WORLD WAR TWO EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
50 FLYPAST August 2018
WORLD WAR TWO
50 FLYPAST August 2018
WORLD WAR TWOWORLD WAR TWO EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
On the 27th, 7 Squadron
accounted for at least one Bf 109;
IV./JG 27 lost a single machine
but the pilot was rescued. In turn,
three Spitfires were shot down,
Lts Kenneth W Prescott and John
H Hynd were killed during the
first raid at approximately 11:30
hours and, in the afternoon, Lt A
L Basson baled out offshore, from
where he was rescued.
The next day, eight Spitfire
Vs of 74 Squadron RAF arrived
from Egypt via Cyprus. Another
developed engine trouble 15 miles
(24km) off Kastellorizo. Flt Lt
Albert G S ‘Andy’ Anderson, who
had flown Hurricanes for ten
months at Malta in 1941-1942,
died when he baled out too low
for his parachute to open. Spitfires
from both squadrons were soon in
action, but again it was the luckless
South Africans who came off worst
when Lt Taylor and Captain E A
Rorvik were shot down. The former
baled out and was rescued; the
latter was posted missing.
On the same day, the Luftwaffe
acknowledged the loss of a Bf
109G-6 of 8./JG 27. The cause
was stated as an engine problem
although the pilot, Uffz Otto
Mühlbauer, survived.TAKING A BEATING
Early on September 29, three pilots
of 74 Squadron were scrambled tointercept another raid. Flt Sgt W J
Wilson met three successive waves
of Junkers Ju 88s over Antimachia.
He was credited with shooting
down one bomber in the first
formation before diving through
the second and third groupings and
damaging two more aircraft.
Wilson’s Spitfire was set upon
by five Bf 109s, which he evaded
successfully, causing two to collide,
one of them reportedly falling in
flames. Despite the glowing account
in the squadron Operations Record
Book, though, Luftwaffe records do
not substantiate these claims.The destruction caused by
the Luftwaffe is not in doubt:
Antimachia had been badly
damaged and Lambi was rendered
unserviceable. Two of the returning
Spitfires had to land at an airstrip
under construction at the Tingaki
salt pans.
Subsequent air deliveries had to be
dropped by parachute. The ground
was repaired sufficiently that
Dakotas were able to land during
the night of October 2/3.LUFTWAFFE BUILD-UP
In the meantime, Luftwaffe
strength in the Greece/Aegean
area had increased to an estimated
362 operational aircraft, 213 of
which were serviceable. These were
reported to comprise the following:
29 reconnaissance machines, 37
fighters, 19 long-range bombers,
47 dive-bombers, 30 coastal
patrollers and 51 transports.
The Luftwaffe had two good
airfields on Rhodes, approximately
70 miles from Kos, and two moreon Crete. There were also well-
equipped bomber bases on the
Greek mainland at Larisa, Salonika,
and in the Athens area, and dive-
bombers at Megara and Argos.
As the number of German
bombers in the region increased,
so too did the danger to Allied
warships. While Axis and Allied
shipping ran the risk of air attack,
Allied forces were disadvantaged
in that most of their air and naval
bases were situated far from the
scene of operations. This placed
an intolerable strain on destroyers,
especially Hunt-class vessels, whoseendurance was severely restricted
by fuel limitations.
Effective air cover was impossible
without long-range fighters, due to
the distances between the combat
area and Allied airfields in Cyprus
and at Gambut in Libya. Some
multi-engined types, though, were
less affected.
Anti-shipping strikes were also
undertaken, and night raids
carried out against land targets.
Airfields in Crete and Rhodes,
which had received considerable
reinforcements, were attacked
frequently during the latter half of
the same month.TABLES TURNED
Such efforts, though, just delayed
the inevitable. At Kos, BritishOn the 27th, 7 Squadron
accounted for at least one Bf 109;
IV./JG 27 lost a single machineAbove
A Ju 87 Stuka of I./StG 3
at Megara, Greece. The
crewman sits on an SC
500 bomb.Right
A Bf 109G-6 of III./JG 27
which, together with IV
Gruppe of the same unit,
was responsible for a
good proportion of Allied
aircraft shot down over
the Aegean.Below
Beaufi ghters attacking
a vessel of the German
invasion fl eet off Kos on
October 3, 1943.