#2
Post
by Larry D. » 15 Jan 2011, 02:10
Good question and one not previously encountered by me. It was common practice for the Luftwaffe to pre-position munitions for a series of missions or a special mission. Here is an example for III./KG 100 at the end of April 1944:
"Finally on 29 April the Gruppe was assigned a mission: a night attack with 12 Do 217s from 7. and 9.Staffel on two Royal Navy battleships spotted in Plymouth harbor. The raid was staged through Orleans, and on arriving in the target zone in the early hours of 30 April at an altitude of 7,000 meters (22,978 feet) the crews were forced to abort because the flare-dropping aircraft from I./KG 66 arrived too late to illuminate the harbor area. One FX was launched blindly, but no results were achieved. Two Do 217K-3s (6N+AD,IT) and their crews were shot down over the target and among the dead was the Gruppenkommandeur, Hptm. Pfeffer."
[de Zeng, Henry L. IV and Douglas G. Stankey. Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945: A Reference Source. Two volumes. ISBN (10) 1 903223 72 5 and ISBN (10) 1 903223 87 3. (London: Ian Allan Publishing/Midland Publishing, 2007 and 2008). Vol. 2, page 275].
It may be that a couple of FX guided bombs were pre-positioned at Cherbourg-Theville as reloads in the event hits were scored in Plymouth harbor and it was decided to launch a couple of more to ensure the BBs went down. They would not have had time to return to Orleans to re-arm and make a second run on the target in darkness, but from Cherbourg it would have been possible. That's pure guess work but consistent with the way these missions were often planned.
L.
