Tag Archives: Air Combat

31 October 1940

October 31, 2023AviationAir Combat, Battle of Britain, World War IIBryan Swopes

Battle_of_britain_air_observer — A British civilian air observer searches the sky over London for enemy bombers. (National Archives and Records Administration)

31 October 1940. “All Clear.” The Battle of Britain, which began on 10 July 1940, came to an end. It was a decisive victory for the Royal Air Force.

The German Luftwaffe began its bombing campaign against Britain with the intention of forcing the R.A.F. to defend the cities. The German leaders believed that they could destroy the Royal Air Force in air-to-air combat. It was necessary to eliminate the British air service in order to proceed with the cross-Channel invasion of the British Isles, Operation Sea Lion.

DOWDING, Hugh, Air Chief Marshall, R.A.F. — Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Royal Air Force, GCB, GCVO, CMG, 1st Baron Dowding. (Imperial War Museum)

Commander of Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding, understood that he needed to choose when and where to fight. Using the secret Chain Home system of radar stations, he was able to place his fighter squadrons above the German bomber formations.

Though Germany started the Battle with a 3:2 advantage in numbers of airplanes (and most of them more modern and superior to the majority of aircraft Britain had available for its defense), the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters took a heavy toll on Luftwaffe crews.

At the beginning of the Battle of Britain, the R.A.F. and Royal Naval Air Service had a total of 1,963 airplanes, most of them obsolete. Germany had 2,550 fighters and bombers, most of them very modern. By the end, however, Britain had lost 554 men killed, 422 wounded and 1,547 airplanes destroyed. Germany lost 2,698 killed, 967 captured and 638 missing, with 1,887 airplanes destroyed. Because the Luftwaffe directed most of its attacks against the civilian population, a concept of Total War which Germany had first used when its airships bombed London during World War I, 23,002 men, women and children were killed and 32,138 wounded.

Because of a system of dispersed manufacture, Britain was able to replace the losses in aircraft. Many pilots parachuted to safety and were able to return to combat immediately. Germany’s industrial output could not keep up with its combat losses, and the Luftwaffe could not replace the lost airmen.

Operation Sea Lion was cancelled. Hitler looked to the East.

Contrails over London during the Battle of Britain, 10 July–31 October 1940. (Imperial War Museum)

14 October 1943: “Black Thursday”

October 14, 2023Aviation8th Air Force, Air Combat, Bloody Thursday, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Daylight Bombing, Schweinfurt, Strategic Bombing, World War IIBryan Swopes

14 October 1943: A large force of 8th Air Force heavy bombers and escorting fighters attack the ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt, Germany, for the second time. Five bombardment groups sent 291 B-17 Flying Fortress four-engine heavy bombers on the raid.

Boeing B-17 — A B-17F Flying Fortress going down over Europe. The left outboard engine is on fire and the right wing has been shot off. There are ten men in this airplane. (U.S. Air Force)

60 B-17s were shot down by German fighters or anti-aircraft artillery (“flak”). Another 17 were so heavily damaged that they crashed on landing back at their bases, or were so severely damaged that they were beyond repair. 121 B-17s received lesser damage. 594 crewmen were listed as Missing In Action (presumably Killed In Action). 65 men were captured and held as Prisoners of War. Of the bombers that returned to England 5 crewmen were killed and 43 were wounded. B-17 gunners shot down 35 to 38 Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Focke-Wulk Fw 190s. Another 20 fighters were damaged.

Boeing B-17G — A B-17G Flying Fortress with its bomb bay doors open. (U.S. Air Force)

9 October 1943

October 9, 2023Aviation100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 42-30353, 42-3352, 94th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 95th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Air Combat, B-17F-100-BO, B-17F-50-DL, Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress, Daylight Bombing, De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito PR Mark IX, Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG, Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Heavy Bomber, Luftwaffe, Marienburg, Mission Number 113, Photo Reconnaissance, Target, Ten Knights in a Bar Room, VIII Bomber Command, Virgin's Delight, World War IIBryan Swopes

Douglas B-17F-50-DL Flying Fortress 42-3352, "Virgin's Delight," 410th Bombardment Squadron, 94th Bombardent Group (Heavy), over Focke-Wulf plant, Marienburg, 9 October 1943. (U.S. Air Force photograph 26044 A.C.) — In this iconic World War II photograph, a Douglas-built B-17F-50-DL Flying Fortress, 42-3352, “*Virgin’s Delight*,” of the 410th Bomb Squadron, 94th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force, is over the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter factory, Marienburg, East Prussia, 9 October 1943. The aircraft commander was Lieutenant R.E. Le Pore. (U.S. Air Force)

VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 113 was an attack by nearly 100 American heavy bombers on the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG aircraft factory at Marienburg, East Prussia (Malbork, Poland), where the Luftwaffe‘s Fw 190 fighter was being built. Early in the war, German fighter production had been dispersed and it was thought that Marienburg was beyond the range of Allied bombers.

The Fw 190 was the most effective of Germany’s fighters. More than 20,000 were built in 16 variants.

A captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in flight. (U.S. Air Force) — A captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190 G-3 fighter, DN+FP, W.Nr. 160016, in flight. (U.S. Air Force)

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 G-3 DN+FP, W.Nr. 160016, in flight near Wright Field, Ohio, May 1946. (U.S. Air Force)

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 G-3 DN+FP, W.Nr. 160016, from above and behind. (U.S. Air Force)

100 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were assigned to the target and 96 of these reached the plant. Between 1253 hours and 1302 hours, the B-17s arrived over the target in five waves at 11,000 to 13,000 feet (3,353 to 3,963 meters). They dropped 217.9 tons (197.7 metric tons) of bombs with a very high degree of accuracy.

During the mission, two B-17s were lost with 13 more damaged. Three airmen were wounded and 21 listed as Missing in Action. The bomber crews claimed 9 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed and 2 probably destroyed in air-to-air combat. Target assessment estimated that 15 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters were destroyed on the ground.

This strike photo was taken from B-17 42-30353 ("Ten Knights in a Bar Room") of the 95th Bombardment Group (Heavy). (U.S. Air Force) — This strike photo was taken from Boeing B-17F-100-BO Flying Fortress 42-30353 (“Ten Knights in a Bar Room”) of the 95th Bombardment Group (Heavy). (U.S. Air Force)

Casualties among the factory work force were high. Of 669 workers, 114 were killed and 76 injured.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, KCB, DSO, MC, Royal Air Force, described the Marienburg attack as the “. . . most perfect example in history of the accurate distribution of bombs over a target.”

Damage assessment photograph — Reconnaissance photograph taken by a de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito PR flown by Squadron Leader R.A. Lenton and Pilot Officer Heney of No. 540 Squadron, R.A.F., 10 October 1943, showing results of the previous day’s attack. (Royal Air Force)

The target area as it appears today. (Google Maps)

"Instrument workers line up aerial cameras at Benson, Oxfordshire, before installing them in a De Havilland Mosquito PR Mark IX: (left to right) two Type F.24 (14-inch lens) vertical cameras, one F.24 (14-inch lens) oblique camera, two Type F.52 (36-inch lens) 'split pair' vertical cameras." (Imperial War Museum CH-18399) — “Instrument workers line up aerial cameras at Benson, Oxfordshire, before installing them in a De Havilland Mosquito PR Mark IX: (left to right) two Type F.24 (14-inch lens) vertical cameras, one F.24 (14-inch lens) oblique camera, two Type F.52 (36-inch lens) ‘split pair’ vertical cameras.” (Imperial War Museum CH-18399)

5 October 1914

October 5, 2023AviationAerial Combat, Air Combat, Aviatik B.II, Escadrille VB24, FFA 18, Fritz von Zangen, Hotchkiss M1909, Jonchery, Voisin III, Wilhelm Schlichting, World War IBryan Swopes

Sergeant Joseph Frantz and Corporal Louis Quénault. (Unattributed)

5 October 1914: The first aerial combat between two airplanes took place during World War I over Jonchery, Reims, France.

A French Voisin III biplane of Escadrille VB24, flown by Sergeant Joseph Frantz with observer Corporal Louis Quénault, engaged a German Aviatik B.II flown by Oberleutnant Fritz von Zangen and Sergeant Wilhelm Schlichting of FFA 18.

The Voisin was armed with a Hotchkiss M1909 8mm machine gun. Corporal Quénault fired two 48-round magazines at the German airplane, whose crew returned fire with rifles. Quénault’s machine gun jammed and he continued to fire on the Aviatik with a rifle.

The German airplane crashed and von Zangen and Schlichting were killed.

This was the first air-to-air kill in the history of warfare.

Aviatik B.II No. B 558/15, Hangest-en-Santerre, France, circa 1915. (Unattributed)

17 August 1943

August 17, 2023Aviation1st Bombardment Wing (Heavy), 4th Bombardment Wing, Air Combat, Ball Bearings, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Curtis LeMay, Daylight Strategic Bombing, Eighth Air Force, Messerschmitt Bf 109, Mission No. 84, Regensburg, Schweinfurt, World War IIBryan Swopes

17 August 1943: Mission No. 84. One year after the Eighth Air Force first attacked occupied Europe with its B-17 Flying Fortress four-engine heavy bombers, a mass attack of 376 B-17s attacked the Messerschmitt Bf-109 factory at Regensburg, Germany, and the ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt.

Over Germany for over two hours without fighter escort, 60 bombers were shot down and as many as 95, though they made it to bases in Allied territory, were so badly damaged that they never flew again. 55 air crews (552 men) were listed as missing in action.

Of the 146 B-17s of the 4th Bombardment Wing which attacked Regensburg, 126 dropped their bombs, totaling 298.75 tons (271.02 Metric tons), destroying the factory and seriously slowing the production of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter. After the attack, the 4th Bomb Wing headed for bases in North Africa. 122 B-17s landed there, half of them damaged.

The 1st Bombardment Wing (Heavy) sent 230 B-17s to Schweinfurt. Weather delays caused the planned diversion of two separate attacks to be unsuccessful. Cloud buildup over the Continent forced the bombers to fly at 17,000 feet (5,182 meters), nearly 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) lower than planned, increasing their vulnerability. Just 183 bombers made it to the target and dropped 424.3 tons (383.9 Metric tons) on the five factories in the target area. Then they headed back to their bases in England, under fighter attack most of the way. The 1st Bombardment Wing lost 36 bombers.

Though the raid did cut production of ball bearings as much as 34%, the losses were quickly made up from stockpiles. The two attacking forces succeeded in shooting down 25–27 German fighters.

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