea rly hours ot

Just two weeks after Pedestal, on 1 September 1942, KGr 806 was redesignated to become III. / KG 54 (the first ilL/KG 54 having been disbanded back in July 1940 at the start of the Battle of Britain! ). This photograph , from a British source, of 8. Staffei's 'B3+DS' abandoned in the desert, was clearly t aken some t i me later during Rommel's retreat through Libya

10August 1942. ltdid not suffe r irs firsr casualry ullti l shortly after noon the to llowing day, when the veteran ca rrier Eagle, wh ich had been instrumental in the del ive ry oFne:t rl y 200 Spitfires ro Malta over rhe previous fi vc months, was rorpedoed by U-73 some 85 mi les north ot Algiers. T he first air arrack, moun ted by Ju 88s, backed up by IO rpedoca rrying H e I I Is, came ill just as nighr was ta ili ng. But neither rhis, nor a seco nd assault by two-dozc n machines of I. and II.ILG I at mid-mornin g ot the 12th , produ ced any res ults. T he first did , however, see the loss ot KGI' 806's ' M7+D H ', whilc th e "m er reporred ly cost LG I seven machin es (including one shor dow n in error by Ita lian fi ghters as it app roac hed ardini a after rh e mission ro land and reFuel). A prolonged arrack by some 70 Ita li an and German aircraft - over half of them J u 88s otKGs 54 and 77 - south otSard ini a in rh e ea rl y aFte rnoon fared sli ghtl y better. T he battl eships Rodllqa nd Nelsollwe re both shaken by nea r misses, wh ile th e 75 16-ton freig hter DeumLiofi was damaged. But one of8.1KG 77's machines , '3Z+ES' pil oted by Obcrl eutn3nt Leopo ld Laga uer, Fai led ro return . Another J u 88 went down durin g the last air attack on 12 August. Coming in at dusk, a torce oHO machines From KG s 54 , 77 and KG r 806 - aga in backed by rorpedo-ca rrying Hein kels - hit the convoy hard. Already damaged, the 12,688-ron Empire Hope rook twO d irect hits fro m a J u 88 th at turned it into a blazing inFern o. T he Heinkels sank another of the merchantm en and deli vered rh e COIlP de grnce ro the De/lcalioll, while two more Frcighters we rc cbm aged. Du rin g the nighr of 12/ 13 August the remai ning shi ps, by now widely sea rre red , round ed Cape Bon. In the ea rl y hours of the morning they were savaged by Iralian MTBs, which immobilised the cruiser Manchester, sank four of the fre ighters and damaged a fift h. But it Fell ro J u 88s ro claim the fi nal Pedestal victim when , shordy after 0800 hrs on 13 August, bombers from 3.1 KGr 806, led by tafjffkapitiin O berl eurnant WolFgang Schulte, attacked the

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12,843- ron mercha n tman l>:iaimflmma sourh of l)aJ1[ellaria. Th e largest vessel in the convoy, the Wflimflmmfl s main ca rgo - like that of the Empire Hopesunk

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erup ted in a huge ball of fire and well[ down in jusr a mane r of seco nds. T h ree more J u 88s wou ld be brou gh r down during the co urse o f the nex t 24 ho urs. Others helped to fini sh off two of Pedestals c ripp led srragglers. But ro all intents and purposes, the actio n was over. Fou r of th e origina l 13 merchantm en reached Ma lta , bringing with them so me 32,000 rons of supplies. Last of all , rhe ta n ker O/;io - battered , grievo usly wo und ed, irs d ecks almost awas h - was brer rowed inro Grand H a rbo ur. The p rov isions u nl oaded from th e four freighrers all owed Ma lta to survive, whil e the aviatio n fuel pumped from rh e Ohio enabled the island ro resume irs air strikes aga insr Rommel's su pply co nvoys jusr as he was preparing ro laun ch rhe deserr o Hc nsive th at I·vas in tended

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d ri ve the Brirish out of Egypt fo r good.

After the iJ1[ense a ir anio ns fought durin g the course of Pedes/fli in mid - momh, rhe operatio ns Ao\\'n aga inst Malta during the laner hal f of Aug usr were so meth ing of an a nti -climax. Seve n Ju 88s we re lost for velY li ttl e in reru rn . Se pte m ber rema i ned eq ua ll y quicL w il'h a ll but one or [he 20 KG ')4 machin es rcpo rredlost o r d amaged througho u t the 1\!1 editerranea n area that month be ing arrributed ro accide J1[al or unknown ca use!>. The the sing le excepti o n was an airc ra ft destroyed in an RAF bombing raid o n H c: rakli on. Th e J u 88 units o n Sic il y ur il ised rhi s lull ro gar he r st re ngt h a nd reorgan ize for one last b lirz on M alta. The most obv ious cha nge was the

Also in September 1942, KGr 606 was redesignated to become the new I./KG 77 Ithe originall ./ KG 77 , which never served in the M editerranean , had been renumbered I./KG 6 at the end of August). While retaining the ' cockerel ' badge, the Gruppe 's aircraft now wore the unit codes of their new p arent Geschwader, as may be seen in this fine flying shot of '3Z+EH ' . Note also what appears to be a 20 mm MG FF cannon projecting from the ventral gondol a. This w ea pon was used for low-level attacks on shipping , which may also account for the disruptive spotted camouflage applied to the lower surfaces of the engine nacelles and forw ard fuselage

in corpo rari o n of the twO hith e rro se mi -a uton o mo us I\ampjgl'llppl'll inro the ran ks of t he es tablis hed Kflrnpjgeschwac/er, w irh Hauptm a n n Ro lr Siedschlag's KGr GOG being red es ig nated to beco ille rh e new !.IKG 77

Now flying ' 3Z+DB' Inote the unusual treatment of the aircraft's individual letter) with the Gruppenstab of I./KG 77, Leutnant Johannes Geism ann takes a souvenir snapshot of his scoreboard to date. In addition to his shipping successes - nine merchantmen sunk and one damaged - note the bar denoting a single aerial kill Iclaimed on 4 October 1942) beneath the

68

miniature Gruppe badge at the top of the rudder. Awarded the Knight' s Cross on 21 December 1942, Hauptmann Geismann would end the war flying nightfighters

and Major Ri chard Linke's KGr 806 fi lli ng rh e 10 ng-vacC! m III. Cruppe slor in KG 54. By rh e beginning of Ocrober rh ere were seven Ju 88 Cruppen poised o n Sicil y to renew ehe assa ul e on Ma lea - KGs 54 and 77 , borh now ar full rhree-Cruppe estab lishm cm, plus II .1 LG I broughr bac k afte r briefl y rerurnin g ro C rere. In rora l, there were close on 200 machi nes all concemrated on rh e rhree airfields ar Gerbi ni , Carania and Co miso.

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FINAL MALTA BLITZ

Another of the erstwhile KGr 606's anti-shipping experts, Leutnant Karl Hein z Greve' s scoreboard also features a single aerial kill in addition to the seven m erchantmen sunk, and one carrier and one Iminelaying) cruiser damaged. Greve won the Knight's Cross on 7 October 1942 and would also survive the war. ... unlike Hauptmann Heinrich Paepcke, the Gruppenkommandeur of II./KG 77 - pictured far right who wa s killed in a mid-air collision with a Spitfire during a raid on Malta on 17 October 1942 lalthough whether in the distinctively camouflaged machine seen here is not known) . Having been awarded the Knight's Cross on 5 September 1940, Hauptmann Paepcke would be honoured with posthumous Oak Leaves on 19 December 1942

Th e fin al all-our air offe nsive aga insr Malra bega n on II O crober 1942, and lasted just o ne week. The island was no longer the soft target it had once been. Irs reju venared defence; rook a heavy ro ll of rh e attackin g Luftwaffe fo rm ar ions. Indeed, more than 30 J u 88s were losr, eith er shor down o r wrinen off in crash-land ings, dur ing rhe week-long ca mpaign. Thc most grievo us losses occurred on rh e las r day of all , 17 Ocrober, when the casualties incl uded tWO highl y-deco rared Cruppenkommandeure. Amo ng rhe aircraFr r,lking part in rh e morn ing raiel on Ma lra o n rhat e1are were seven Ju 88s of ll .f KG 77. Juscoff the coasr to the southeast of Va.lett a, rhe leading mac hine, CmppenkOflill1(/ncleur Major Heirich Paepc ke's '3Z+AC', was in volved in a head-on collision with a Spirfire. Borh pi lors we re ki lled insraml y (alrhough, incredibl y, the rhree orher Luftwaffe crewmen we re seen ro bail out before ehe sericken bomber hir rh e wa rer). Paepcke himself, who had wo n rh e Kni ghr's Cross ae rhe heighr of rhe Barrie of Brirai n when Hajo Herrmann 's predecessor as Stflffilkflpiliin of 7.fKG 30, had since disrin guished himself ar the head of IUKG 77 in rh e Mediterran ea n. His mosr recem success had been rh e sinking of a ' 12,000-ron rrans port durin g rh e Malra convoy barrie of 12 August' pres umably a reference to rhe Empire Hope. Paepcke wo uld be honoured wirh posrhumolls Oak Leaves on 19 December 1942. A seco nd raid shortly ;,frer midd ay by nea rl y 90 aircrafr also included a formar ion of Ju 88s, rhis rime eighr mac hines of II .l LG I led by Cruppenkomm(/ndellr Major Ge rh ard Ko llewe in ' Li +YC . lntercepred by Spi efi res, rhe larre r was shor in ro rhe sea off Valerra. Alth ough rhe enri re crew succeeded in bailing our, onl y rhe wirel ess-operato r and gunn er we re picked up ali ve. H aving bee n awarded rh e Kn ighr's Cross on rhe eve of the in vasio n of Yugoslavia, Koll ewe had rh en led his

69

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Grupp£' with grea t success in rhe Med ite rra nea n, II.ILG 1 being cred ited with sink ing 148, 000 rons of merchanr ship ping and rwo dem-oyers. He had bee n prese nred wit h the Oak Leaves just over two monrhs ea rli er o n 10 August 1942, th e ve ry day th ar PedestaL had entered the Straits ofG ibralrar. The dea ths of th ese two leadin g Luftwaffe bomber pil ots effect ively wrote finis ro the Ax is ai r ca mpaign aga inst Malta. T here wo uld , of cou rse, be fur th er raids in the mo nth s ahead , but these wo uld be mere pinpri cks in co mpariso n ro the sufferin g endured by rh e island at th e height of th e majo r 1941 and 1942 offensives. Mea nwhile, with Hid er having aband o ned all pl ans ro in vade Malta fro m the air , eve ry eFfort si nce had bee n directed rowa rds building up Ax is ground fo rces in No rth Afri ca in preparatio n for Ro mmel's dr ive o n Ca iro. Durin g rhis peri od - Ju ly/August 1942 - those Gruppen of LG I based o n C rete had co ntinued ro raid the eastern Med iterranea n po rts of Alexa ndra, Suez a nd Po rt Sa id , usuall y und er cove r of dark ness, and had su ffer-ed ove r a dozen losses in the process. Romill ell aun ched h is last grea t offensive on 3 1 August. Ar first all we nt we ll , for he managed ro turn rh e so uthern fl ank of th e British fro nt at EI Alame in, bur then instead of being ab le ro ad va nce o n Ca iro and Alexa nd ri a as pla nn ed , hi s forces suffered a crush ing defea t at th e Batde of Alam Halfa. In six days ir was all ove r and he was fo rced back ro his o rigin al positio ns. Towards th e end of August LG I's Gmppm had bee n jo ined o n C rete by elements of I.lKG 54 and KG 77 . And whereas th e fo rm er we re employed primaril y o n co nvoy protec rion dut ies, the or her units provided the Aft-ika Korps with ar least a meas ure of direct suppOrt d uri ng the AJam Haifa fightin g. But afte r th is, and fo r th e nex t seven weeks, another lull was ro desce nd over the Weste rn Dese rt. \Xlith Ro mm el busy regrouping, the J u 88s of LG 1 (rogether wit h those of KG 77) return ed to th eir noct urn al harass menr of th e po rts aro und th e ile Delta. At this sa me tim e, howeve r, the newly appo in ted co mmander of the Br-itish Eight h Arm y, a certa in Ge neral Mo ntgo mery, was fi nalisin g the plans a nd preparatio ns fo r his ow n EI Ala mein offensive. It wo uld pro ve ro be the turn ing po in t of the wa r in the wes t - 'Th e Stalin grad of the Dese rt', as o ne Ge rm an histo ri an later desc ribed it. Hid er's in abili ty ro decide wheth er to invade Ma lta o r to capture Ca iro had res ulted in his fo rces' achi evin g neith er o bjective. It was a fata l erro r. W hen th e Batde of EI Alamein ope ned at 2200 hrs o n 23 October to th e thunder of 1000 All ied guns, it marked the beginni ng of the end of th e wa r in th e Med iterra nea n. And For the Ju 88 Gruppen in -th eatre it heralded (h e sta rt of almost 20 mo nths of nea r co nsta nt retrea ts, growing losses and eve ntu al wit hd rawa l.

The desert' s 'resident ' long-range reconnaissance Staffel by mid-1942, 1.IFI/121 was of inestimable value to Rommel in the planning of his ground operations. But that ground could sometimes be treacherous, as witness the unit's 'sand-and-spinach ' camouflaged '7 A+BH ' on its nose at Fuka I sometime in August 1942

TWO·FRONT WAR IN AFRICA

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o r te n days the Battl e of EI Al a me in hun g in the bala nce . Ax is forces at first res isted fi erce ly, a nd it was no r unti l 3 Nove mber th a t th e Eighth Arm y succeeded in brea kin g through Ro mm el's

d efe nces and ad va nc in g wes tward s. Th e ve te rans a mo ng the British ra nks w ho had d o ne it all tw ice befo re dubbed thi s lates t offe nsive t he 'Th ird Benghazi Stakes', but thi s tim e it wo u ld be d iffe re nt. T he ad va nce wo uld nOt run o ut of stea m just beyo nd Be nghaz i. It wo uld continu e o nward s

across the w ho le o f L ibya, inro Tu nisia, and o n ly co m e ro a halt w ith th e surre nde r of a ll Ax is troops in No rt h Afri ca. Ro mm e l's lo ng re trea t was just fo ur d ays o ld w he n , o n 8 Nove mber 1942, An g lo -Am e rica n fo rces srorm ed as ho re in Morocco a nd Al ge ri a. Sudd e nly, the w ho le emph as is of the a ir wa r sw itc hed to th e weste rn M edite rra nea n. The m ass of shippin g required fo r Opera tion Torch the la ndin gs in

o rthwest Afri ca - had no t esca ped th e not ice of th e

Ge rm a ns. Ini t ia lly ass um in g th a t th e la rge number o f vesse ls co n ve rgin g o n the Straits of G ibra lta r we re th e ma kin gs of a vast co n voy in te nd ed to re info rce Ge n Montgo m ery's E ig hth A rm y in Egy pt, the Luftwaffe reacted w ith its cusromary speed. Am o ng th e first, a nd mos t impo rta n t, co unte r- m eas ures take n - nea rl y :1 week befo re the :1ctual bndin gs occurred - was th e ord er to tra nsfe r fi ve a nri -s hippin g Kampfgl7lppen down fro m no rth e rn

orway and Finl a nd to

th e M ed ite rra nea n. Fo ur of th ese units we re equipped w it h Ju 88s, na mely II I.! KG 26, II . a nd II I.! KG 3 0 , a nd I.!KG 60. T he tra nsfers th emselves too k a nyt hin g from fi ve to eigh t days. W hen they we re co mpl eted th e three la tte r Cruppen had jo in ed KGs 54 and 77 o n S ic il y, w hil e 111 .l KG 26 had ra ke n up res id ence at Grossero , th e Lu ftwaffe 's to rped o schoo l o n

On 30 October 1942, at the height of the Battle of EI Alamein , the crews of 1.(F)/121 took time out to celebrate the Staffers 3000th operational mission. Although barely visible here, Staffetkapitiin Hauptmann Erwin Fischer (second from the right) is already wearing the Knight' s Cross, which was awarded to him on 12 April 1941. He would receive the Oak Leaves on 10 February 1943, thus becoming the first reconnaissance pilot to be so decorated . Second from left is Oberleutnant Alfons Muggenth aler, who would be awarded the Knight' s Cross on 29 February 1944

th e coas t of Ita ly, 100 mil es north of Ro me. Ot her Ju 88 Crupper! we re se nr to the M edite rra nean th ea tre a fte r the Torch la nd i ngs had take n place. Ev id e ntl y fea rin g a q ui ck fo ll ow- up in vas io n of so uth e rn Fran ce, Hitl e r o rd ered hi s trOOps in to prev io usly un occ u p ied Vi c hy Fra nce o n 11 Nove mb er (th e day Ad m Da rl an ord e red t he e nd of res istan ce in Fre nc h No rth Afri ca) . Amo ng th e Luftwaffe units has ti ly moved

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down inro so uth ern France were two

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Ju 88 DgiiJ/zungsgmppen, IV.l KG 76 rr:m sferrin g fro m L1.on -Athi es to To ul o use a nd IV.l KG 77 fro m Bourges to Mompelli er. I ncidemall y,

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anoth er DgdJ/zlllIgsgmppe, IV.lKG 54, had been based ar Grorragli e on rhe heel of Iraly sin ce Ma rch 1942, ca rrying ou t rrainin g and o peratiollJl patrol duti es. Fi nall y, In mid- ove mbe r KG 76 , whi ch had bee n w irh drawn fro m rh e Ru ssia n from so m e wee ks ea rli er, was deployed to Ath e ns-T ato i a nd to H erakli on a nd T ym bakio n, o n C rete, to bolster LG 1's srre ngrh in rhe eas re rn M edire rra nea n (so me of rhi s Ceschwflder's SIflffi1n hav ing bee n tempo ra ril y transfe rred to Sicil y) . Just how fa r, a nd how rap id ly, th e Luftwaffe's fo rtun es in th e eastern M editerranea n had declin ed may be gauged by O peration Stor/eage. This was a fo ur-s hip co nvoy th at departed Alexand ria fo r M alra o n 17 ovember. Nearl y every arrack by the C reta n-based J u 88s was broken up by th e co nvoys' exce ll em ae ri al cove r, prov ided by RAF fi ghters fl yin g in relays from their dese rt airfi elds. Alth o ugh o ne unidelllified Junkers ma naged to torpedo and da mage th e light cruiser Aretlmsfl, all fo ur of the merchantm en reached M alra unsca th ed in the ea rly ho urs of the 20rh. Bring ing w ith th e m a n ad equate suppl y of sto res a nd aviati on spirit, Stoneage m a rked , in th e wo rd s of one official hi sto rian , ' rh e fi nal a nd effecri ve reli ef ofMa lra' . H encefo rward, a r leas t as fa r as th e Luflwaffe was co nce rned , th e o nce ho rl y co ntes ted easre rn Medi rerranea n basin wou ld heco me very mu c h a backwater. for as th e re trea r of the Aj7-ikfl Korps ga th e red pace, so rhe fo cus of operatio ns - both o n rh e g round an d in rh e air - moved eve r furrh e r wesrwards. On C rere, a special barrie gro up of Ju 88s - rh e CINSfltzgrllppe Kretai, composed of elem ents from bor h LG 1 and KG 76 - was ser up spec ifi call y to rargc ts rh e Eighrh Arm y's rear-a rea lin es of comm uni ca ti o ns and supp ly. Th rougho ut th e larte r half of Novembe r a nd for mu ch of D ece mbcr, mac hin es of the Eimfllzgmppe fl ew a mi -s hippin g patro ls and bombcd coas ta l rarge ts betwee n Tobruk an d Bc nghaz i (T obruk hav ing bc:c n rcca ptured on 13 o vembe r a nd Benghazi exacrl y o ne wee k Iarer). Durin g rhi s tim e a doze n o r so J u 88s we re lost ove r Libya. Amo ng th e casualri es we re th e Cruppenkommfllldeur of IV.l LG I , M ajor Erw in Schulz, whosc machin e was shor down ovc r O em:! o n 2 1 Nove mber, and LG 1's Kommodore, Obe rst Franz vo n Benda , who fail ed to return from whar was described as 'a special miss io n to Tob ruk ' on 2 D ecembe r. Bur it was a t rh e fa r wes re rn end of rhe M ed ite rra nea n - th e sce ne of

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rhe TorciJ lan din gs - where th e ficrcest air ba trl es were now being fo ug ht. Elcve n Ju 88s were repo rted mi ssin g in arracks on shippin g in th e Alg ie rs a rea on the first cwo days of rhe in va io n alo ne. A numbe r of vesse ls were d a maged in th ese raid s, including th e 9 135-ron Amer ican rroop transport USS Leedsrown, whi ch had irs sree ring gear pur o ur of act ion by an ae ria l torpcdo o n rh e afternoo n of8 Nove mbe r. Afrer tak in g mo re to rped o a nd

Photographs of III./KG 26 aircraft taken in 1942 are notoriously difficu lt to identify. In Janu ary of that year the third III./KG 26 of the war was formed from I./KG 28 (Geschwader code ' 1T'1. on ly to be red esignat ed I./KG 1 in July. It w as immediately replaced by a fourth III./KG 26 (the ex-KGr 506) , which for some reason continu ed to use the ' 1T' markings . So are these III./KG 26 machines (' H +ZO' in the foreground and ' 1T+G R' in the background to the right l aircraft of the erstwhile I. /KG 28 pictured in southern Fran ce in the first half of 1942, or machines of the previous KGr 506 based in Italy at the end of that year? The latter seems t o be t he more likely, the only clue being the ' ram's skull' badge, simi lar to that ea rlier associated with KGr 506, which ca n ju st be made out on the nose of the machine running up its engi nes in th e centre background

bomb hits, th e vessel we nt d ow n in th e Bay of Alg ie rs 24 hours la ter. Th e Roya l N avy's 1300-ron sloo p HM S Ibis was se nt ro the bo trom no rth o f Algie rs th e fo ll owin g day. It was durin g rh e subsequ ent la ndin gs a t Bo ugie, over 100 mil es ro th e east o f Algie rs, o n 1 1 ove mbe r - w he re, by mischa nce,

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Dawn on 12 November 1942 off Bougie and HMS Karanja is sti ll blazing from the 'near miss ' in her engi ne room

Although KG 76' s three Gruppen are known to have been based variously in Greece, Crete and Sicily, at least some elem ents of the Geschwader must have been dep loyed , however briefly, to North Africa , for this unfortun ate machine appea rs to be in immin ent danger of being swallowed up by what looks suspiciously like a desert sandstorm

rh a t th e J u 88s sco red th eir g rea tes t successes. Three la rge troo pships we re sunk , rh e 15,225- ron Catha)', th e 13,482- ron AlUfltefi and th e 9890- LOn H M S KrtrrlJlj fl. Th e captain of th e lane r vesse l, takcn o ve r from the me rc hant mar ine a yca r ca rli e r and no w se rvin g as an In fa ntry Landin g Ship , was o n the bridge w he n th c ship was stru ck by a t least twO bombs in the ea rl y hours of 12 Nove mbe r. ' By God , those we re close' , he re marked ro th e offi cer stand in g bes id c him. Back ca me th e classic re pl y, 'Yes, Sir. T hey a re in t he e ng in e- room '. Two d ays late r, th e 16,632- ron Nflrkul1dfl was bo mbed a nd sunk in th e G ulf of Bo ug ie a nd th e smaller 74 79- ron CLmjin/rlsseve rely tbm aged whi le be rth ed in the ha rbou r. By thi s tim c, howevc r, Spitfires were o perat in g o ut of nearby Djidjel li :1 irfl eld (a No 242 Sqn mac hin e h:1d shot dow n I .l KG 54 's ' B3+CK ' durin gt he raidsoft he 14t h),a nd a th eA lli ed fi g hte r d efe nces g rew, so the J u 88 u ni ts' cas ual ty lists i ncvitabl y bega n ro le ng th e n. Fo r as well as co ntinuin g with their a nti -shippin g ope rat io ns fo r eve r sm all e r rcturn s, it mi ghr be add ed - a nd hav in g ro esco rt th eir ow n suppl y co nvoys acrms th e Sicilia n Na rrows ro T unisia. lh e Ju 88 Crt/ppm we re now co ndu ctin g a sustain ed bo mbin g offc nsive, bo th by day a nd by ni g ht , aga inst the Alli es' suppl y pons in no rth wcs t Afri ca . Alth o ugh th e city :Illd harbo ur o f Alg ie rs itself was ro suffe r nume ro us ra ids, it was th e mo re eas tc rl y po rts alo ng rhe Alge ri a n coast lhat received th e most a rre ntion as th t: Ju 88s a rre mpted ro di srupt th e Alli ed ad va nce in ro Tu nisia. Targets such as Bo ugie, Djidell i, Philippt:vill e a nd T abarka - t he lan e r JUSt ac ros, the Tun isia n borde r - we n: all attac ked regularl y. But it was t hc port a nd a irfield of Bon e, soon ro beco nl c rh e First Army 's main forward base, whi c h had ro e ndure raids ~ l lllost eve ry n ight. More than 3 0 Ju 88s we re losr to direc t enelll Y act ion durin g eac h of rhe th ree Illonths fro m Novembe r 1942 to Ja nu ary 1943 . This was the equ ivalent o f o ne Crt/ppepe r m o nth , or an entire Ceschwflder in total. And 10 these fi gures must be added th e co untl ess o th e r mach ines dam aged , wrirren-off in accid ents a nd lost th ro ugh o th e r ca uses. No r was th e a ttriti o n purel y materi al. Of even g reater co nce rn were the inc reasing numbers of ex peri enced crews a nd unit leaders being lost. M ajo r Kurt

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Brand, Gmppenkomlllfwcleur of I.IKG 60, was Ayin g one of the twO machines of this unit that fai led ro return from a mission on 28 ovember (poss ibly also victims of 0242 Sqn).

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UNIT CHANGES During the lane r haIr of December several organisational changes rook place. I.IKG 54 and II. and II 1.1 KG 77 were all withd rawn from Sicil y ro rest and re-equip at Piace nZ3, in northern Italy. In their stead II.IKG 76 Aew in from C rete, thereby bringing [Q an end [he short-lived Einsatzgruppe Kreta. IU KG 76 rook up residence at Gerbini , close ro Catania, where \.I KG 76 had been based fort he past three weeks busily Ayingco nvoy escort missions, carrying our anri-submarine patrols and transporting fuel ro Tunisia. It is reported that the two I. Gruppe machines wh ich coll ided in mid-a ir on 9 Dece mber were engaged in one such fuel deli very. Apart from LG I, this leFt just III .l KG 76 on C rete, where it wou ld renlJin unril transferred ro Athens-Taroi on 18 January 1943. The new yea r started off well enough , with furth er heavy raids on Bone harbour resulting in the sin kin g of rwo merchantmen and extensive damage ro three others. The onl y known J u 88 loss during the first 48 hours of 1943 was 3.1 KG 77's '3Z+ KL', shot down by P-3 8 Lightnings when it ventured dee per inland [Q arrack th e Ameri ca ns' 13- 17 base at Biskra on 2 January. But it was not long beFore Further casualties were suffered over both Algeria and Libya. A machine of I./LG I brought down north of Tobruk on 8 January was being Aown by veteran NCO pilot OberFeldwebel Herbert Isachsen, who survived th e ditchin g [Q be awarded [he Kn ighr's Cross eight mo nths Iarer when in Briti h ca pti vity. January's ' Hard esr Day' was undoubtedl y the 15th , when ten Ju 88s we re repo n ed missin g, six of th em From th e ra nks of /.IK G 77 alone. Bur hardesr hir in terms of unit leaders was KG 76, which had losr a Gruppenkommancleur and twO of irs Staffilkapitdne before the month was out. The form er, III. Gruppe's Major Heinrich Schweickhardt, a rece nt Oak Leaves recip ienr, had fail ed ro return [0 C rete aFter a

A tight formation of I./KG 77 aircraft wings its way across the Mediterranean. Note the coloured spinner rings

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Above The detritus of defeat. The see-saw nature of the fighting back and forth across the sands of Libya left numerous wrecked and abandoned aircraft in its wake. This di lapidated specimen ('7A+LH' of 1.(F)/121) has already had its tail swastika stripped by souvenir hunters. Right ... while this Ju 88 (a lmost certainly another machine of 1.(Fl/121 , despite the absence of the Staffel emblem on the nose) is in even worse condition, having been cannibalised for spare parts . . .

mission on 9 January. I.l KG 76 suffered the loss ofOberleufll alll CLimer H allssmann nin e days later, while 2.1 KG 76's Oberleurnant Fritz Koh ler and his crew we re shor down ovc r Algiers in rh e ca rl y hOllrs of30 Janu ary. By this time (h e Eighrh Army's offensive, laun ched at EJ Aiamein three months ea rli er, had taken it clea r across Libya, and advance units had already crossed the border into ,oll rh crn T uni sia. Des pite bein g arrackcd on rwo fronts, rhere was srill fl ghr left in rh e Aji-ikfl Korps. Rommel's fo rces even managed to

Above .. whereas l./LG l's 'L l +NH ', being inspected by members of an unidentified Hurricane squ adron at Gazala Landing Strip 3, appears to be intact Inote the 'last two' again repeated in white on the rudd erl ... Right . . . and no , this is not the Russian steppe, but another desert landing ground. The hammer-and-sickle fl ag fluttering behind the sad rem ains of 'L 1+EK ' is the unofficial sta ndard of an RAF fighter unit (possibly No 134 Sqn, which had spent two months stationed at Vaenga, in the Soviet Union, in late 1941)

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stage a brief, but bloody, counreroffe nsive aga inst US troops at Kasse rin e durin g the laner half of February. T he monrh saw a sligh t reduction in overa ll ) u 88 losses, but rh e cas ualties d id includ e a no th e r Gruppenkommfllldeur fro m the lu ck less KG 76 , Major Ri cha rd M eye r of II . Gruppe bein g brough t down by P-3 8s on 22 February. The e nd of the war in lort h

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Afr ica was now in sight , and thi s facr was re Rected in the di spositio ns of the M editerran ea n Ju 88 unirs as of early M a rch 1943, which clearly showed w here th e fin al battl es were ex pected to be fou g ht. Of th e seve n KampJiruppen th e n ope rat ional in th eatre, o nl y one - II. / LG I - was still based o n C rete. Two , IUKG 3 0 a nd II UKG 77, we re o perati ng o ut of S icily, targe tin g mainl y the Eig hrh Arm y in so u thern T uni sia and its lin es and pores of supp ly in Libya. And the rema ini ng four (f IUKG 26 , I. and Il .l KG 54 and IUKG 76 ) were in Sa rdini a, from w he re th ey we re idea ll y situ ated to mounr raids alon g th e Algeri a n and no rth e rn T uni sia n coas ts and aga inst Anglo-Ameri can forces closi ng in o n Tun is from th e west. Th e two Grupper! based in icil y bore the brunt of th e ) u 88 co mbat losses in March , with th eir cas ualti es accounting for m o re th a n ha lf o f the monrh 's total. T he e ntry in the Luftwaffe's official Orde rofBatri e for 10 Marc h 1943, w hi c h lisrs just two (') of IUKG 30 's 45 m ac hin es as bein g se rviceable, is almost ce rtainl y a mi sprint. Th e S3 m e so urce also shows that [11 .lKG 77 - rece nd y re turn ed to Sicily afte r its pe rio d of res t

In March 1943 IV ./lG 1 ended its long-term occupation of Salonika-Sedes in northern Greece and ret urned to Wi ener Neustadt - although 'll+GV' is not going anywhere until that missing starboa rd elevator is replaced! Note the scribble-camouflaged machine in the background to the right

a nd re-equ ipm e nt at Piace nza - had 27 se rviceable airc raft (o ur of 43) o n th at dal e. But 16 of lh at nu mbe r wou ld be lost dur ing th e bner half of the month , including three (together with a m ac hin e of I UKG 30) tha t were brought down durin g a ra id mounted bl' rh e twO Gmppm along th e Libya n coasr o n 19 !larch , wh ic h resu lted in rh e bombin g a nd sinkin g of th e 7 17 4-to n OCeflJl Voyager in Tripo li ha rbour. During thi s pe ri od it is reponed th at seve ral Ju 88 KampJimppen also deployed sma ll detach me nrs to so uth ern Tuni sia, these includ in g IUKG 3 0 , w hose aircraft ope rated brie Ry o ut ofGafsa, a nd UK G 54, whi ch was based o n the coast a t Sfax. T hese so-ca ll ed Kommanclos we re p res um ab ly

76

Des pite the wartime censor's a ttempt to obliterate th e unit b a dge, the machine seen here gunning its engines prior to take-off is identifiable as 4./ lG l 's 'll+JM '. The location is either Greece or Crete, and the very fact that the aircraft is sporting a badge may date the photograph back to 1942

By 1943, M editerranean Ju 88s were being subjected to ever-increasing attacks on the ground from Allied aircraft. One advantage of desert ai rfield s w as that the loose sand absorbed much of the blast from bombs . Although th is near-miss right alongside ' L 1+AH' has covered its uppersurfaces in a thick layer of sand, the only significant damage appea rs to be to the trailing edge of t he Ju 88's starboard w i ng . Out on the runway a working party hasti ly fills in the crater left by th e next lor previous?) bomb in the stick At fir st g lance 'L 1+GH ', also from 1./LG 1, may seem undam aged . But clo se r inspection rev ea ls that the machine is abso lutely riddled with sma ll bullet holes, almost cert ainly from th e machine guns of a strafing RAF fighter . Note also the oil leaking down over the protective cover of the starboard main wheel

inrended ro provide direcr ractica l support ro th e embanled Afi"ikfl Korps, bur it was all roo little, roo late. On 28 March Montgomery's Eighth Arm y breached th e defences of the Mareth Line and bega n driving no rrh ro wa rds Tunis . W irh Axis fo rces fa lli ng back on Tunis under inrense press ure from tWO fronts - wesr and sourh - and wit h rh e LuFrwaffe doin g all it could ro reli eve rhat press ure, as well as ro keep rh e troo ps supp lied with fu el and ammuniti on, it is little wonder [hat J u 88 losses ro enemy acrio n esca lated ro well over 50 durin g April. or was it ju, t [hose un its based on Sa rd inia and Sicily rhar we re now feel ing [he weight of Alli ed air superioriry. Cmppm in Italy thar we re ostensibly sti ll undergo ing rerrain ing 3nd re-equipmcnr we re thrown inro th e fr3 Y and , ufT-ered the inevitable consequences. Elements of II.ILG I were also moved fo rward from C rete ro Sicil y ro play their part in rh e final acr of the Africa n drama, onl y ro lose fwO crews over Tunisia (although 3nother of rhe Cmppe sJ u 88s based on Sicily was credited with sinking rh e subm3rine HM S Sflhib ofT- rh e northeastern tip of rh e island on 24 April). But one of April's b st casualti es was ye t anorher of KG 76's unforrun are Cmppenkonm/(/ndellre when Hauptm ann Amo n S[adler, who had taken over II.IKG 76 after rh e loss of Major Ri ch3rd Meyc r on 22 February, himselffail ed to reru rn from;] nighr raid on Philippevi lle on 28 April. So me half-dozcn fu rther Ju 88 losscs wo uld be report ed beron: the la, r Axis rroops in Tunisia surrendered on 13 May and rhe war in AFri ca was fina ll y over. I[ wo uld be an cxagge rarion ro cl aim thar [he 200+ combat losses suffered since rh e Torch landings had broken the back of [he J u 88 KflmpJgmppm in rhe Mediterran ean , bur the)' lUere another nail in the co ffin. Prior ro Torch, th e LufrvvafT-e's '\.'(/ullderbomber'll3d been a maimtay of the Blitzkrieg in rhe Balkans, had played a majo r ro le in the bombing of Malra and had been the scourge of the Roya l and Mercham Navies over almosr rh e whole length and breadth of the Medite rranean. But afrer the loss of Tunisia the Ju 88 KrllnpJiruppen beca me just another part of the grad ual bu t ge neral rerrear north wards. As Allied air power in the area grew from a position of numeri cal superiority ro on e of nea r roral supremacy, so rh e J u 88 bo mbers faced th cir fina l resr. A test rhar in li trle mo re th an a yea r wou ld see [h eir numbers in theat rc fa ll from a peak or vc ry nea rl y 300 mac hin es ro cxacrl y nil!

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ith all of No rth Afri ca now in th eir ha nds, th e nex t 10giGd step for th e Alli es to ta ke wou ld be to mount a cross-Med iterra nea n in vas ion somewhere alo ng the 'soft und erbel ly' of Eu rope. T he

ques tio n for Ax is lead ers was where exactl )' wo ul d the enem ), str ike ) D esp ite >G me elaborate su bterfllges a nd d ece pt ions b)' the All ies in a n effon ro pe rsuaele H itl er th a t la ndi ngs mi g ht rake place on Sard ini a, in so u rhern France or eve n the Aegea n, the co nsensus of op ini o n in rhe Axis ca m p was thar rh e likelies t ro u te fo r the Alli es to ta ke in to so u thern Europe wo uld be th rou gh lral)" usin gS icil ),as a fi rst step pin g sto ne. T h us the isla nd that had bee n the hom e of the M ed ite rran ea n Ju 88s eve r since rhe first ma chin es of LG 1 touch ed dow n th e re in D ece m ber

194 0 was no w itse lf in the frontlin e. This fa c t was und ersco red b)' l he heav)' po undin g th at Sic il y's airfi eld s we re give n b)' Alli ed bombers from Malra a nd

o rth Afri ca as pa rt o f th e pre- in vas ion softe nin g- up process.

W ith Sic il ), rap id l), beco min g unte nab le, the ea rl )' summ e r of 1943 w itn essed ),e t furth er reo rga ni sa tio n of th e J u 88 Kflmp./f;mppm in th e M edite rran ea n . In th e immediate aftermath of th e Tunisian ca mpaign , l. a nd l I.lKG 54 bo th re turn ed to th e Reich for re-equipm e nt, leavi ng just II I.IKG 54 ro tra nsfer from Ca ta ni a ro Grottagli e in Ita l),. l. a nd Ill. / KG 77 likew ise di sa ppea red from the o rd e r of ba ttl e, whi ch mea nt th at on l)' II.IK G 77 re m a in ed in Ita ly, based first a t Foggia , be fore th en mov in g to Ro me-C ia mp in o. To replace the four depa rred Cruppen, c1 cments of twO Kflmp./ieschwflder new to th e Mediterran ean thea tre were rra nsfe rred in to Ital), - I. and II.IKG 1 from [he Russ ian Fro n t and I. and II I.IKG 6 from northwesr Europe. II I.IKG 6, incid el1[a ll )" was the o rigin al II I.ILC 1 of thc 194 1 d ese rt wa r in Lib),a. T here we re [h ree orhe r J u 88

Cruppen in Ital ), - II I.IKG 30 at V irerbo and I. and II.IKG 76 at Foggia and (alth o ugh

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deplo)'ed detachm ents tempora ril ), to bo th Sa rdini a and sourhe rn France} . Finally, MOl1[pelli er, in rhe south of France, was also th e base of II 1.1 KG 26, whil e I.ILG 1 still reta in ed a small presence on C rete. 78

i ne of the eleven Ju 88 Cruppen currently in th e M ed ite rranea n were

As the war moved to the northern shores of the Mediterranean so the Allied air attacks grew heavier. This is the scene of devastation after a bombing raid on Grottaglie, in Italy, with the remains of a Ju 88 of KG 54 in the foreground and evidence of a bygone age, the hangar door of the field ' s huge airship hangar, still standing background right

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rhu, co ncenlraled in , ou rh el"il ,lIld eerural Ira l)', where lhey were we ll wirhin srri king range of Sicil r in read iness Fo r the ex pected invasion . Yer when it came - befo re daybreak on 10 Ju ly - th ere was linie they could do aga insr the overwhelming mighr of the All ies' sea and air Forces. One hisrory of O perat ion Husky, as rh e in vasio n of Sicily was codenamed , stares [h ar we ll over 2000 ships and land in g cra Ft we re in volved. The Allies Fea red losses of I ') percent d urin g the operation bur, incredih l)" onl y 12 vessels of any size fe ll victim ro enemy acrion. Two of rh e casualties we re S Liberry ships. The 7 18 1-ro n TimotiJy Pickerillg, laden wirh dru ms of aviatio n fuel, bo mbs, T T and other ex pl osives, suffe red a direct hi t and rwo near misses from three 250-kg bombs . Its back broken, the vessel we nt down in the G ul f of oro so uth of Syracuse. Two bombi ng a[racks we re made on shipping ofF the Gela landing beaches o n Sicil y's so uth ern coast durin g the aftern oo n of I a Jul y, which res ul ted in the destructi on of a single LST. Bu r a strike by .so me 30 J u 88s' in th e sa me area 24 hours later ca ught th e 7 176-ro n Robert Rowan. Its cargo of ammuniri on began ro ex plode and the vessel was 'a bandoned fort hwith'. The id ent iry of the attackers is not certain. although mac h in es from barh I.IKG 6 and II I.IKG 54 we re in th e region at the tim e (neither fo rmation, however, was anyw here nea r th e 30 stron g as reported abo ve) . Each Cntppes uffercd th e loss ofrwo aircraft , wit h a th ird from II 1.1 KG 54 cras h-Iandi ng damaged back at G rorraglie. II .1 KG 77 also lost tW O of its num ber ro Spitfires so uth of Syracuse on II Jul ),. Th e Ju 88s we re findin g it imposs ibl e ro penetrate the stron g fi ghter umbrell as rhat th e Allies had established above the main in vasion beaches . An attempt ro mount a snea k raid on shipping off Augusta shortl y after daw n o n 13 Jul y by a small fo rm at ion of I 1.1 KG I machin es was broken up by Spitfires. T wo crews fa il ed ro make it bac k ro the Cruppe's base ar Sa n Pancrazio, on the heel of Iral),. A raid b)' IUKG 76 under cover of darkn ess on 14 th aga inst vessels anchored off Sy rac use fared even worse. T he six aircraft ir lost providing ample p roof, if proof we re needed, th at rh e in vaders' defences we re as efficient by night as rhey we re by day. But a rare success was achi eved by so me 12 machines of IIUKG 26 (w gether with Do 2 17s of II 1.1 KG 100), whi ch roo k offfrom rh eir bases

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in so urhern France ro raid Palerm o harb o ur, o n Sicil y's no rrhern coast, dur ing th e ea rly ho urs of 1 August. Considerable da mage was do ne ro the dock area a nd rhe small 2708-ro n Bri rish coastal freighrer Uskside was sunk and two US Navy m inesweepers damaged. By this stage of th e Sicili an campaign 40 All ied squ adro ns we re o n th e island , o perat ing either fro III capr ured Ax is airfi elds o r newly co nstru cted airsrrips. A num ber of rh ese we re ra rgered by small gro ups of Ju 88s , which also co nr inu ed ro raid Sicily's porrs and h::trbo ur by ni ghr. Bur the o utco me of rh e 38-day campaign was neve r in any do ub r. Ea rly o n the mo rnin g of 17 August, the las t Ge rm an rroo ps left th e island a nd sli pped across rhe narrow Srraits of Messina ro rhe Irali an mainl and. T har sa me ni ght, in whar ca n o nl y be see n as a ges ture of defi a nce, two waves of J u 88 s - abo ut 60 machines in all - bombed th e Tunisian po rr of Bize rra. T he Ju 88s' lasr lin k wirh Sicily had bee n seve red . Th e o nly remaining evidence of the ir 32- mo nrh tenure of rh e island were th e aba nd o ned wrecks of80 aircrafr th ar rhe All ies fo undli treri ng airfields of th e Ca tan ian Plain and beyo nd. Now th e Ge rm ans were fa cing the same pro blem rh ar had co nfronred rh em afrer rhe loss of Tu nisia - where wo uld rh e Allies strike nexr' T his rim e rh e answer had ro be Iral)', bur where'

INVASION OF ITALY

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O n 3 September, litri e mo re rha n a fo rtn ighr after the fin al evac uari o n of Sicily, uni rs of rh e Eighth Ar my foll owed th e rerreatin g Ge rm ans across rhe Srra its of Mess in a ro land :ll Regg io di Ca lab ri a, o n rhe ve ry roe of Italy. T he Bri tish had thus set foor back o n main land Euro pe o n th e fO ll rrh ann ive rsa ry to rhe day of their decla rin g wa r o n Ge rm any. It may have bee n sy mboli c, but it was hard ly a full-scale in vas io n. Realising this, and ri ghtl y anri cipat ing rhat rhe major Alli ed effo n wo uld be mad e hi gher up rhe boot of l taly, Luftflotte2 H Q repli ed in kind and limi ted its co un te r-meas ures at Reggio ro fi ghter-bo mber activity. The co mm and 's J u 88 strike fo rce, co ncenrrated in the Foggia area, was o rdered ro disrup t the All ies' bu il d-up of strength by und erra kin g lo nge rra nge miss io ns ro the No rrh Afri can supp ly po rts. Algiers had alread y bee n raid ed lare in Augusr, 35 aircraft a([acked a coasta l co nvoy o n the ni ght of 2/3 Septem ber and 80 bom bed Bize rta fo ur ni ghts larer. T hen, ea rl y on th e mo rnin g of 8 September, a Lu fTwaffe reco nn aissa nce aircraft reponed ' large ga th erin gs' of enemy shippin g off the coast of l raly to the so urh of Naples. Des pite heavy Allied bo mbin g of the Foggia airfield co mplex durin g th e day, rh e J u 88 Karnpfgmppen managed to moun t close on 150 so rri es aga insr rh e vessels afre r da rk. T hese we re rheir first missio ns in respo nse to O peratio n Avalallche, th e Allied land in gs ar Salern o o n 9 September. Fo r mu ch of the remaind er of the month most crews made the 136- mile ro und trip fro m Foggia to a([ac k shipping in th e G ulf of Salern o at least o nce, and so metim es rwice, a ni ghr in whar has bee n described elsewhere as 'a level of o perari o ns greater rh an anythin g atta in ed since rh ose aga inst Malta in March 1942'. Bu r, unsl.l rprisingly, ships ancho red offsho re in rh e darkn ess proved mu ch harder to hi t riun a 9 5-squ are mil e island , a nd the Ju 88 uni ts had little ro show fo r rh eir ni ghri y end eavo urs oth er th an a srea dy tr ickl e of losses. In fac t, rheir relegar io n to the ho urs of darkn ess was a racit admiss ion th at rhe o ne- tim e 'V?lunderborn ber'was now rapid ly losin g a lo t

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Bur rh ere was ro be on e last campai g n in t he M edire rra nea n w he re rh e Ju 88 was able, howeve r briefly, ro put its t rad ition a l di ve- bo mb ing abiliti es ro good use. O n 8 Se pte mbe r - the eve of rhe Sale rn o la ndin gsIra ly had ca pitulated. Ove rni gh t, G e rm a ny's Ax is pa rm e r had beco me

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her poss ibl e enem y. I n I tal y itself th e situat io n was rapi d l), reso lved b )' rh e W ehrm
Creece, IUKG 6 d irect from a period of wo rkin g up in Fra nce and I I.! KG 5 1 stra ig h r fro m ope rat ions o n the easte rn front. Afte r th e sm all fo rce of Sp itfires th a t had bee n flo wn in ro COS W3S fo rced ro re tire, the o n ly a ir cove r rhat cou ld be provi d ed for th e Al li ed troops on rhe island s cam e from lon g- ra nge RAF fi g h ters based In Cy prus (3u gm enred for a shorr peri od by US AAF P-38s ope ra rin g o ur of Libya) . Th is was not a l w ~ ys effecti ve, a nd th e Ce rm a ns qui c kl y establis hed lo ca l a ir supe ri or ity - some thin g they had not enj oyed in t he Med ite rra nea n theatre for a lo ng w hi le. T hL Ju 88 Cruppfll made full use of rh eir new-fo und freedom , fl ying a success io n

of almost

un opposed

ra ids aga lllsr Alli ed bo mbin g positio ns o n th e vario us islands, co nce illrating prin cipally o n C os a nd Leros. During rh e co urse of these th ey acco uilled fo r two of th e six Allied des[l'oye rs los r in rh e Dodeca nese when th ey san k th e Roya l Navy's 1.370- ro n

Ili trepid and

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QlIeen Olga in Leros

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harbo ur o n 26 September. Five d ays later, also a t Le ros, they d:ull
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10 s. Iron icall y, the Euro had been sunk once before- in shal low water in Tobruk harbour by British aircraft before being refloated and towed to Taranto for repair! In add ition to the above successes, rh e Ju 88 crews parricipared in a numb r of joint operatio ns with the StlIkas of rG 3, which res ulred in the sinking or damaging of many other vessels, including wars hips (from cruisers down to landing crafr) and rh e small merchanrmen thar were rrying ro ger supp li es rhrough to rhe isolared Brirish forces holding rhe islands. T he hrter's eltons were in va in , as Cos was capr ured by the Cerma ns on 3 October. Leros held our uillil 16 Nove mber, afrer whi ch all Brir ish troo ps we re evacuared from lhe other isla nds. Te n of rhe twelve Dodeca nese isla nds wo uld remain in Germ an hands un ril rh e ve ry end of rhe wa r, bur rhe Lufrwaffe un irs rhat had bee n broughr in to help rake rhem depa rred aga in almosr immed iarely afrer they had bee n secured . For IUKG 6 rh is meanr a rerurn to France to rejoin irs parenr Geschwflc!ers{flb, while IUKG 5 1 res um ed irs inrerrupred operarions on the sourhern seero r of rhe Russ ian front. Mea nwhile, in Ira ly, rh e US Fifrh Army had broken our of irs Salerno beachh ead and adva nced northwards, enrerin g Na ples on I O ctober. Wirh rhe Americans now pushing hard up rh e wesr coasr of Iraly and rh e Brirish drivin g up rh e easrern side of rhe counrry, furt her wirhdrawals and reo rga nisa rion of the J u 88 Kflmpjgruppen in Ital y beca me necessa ry. Before Seprember was our, I. and lll .l KG 6 had been transferred back to France. Ar rhe sa me rime rh e remn anrs of I. and IUKG I, which had suffered heav), losses over Sicil y and Salerno , handed rh eir remaining J u 88s to KGs 54 and 76 and rerired to north ern Iraly, prior to rerurning to the Reich and co nve rsion onto rhe He 177 . II UKG 30 was also pu ll ed our of lra ly, as was 111 .l KG 54, who, afrer pass ing irs aircrafr ove r ro rhe incoming IU KG 54, li kewise withd rew by rail to Germany for refit. T his lefr jusr rhe 'vere ran' I. and IUKG 76 to ma ke rhe mo ve from Foggia - rake n by rhe adva ncing Eighth Arm y on 27 September - to fi elds in rhe fa r norrh of Ira ly, which they shared with I. and IUKG 30 and I. and l UKG 54. These four larrer Crllppen had rerurn ed to Iraly afrer lengrhy periods of rerrain ing, and th e young and inex peri enced crews who made up rhe bu lk of rh eir numbers were ill prepared for rhe d iffi culr operarional co ndirions and worsenin g wearher rhey now faced. T he Al lies we re nor on ly pressing forward along a co ntinuous front in main land Iraly, rh ey had also ca prured Sardinia and Co rsic.1., forcing Germa n rroops to evacuare the rwo islands on 19 Seprember and 4 October, respecrively. In rh eir firsr operation, a raid on Ajaccio harbour on Corsica's wesr coasr on 12 O ctober, rhe ty ro crews of!. and II .l KG 54 were forrun are to rerum to base wirhour loss after having to fl y rhrough low cloud and violent rhund erstorms.

Although the German garrisons on most of the 12 Dodecanese islands remained isol ated and cut off until the end of the war, they were not forgotten . Here, in December 1943, a reconnaissance Ju BBD of 2.IF)f123 probably at latoi, in Greece, is being prepared for a mission of a different kind - to deliver the load of Christmas trees seen on the roof of the Klibelwagen to one of the outlying isl ands

Th e fo ll owin g day th e ncw Itali an govcrnmc nt hcaded by M a rshal Bodogli o o ffi ciall y decla red wa r o n G erm a ny. Ir was nOl th is new ad ve rsary, however, but a co mbination of th e deterioratin g w inter wea ther, poor serviceabili ty return s and th e in ex perie nce of many of the crews th at led [0 a m arked decline in J u 88 acti viry durin g O ctober a nd o ve mbe r. This was not los t on Alli ed military intelli ge nce, w hi ch sniffily remarked upo n th e ' low scale of (th e ene my's) lo ng- range bo mber elTo n ', funh er

Pictured under a lowering sky, these aircraft of LG 1 are reporte dly returning to Greece after a ra id on southern Italy late in October 1943 . By this time the Geschwader's days in the eastern Mediterranean were already numbered

noting th at th e Ju 88 units were fl yin g 'one sortie eve ry twO wee ks per servi ceable ai rcraft '. AJthough rh is assess mc nt was so m ew har wid e o f rh e m a rk , i r can not be deni ed th a t th e M edite rra nea n Ju 88s we re no lon ge r th e fo rce th ey had o nce bee n. By thi s stage of th e campaig n in Ital), th eir prima ry rarget was th e port of N ap les. D es p ite bein g badl y d a m aged by All ied bombi ng durin g th e month s of G e rm a n occ upa tion , he ro ic a tte mpts were being mad e [0 put aples back in ro se rvi ce aga in , a nd it was soon [0 become o ne of rh e th eat re's major supp ly POrts. Eve n so, th e Ju 88s managed ro raid Nap les o n on ly six occasio ns be twee n 2 O cto ber (rhe clay afrcr irs loss) a nd 26 N ove mbcr. Eac h of th ese six mi ssio ns in vo lved a ma ximum effort of up [0 100 airc raft o r mo re. Bur so me t im es less than a third of that numbe r ac tual ly reached t heir obj ec tive. On t he seco nd o f th ese raids, for examp le, o n 23 O c[Obe r, on ly 15 ro 20 airc raft out o f th e 90 in vo lved we re re po n ed ove r th e targe t area. Th e arracks we re cos rl )' [00, a ncl no t on I)' in te rm s o f no vi ce c rews. Amo ng th e cas ualli es o n 23 O c to be r was th e Cruppenkomfl/r/lldeur o f IU KG 54, H a uptm a nn Horst Bressel , w ho had hee n deco ra tcd w ith rh c G e rm a n C ross in Go ld cxac rl v rwo rn o nrh s ea rli e r. On th eir nCX l visir ro Na ples, durin g th e ni g hr o f 1/2 ove mber, seve ralJu 88s laun ched LT 3'5 0 circl in g [O rpedoes in [O th e harbo ur bas in. Bur neirh e r durin g lhi s, no r a ny of the three o rh e r ra ids bcfo re rh e e nd o f rh e m o nth , was a ny a pprcciabl e da m age c1 0 nc ro shippin g in th e po n. After a nother mi ss io n lO Co rsica o n 24 Novc mbe r, fl ow n b)' 11 9 aircrafr aga inst th e ha rbo ur [Own of Basti a, o n th e i s l a nd '~ no rth eas te rn

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da )'s \ater - a nd aga insr a ll ex pectat io ns - rhe), ca rried o ur w har was, w irh rh e poss ibl e excep ri o n of PirJeus, arguabl )' th e singl e mosr successful and d evasra rin g ra id of rh e enrire M editerra nea n war! Lare in rhe aFte rn oo n of 2 Dece mbe r 1943, a ircra Fr From a ll six

Cmppen ( 10 5 ma c h ines in a ll ) [Ook ofFFro m rh ei I' bases in nort hern I ra l),. C ross in g our over rh e coas r between Rave nn a a nd Rim ini , rhe)' fl ew a r low leve l down rh e Adria ric. Th eir ta rge r was rhe easr coas t po rt of Bar i, w he re reco nn a issa nce h ad reported rh e prese nce of ove r 3 0 Alli ed Ill e rc ha nr shi ps. Turn in g [0 ap proach th e ta rge r from seawa rd as du sk was Fa lli ng, th e Ju 88s bega n climb ing ha rd. In rh e va n was a s m all Force of par hfin de rs, sca tte ri ng str ips of ' Window ')

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co n fu se A lli ed rad a r a nd d ro pp ing fla res. Th e latte r were

ha rd l), necessa r)', as rh e ha rbour was a lrea d )' a blaze w ith lig h t

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unl oadin g . This co mpla ce n c)' - o r was it a ca lculated risk? - co u ld ha rdl ), ha ve o cc urred at a wo rse t im e. At abour 1930 h rs th e firsr bo mbs J nd LT 35 0 [O rped oes we re released. Acco un ts diFfe r as

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:lttac k - Ge rm a n records specify an exact 88, w h ile o n e Alli ed es t im are pur t he numbe r at 'on l)' 3 0 '. H oweve r m a n)' th e)' we re, the havoc th e), w ro ug h t was e nor m o us. Two a mmuniti o n ships we re hi t J lm os t a t o nce. T he res u ltant ex p los io n d evasrated a la rge pa rt of th e docksid e a nd mu ch of th e surro undin g a rea . The b ul k fu el p ipe was seve red and fue l spread ac ross the surface of th e harb o ur. Ig nited b)' burn in g av ia t io n sp irit esca ping from th e d a m aged Ita lian ra nke r Cmsafa, it qui c kl), e ng ulfed 84

man )' of th e o th er s hi ps thar h ad so fa r esca ped th e bo mbs.

A crew from II./KG 54 relax in th e sun between operations at Bergamo, in northern Italy , in Novembe r 1943

On e reterence so urce li sts 15 vessels tOta ll y destroyed (others give higher fi gures - anyth in g up to 19) plus seve n seve rely damaged. A turt her horro r was add ed to the ca rna ge already ca used when it was discove red that one ot the tour US Liberty ships sunk , the 7 177-tonJohn Harvey, had been ca rryin g 100 to ns of mustard gas bombs in its holds. In additi o n to the 1000 + men who perished in the ra id , over 600 unwitringly inhaled the deadl y gas - 83 ot them wo uld die in th e wee ks ahead. Although th ere were to ur USAAF Bea ufi ghter nightfi ghters in the area, on ly rwo Ju 88s reported ly fai led to return trom th e raid , th e cause of their loss un certain. The most destructi ve ra id durin g the early days of the Ju 88 in the Med iterranean had undoubtedl y bee n th at on Piraeus harbour in Greece, which had resul ted in tremendous damage to ship ping and port installations alike. ow it seemed as it rh e J u 88 was ending irs days in the area in simil ar dramatic and ex plosive tashion. Fo r in less than a month aFter the atrack on Ba ri , al l six Cruppen th at had taken part in the raid had been withdrawn From lraly. By the end otDecember 1943 rh e on ly Ju 88 bombers on Luftflotte2's strength we re the fi ve serviceable machin es or the Cesch1Vflc/erstab KG 76. But rhe sto ry was not quite over ye t.

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ANZIO In the ea rl y hours ot22 January 1944 rh e All ies made anoth er amp hibi ous land ing on the west coast ot Italy, th is time at Amio, beh ind th e Ge rman tron tl in es and on ly so me 30 miles sourh ot Rom e. No t ex pectin g an operation such as rh is to be staged in mid-wimer, rhe Ge rmans were taken tOta ll y by surpr ise. Bur the LuFtwaffe's res po nse was prompt and energe tic. Eight KflInpfgruppen, all but one equipped with Ju 88s, we re qui ckly des patched to no rth ern lraly. Four - I. and II .1 KG 30 and I. and II .1 KG 76 - were has til y reca lled aFter hav ing on ly leFt the area on ly wee ks ea rli er. To these were added II 1.1 KG 30 and L and II I.1LG I, th e lan er rwo fl ying in From Greece and C rere, thereby fina ll y bringin g ro a close LG I's long association with the eastern Mediterranea n. This II I.1LG I was, of course, a ' new' unit to rmed From I.IKG 55 in Augusr 1943 . Ini ti all y, rh e J u 88 crews we re d irected aga inst All ied supply ~ hippin g in an attempt to d isru pt th e build-up of the enemy's beachh ead. But, as at Sa lern o, it was soon accepted rhat the tOrpedo and glider bomb-equipped uni ts were ben er suited to this task. Th erea Frer, rh e J u 88 Kampfgruppen we re restricred mo re and more to small-scale ni ght harass melll raids mainly again st ground rarge ts. But eve n these proved costl y and rather inettecti ve. No doub r decidin g th at th ey cou ld be better employed el sew here, KG 30's three Crupper! we re withdraw n From Iraly in rhe firsr halt otFebruary. This leFt a torce oF abou r 50 se rviceab le machin es out of the 140 that had bee n rushed back intO no rt hern Italy rh ree wee ks betore. T he se rviceabili ty rerurns for rhe to ur remain ing Cruppm (UKG 76 havin g been replaced by II 1.1 KG 76 in March) wo uld ho ve r around this sam e level Fo r th e fi n31th ree mon ths ot their service in the Medi terranea n. T owa rds rhe close ot rhis peri od rhey sco red so me min or successes in night raids on Alli ed li nes ot co mmuni ca tions in th e Cass in o area and on airfi elds borh in ce III ral Italy and on C orsica . About halt rheir number eve n attacked Na ples on e las t tim e in th e ea rly hours ot 14 May. But th ese we re li ttle mo re th an pinpricks in what was, as Far as th e LuFrwatte was co ncern ed , now a seco ndary th eatre ot wa r. Th e end ca me with th e

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IllVaSlOn of No rm and y on 6 June 1944, whi ch res ulted in all four Gruppm fin all y leaving 1taly for good . Yet th ere was still one other small force that had been keeping ali ve th e anti -shipping tradition s of the Mediterran ea n Ju 88s for th e past six months an d more - the torpedo-bombers of II 1.1 KG 26, based at Monrpell ier, in southern France, under the co mmand of recent Knighr's C ross winn er Haup tm ann Klaus Noc ken. Havin g ope rated out of Sard in ia under Lllftflotte 2 (or the fi rst fi ve mont hs of 194 3, KG 26's twO Mediterranea n Gn/ppm (I. / KG 26 was equipped with He I li s) had then rransferred ro France, where they were placed under th e co ntrol of Lufi/lorte 3 at yea r-end. From its new base III .l KC 26 were idea ll y situated ro engage the man y Allied co nvoys pass ing through the St raits of G ibraltar into th e western Mediterranea n. One such operat io n in vo lvin g th e tWO Gmppen of KG 26 had taken pl ace shortl y before sunse t on 6 ovember 1943 when th ey attacked convoy KM F-25 A so me ten mil es off the Alge ri an coast. Approa chin g in two waves, rh e 36 torpedo-bombers sco red hi ts on o ne of th e convoy esco rts an d two of rhe troopshi ps. T he 1700-ron destroye r USS Bnltl)', its keel damaged , broke in rwo and sa nk severa l hours later. The two transports, the 19,355- ron Marnix lIan 51A Ldegonde and the 9 135-ton Santa ELella, remained afl oa t until the followin g day, allowing all perso nnel - includin g rh e 100 nurses aboard the Santa Elena - to be transferred to other vessels. Orher successes quickly fo llowed. On ly five days later, on I I November, 17 aircraft of II 1.1 KG 26 (rogether with the Heinkels of I. Gruppe and the glider bomb-carry ing Dorn iers of II .l KG 100) were in action against convoy KMS-3 1 north east of O ran. T hree merchantmen we re sunk - the 5 15 1-ron Birchbank, the 8587- ton Indian Princea nd the French 72 17- to n CarLier. A second Frcn h vessel, th e 4763-l011 tanker NiIlOSC, was also ro rpedoed and sank afte r coll iding wirh another ship. tv; on the previous mission, twO of the Gmppe's J u 88s f..1 i1ed ro return. Afrer a relatively quiet December, KG 26's rorpedo-bombers returned to the fray o n 10 January 1944 when 30 of th eir number attacked co nvoy KMS-37 north of Oran. Again fo r the loss of tWO J u 88s, the 7 178-ton Freigh ter Ocean Hunter was sun k and th e 7 176-ron Liberry ship DanieL Webster severel y damaged. Although th e crew managed ro beach it, the latter vessel was subsequenrl y decl ared a to tal loss. O n 23 January 1944,24 hours after rhe Alli ed landings at Anzio, the JII 88s oFl ll.IKG 26 were despatched to arrack sh ipping in rhat area. Details of the four-hour mission are sketchy, but at leas[ six of the Gruppe's

' F1 +Ar of ilL/KG 76 is clearly flying over the Alps, but is it heading north or south 7 One source maintains that it is returning to northwest Europe to take part in January 1944's ' Little Bl itz' on Britain (which is unlikely ), while another claims that the bomber is en route from H6rsching, in Austri a, to repl ace I. Gruppe in northern Italy

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Although this aircraft of 5./KG 77 is clearly sporting a white aft fuselage band, the red and white stripes on the nose of the torpedo indicate that it is a practice weapon . This photograph was therefore probably taken at Barth, on Germany's Baltic coast (and cou ld this machine be among the line-up pictured on page 79? Note the similar spinner rings

This, however, is the real thing . The torpedo being loaded here is a 'live one', and the background terrain suggests southern climes . III./KG 26 at Montpellier, perhaps?

machin es were reponed lost o n th is dare. Among those m iss in g were [wo of rh e un it's rhree StaJfelkapitfille, H auprl e ure H einri ch D eubel a nd Josef W iszbo rn of8. and 9.1KG 26, res pecrively. I February saw rhe twO Cruppen of KG 26 bac k off rhe Alge ri a n coasr, some 40 ai rcrafr a track in g convoy UGS -30 north of Ora n a nd sink in g th e 7 17 6-ton freight er Edward Bates. I nrerce pred by Sa rdi n ian- based Beaufighters, three J u 88s we re shot down. For much of th e rem ainde r of February, IIUKG 26's machines were engaged in indi vidual so rries against shipping off Amio. T hese were usuall y tim ed for eith e r daw n or dusk. But th en, in order ro save the crews the long ovelwa te r approac h Right, a forward base was set u p for them at Piacenza, in nort hern Italy. From he re they Rew just rwo mi ssio ns before the suppl y of ro rpedoes ra n o ut , afte r whi ch they we re orde red to ca rry o ut ra ids o n the beachh ead itself usin g fragm entat io n bombs - so methin g fo r whi ch the airc raft we re not equipped (fo r dive-homb ing th ey lacked th e

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necessary bombsights, a nd For highlevel bo mb ing there was no oxygcn equ ipmenr) and For whi ch the specialist rorpedo crews had no t been train ed! It was w ith no li nl e relieF th at rhey rerurn ed ro Montpellier in late February ro res um e their ant i-co nvoy opera tion s. But March turned out ro be a ba rre n month . TheJu88s again Fe ll Foul of Bea ufi ghte rs From Sa rdinia beFore they co uld reach a co nvoy of troopships oFF Algiers on th e 8th. And two other a n e mpred anacks alon g thc Alger ian C03sr und e r the cover of darkn ess aga inst co n voys KMS-44 on 19 Marc h and KMS-45 te n days larcr both proved abort ive (a nd cos tl y, wit h Fo u r crews lost). AI" rhe e nd of March, I. Cmppe, dow n to just 12 H eink el rews, was w irhdraw n ro re-equ ip a nd rerra i n o n J u 88s. rtS pl ace in rhe so uth of Fra nce W;15 ra ke n by I. a nd IIU Ke 77 , w ho fl ew in from rh e Reich , where

Carrying two torpedoes, 9./KG 77 ' s

'3Z+Ur flies low over the Mediterranean as it sets out from Istres and heads for the Algerian coast on 20 April 1944

rh ey the mselves had just co mpleted [rain ing as torped o-bo mbe r uni ts. Before daw n on I Ap ril so me 20 Ju 88s an3cked convoy UeS-36 wes t of Algiers, sink in g the 7 19 1-lO n Liberty sh ip jarec/ Illgersoll but los ing at leas t three machin es (a ll From fl UKe 26) in th e process. Another 20 aircraFt (a mi xed Force of Ju 88s and Do 2 17s) were despatched aga inst the next co nvoy - th e 66-vessel eS-3 7 - durin g the n ight of I 1/ 12 Ap ril. Thei r only success was a sin gle tOrpedo hit, which dam aged the 1400-ro n d e~.troye r- escort USS Hole/er. The wa rsh ip was rowed to Alg iers beFore nukin g its own way back ro New York avy Yard, where th e da mage was judged ro be roo seve re to warrant repair and the ship decommissioned. On the even ing of 20 Ap ril approxi mately 50 aircraft from all three rorpedo Cmppen (plus so me D o 2 17s of IfI .lKe 100) agai n rook off from rheir bases in so uth ern France. This time their target was the even larger co nvoy UeS-38, co nsisting of nea rl y 90 merchantmen. While still 100 mi les off the Al ge ri a n coast, pan of the an ack ing force dU I1Ced upon a small e r co nvoy bound from Co rsica a nd sa nk the 4678-ro n French freighter E/ Biar. T he rema in der found UeS-38 stea m ing eas t off Ca pe Bengut. Mak in g fu ll use of the ga theri ng dusk, the J u 88s approached from ahead in three low-level waves, to rpedo in g and sink in g th e 16 30-to n dest roye r USS Lattsc/ale (whi ch , so mewhat iro ni call y, had bee n speciall y equi pped to deteer and jam rad ioconrro ll ed gli der bombs), as well as th e 7900-to n Britis h merchantm an RoyaL Star and th e 7 177 -ton S Libert), ship PauL Hllmiitoll. Two

88

ot her frei ghte rs were dam aged , and at least three warships of the stro ng esco rtin g force reported near misses From o ne or m o re torpedoes. This was to be the laSt major success achi eved by the torpedo-

Another 'hot' start as a fully loaded Ju 88A-17 torpedo-bomber warms up its engines prior to firing the two rocket-assisted take-off packs just visible underwing . Note also the bulged fairing to the left of the nose glazing , which housed the equipment for adjusting the torpedoes' steering gear in the air

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Adorned simply with its four-letter Stammkennzeichen fusleage code 'PN+MT' and a ' last three' (498) on

the vertical tail surfaces, this FuG 200 Hohentwiel rad ar-equipped Ju 88A-6/U anti-shipping m achine is pictured at Aviano, in north ern Ita ly. The backdrop is no longer provided by Sicily's Mount Etna, but by the face of the Alp s. The Ju 88 Kampfgruppen in th e Mediterranea n have finally run out of room to manoeuvre. There is nowhere else to go now but over those peaks back into the Reich

bombers. A simi lar mission aga insr UGS-40 in rhe sa me area by 60+ Ju 88s on rhe evening of I I May was aga in in rercepred bv RAF Bea ufl ghrcrs from Sardinia. Alrhough rhe Ju 88 crews cla imcd one desrroyer and seven merchanrmen sunk, nor a ~ in gle vessel was in facr losr, while a sraggering 19 aircrafr - very nearl y a rhi rd of rh e arrackin g forcc - were reporredmissing. Then, lare on 30 May, during an arrack on UGS-42 norrheasr of Algicrs, a [Orpedo srru ck and sank rhc 2873-[On Brirish freighrer Nordeflillge. T his small sreamshi p, on charre r [0 rh c Brirish Admiralry, was, in all probabili ry, rhc very lasr vessel ro be cla imcd by rhe LufrwaFfe's Ju 88s durin g rheir rh ree-and-3-half year Mcdircrrane3n war. And rhar W3r was, [0 all inrenrs and purposcs, now cflccr ively over. Ir was exacrl y onc week afl er rhe luckl ess NordeJ1illge wem down rhar Allied fo rces landcd in Normand y. Bur unlike lh c Ju 88 Kfllnp./imppen In norrhcrn Ira ly, rh c [O rpcdo-bombers deploycd along rh c French Medi re rranea n coasr we rc nor imm ed iarely rushed norrhwa rds. Afrer D- Day, howevc r, rh eir mi ss io ns did rake rh cm in lhal di recrio n when rhey were ord cred [0 ny rhc 55 0 m il es [0 rh e C hann el coasr [0 arrack shi pp ing off rhe No rm3nd y beaches. Even wirh a refuel li ng srop o n rhe rerurn fli ghr, rhese len grhy opcrarions pur a grear srrain on mcn and mach ines alike. In Jul y KG 77 was disband cd , and when, o n 15 Augusr, rh e Al lies in vaded sourhern France, rhe remaining [Orpedo-bombers of KG 26 were nca r powe rl css [0 oppose rhem. As Alli ed rroops rh cn bega n ro move inland, rh e rime had f1n311y co me for 111 .lKG 26 (and rhe recenrl )' arri ved IUKG 26) ro rerire back in[O rhe Reich. Fo r rhe rema in ing nine monr hs ofrhe war rhe on l)' Ju 88 presence in rhe Med irerranea n arca was provided by rhe reco nnJissa nce unirs in Ira l)'. And by rhe end even rheir numbers had shrunk [0 less rhan 12 serviceable machin es hudd led ar rhe foor of rhe Alps in rhe far norrh of rh e coumry a mere shadow of rh e forcc rhar had once besrrode rhe cnrire rhearre.

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APPENDICES

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REPRESENTATIVE Ju 88 BOMBER (AND RECONNAISSANCE) STRENGTHS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATRE 1941-44

AI 22 APRIL 1941

BI 20 SEPTEMBER 1942

X. Fliegerkorps

Luftflone2

1 (F)/ 121 2(F)/ 123

Base Catania Catania

Est-Serv 15-9 14·7

StabLG 1

Catania

1-1

II / LG 1 IIIJLG 1 (exc 8. Staffen ilL/KG 30

Catania Catania Catania

26-20 40·11 27·24

Fliegerliihrer Afrika

8/LG 1

Benghazl·Benma

Totals

Bombers 103-60 Recon naissance 29-16

9·4

Base

Est-Serv

Trapani Trapani

31 11 8

1 (F)/ 122-

Catanra

176

Stab KG 54 L/KG 54 II / KG 54 111 / KG 54

Catania Gerbinl Gerbml Catanra

21 3214 26·15 31 9

Stab KG 77 I / KG 77

Commo Catanra/Commo

22 33·14

Oberbefehlshaber-Siid

StabAufkIGr(F) 122 2 (F)/122 II. Fliegerkorps (Slcily)

X. Fliegerkorps (Greece and Crete) 2 (F)/123"

Kastell l

157

StabLG 1 L/ LG 1 II / LG 1

Heraklron Heraklron Heraklron

22 31 16 30-19

II / KG 77 III.KG77

Tympaklon Tympakron

2B-13 28- 12

Totals

Bombers 259-122 Reconn aissa nce 56-27

-Also equipped with 8f 109 " Also equipped with Ju 86

90

C) 10 MARCH 1943

1>

0) 25 APRil 1944

-0 -0

m Z 0

Luftf/otte 2111aly)

Luftf/otte2

Base

Est-Serv

II. Fliegerkorps lSlclly and Sardinia) Slab AufklGr IF)/122 lIF)/122 2IF){122

Sardinia Sardinia Sardinia

2-2 19-5 20-2

III/KG 26

V,llacldlO

22-12

Slab KG 30 II/KG 30

Com Iso Comlso

1-1 45-21

Slab KG 54 I /KG 54 II/KG 54

Catanra Elmas Catania

1-1 31-19 25-10

Slab KG 76 II/KG 76

Catania Gerblnl

2-2 17-12

Slab KG 77' I/KG 77' III/KG 77

P,acenza P,acenza SIcily

11 12-9 43-27

Base 2IF)!122' IIF)/123

Perugla Perugla

SlabLG 1 I/LG 1 III/LG 1

Ghedl Ghedl Villa Franca

14 21

Slab KG 76 5/KG 76 III/KG 76

Ronchl AVlano Villa Orba

16

Komm.Gen.d.dtsch.LW in Griechen/and

SlabFAGr 4 31F)f33 2IF)/123' •

Tatol TatOi Tatol

IIF)/33" •

StMartlll

Crete

20-7

III/KG 26

Montpeilier

SlabLG 1 11/ LG I

Heraklron Heraklron

I-I 30-24

4 and 6/KG 76

ISlres

Slab KG 77 I/KG 77 III/KG 77

Salon Orange-Carrtat Orange-Carrtat

Totals

Bombe rs 96

IIF)/121

Totals

TUniS

Bombers231-140

• Re-equlppll1g In northern Italy

4 8

Luftf/otte 31southern France)

2 IF), 123

F/iegerfiihrer Afrika

n m en

Lw.Kdo.SiidostIGreece)

Base

x. Fliegerkorps lGreece and Crete)

Serv

Se ••

10

II 15

44

• Also equipped with Me 41 0 • • Also equipped with Sf 109 and Ju 188 •• • Also equipped with Ju 188

91

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COLOUR PLATES

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1 Ju 88A-5 'l1+EN' of 5./lG 1, Reggio-Emilia, Italy, December 1940 Dep icted du ri ng II ./LG 1's in it ial tra nsfer from Orlea ns-Bricy, in France, t o Catania, o n Sici ly, 5. StaffeJ's 'EN ' wea rs sta ndard northwest Europea n fini sh and is carry ing two 900-li tre (198 1m p ga l) lo ng -range tanks under th e in board w in g section s to help it cover the leng thy final stages down th e leg of Italy . Note th e lack of any w hite recogn it ion markings.

2 Ju 88A -5 'l1+HN' of 5./lG 1, Catania, Sicily, February 1941 It was on ly upon arriv al at Catania that LG 1's mach in es were g iven M ed iterranean theatre markings of white underwin g tips and aft fuselage bands. RLM gu ide lines were not always adhered to, howeve r, and many of th e un it's Ju 88s inc lud ing ' HN ', see n here - sported extra w ide fuselage bands upon w hi ch both the individual aircraft letter (' Red H') and Staffel code letter ('N') were displayed. Thi s machine is car ryin g two 1000-kg bombs suc h as were commonly used in raid s o n M alta.

3 Ju 88A-5 ' l1+GN' of 5./LG 1, Grottaglie, Italy, April 1941 Some doubt sti ll ex ists as to the co lo ur of the Ba lkans theatre markings app li ed to a number of LG 1 aircraft dur ing the br ief Yugoslav and Gree k campa igns. Were t heir rudders and eng ine cow li ngs/ nacel les pa inted yel low as per offi cial instructions, or w hite as some sou rces maintain? Photographic sources (see phot o on page 21) wou ld seem to suggest t he former, as shown in this profil e.

4 Ju 88A -5 'l1+XH' of 1./LG 1, Eleusis, Greece, May 1941 By the tim e of the in vasion of Crete and LG 1's operations aga in st A ll ied sh ipping arou nd the is land, all high-v isib il ity markings had been removed. The accent now was on t oning down the prom inent wh ite M ed iterranean theatre markings by hastily overpa int ing them w ith washab le black distemper.

desert tan camou flag e. Note, however, that 7. StaffeJ's 'G R' has not yet had its white aft fu se lage band app li ed.

6 Ju 88A-4 ' l1 +PK' of 2./lG 1, Catania, Sicily, January 1942 The overal l tan fini sh given to many LG 1 mac hi nes was soo n being broken up by disruptive patc hes of green, wh ic h made the scheme better suited to the barren - but not necessari ly dese rt reg ions over whic h the Geschwaderoperated during its freque nt dep loyments arou nd th e M ed iterranean theatre from Sicil y to North Africa, Greece and Crete. However, as camou fl age, it seems particularly unsuitab le to th e un it's numerous overwater miss ions!

7 Ju 88A-4 'l1 +OU ' of 10./lG 1, Salonika -Sedes, Greece, May 1942 Th e IV. Gruppe (usua lly 10., 11 . and 12 Staffeln) of a Kampfgeschwader performed the funct io n of an operationa l train ing un it for its pa rent Stab, and was norma ll y based either in t he Reich or in a rear area of German -occup ied territo ry. IV./LG 1 was form ed in January 1942 by redes ignat ing the Erganzungsg rupp e LG 1, which had tr ansferred from Wiener Neustadt to Sa lonika -Sedes some weeks earli er. In Greece, the un it not o nly conti nu ed with its training activiti es (hence the aircraft's larg e identification numeral on the vertica l tail surfaces), but also - despite the unco mpromi sing desert tan finis h of its machines - ca rri ed ou t routine an ti -submarine patro ls over the Aegean Sea .

8 Ju 88A-4 ' l1 +EK' of 2./lG 1, Heraklion , Crete, Summer 1942 From th eir base o n Crete, ai rcraft of I./LG 1 regularly fl ew so uth across the M ed iterran ean in the summ er of 1942 to suppo rt Romm el's latest desert offensive. Among the targets th ey attacked by night was th e harbour of Tobruk, hence the copious amounts of temporary b lack d istempe r cover ing the unders ides and alm ost obsc uring th e id ent ity of this machine (wh ic h is almost certa inly "EK' of 2. Staffel). Note the 500-kg Luftmine A parachute mine ju st visible under the inboard w in g section .

5

92

Ju 88A-5 'l1+GR' of 7./lG 1, Derna , libya, Summer 1941 8. Staffel was th e fi rst eleme nt of LG 1 to be transfe rred to Lib ya (in Apri l 1941), where it came under the direct con trol of the loca l Fliegerfuhrer Afrika. It was fo ll owed a month later by th e rest of III. Gruppe. As befitted th eir new theatre of war, III ./LG 1's machines were g iven a coat of overa ll

9 Ju 88A-4 ' L 1+HW' of 12./LG 1, Western Desert, circa August 1942 A lthoug h severa l so urces li st Salonika as IV./LG 1's so le base throughout its en tire 15-month serv ice in the M ed iterranean (from formation in J anu ary 1942 until its return to W iener Neustad t in March 1943)' other records ind icate th at the Gruppe's 12.

Staffel o perated ove r t he W estern Dese rt (base d at Dern a and Berka ) fo r seve ral m o nt hs in mid-1942. 'HW ' was prob ably o ne m ac hin e t o be so d eploy ed - why oth erw'l se th e elab orate ' sc rib ble' ca m o ufla ge ove r t he bas ic dese rt tan f in ish?

10 Ju 88A-4 'L hEW of 1./LG 1, Aviano, Italy, February 1944 W hen LG 1 fin all y left t he A egea n area in J anua ry 1944, it s aircraft w ere at last wear ing he Wellenmuster (' wav e-patt ern ') ca m o uflage sc he m e spec ifica ll y dev ise d and introdu ce d fo r anti-shippin g o perati o ns. Iro ni ca ll y, h ow eve r, shortly after arriving in north ern Italy th e un it w as restr ict ed t o flyin g mi ss ion s ag ainst Al lied g ro und f o rces and th eir lin es of co mmunica t io ns under co v er of darkn ess, wh ich ex pla ins th e ove rpainting of t he n ation al in signi a and aft fu selage b and. Note also t he ex haust shro ud and Geschwader cod e ' L l ' th at has now bee n reduce d t o o ne-fifth of it s ea rli er size .

11 Ju 88A-4/Torp ' 1T +ET' of 9./KG 26, Villacidro, Sardinia, April 1943 Th e hi st o ry of III./ KG 26 betwee n 1940 and 1942 w as parti cul arly compl ex, eve n by Luftw affe st anda rds. Suffice it to say th at durin g t h is peri od no few er t han three d iffere nt Grupp en bea ring t he design ation III./KG 26 we re form ed . And w hen a fo urth , and final , II I./ KG 26 w as bro ug ht int o being in J u ly 1942 (b y redes ign ating KGr 506 ). it s aircraft - fo r som e unknown reason - initiall y wore th e ' 1T' unit code of KG 28. Th e Wellenmuster-ca mou f laged Do 17 depi cted here, base d o n Sardin ia fo r anti-shipp ing op eratio ns in th e western M ed iterranea n, is sti ll spo rtin g t he 'n ' co de a full nine m o nth s after th e Gruppe's act ivat io n .

12 Ju 88A-17 '1H+AR' of 7./KG 26, Montpellier, southern France , September 1943 .. . but by th e tim e th ey t ra nsferred t o so uth ern Fr ance, III./ KG 26's torp edo-bombers w e re ca rry ing th e offi c ial w art im e ' 1H ' code of th eir parent Geschwaderstab.

13 Ju 88A-5 '4D+MT' of 9./KG 30, Catania, Sicily, April 1941 During III./ KG 30 's first foray t o th e M editerranea n - to take pa rt in th e Sprin g 1941 air offensive again st M alt a - its airc raft w o re standa rd tw o-t o ne g ree n Euro pean fini sh embelli shed simply w ith w hit e und erw ing ti ps and narrow aft fu se lage band th ea tre m ark ings.

14 Ju 88A-1 '9K+JT' of 9./KG 51 , Wiener Neustadt, Austria , May 1941 In cont rast to KG 30 abov e, KG 51' s in iti al pa rti cipat io n o n th e so uthern fro nt o n ly to o k

it as far as W iene r Neustadt, whi ch w as t o be its m ain base through o ut t he Yugo slav and Gree k ca mpaig ns of Ap ril -M ay 1941. A s suc h, th e Geschwader 's m achin es ca rri ed no white M editerranean th ea t re mak ings, but wore inst ea d th e bri g ht y ell ow nace ll es a nd rudd ers that id entifi ed Luftwa ffe airc raft op erating ove r th e Balkans.

l> -u -u

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15 Ju 88A -4 '83+FK' of 2./KG 54, Gerbini , Sicily, January 1942 W ithdraw n from th e so uth ern sect o r of th e Ru ssian fro nt in November 1941 to t ake part in th e renew ed assa u lt on M alta in ea rly 1942, I./KG 54's aircra ft in it iall y wo re st andard Euro pea n finish, t o w hich w ere added t he usual M editerranean m ark ing s. Of in terest here are t he multi-co lo ured spinn ers favoured by KG 54 - th e narrow w hite rin g fo r I. Grupp e and th e red tip in di ca ting 2. Staffel. Note also t he 900-li t re (198 1mp gal) und erw in g tanks, used either fo r ferry purp oses o r fo r ove rwa ter mi ss io ns lo ng er th an th e 125 -mil e ro und tri p to M alta.

16 Ju 88A-4 '83+LH ' of 1./KG 54, Derna, Libya, June 1942 After t ransfer rin g fro m Sicily t o Tym paki o n, o n Cret e, m any of I./KG 54 ' s airc raft used Dern a, in Lib ya, as a forward land ing g ro und du ring their su pp o rt of Ro mm el's seco nd offensive. W ea rin g fu ll dese rt rig, 1. Sta ffer s 'LH ' wa s clea rly o ne of t hem . Note, howeve r, th at alth o ug h th e Ju 88 ca rried the co rrect Staffel ide ntity lette r ' H', th e bo mber's in d iv id ual airc raft letter ' L' is, fo r so m e un know n reaso n, painted in t he co lo u r of 3. Staffel, y ell ow.

17 Ju 88A-4 ' 83+AM' of 4./KG 54, Catania, Sicily, Spring 1943 Vari ati o n o n a th em e. II ./KG 54 arri ve d in the M editerr anea n from th e ce nt ral secto r of th e easte rn fro nt in Oct o ber 1942. It spent the f irst seven m o nth s on Sicil y, dur in g w hich tim e crew s tr ied t o cover all eve ntu aliti es by ex perim enti ng w ith va ri o us ca m o ufl age sc hem es, in clud ing th at see n here o n 4. Staffer s 'AM '. Thi s particu lar effo rt co mbin ed th e bas ic d ese rt tan (fo r o perat io ns ov er No rth Afr ica) w ith wav y lines of g ree n, edged here and th ere in white t o sug gest w aves . Thi s in turn m ade th e ca m o ufl age schem e m o re suita bl e fo r th e crews' overwa ter mi ss io ns. Note also t he d ense scribbl e o n t he und ersides.

18 Ju 88A -4 '83+DS' of 8./KG 54, Foggia, Italy, September 1943 Un equi voca ll y atti red fo r anti-s hi ppin g o pe ration s in a va ri ety o f in d iv idu al Wellenmuster sc hem es, III./ KG 54's m ac hin es, based at Fog gi a durin g th e late summ er/ea rly autumn o f 1943, w ere emp loy ed ov er th e ce ntra l M edi ter ranea n and ag ain st th e

93

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Sa lerno inva sion fleet, before being w ithdrawn to Bergamo in northern Italy.

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19 Ju 88A-4 ' P1 +HH ' of l./KG 60, Elmas, Sardin ia, January 1943 I./KG 60 had a very short -lived career. Formed in September/October 1942 for service in Finland, it was transferred to Sardinia in November in the wake of the Torch landings. Suffering heavy losses over Al geria and Tunisi a - its Kommandeurwas among the cas ualties - the Gruppe was disbanded on 8 February 1943 and its remaining aircrah and crews divided between II. and III./ KG 30.

20 Ju 88A-4 ' F1+KM' of 4./KG 76, Athens-Tatoi, Greece, November 1942 Withdrawn f rom the Rus sian front and reported ly 'tropi ca lisecl ' prior to transfer to th e M editerranean, most - if not all - of KG 76's machines we re still wea rin g stan d ard European ca mouflage (w ith w hite aft f use lage band added) when th ey arriv ed in Greece in m id-Novembe r 1942. Dep loying to Crete, thei r first miss ions we re flown in support of th e Afrika Korps as it retreated back across Libya post-EI Al amei n.

21 Ju 88A -4 '3Z+EN' of 5./KG 77, Comiso, Sicily, March 1942 II. and III./KG 77 also arrived in the M edite rr anean after serving on the eastern front (albeit at the very beginning of 1942, a full ten months prior to the arrival of KG 76). They too initially retained European -style camouflage, plus the ob ligatory white fuselage band , but darkened the undersides of their machines when participating in the night raids on Malta during the spring of 1942 . Note the red (Staffel) and white (Gruppe) spinner rings.

22 Ju 88A-5 '3Z+Cr of 9./KG 77, Libya, Summer 1942 After the easing of the Lu ftwaffe's air assau lt on M alta, the two Gruppen of KG 77 next supported Romme l's advance o n Egypt, wh ich had beg un wit h hi s breach in g t he Gazala Lin e defences in mid-Jun e 1942. KG 77 is known to have made use of severa l forward land ing gro un ds in Lib ya d uri ng July and August, as wit ness 9. Staffers 'C1' in traditional desert ga rb , but details are sketchy. By September III./KG 77 was based on Crete and engaged in n ight raids on targets in the Ni le Delta region.

23

94

against Allied convoys coming in t hrough the Straits of Gibraltar. Note the jetti sonable rocket pack mounted underwing t o ass ist take -off.

Ju 88A -17 '3Z+0R' of 7./KG 77, Orange-Caritat, southern France, April 1944 KG 77's peregrinations around the Mediterranean continued during 1943 until, by the spring of 1944 - having now been converted to a specialised torpedo -bomber Geschwader (KG/LT) - I. and II I. Gruppen found themselves in the south of France flying their spectacu larly scribb le-patterned A-17s

24 Ju 88A-4 '7T +BH ' of 1./KGr 606, Catania, Sicily, Spring 1942 One of two semi -autonomous Kampfgruppen transferred in to Sicily during the winter of 1941 /42 to add weight to the early 1942 air offensive against M alta, KGr 606 had previously been based in France under the command of the Fliegerfiihrer Atlantik. In September 1942 the Gruppe was redesignated as I./KG 77 to replace th e origina l I./KG 77 , which had become I./KG 6 the month before.

25 Ju 88A-4 'M7+0K' of 2./KGr 806, Catania, Sicily, Spring 1942 The seco nd of the two Kampfgruppen t o arri ve at Ca tan ia t o take part in th e renewed air assa ult on M alta, KGr 806 ca me not from Fra nce, but fro m th e nort hern sect or of th e Ru ss ian fr ont, where it had been servi ng under t he Fliegerfiihrer Ostsee (A ir Command Balt ic) . Both Gruppen had begun li fe as coastal units, hence their recent assignment to primari ly anti -sh ipping comma nds. KGr 806 would also und ergo redesignation in September 1942, becoming III./ KG 54 to fi ll the slot left vacant since the originalill./KG 54's disbandment back in July 1940.

26 Ju 88A-4 ' 83+LX' of VFS Tours, Summer 1942 This machine bears the markings of 10./KG 54 (the Gruppe 's three component Staffeln, 10. , 11 . and 12. being coded ' X', 'V' and 'z' respectively). But while KG 54's 'OTU ' Gruppe is known to have been based at Grottaglie, on the heel of Italy, from March 1942 to M ay 1943, one sou rce maintains that by the summer of 1942 this particular aircraft had been passed to the Verba ndsfuhrerschu le (VFS, or Uni t Commanders' Schoo l) at To urs, in France. It is unclear, however, whether the large trai ni ng numerals on the tai l and und erwi ng date back to it s days at Grottag li e o r we re appli ed at Tou rs.

27 Ju 880 '7A+KH ' of 1.(F)f122, Fuka 1, Libya, August 1942 Althou gh space has precluded much mentio n being mad e of the Ju 88 D-equip ped long -range reconnaissance Staffeln in the main text, th ese units performed a vita l role in the Mediterranean not least in locati ng , reporting and tracking Alli ed shipping movements. 1.(F)/122, the first Staffel to operate in the theatre, accompanied the early Kampfgruppen down the leg of Italy to take up res id ence at Catania in January 1941. Later in the year it would transfer to Greece and start rotating four aircraft at a time to Libya to act as Rommel's 'eyes' in the desert. By 1942 the entire Staffel was

in North Afri ca, w here it would rema in - latterly ba sed at Tuni s - until February 1943.

28 Ju 880 '4U+EK' of 2.(F)/123, Kastelli, Crete, September 1942 A second reconnaissance Staffel, 2.(F)/1 23, had join ed 1.( F)/12 1 at Catania by M arch 1941. It too would later be based in Greece, and on Crete, where it would be responsible for aerial reconnaissance of the eastern M editerranean (with occasiona l deployments to North Africa) until the spring of 1944.

29 Ju 88A-6/U '5M+SO' of 6.(F)/122, Bergamo, northern Italy, July 1944 In all, at least nin e J u 88 lo ng -range reconnaissance Staffeln are on record as hav ing ope rated in th e M editerran ea n theatre at one tim e or another. Among th e last of them w as 6.( F)/ 122, form ed in Jun e 1944 by redes igna tin g th e ex istin g

Wekusta 26 (see profile 30 be low) . Shortly after this date, with the withdrawa l of al l Kampfgrupp en from the area following the D-Day landings, the reconnaissance units represented th e on ly J u 88 presence in the M editerranean - an d ev en these were being rep laced by Ju 188s. One order of battle lists just a single ope rati ona l J u 88 (a high-speed T-3) sou th of the Alp s by war's end!

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30 Ju 880 '05+8' of Wekusta 27, Athens-Tatoi, Greece, December 1943 An other important part in the M editerranean air w ar was played by the th eat re's two Wekusta meteorologica l units (We ttererk ndung el, o r W eather Observation Staffel) . Wekusta 27 was formed in J une 1943 from a cad re su ppli ed by th e then Sici lian-based Wekusta 26. Operatin g out of both Greece and Crete, Wekusta 27 monitored the weather in the east ern Mediterranean, w hil e (from Sici ly and Italy ), Wekusta 26 was respons ibl e for th e ce ntral and weste rn M ed iterranean basin s,

INDEX Refe rences to illu strati o ns are shown in bold . Plates are prefi xed pi , with ca pti ons o n th e pag e in brac kets. Ajax , HMS (light crui se r 1934) 3 1, 47 anti -shippi ng strikes 27 , 28, 30, 31 Araybank (British m erc hant ma n ) 29 Arethusa, HMS (l ight cru ise r 1934) 72 Argus, HMS (ca rri er 1917 ) 65 Awa tea (Briti sh troo psh ip ) 73 Balu chistan (Br iti sh fre ig hter) 17 Barham , HMS (battl esh ip 1914 ) 32bis Beatty, USS (destro ye r 1940 ) 86 Bec ker, Obe rl eutn ant Ge rh ard 56 Behr, Oberleutnant Erich 66 Benda, Oberstl e utn ant Franz vo n 63, 72 Benke, Unte roffi zie r Helmu t 27 Berlin, Hauptmann Han s 22 Berliner IIlustriert e Zeitung 17 Bh u tan (Brit ish freigh ter) 65 Bin tang (Briti sh coaste r) 62 Birchbank (Bri ti sh freighter) 86 Bi sch off, Obe rl e utnant Otto 59 Boecke r, Oberl eutnant Heinrich 63 B6 hm er, Leutnant He rm ann 10 Brand , Maj o r Kurt 73-4 Braun, Hauptmann Emil 60 Breconshire, HM S (sto res ship 1939 ) 57 , 58 b is Bresse l, Hauptm ann Ho rst 83 British Lo rd (tanke r) 27 Burdwan (Briti sh freighte r) 65 Calcutta, HMS (AA cru ise r 1939) 18, 25, 29,34 Carlier (French tran spo rt ) 86 Carlisle, HMS (AA crui se r 1940) 31 Cassala (Ita lian tanker) 84

Cathay (Briti sh troo pshi p) 73 Cavallo (Br it is h m erchantm an ) 28 Chant (US m e rcha ntm an ) 65 City o f Karachi (Brit ish me rchant man) 26 City o f Ro ubaix (a mmuniti o n shi p) 24 Clan Campbell (Briti sh merc hantm an ) 58, 62 Clan Chattan (Brit is h me rchan t man) 62 Clan Cumming (Brit is h freighter) 26 Clan Fraser (a mmu nitio n shi p ) 24 Costa Rica (Dutc h fr eig hter) 28 Co ventry, HMS (AA cr u iser 1937) 13, 34 Crug er, M aj or Arved 15, 58 CZirpa, Untero ffiz ier 53 Dainty, HMS (destroyer 1932 ) 14 Da lesman (Briti sh freight er) 29, 30 Daniel Webster (US Liberty ship ) 86 Defender, HMS (destroye r 1932)

51 , 5 1 Deubel , Ha upti eute Heinrich 87 Deucalion (Briti sh fr eighte r) 67 De vis (Briti sh m erchantm an ) 18 Dido, HM S (c rui se r 1939) 33 Dorn ier Do 17 b ombers 22 Dorni er Do 24 air/sea resc ue 56 Dreye r, Unteroffi zier Fritz 23 Dunkel, Leutn a nt Ho rst 9 Durbec k, Hauptm an n Wilh elm 9, 45 Eagle, HMS (ca rri er 191 8) 65, 67 Edwa rd Ba tes (Briti sh fre ig hter) 87 Eichho rn , Hauptm ann Sieg fri ed von 27 EI Bia r (French freigh te r ) 88 Ellenis (Gree k hos pit al sh ip ) 27 Empi re Hop e (Br iti sh freig hter) 67, 68, 69

Euro (It ali an d estroye r 1927 ) 8 1- 2 Fiji, HMS (c r uise r 1939) 31 Fi sc her, Hauptm ann Erw in 71 Fo rmidab le, HM S (ca rri er 1939) 17 ter, 32bis, 50 Freyso ldt , Leutn ant Hans-Geo rg 32 Fund , Leutn ant Helm ut 11 Geis ler, Gen eral de r Flieger Hans 6, 8 Ge isma nn , Le utn an t J oha nnes 64, 68 Georg ie, MV (Bri ti sh li ne r 1932) 51 Georg os (Greek freig hte r) 33 Glen finlas (B riti sh land ing ship ) 73 Glo ucester, HM S (c rui ser 1937 ) 31 Goalpara (Briti sh merchan tman ) 26 Grev e, Leu tnant Karl 69 Greyhound, HMS (d estroy er 1935) 31 Hag en, Ober leutnant Th eod o r 9 Hahn , Hauptmann Heinrich 21 Hahn , Obe rsti eutn ant Joa chim 64 Hann e (Bri ti sh coaste r) 62 Haussmann , Oberl eut nant Gunter 75 He lb ig, Haupt m ann Joa chim 'J ochen' cover 1, 7 , 7, 17, 18, 25, 34,48,5 1, 52 , 53 , 54 , 60 , 62, 63bis, 8 1 Hereward, HM S (d estro ye r 1936) 32 , 33 Hermann , Oberle utnant Ha jo 14, 15, 23, 24, 24-5, 69 Ho ffm an n, M aj or Kun o 27 , 49 Ho g ebac k, Obe rl eutn ant Herm ann 12, 45, 52 Ho lder, USS (d estroye r-escort 1943) 88 Hom efield (Briti sh freighter) 18 Humbu rg , Hauptmann Hans 64 Ibis, HMS (sloo p 1940) 73 IIex, HMS (d estroyer 1937) 49

95

x L.LJ

0

z

96

Ilk, Leutnant Iro 21 Illustrious, HMS (carrier 1939) 8bis, 9 , 9bis, 10bis, 11 Indian Prince (Briti sh freighter) 86 Intrepid, HMS (destroyer 1936) 81 Isachsen, Feldwebel Herbert 9, 10, 74 Isis, HMS (destroyer 1936) 49 Jacka l, HMS (dest royer 1938) 63 Jared Ingersoll (US Liberty ship) 88 J ervis, HMS (destroyer 1939) 63 John Harvey (US Liberty sh ip ) 85 Junkers Ju 52/3m tran sports 14, 64 Junk ers Ju 87 'Stuka' dive-bombers 3, 6, 8, 15, 20, 30 , 31 bis, 32 , 50 , 55, 65, 82 Junk ers Ju 88A bombers, dive-bombing 13, 60 Junkers Ju 88A-1 bombers: '9K +DS ' 19; '9K+JT' pI39(93) Junkers Ju 88A-4 bombers: 6 , 56, 61 , 64, 66 , 69, 73 , 74, 78, 79, 84, 87 ; ' 1T+GR' 72 ; ' 1T+ZD ' 72 ; '3Z+AA' 58; ' 3Z+AC' 69; '3Z+ AP' 59; '3Z+ DB' 68; '3Z+ EH ' 68; '3Z+ EN ' pl41 (94); '3Z+KL' 74; '3Z+L M ' 59; '7T +BH ' pI42 (94); '7T +FH ' 57, 64; '7T +HL' 65; '7T +IL ' 65; ' B3+AA' 64; 'B3+AH ' 64; 'B3+AM ' pI40(93); ' B3+CK ' 73; 'B3+DS ' pI40 (93-4) ; 'B3+FK' pI39 (93); ' B3+LH ' pI40(93 ); ' B3+LX ' pI43 (94); ' B3+ NL ' 59; 'F1 +AT' 86; 'F1 +KM ' pl41 (94); 'L 1+BK ' 26; 'L 1+BT' 46; ' L 1+CM' 54; 'L 1+EH ' pI 38 (93); ' L 1+EK ' pI 37 (92) 54, 75 ; 'L 1+GV' 76; 'L 1+HW' pI 37 (92-3) ; 'L 1+JM ' 76; ' L 1+KK ' 63; 'L 1+KR ' 46 ; ' L 1+LW' 63; 'L 1+0U ' pI37(92 ); 'L 1+PK' pI36(92); ' L 1+YC' 69; 'M7+BA' 60 ; 'M 7+DH ' 56, 66 , 67 ; 'M7 +DK ' pI 43 (94); ' M7 +FK ' 65; 'P1 +HH ' pl 41 (94); To rp ' 1T +ET' pI 38(93) Junkers Ju 88A-5 bombers: 9 , 22 , 83 ; ' 3Z+CT' pI 42 (94); ' 3Z+DD' 56; ' 3Z+ES' 67 ; ' 3Z+FN ' 57; '3Z+GR ' 66; '3Z+J R' 66; ' 3Z+LP' 56; '4D +AR' 24; '4 D+AS ' 51 ; '4D+DR ' 14; '4 D+HR ' 15; '4D+KS ' 45; '4 D+LT' 32 ; '4D+MR ' 18, 19; '4 D+MT' pI 39(93); '9 K+BP' 81 ; '9K +GH' 29; '9K +LH ' 29 ; '9K +LT' 22 ; ' BN or BS ' 20; 'L 1+AA ' 62 , 63 ; 'L 1+AD' 47; ' L 1+A H' 77 ; ' L 1+AM' (A nt on -Mari e) cover 4, 52 ; 'L 1+AS' 9, 45 ; 'L 1+CN' 49; ' L 1+C P' 12; ' L 1+CT' 9; 'L 1+DM ' 49; ' L 1+DN ' 8 , 17; 'L 1+DP' 12; ' L 1+EN ' pI 35 (92) 49; ' L 1+EP' 18; ' L 1+ER' 9; ' L 1+FN ' 54; 'L 1+GH ' 77 ; ' L 1+GN ' 21 , pI35 (92) ; 'L1+GR' pI 36(92); 'L 1+HH ' 55; ' L 1+HM ' 10; 'L 1+HN ' pI 35 (92); 'L 1+IP' 12; ' L 1+JH ' 53; 'L1 +KS ' 53 , 55; ' L 1+KW' 55; 'L 1+LP' 62; ' L 1+LR ' 12- 13; 'L1 +NH ' 75 ; ' L 1+SK' 26; 'L 1+TH ' 33 ; 'L 1+X H' pI 36(92); ' L 1+ZH' 27; 'White N' 10 Junkers Ju 88A -6 bombe rs: 7 , 49; 'L 1+AS' 45 Junkers Ju 8BA-6/ U reco nnai sa nce: '5M +SO' pI44 (95); 'PN +MT' 89

Junkers Ju 88A-17 bombers: 88; ' 1H+AR' pI 38(93); ' 3Z+DR'pI42 (94); '3Z+ UT' 88 Junkers Ju 88D meteorology: ' 05+B' pI 44(9 5) Junkers Ju 88D reconnaissance : 47 , 65, 82 ; '4U +EK ' 23, 44; '4 U+EK' pI 44(95) ; '4 U+FK ' 23; '7A+BH' 70; '7A+D H' 11 ; '7A+GH' 11 , 75 ; '7A+KH ' pI43(94-5); '7A+ LH ' 75 ; 'F6+EH' 65; 'F6+ HH ' 65 Jun o, HMS (destroyer 1938) 3 1 Karanja, HMS (landing ship 1941 ) 73 , 73 Kehre r, Oberl eutnant Kurt 60, 65 Kelvin, HMS (dest royer 1939) 33-4 Kentucky (US tanke r) 65 Kipling, HMS (destroyer 1939) 63 Kissling, Leutnant 60 Knust. Oberst Fri edrich -Karl 14, 30 , 31 , 50, 51 Koh ler, Oberleutn a nt Frit z 75 Ko ll ewe, Hauptmann Gerhard 11, 17, 18bis, 50, 57, 62 , 69- 70 Ladybird, HMS (riv er gunboat 1916) 46-7 Lagauer, Oberl eutnant Leopold 67 Lansdale, USS (destroyer 1940) 88 Leedstown, USS (troop transport ) 72- 3 Legion, HMS (destroyer 1939) 58 Linke, Major Richard 69 Lively, HMS (destroyer 1941 ) 63 Loerz, Ober leu tn ant Herbert 56 Luftflotte 4 19- 20,20- 1 Manchester, HMS (cru ise r 1937) 67 M arie Ma ersk (Dan ish tanker) 17,25 M a ri enfeld , Oberst leutn ant Wa lter 64 M amix van St Aldegonde (Be lgian transport) 86 M arsei ll e, Hauptm ann Han s-Joach im 7 M eier, Obe rl eutnant Rudolf 62 M esserschmitt Bf 109-F4 6 , 58 M esserschmitt Bf 110 fighters 9, 22 , 33 M eye r, Maj o r Richard 76, 77 Mugg ent hal er, Oberleutnant Alfons 47 , 71 Meil ler, Untero ffi zier Peter 15 Nag el, Leutnant Horst 8 Naiad, HMS (cruiser 1939) 3 1 Napier, HMS (d estroyer 1940) 34 Narkunda (Brit ish troopship ) 73 Nelson, HMS (battl es hip 1925) 67 N eumann, Hauptman n Alfred 45 Nietsch, Hauptm ann 21 , 47 Niv6se (French tanker! 86 Nizam , HMS (destroyer 1940) 32 , 51 Nocken, Hauptm ann Klaus 86 N ordeffinge (British freighter) 89 N o rthern Prin ce (ammun ition ship) 18 Nubian, HMS (destroyer 1937) 32 Ocean Hunter (Briti sh freighter) 86 Ocean Voyager (British merchantman) 76

Ohio (US tanker) 68 Orion, HMS (cru iser 1932 ) 32 P36, HMS (submarine 1941 ) 59 P 39, HMS (submarine 1941 ) 58 Paepcke, Hauptmann Heinrich 69, 69 Pandora, HMS (submari ne 1929) 59 parachute mines 23, pI37 (92) 48, 48, 50,51 Pass of Balmaha (Brit ish tanker) 50 Paul Hamilton (U S Li berty shi p) 88 Pau lus, Obe rl eutnent Heinrich 55 Pennland (Dutch m erchantman ) 28 Perth, HMAS (cruiser 1934) 33 Phoebe, HMS (light cruiser 1939) 48 Pi chler, Oberleutnant Kurt 9 Psara, HHMS (Greek destroyer) 27 Queen Olga, HHMS (G reek d estroye r) 81 Quiloa (British merchantman) 26 Reinicke, Oberfeldwebel Wern er 23 Richthofen, General der Flieger von 30 Ritter, Leut nant Karl-Erich 66 Robert Rowan (US ammunition ship) 79 Rodney, HMS (battleshi p 1925) 67 Rowallan Castle (British freighter) 62 Royal Star (Briti sh merchantman) 88 Sallib, HMS (submarine 1942)77 Santa Clara Valle y (Briti sh m erchantman) 28 Santa Elena (transport) 86 Sauer, Leutnant Hans 34 Schacht, Oberleutnant Wi lge r 49 Schlund, Oberfeldwebe l Fran z 7 , 25, 5 1, 52 , 53 Sch luter, Oberstleutnant Hermann 66 Schmidt, Hauptm a nn Wilhelm 59 Schulte, Oberleutnant Wolfgang 67 Schulz , Maj or Erwin 72 Schulz-Heyn, M ajor Hans Bruno 19 Schweickhardt, M ajor Heinrich 74 Siedschlag , Hauptmann Ro lf 68 Solheim (Norwegian tanker) 17 Souda Bay 28- 9, 29- 30, 30, 30, 31 Stad ler, Haupt m ann Anton 77 Stefan , Major 53 Stutz, Unteroffi zier Karl 26 Sy, Oberl e utnant Erwin 58 Talabot (Norwegian merchantman) 58 ,58 Terror, HMS (monitor 1916) 13 Th erm opylae (N orweg ian freighter) 61 Timothy Pickering (US Liberty ship ) 79 torpedoes pI 38 (93)bis 83, 84, 87 bis Uskside (British coas ter) 80 Waimarama (British merchantman) 68 Waterhen, HMAS (destroye r 1918) 50 Wis zborn, Hauptl eute Josef 87 Ydra, HH MS (Gree k destroyer) 27 York, HMS (cruiser 1928) 29- 30, 31 Zimmer, Oberl eutnant J ose f 66

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IUNI{ERS IU 88 KAMPFGESCHWlIDER IN NORTH AFRICA AND THE MEDITERRANEAN

Arguably the best twin-engined bomber fielded by any of the combatants in World War 2 , the Ju 88 was a veritable ' jack of all trades' for the Luftwaffe in North Africa and the Mediterranean, performing os a bomber, reconnaissance platform , anti-ship torpedo/ dive-bomber, heavy day fighter and nightfighter. Following on from Osprey Combat Aircraft 17, which chronicled the operational career of the Ju 88 over the United Kingdom, northwest Europe and the Reich itself, this volume follows the Luftwaffe' s twin-engined 'Wunderbomber' southwards

to describe its multi-faceted deployment from the Straits of Gibraltar in the west, via the beleaguered island of Malta , to the Aegean and the Suez Canal in the east. Like any account of Luftwaffe operations - whether told at campaign , unit or personal level - it is very much a story of two distinct parts : the initial lightning successes, and then the long, slow process of retreat and defeat. Illustrated with more than 90 photographs and 30 full-colour profile artworks, this volume also features numerous combat accounts and detailed appendices .

OSPREY COMBAT AIRCRAFT SERIES • Comprehensive hi sto ri es of fi g htin g aircraft and their crews, highlighting th eir vital rol e in the deve lo pm ent of w arfare in th e 20th and 2 1st centuri es

• A uniqu e so urce of informati o n, re searc hed by reco gni sed experts a nd bro ught to life by first hand acco unts fro m th e co mba t veteran s th emselves • Co nc ise, auth oritati ve text is supported by at least 30 original col o ur artwo rks, spec ially co mmi ss ioned scal e dra w ing s, and th e best arc hi val ph o tog ra phy fro m around the w orld

OSPREY PU B LI SHI NG US $22.95 UK £ 12.99 CAN $25 .95 N

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