8-9 October 1943 HANNOVER and BREMEN Bremen-Based Flak of the 8
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8-9 October 1943 HANNOVER AND BREMEN Bremen-based Flak of the 8. Flak Division claimed 10 Viermot kills during the course of the night. Four of these were confirmed by the Abschusskommission, one solely to Flak and three being credited as shared victories to both Flak and Nachtjäger (including Hptm. Bomber Command mounted two major raids against German targets –Hannover and Bremen. Hannover was the target for 504 Müller of Stab JG300 and Ofw. Klaiber and his Funker Ofw. Laurent of 3./NJG5): aircraft, which bombed between 01.22 and 01.54 hrs. As a major diversion to the Hannover raid, 119 aircraft (mainly Stirlings) were sent to Bremen; this force attacking between 01.08 and 01.26 hrs. The whole force on these two targets followed the same route until -156 Sqn Lancaster ED969: coned by 2. & 3./Flakscheinw. Abt. 269 and 1. & 4./Flakscheinw. Abt. 138 (‘Lancaster nr. Obenaltendorf SE Otterndorf 01.30 hrs’), hit by a point east of Meppen, when the Bremen force turned off to create a diversion at Bremen. unidentified Nachtjäger and crashed at Obenaltendorf, 21 km NW of Stade at 01.30 hrs. Note: filed with OKL as ‘8.Fl.Div.+N.J.’ The approach of the combined force was first reported to the I. Jagdkorps HQ at 23.31 hrs, when the spearhead of the force was -102 Sqn Halifax HX173: coned by 3./Flakscheinw. Abt. 498, 3./Flakscheinw. Abt. 138 and 1. & 2./Flakscheinw. Abt. 238, hit by 1. & 2./schw. Flak Abt. 606, 2. & 3./schw. Flak located near Den Helder. The stream, which was estimated as ‘approximately 400 aircraft’, was said to be heading in an easterly Abt. 262 (o), 1./schw. Flak Abt. 390 and 1./schw. Flak Abt. 542, crashed nr. Lichtenhorst at 01.30 hrs. direction. In reaction, onwards from 23.50 hrs the Korps sent up 32 Bf110s and six Ju88s of NJG1 (1. JD) on Himmelbett patrols in 26 GCI boxes on the bombers’ outward-bound route. The first waves of another 160 twin-engined Nachtjäger of NJG1, 2, 3, 5 and 101 The 2. JD controller also believed a second wave of bombers to be heading for Bremen, as became clear from a message that he (109 Bf110s, 38 Ju88s and 13 Do217s) were sent up at around the same time on freelance Wilde Sau night fighting duties, just over half passed at 01.33 hrs: “Further hostiles approaching Bremen. Aircraft ordered to stay over Bremen”. This, in fact, was the Main Force on of the 304 aircraft that the Korps had available for immediate action. II./NJG3, the first of the freelance Gruppen, began taking off from Hannover. It was not until 01.35 hrs, 13 minutes after zero hour and by which time almost half of the Main Force had already dropped Schleswig shortly before midnight; during the next 50 minutes, the mass of freelance twin-engined fighters were ordered to gather over their load on Hannover, that the 2. JD controller obviously discovered the true nature of the Bremen ruse and promptly dispatched the FF Marie, SE of Bremen. 52 single-engined Wild Boars of JG300 and 301 were also scrambled by Hajo Herrmann’s 30th Jagd Division assembled mass of freelance fighters to Hannover, some 95 kms (60 miles) away: “Aircraft ordered to fly at once to Hannover. New for target area Wild Boar night fighting. target Hannover”, which was followed, four minutes later, by: “All aircraft ordered to Hannover on a course of 150 degrees (i.e. SSE, Despite heavy jamming of the R/T traffic and ground radars in the GCI chain covering the Netherlands, a Lancaster of 7 Squadron author’s note) from Bremen to Hannover”. Many fighters that were originally ordered to Bremen seem to have met the main bomber was shot down by one of the Himmelbett-controlled fighters near Groningen, just before the running commentary of 2. JD, broadcasting stream in the Hoya area on its way to Hannover and to have followed the aircraft to the primary target. from Stade, started to announce the course of the -still undivided- bomber stream: “Hostile aircraft reported in Groningen area”. Although the 2. JD radio traffic was interfered with by ‘ABC’, just as on the previous night, within minutes after the announcements “Spearhead of hostiles on a course of 90 degrees (i.e. due east, author’s note). Measured height 5,000-6,000 metres” (00.28-00.31 of 01.35-39 hrs that Hannover was the main objective, dozens of fighters arrived over this city. With the assistance of searchlights hrs). Due to strong British intruder activity in the Netherlands, the controller of 1. JD (Deelen) decided to break off the Himmelbett forming a lane across the target, by the fair and cloudless weather prevailing over Hannover, and by the Laufende Reportage of 2. JD, operations against the outward-bound bomber forces at an early stage. (One Bf110 made a forced-landing at Vechta after sustaining Nachtjäger claimed at least 20 combat victories in an action-packed half hour over and around the target. Participating in the fierce hits from a Mosquito of 605 Squadron). By 00.34 hrs, the bombers were reported north of Quakenbrück and four minutes later, the air battle over the burning city were a number of flying instructors of II./NJG101, operating from Deelen in Holland, who scored two spearhead of the stream had penetrated to the Vechta area, whilst the fighters were ordered to stay near beacon Marie at 00.43 hrs. probable Abschüsse in Wild Boar fashion. One crew claimed a third probable kill, over a Stirling of the diversionary force to Bremen. At 00.50 hrs, a message was passed “Hostiles in area south All of these three ‘probables’ were later confirmed as full victories. The Wild Boars of JG300 and 301 also made an appearance over of Bremen near beacon M. Aircraft ordered to fly to large the city under attack; they claimed six bombers shot down, three of which were later anerkannt. One of the claims in the latter category, beacon M”; the order to gather over FF Marie was repeated for a Lancaster shot down to the SW of Hannover by Lt. Treusch, concerns the loss of JA706 of 7 Squadron. Already damaged in until 01.00 hrs. an attack by Lt. Fehre of 4./NJG3 and his crew of BF Uffz. Malies and BS Gefr. Schreiter (who were given official credit for a full At 01.08 hrs, when the first bombs were dropped on victory on 10 May 1944), Lt. Treusch gave the bomber the coup de grace. Eventually, the Wild Boar pilot received official credit for an Bremen, the 2. JD controller decided that the main target was endgültige Vernichtung, or final destruction of an already damaged aircraft, by theAbschusskommission . to be Bremen. Fighters were ordered to this city to operate In return, the rear gunners on board Halifax JD417 of 78 Squadron and 44 Squadron Lancaster JA700 each claimed a Ju88 as over the target in Wild Boar fashion, above the Flak ceiling destroyed over Hannover, respectively at 01.31 and 01.38 hrs; JD417 was badly damaged in the combat. The MUG of 57 Squadron which was to be at 4,500 metres. Interestingly, the groups Lancaster JB513 engaged a Ju88 at 01.39 hrs, setting one engine ablaze and causing it to explode over the target, and, finally, the rear of twin-engined fighters were told, at 01.13 hrs, to patrol at gunner on board Wellington LN236 of 432 Squadron destroyed a fourth Ju88 over Hannover at 01.41 hrs. Set against these claims, different heights above the Flak. NJG1 were given the space the I. Jagdkorps reported the loss of three twin-engined Nachtjäger as shot down in air combat: Bf110 G-4 G9+RY of 11./NJG1 at between 5,000 and 5,300 metres as an interception area. Diepholz, Me210 A-1 G9+AE of Stab IV./NJG1 near Cloppenburg and Ju88 C-6 R4+MP of 6./NJG2 over Hannover. The pilot of the Above them, from 5,600 to 5,900 metres were the fighters latter aircraft, Lt. Gross with one victory and his crew were all killed in the crash. In addition, the gunners on board 405 Squadron of NJG3 and higher still, at 6,200 to 6,500 metres NJG5 Lancaster JA980 destroyed an unidentified Nachtjäger after a long running fight on the first leg out of the target, seeing it go down and aircraft were permitted to hunt for the ‘heavies’. (No mention crash. Just three minutes later, another fighter (a Bf110 G-4 in the hands of Ofw. Sawert of 4./NJG5) came in from below at 18,000 ft was made in the Laufende Reportage at which heights the and raked the Lancaster from nose to tail, the ‘heavy’ going down on fire near Engern, reportedly at 02.20 hrs. (JA980 was also claimed elements of NJG2 and NJG101 were to operate over the shot down by Flak, in co-operation with four searchlights). target). Throughout the 18-minute attack on Bremen, both Apart from these Nachtjagd losses, a Ju88 A-4 Beleuchter of III./KG3 was destroyed by ‘friendly’ flak and crashed at Heeßen/ single and twin-engined fighters engaged the diversionary Bad Eilsen near Bückeburg, without injury to the crew. A single-engined Nachtjäger was destroyed in quite unusual fashion: north of force. 15 combats were fought and two bombers shot down. A Hannover, Lancaster JA902 of 467 Squadron was involved in a head-on collision with a Fw190, which was destroyed.