Thought I'd start doing some pieces on some of the key units who flew in the battle.
First up: Erpro 210
Erprobungsgruppe 210 (Erpr.Gr.210)
Erprobungsgruppe 210
was formed on July 1, 1940 at Koln-Ostheim under the command of
Hauptmann Walter Rubensdörffer, a Swiss true
believer in Nazism, who had migrated to Germany following Hitler’s rise to
power and joined the Luftwaffe, where he gained a reputation as a
ground-attack specialist during the Spanish Civil War, where he led 3./J 88
which used the He-51B in the development of
schlactflieger tactics.
The unit was given the task of
operational test of the Bf-109E and Bf-110C as fighter-bombers, and the
development of suitable tactics.
The legend of Erpr.Gr.210
is that the aircrews assigned were all “specialists,” which is not true.
1.Staffel, which was to be equipped
with the new Bf-110C-4/B, a version with a fuselage mounted bomb rack
capable of carrying two SC 500 bombs on a paired ETC 250 rack under the
fuselage,
was formed from I./ZG1.
2.Staffel, also to be equipped
with the Bf-110C-4/B, was formed from
3./StG. 77, and
3.Staffel, which was equipped with the Bf-109E-4B
capable carrying one SC 250 on a centerline rack, was
formed from 4./JG 186. Some crews
were assigned straight in from training, including
Leutnant Erich Beudel and his
Bordfunker,
Obergefreiter Heinrich Diemer, and
Uffz. Werner Neumann and his
Bordfunker,
Obergefreiter Karl Stoff.
At their commissioning,
1.Staffel was equipped with the Bf
11OC-6, only 12 of which were ever built, which carried a 30 mm. MG 101 in
place of the standard two 20 mm cannon. 2.Staffel
received their first Bf-110C-4/B aircraft a week later, while
3.Staffel operated the Bf-109E-4Bs.
The heavy commitment of the
unit during the Battle of Britain would take its toll: four commanding
officers would be lost in action between August 15th
and October 5th 1940.
An indication of the level of combat experienced by
Erpr.Gr.210 is seen in the fact
that four awards were made of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross, the most
for any single Gruppe in the
Battle.
Erpr.Gr.210 moved
to St. Omer-Arques for missions over the English Channel on July 10, 1940,
and flew its first mission of the Battle of Britain on July 13, 1940,
against two convoys near the mouth of the Thames. No RAF fighters appeared,
and hits were claimed on a total of 20,000 tons of shipping, with all
aircraft returning to France. In the following days the unit continued
attacking convoys, and suffered their first loss on July 24, when the
Bf-110C-4/B of Uffz. Paul
Hermann and his Bordfunker
Uffz. Heinz Meinhardt was hit by AA fire
from the convoy they were attacking and plunged into the North Sea east of
Harwich. 2.Staffel suffered a
second loss on July 27 when the Bf-110C-4/B of Oblt.
Franz Fallenbacher received a direct hit with its bombs still attached and
blew up in mid-air. By the end of July, Erpr.Gr.210
claimed 80,000 tons of British shipping during their two weeks of
operations.
The next few weeks were spent
re-equipping 1.Staffel with new
Bf-110C-4/B aircraft to replace the Bf-110C-6s, and moving to Calais-Marck
airfield for the coming assault on Britain
On August 11, Bf-109E-4Bs of
3.Staffel shot down
barrage balloons protecting Dover Harbor, followed by Bf-110s of
2.Staffel bombing the harbor.
That afternoon, Erpr.Gr.210
sent out after Convoy “Booty” off the coast of Essex, accompanied by Do-17Zs
from KG2, with escort from
I/ZG 26. This was the first time
1.Staffel used Bf-110C-4/Bs, along with two
C-6 strafers. The raiders were able to attack the convoy before being
intercepted by a force of Hurricanes from 17 and 85 Squadrons and Spitfires
from 74 Squadron. In the combat that followed, the two Bf-110C-6s from
1.Staffel were lost.
1./ZG 26 lost two
Bf-110C-3s, while 2./ZG 26 had two damaged in action.
August 12 would prove to be the
busiest day of the Battle of Britain. Erpr.Gr.210
left Calais-Marck at 0930 to attack the radar stations around the south
coast of England. Heading low over the Channel, the unit split into four
formations. Gruppenkommandeur
Rubensdörffer led the four Bf-110C-4/Bs of the
Gruppenstab toward the station in the tiny village of
Dunkirk, north of Canterbury; Oberleutnant.
Otto Hintze led the Bf-109E-4/Bs of 3.Staffel
to the Dover station; Oberleutnant.
Wilhelm-Richard Rossiger led 2.Staffel’s
Bf-110s towards Rye, with
Oberleutnant Martin Lutz leading
1.Staffel’s Bf-110s to
the Pevensey station. All four stations were hit, but the masts were not
toppled.
All except Dunkirk were temporarily put out of action, but
all were back in operation before the end of the day. All aircraft of
Erpr.Gr.210 returned to
Calais-Marck. So far, the tactic of using the fast Bf-110 at low altitude,
operating below the radar screen, was proving effective.
An hour after their return to
Calais-Marck, Erpr.Gr.210
headed for Manston, on the south-eastern tip of
Kent, joined by Dornier 17s of KG2.
Coming in under the radar, the formation made its
approach unopposed. 65 Squadron managed to take off as the raid was in
progress. Heading home, Erpr.Gr.210
was attacked
by 54 Squadron Spitfires and Hurricanes of 501 Squadron. One
Bf-110C-4/B of 1.Staffel
was slightly damaged.
The third mission of the day
came three hours later, when Erpr.Gr.210
hit Hawkinge airfield with a precision attack. Although considerable damage
was done to the airfield, it was not put out of action. All aircraft of the
unit returned to Calais-Marck, ending the most successful day in the history
of Erpr.Gr.210.
Bad weather on August 14
limited the unit to a second attack on Manston.
August 15, which dawned clear, would turn out to be
the day remembered by the Luftwaffe
as “Black Thursday,” and the darkest in the history of
Erpr.Gr.210.
That afternoon, the unit left
Calais-Marck to attack Martlesham Heath airfield in Suffolk. Unescorted,
they flew in over the North Sea and reached the target unopposed, though
Hurricanes of 1 and 17 Squadrons had been scrambled to intercept. The
Bf-110s hit the airfield, and damage was compounded by a direct hit on a
Fairey Battle loaded with bombs. As the Messerschmitts turned for home, the
Hurricanes finally made contact, but this time the losses were all on the
RAF side, with three Hurricanes of 1 Squadron shot down and one from 17
Squadron crash-landed. One Bf-110 received sufficient damage it was not
serviceable to fly on any other missions that day.
At 1820, Rubensdörffer led the
Gruppenstab and all three
Staffeln on a raid against Kenley airfield,
with JG 52 providing Bf-109s for
escort. Over the Channel, one Bf-110 from 2.Staffel
turned back due to mechanical problems, leaving 14 Bf-110C-4/Bs
of the Stab
and 1. And
2.Staffeln and the eight Bf-109E-4/Bs of 3.Staffel.
On the way in, the escort became detached and turned back.
Erprobungsgruppe 210 continued on alone.
As he approached the target
over Seven Oaks, for some reason Rubensdörffer lined up dived to attack
Croydon, not Kenley, just as the last Hurricanes of 111 Squadron lifted off
from Croydon, while 32 Squadron was scrambled from nearby Biggin Hill.
Croydon, the pre-war civil
airport for London, was inside the line of Greater London that the Luftwaffe
was prohibited from attacking at this time. While the airfield was now used
by the RAF, it was considered off-limits.
Erprobungsgruppe 210 sighted
the Hurricanes climbing out of Biggin and Kenley as Rubensdörffer led the
unit down on Croydon.
The field was hit hard, and as the three
staffeln came off the target and set about
climbing to re-group and head for home, they knew that two enemy squadrons
were in pursuit.
Both RAF squadrons hit the Germans as they attempted
to reform, and the Bf-110s formed “defense circles” for several minutes, but
upon breaking for home the losses started.
The four Bf-110s of the
Gruppenstab came under attack by
111 Squadron. Rubensdörffer was hit but the Bf-110 kept flying.
Taking the airplane so low that he was maneuvering
around farm houses, Rubensdörffer streaked for the coast.
A Hurricane managed to get within range as the 110
lifted slightly to go over a church steeple and set the fleeing German
afire. Moments later, as the flames engulfed a wing, Rubensdörffer and his
Bordfunker,
Obergefreiter Richard Kretcher were killed in
the explosion as they hit ground just short of a farmhouse. At almost the
same time Gruppenadjutant Oberleutnant
Horst Redler was shot down.
He died three days later of his wounds while his
Bordfunker,
Obergefreiter Johann Werner became a POW. Hit
badly, Gruppe Technicsoffizier Leutnant
Karl-Heinz Koch made a successful belly-landing, both he and
Bordfunker Unteroffizier
Rolf Kahl being captured. Three more Bf-110’s of
1.Staffel were shot down.
Leutnant Horst Marx, who tried to
help Rubensdörffer, was shot down by a Hurricane and abandoned his
Bf-109E-4/B to become a POW. 2.Staffel
lost two Bf-110’s,
with three of the four crew being captured. The two RAF squadrons suffered
no losses in the action.
Even without the leadership of
Rubensdörffer, Erprobungsgruppe 210
continued to make daring low-level attacks through the remainder of the
Battle of Britain, taking losses that were never so bad as they were on
“Black Thursday,” though the unit lost three more commanding officers.
Following the great battle of September 15, operations tailed off until
September 24, when Erpr.Gr.210
again set out for their third attack on the Spitfire works in Southampton.
Once again, they failed to hit this target, and took
their final loss of the battle, a Bf-110C-4/B shot down into the Channel.
In a raid against the Parnall
Aircraft Factory near Bristol on September 27,
Erpr.Gr.210 could only put up ten Bf-110’s for the
raid when the Gruppenstab,
1. and 2.Staffeln
should normally have been able muster twice that many, an indication of the
state of things in Zerstörer units
by this stage of the Battle.
Escorted by III/JG 26, the Germans were intercepted
by RAF squadrons before they could reach the target.
As they turned and fled south, four aircraft were
shot down, including the third Gruppenkommandeur,
Hauptmann. Martin Lutz, a
Condor Legion veteran, who was killed when his Bf-110C-4/B crashed.
The unit
also lost the
Staffelkapitän of 2.Staffel,
Oblt. Wilhelm-Richard
Rossiger. ZG 26 lost six aircraft.
Erpr.Gr.210 flew a
mission to London on October 29th
losing the Bf-110 flown by Feldwebel
Siegfried Troppl, who died with his
Bordfunker, Unteroffizier
Otto Buttner when they crashed back in France. This was the final loss of
what was later known as the Battle of Britain.
On November 15,
Erpr.Gr.210 became
SchnellKampfGeschwader 210 and reverted to shipping
strikes. Having lost four Gruppenkommandeure,
command was taken by Major Wolfgang Schenck, who would take the unit to the
Eastern Front in 1941 and rise to prominence when SKG 210 became ZG 1 on the
Russian Front.
He would later command “Kommando Schenck” to
evaluate the Me-262 as a fighter-bomber and become
Geschwaderkommodore of KG51 on the Me-262A-2a at
the end of the war.
Had more units of the
Zerstörerwaffe been employed in the strike
role like Erpr.Gr.210, particularly
during the airfield attacks in August, the outcome of the Battle of Britain
might have been different, since a speeding Bf-110 at low altitude was a
very difficult catch for a Hurricane or Spitfire without a lot of luck being
involved, as happened on August 15.
(Sources: http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/axis/cleaver/tmc110c7.htm,
See also: http://www.amazon.com/Messerschmitt-BF-110-Bombsights-Erprobungsgruppe/dp/0764314459)
