German intruders over UK February 1945

[Steve Smith]

Hi,

Was there any German intruder operations over England in February 1945?

TIA

Steve

[ianh]

Hi Steve

Simon Parry in his "Intruders over Britain" says there were no 'organised' intruder ops over Britain in early 1945, although some night fighter crews did pursue their prey far out across the North Sea towards Britain.

He cites one 195 Sqn Stirling which was attacked and set on fire as it was returning to its base at Shepherd's Grove on 21 Feb, but managed to land although the rear gunner was killed.

Ian

[ianh]

Correction for book. It was actually a 196 Sqn a/c, not 195.

Ian

[RodM]

Hi Steve,

the only hostile Intruder aircraft to cross the English coast in February 1945 did so on the night of 21-22 February 1945. This fact is confirmed conclusively by Fighter Command, Anti-Aircraft Command, No. 60 Signals Group, and Ministry of Home Security files held at TNA.

The Ju88 Intruder followed a group of No. 38 Group Stirlings back to the UK from the Dutch coast. The Stirlings crossed overland at Leiston on the Suffolk coast. The Intruder wasn't detected until it initiated hostile actions around Shepherds Grove airfield. From there, it was plotted by the ROC and coastal radar stations. It recrossed the coast homeward just south of Southwold shortly after 23.00 hrs and radar plotted it back towards the Dutch coast.

Cheers

Rod

PS - some German night fighter Ju88s did reconnoitre close to the English coast in February 1945, in preparation for Unternehmen Gisela. None crossed overland to the best of my knowledge.

[RodM]

to follow on from my initial reply...

Hptm. Krause of Stab I./NJG4 flew a recce mission from Vechta airfield on the night of 3-4 February 1945. He took off in a Ju88 at 18.54 hrs and landed again at 22.31 hrs. He reconnoitred the coastal air corridor at Orfordness on the Suffolk coast but didn't cross the coast to the best of my knowledge.

A British Ministry of Home Security Report notes an Intruder off the Norfolk/Suffolk coast on 3-4 February 1945, at a time later than Krause's flight:

"3 Feb. 2240 hrs to 2305 hrs. 1 Intruder operated in SE area of 5 AA Group. The intruder did not come within gun range of AA Defs".

No. 5 AA Group covered the Yorkshire (Filey to Spurn Head), Lincolnshire (Cleethorpes to Ingoldmells) and Norfolk-Suffolk (Hemsby to Covehithe) coastline, so I assume the "SE area" refers to the Hemsby to Covehithe sector. When the report mentions the "gun range", this means up to 10,000 yards out to sea from the coast, which marked the lateral limit of the coastal AA engagement zones.

Cheers

Rod

[Steve Smith]

Gents,

A belated thank you. I have a crew of 195 Squadron who state that they were 'stalked' by a German night fighter in early Feb while up on an air-test.

Obvoiusly, it could have been any aircraft, but the crew insist it was a German !!


Thanks again.

Steve

[RodM]

Hi Steve,

do you have a date for the alleged incident? Did it occur overland or over the Channel/North Sea?

While an enemy aircraft could slip in overland undetected (by this I mean not recognised as a hostile aircraft) if other friendly aircraft were around, I don't think such an Intruder would escape detection from both the Chain Home and AA gun coastal radars when it flew home across the North Sea.

I've gone through a large number of multi-Command reports looking for evidence of Intruder activity in February 1945, and they reveal only the 3-4 Feb and 21-22 Feb incidents as described. Some contemporary reports describe the 21-22 Feb incident - the only confirmed occasion when the Intruder crossed the English coast - as the first Intruder activity over the UK since 25-26 July 1944 (this, of course, excludes a couple of Mistel incidents in the second half of 1944 - when drone Ju88s filled with explosives landed on English soil).

Cheers

Rod

[Graham Boak]

Strictly not drones, since they were not in controlled flight. Once released, they were just powered bombs of an unusual aerodynamic shape. Unusual for bombs, that is.