At Illesheim , near Munich, the newly formed fourth
Gruppe of JG3 were training hard in their new Sturmbock Fw 190s and
preparing to employ its new Sturmgruppe tactics against the American formations
when they resumed attacks on Germany itself. Each Gruppe of Sturmbock Fw
l90s was to be escorted into action by two Gruppen of Messerschmitt Bf 109s
fitted with uprated engines and reduced armament, to hold off the American
escort. The German tactic was for the Sturmgruppe to deliver short sharp
attacks en masse. The length of the bomber streams were a factor in the
Sturmgruppe tactics. The German plan was to assemble a Gefechtsverband
(battle formation) comprising the Sturmgruppe and its two escorting Gruppen
and direct it against the bomber stream some way along its length. Upwards
of one thousand B-17 Fliegende Festungen ( Flying Fortresses
) might take part in a raid, divided into groups of 36 aircraft flying four
miles apart. The thirty or so groups were thus strung out over 120 miles
of sky - far too much for the escorts to cover effectively. It was the length
of the stream, and the known weakness of escorts around the formation's
mid-point, that caused the Luftwaffe to select this method and point of attack.
Even so the large battle formations were likely to be difficult to assemble
in the air particularly if there was cloud cover. At this stage of
the war only Staffel leaders were likely to have had training in blind flying
techniques ( Blindflugausbildung ).
7 July 1944. That day a
force of 1,129 Fortresses and Liberators of the US Eighth Air Force set out
from England to bomb aircraft factories in the Leipzig area and the synthetic
oil plants at Boehlen, Leuna-Merseburg and Lutzgendorf. The AGO Focke Wulf
works in Oschersleben were a particular target for the bombers even now as
the emphasis of the bombing war was switching to the destruction of oil
production centres. At about eight o'clock that morning the initial
'Luftlagemeldung' ( air situation report ) was received in the
'Heimatflakbatterien' in Magdeburg. The Würzburg-Riesen
( long range radar ) had detected large air movements over East Anglia.
As the bomber formations droned into Germany Alarmstufe 1 ( alert
) was given to all flak batteries and as the bombers approached the
Münster-Osnabruck area the civil population was warned and smoke pots
on the ground began to generate smoke screens over potential targets.
Luftflotte Reich gave the order for the defending fighters to assemble
over Magdeburg. It was a beautifully clear day . Dense condensation trails
could be seen up in the stratosphere . There was a continuous deep roaring
of the bomber formations. The bombers by-passed the intense flak barrage
heading towards the Leipzig area. Further Luftlagemeldungen arrived
. In the air the fighter controller was passing a stream of intercept vectors
to Major Walther Dahl at the head of
a Gefechtsverband comprising IV.(Sturm) Gruppe JG 3 escorted by two
Gruppen of Bf l09s from JG 300. Just west of the target Dahl caught sight
of his quarry: box after box of bombers heading east. The plan was for the
thirty aircraft of IV/JG3, themselves escorted by sixty Bf109s, to
attack the hundred mile long bomber stream at its mid-point. Although the
lead and trail bomber formations were heavily escorted, the flanks were covered
by small forces making random sweeps. Major Walter Dahl lead his Gruppe in
behind a Group of Liberators without any interference from escorts . The
Gruppe were to close to point-blank range before opening fire.Dahl had
swung his force in behind the Liberators of the 492nd Bomb Group which, as
luck would have it, were temporarily without fighter cover. The Sturmgruppe
closed on the American Group's Low Squadron, as Hauptmann Wilhelm Moritz
split his force into its three component Sturmstaffeln and directed
them against different parts of the enemy formation.
Leutnant Walther Hagenah was one of the German
pilots who took part in the attack;
" My Staffel was in position about 1,000yd behind
'its' squadron of bombers.The Staffel leader ordered his aircraft into line
abreast and, still in close formation, we advanced on the bombers. We were
to advance like Frederick the Great's infantrymen, holding our fire until
we could see 'the whites of the enemy's eyes'.''
The tactics of the Sturmgruppe were governed by the performance of
the wing-mounted 3cm cannon. Although the hexogen high-explosive ammunition
fired by this weapon was devastatingly effective, the gun's relatively low
muzzle velocity meant that its accuracy fell off rapidly with range . With
only 55 rounds per gun, sufficient for about five seconds' firing, the
Sturmböcke could not afford to waste ammunition in wild shooting from
long range. The sky was alive with a withering hail of defensive fire from
the bombers. As the unwieldy fighters slowly advanced on the bombers, the
Sturmbock pilots could only grit their teeth until they were right up close
against the bombers. The huge bulk of the radial engine and the heavy
armour plate around the cockpit allowed the Sturm force to press on
with a certain impunity, as Hagenath remembers
" like the armoured knights in the Middle Ages, we were well protected
. A Staffel might lose one or two aircraft during the advance, but the rest
continued relentlessly on ."
Positioned now about l00yd behind the bombers the Staffel leader
barked out the order to open fire
' Pauke ! Pauke ! ..'.
From such a range the Staffel could hardly miss, and the 3cm explosive rounds
struck home . Just 2 rounds could take the tail off a B-17 , and a B-24's
fuselage structure was not as sturdy. The enemy bombers literally fell
apart in front of the Sturmgruppe.
The image reproduced above with permission
from Herr Dr Jochen Prien's Chronik einer Jagdgruppe comes from the gun camera
of Uffz Werner Talkenberg's Sturmbock . The Focke Wulfs coming in behind
the bombers in line abreast watch the hits from the terrible Mk 108 cannon
flare and flare again knocking out the tail gunner. Breaking off just in
time to avoid colliding with the target they fly through a rain of fragments.
An American account of what the bomber crews endured that day over
Oschersleben can be read in Alan Blue's Fortunes of War, a 492nd Bomb
Group history. Follow this link to read selected extracts from
a mission summary and a first person account
The German pilots made the most of their opportunity,
and within about a minute the entire squadron of eleven B-24s had been wiped
out. The US 2nd Air Division lost 28 Liberators that day, the majority to
the Sturmgruppe attack. IV /JG 3 lost nine fighters shot down, and three
more suffered damage and made crash landings; five of the unit's pilots were
killed. By the standards of the time it had been a highly successful operation
for the Luftwaffe. General der Jagdflieger Galland hurriedly
visited Illesheim to assess the success of the days fighting for himself,
since he himself had for some time been of the opinion that only by conserving
and building up his fighter forces for one Grosser Schlag ( Big Blow
) could any success against the Viermotverbände now be achieved.
Awards were presented to the successful pilots. Moritz's men were mentioned
the next day in the 'Wehrmachtsbericht' . The first sortie of a new
Sturmgruppe commanded by Hptm Walter Dahl was reported.
" Die unter persönlicher Führung ihres Geschwaderkommodore Major
Dahl kämpfende IV Sturmgruppe Jagdgeschwader 3, mit ihrem Kommandeur
Hptm. Moritz zeichnete sich durch Abschuss von 30 viermotorigen Bombern besonders
aus."
A few days later Dahl appeared on the Deutsche
Wochenschau along with Willi Moritz and his Sturmböcke in a sequence
that was broadcast in German cinemas. " Ritterkreuzträger Major Dahl
beglückwüunscht seine Männer zu ihrem grossen Erfolg
im Kampf gegen die nordamerikanischen Terrorbomber über
Mitteldeutschland.."
Radio and press reports again brought out the decisive role of
Major Dahl's JG300 , which may have caused some tension between Moritz
and Dahl. Quite simply Dahl may have been one of the advocates of ramming
at all costs. Walther Dahl's role in developing operational Sturm tactics
had already resulted in the nickname " Ramm-Dahl " according to his own account.
One of a formation of Heinkel He 177 bombers used to allow fledgling
Sturmjäger to practise the Breitkeil formation attack
had had it's tail-plane torn off by an over eager pilot.
Nazi propagandists , if not the Luftwaffe hierarchy had found an answer
to the massed bomber streams that droned daily over the Reich . Following
this success a further two Jagdgeschwader, JG 4 and JG 300, each converted
one Gruppe to the Fw 190 Sturmbock aircraft and began training in the new
tactics. The Sturmgruppe of JG 3 was to be in action again on
18 and 20 July.
to be continued....
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