In late 1944 the Ford, Sussex-based
Fighter Interception Development
Squadron (FIDS) carried out trials
under the codename Operation
Vapour to counter air-launched V-1s.
A borrowed Coastal Command
Wellington equipped with a
modified ASV Mk VI radar acted as
airborne early warning and control
for interceptions.
The Colony-Class frigate HMS
Caicos, commanded by Lt Cdr
Henry Russell DSC had been
equipped as the Royal Navy’s only
aircraft direction frigate. The vessel
was headed for the Indian Ocean
but instead went to the North Sea
to try to detect He 111s and V-1s.
Her success was negligible.
Additional night fighters were
committed: 68 Squadron and the
FIDS (Beaufighters), plus 125, 307
and 456 Squadrons (Mosquitos).
Due to the slow speed of the He
111, the slower Beaufighters were
considered better for intercepts.
Apart from two accidents on
operations on October 21 and
23, the first casualties for the new
Luftwaffe unit occurred during
the night of the 25th-26th. Flying
Officer Desmond Tull of FIDS
and Fg Off Bill Beadle of 125
Squadron each claimed a Heinkel
He 111, off Lowestoft and
Yarmouth respectively.
A Heinkel of 3./KG 53 returned
to Germany with a dead radio
operator, while Obfw Ottmar
Hämmerle’s Heinkel of 2./KG
53 failed to return (Hämmerle
had been wounded in the strafing
attack on Plantlünne on June 20.)
On the last day of October, at
0620hrs, Fw Theodor Warwas
lifted off from Bad Zwischenahn
and headed towards London. Over
the North Sea at 0755hrs, Sqn Ldr
Bill Gill of 125 Squadron reported:
“Gave the He 111 another long
burst from 1,000ft range and
obtained many strikes all on the
starboard side of the fuselage.
This set aircraft alight and it went
straight down into the sea. From a
quick glance there appeared to be
no survivors.”
Six days into November, II./
KG 53 had lost nine aircraft on
operations with two more crashing
in Holland on return. The only
RAF claims were by Sqn Ldr Jeremy
Howard-Williams of FIDS on the
evening of the 4th and Flt Sgt Les
Neal of 68 Squadron on the evening
of the 6th.
One of those was Knight’s
Cross winner Hptm Heinz
Zöllner, Staffelkapitän of 4./KG- Of his crew of five, all but one
had been awarded the German
Cross in Gold and Honour
Goblet. His observer, Obfw Karl
Christmann, also received the
Knight’s Cross.
LOSSES MOUNT
Things went from bad to worse
after this. Another five aircraft
were lost in action, with a further
four either coming to grief
returning from ‘ops’ or as a result
of accidents before the end of
the month.
Royal Air Force night fighters
claimed the destruction of six He
111s. The only definite matches
were Flt Lt Jim Lomas of 25
Squadron downing Fw Rupert
Dorn (2./KG 53) east of Clactonon the evening of the 9th, Fg Off
Doug Arnold of 456 Squadron
accounting for Fw Rudolf Ripper
(5./KG 53) off Lowestoft on the
evening of the 19th and Fg Off
Fred Stevens of 456 Squadron
shooting down Fw Kurt Hillmann
(1./KG 53) off the Dutch island of
Texel early on the 25th.
Losses in December were initially
light with Obfw Nikolaus Mertens
(4./KG 53) declared missing on the
7th and Uffz Günther Lis (1./KG
53) three days later. There were no
RAF claims for these two aircraft.
Some of the III. Gruppe
operational reports survive, such
as for the attack on London just
before dawn on December 18.
Starting at 0302hrs, 28 He 111s of
III./KG 53 took off from Schleswig
and Eggebek in Germany, and 21
V-1s were launched while seven
suffered technical failures.
One night fighter was spotted at
0350hrs, at 650ft (200m) range,
but it did not engage (this was
probably the Mosquito of 125
Squadron’s Plt Off Ken Goodyear,
who optimistically claimed an He
111 damaged 40 miles northeast
of Orfordness, Suffolk. Three
Heinkels returned with light
flak damage.Left
Uffz Klaus Schulte of
8./KG 3.Left
Flight Lieutenant Geoff
Richards, who worked
the radar in the borrowed
Fighter Interception
Development Squadron
Vickers Wellington.Left centre
The He 111 crew of Fw
Röttges of 3./KG 53 at
Husum, winter 1944.November 2018 FLYPAST 37