Junkers Ju 88 vol. II

Page 4 of 4

The Luftwaffe was tasked with attacking convoys and isolated merchant ships as of November 1, with the Junkers Ju 88s of KG 30 assigned the mission of assaulting British warships. The occasional raids on Royal Navy bases proved ineffective, though. This was primarily due to the unusually harsh winter. On February 3 1940, the crew of the 2./KG 30 Staffelkapitän Hptm. Rosenthal, was posted missing. They had become prisoners of war. Other crews sank the trawler Sphinx (830 tons). On February 9, I./KG 30 attacked a group of minelayers off Peterhead, sinking the Robert Bowen (290 tons) and Fort Royal (351 tons). The British put up an effective defense, bringing down the 2./KG 30 machine of Fw. Pfeiffer; the crew was reported missing upon ditching off the island of Sylt.

Fighting over Britain was no walk in the park – Here we see a Ju 88A-1 from 3./KG 54 which was forced to land in France. [Kagero's Archive]

Mine-laying was not neglected, either, specialist units being formed to perform such tasks against British harbors. These were 1./KG 30 (Ju 88) and 7./KG 26 (He 111), which usually operated under the cover of night, when enemy interference was likely to be negligible.
A March 8 reconnaissance sortie to Scapa Flow resulted in combat with a few dozen Hurricanes of No. 111 Sqn. After a long pursuit the British shot a 2./KG 30 machine piloted by Oblt. von Sicharthoff into the sea, none of the crew surviving. A week later, on March 16, eighteen Junkers of I./KG 30 and 21 He 111s raided Scapa Flow, causing severe damage to the cruiser Norfolk and the Iron Duke. However for the first time, there had been losses among civilians, one person being killed and six wounded. (RAF Bomber Command soon carried out a retaliatory raid over Germany) While returning, one of the 3./KG 30 crews landed in Denmark owing to low fuel, whereupon they were interned. Attacking a convoy on March 29, the Ju 88 of 6./KG 30 Staffelkapitän Oblt. Quadt was lost to anti-aircraft fire, it being the first loss to be sustained by II./KG 30, a “newcomer” to the fray.
Further losses came on April 2 when the Scapa Flow anti-aircraft artillery brought down a 4./KG 30 machine, killing the crew of Staffelkapitän Hptm. Fritz Koch. The Stab KG 30 crew of Oblt. von Bülow was also lost on this sortie. Losses resulted not only from ground fire or British fighters but also from clashes with other British aircraft. On April 3, searching for convoy ON 24 off Bergen in Norway, two Ju 88s of 5./KG 30 tangled with a Sunderland flying boat of No. 204 Sqn that was protecting the ships. The brief aerial fight ended with both Junkers shot down! The crew of 5./KG 30 commander Oblt. Karl Overweg was killed, while Uffz. Erkens’ crew force-landed in Norway, where they were interned.

Junkers Ju 88S-3 (B) I./KG 66, Montdidier airfield, France, Winter 1943/1944. This unit took part in “Steinbock” mission. White “B” letter on the edge of wings doubled between engines and canopy. Top of the plane covered with white spots. Sides of the plane covered with darker serpentine camouflage, probably RLM 74.[Painted by Maciej Noszczak]

Fire over Norway
Invading Norway enabled the Germans to threaten Britain from the North. The British, too, were preparing to take Norway, as that would have allowed them to cut off the North Sea and isolate the Third Reich. In the event the Germans were quicker off the mark. Denmark, an obstacle in the northbound advance, offered no resistance in the face of German military might.
The landing operations were to be carried out by paratroops and infantry supported by the Kriegsmarine. Aerial support was provided by Fliegerkorps X, which had 1086 aircraft available. This strength included 95 Ju 88s.
The attack on Norway took place on 9 April 1940. The Germans landed at the harbors of Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Egersund and Arendal. At the same time the men of Fallschirmjägerregiment 1 were dropped on the airfields of Oslo and Stavanger.
The bombers of KG 30 were tasked with the destruction of the British fleet. The first sortie was flown in the afternoon of April 9. 47 Junkers 88s were airborne accompanied by He 111s and Ju 87s. The entire formation was directed against a British naval force of 28 warships bristling with anti-aircraft weapons. The dive-bombing Ju 88 crews proved to be the most aggressive. They sent the destroyer Gurkha under and inflicted damage on the heavy cruiser Devonshire and the cruisers Glasgow, Galatea and Southampton. In addition, one bomb hit the deck of the battleship Rodney but, failing to pierce it, fell into the water. Losses were heavy, though – anti-aircraft fire brought down four Ju 88s, including the machine piloted by the Kommandeur of III./KG 30, Hptm. Mahrenholtz. None of those shot down survived.

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