Von Schweppenberg at La Caine 06/10/44

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Kingfish
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Von Schweppenberg at La Caine 06/10/44

#1

Post by Kingfish » 08 Sep 2019, 16:15

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_raid_ ... ine_(1944)

This I find difficult to believe:
No German suspicions were aroused about Allied code breaking, because a reconnaissance aircraft had been seen before the raid.[9]
Was PzGruppe west HQ so conspicuous that they really believed it could have been spotted, let alone properly identified, from the air?

Wouldn't the scale of the attack have raised a few eyebrows? I understand the Germans lived under the constant threat from the air, but this wasn't a causal strafing from a flight of Spitfires.
The gods do not deduct from a man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing.
~Babylonian Proverb

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jpz4
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Re: Von Schweppenberg at La Caine 06/10/44

#2

Post by jpz4 » 10 Sep 2019, 12:22

If I'm not mistaken it was felt that the vehicles and radio equipment could have been spotted. I've a report on the attack somewhere that mentions this and some 'lessons learnt'. I'm going from memory here since I've not been able to locate it just yet.


Delta Tank
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Re: Von Schweppenberg at La Caine 06/10/44

#3

Post by Delta Tank » 21 Sep 2019, 14:22

Kingfish,

Would it be possible to locate this HQ by Radio Direction Finding?

Mike

histan
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Re: Von Schweppenberg at La Caine 06/10/44

#4

Post by histan » 25 Oct 2019, 22:39

Sorry that this is a bit late.

In the book 2nd Tactical Air Force Volume 1, it is stated that "As a cover it was 'leaked' afterwards that the attack was based on information passed by the French Resistance and confirmed by aerial reconnaissance."

Regards

John

Carl Schwamberger
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Re: Von Schweppenberg at La Caine 06/10/44

#5

Post by Carl Schwamberger » 08 Feb 2020, 20:29

Delta Tank wrote:
21 Sep 2019, 14:22
Kingfish,

Would it be possible to locate this HQ by Radio Direction Finding?

Mike
Yes, tactically that would be much faster the decrypted messages from Bletchley Park. During my decade+ in the artillery we were able to respond to DF in as little as 30 seconds. Obviously the airstrike of this attack was not launched on 30 seconds notice, but its not impossible a air strike could have been executed within a few hours of a judgement DF had located the suspect HQ. I suspect within 21 AG or the 2d Army there was a combined intel/fire planning cell that was evaluating all the DF locations and building a pattern on their map & index cards. It might take a few minutes, it might take a few days. At some point someone is going to look at the data and say, 'Yeah, we have transmitters with the right power, frequencies, volume of transmissions, to be a important HQ. Shoot it.'

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