(Warm tips: this article is about 5200 words, with 25 pictures, original is not easy, thank you for your patience to read.) ）
At the beginning of 1945, the Countdown to the European Theater of World War II entered. The Anglo-American Allies had seized air supremacy in Western Europe, and the Air Defenses of the Third Reich were poked like Hermann Goering's cowhide estuary. With the entry into service of the P-51 Mustang and the rapid advance of allied ground forces, The Anglo-American bomber groups could be escorted throughout the process, turning German towns into ruins as if they were in no man's land, while the Luftwaffe fighter units fought the last bit of capital in the "bottom plate" operation on New Year's Day 1945, and were no longer able to stop the Allied air offensive, only to struggle desperately with a small number of jet fighters and ace pilots. However, even with a firm victory, the Allied Air Forces inevitably lost their horses, as exemplified by the fierce air battle over the Norwegian Feldfjord in February 1945, which the RAF forces that participated in the battle later described the battle as "Black Friday"!
The last lifeline
At the end of 1944, with the allied victories in the northwestern European theater, German ships were limited to Norwegian waters and the Baltic Sea. Later in the war, the German troops stationed in Norway still numbered 300,000, and were the last German heavy army group to remain intact, while the Norwegian garrison's supplies were mainly supplied by sea, and the iron ore transportation line starting from Narvik was still the lifeblood of the War Machine of the Third Reich.
Aerial photograph of Durage Air Force Base in northern Scotland during World War II, February 21, 1943.
In order to cut off Germany's last sea lifeline, the RAF Coast command transferred seven anti-ship missions from eastern England to northern Scotland in September and October 1944, and stationed them at banffer and Daraci bases to strengthen the attack on Norwegian warships near the Sea. The 3 squadrons stationed in Banffer are equipped with Mosquito fighters and are organized as The Banff Wing, and the 4 squadrons stationed in Dalaqi are equipped with "Handsome Warrior" fighters and are organized as the Dalachi Wing. It is worth mentioning that the Darachi Wing is a pure multinational force, with squadrons 144, 404, 455 and 489 from The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand respectively, fully demonstrating the wartime unity of the Commonwealth countries. Many of these units are seasoned pilots who have accumulated extensive experience in sea-to-sea operations in the North Sea and the Mediterranean.
■ The "Handsome Warrior" fleet on the tarmac of Darakhi Airport ready to strike.
After the arrival of banffer and darazch, British aircraft conducted continuous and intensive patrols along the southern Norwegian coastline from Trondheim in the north to the Skagrak Strait in the south, forcing German ships to travel nocturnal, lurking in the fjords deep inland during the day to avoid air raids, and sailing along the coast at night. In response to the German mode of action and the characteristics of the meandering Norwegian coast and numerous fjords, the British developed a tentacle tactic, separating two aircraft from the main formation and piloted by the most experienced pilots, going deep into the fjord for reconnaissance, searching for hidden targets and guiding the main force to attack. In each patrol operation, the British army will also send "Mustang" fighters to escort the Luftwaffe, and the "Warwick" sea and air search and rescue aircraft will accompany the operation to rescue the crew members of the crashed aircraft. Since most of the Mustangs were to escort the bomber formations that attacked Germany, the Coast Command had only one squadron of Mustangs available to the Norwegian side.
■ German ships that were attacked by mosquitoes off the coast of Norway in early 1945.
Of course, the Germans were not passively beaten, in order to ensure the safety of shipping in Norwegian waters, the Germans took measures to strengthen air defenses, deploying anti-aircraft artillery positions and anti-aircraft ships near the fjord anchorage, and the Luftwaffe also tried to mobilize aircraft to provide air cover, and by March 1945 the German army had deployed 85 single-engine fighters and 45 twin-engine fighters at 10 to 12 airfields south of Trondheim, mainly the 5th Fighter Wing (JG 5), which had been operating in Northern Europe for a long time. From December 1944 onwards, British coastal patrol operations were repeatedly confronted by German fighters, with up to 30 strikes and mutual damage, such as the 30 Fw 190s of the 3rd Group of the JG 5 Wing when the BanffEr Wing attacked Lervik on January 15, 1945, and was shot down 5 Mosquitoes, and the Germans also lost 5 aircraft.
■ This painting depicts the Banff United Mosquito group flying ultra-low altitude along the Norwegian fjord.
Fjord passers-by hurriedly
Between 1942 and 1944, in order to prevent Britain and the United States from providing assistance to the Soviet Union through the Arctic Route, the German Navy masseed most of its main battleships in northern Norway to threaten the Arctic Route. After more than two years of fighting, the German warships sank, wounded, and the remnants of the ships were gradually transferred back to Germany, and by early 1945 only the destroyer Z-33 remained in northern Norway, which was also ordered to set sail on February 5, 1945, south along the Norwegian coast, to the Baltic Sea.
■ In the summer of 1943, the German Navy destroyer Z-33 was moored in the Norwegian Alta Fjord, and the ship participated in several combat operations.
The Z-33 destroyers belonged to the second batch of type 1936A destroyers built during the war, and based on the experience of the Naval Battle of Narvik in April 1940, the main gun was upgraded from 127 mm to 150 mm, so it was also known as the Narvik type destroyer. The Z-33 started operations at the Weiser Shipyard in Bremen on 22 December 1940, launched on 15 September 1941 and entered service on 6 February 1943, with a standard displacement of 2,700 tons, a full load displacement of 3,750 tons, a main power of 70,000 hp and a speed of 36 knots. The Z-33 is equipped with five TbtsK C/36 150 mm naval guns, 2 in the twin turrets on the bow, 3 in a single gun canopy in front of and behind the rear superstructure, with a maximum range of up to 21,950 meters, but a rate of fire of only 7 to 8 rounds per minute, and two quadruple 533 mm torpedo tubes. In response to air threats, the Z-33 was equipped with two Flak M42 twin 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, which outperformed the earlier SK/C 30 37 mm guns, as well as two quadruple mounts and two single 20 mm machine guns.
■ Flak FM42 twin 37 mm anti-aircraft gun on display in the museum.
The Z-33 went to the Norwegian front in July 1943 and took part in the German attack on the Spitzbergen Islands and the Battle of North Point, before spending 1944 in escort, mine-laying, and air defense missions before returning in February 1945. The Z-33 was originally scheduled to rendezvous with Z-31 in Bergen and return home in pairs, but on 7 February it ran aground in The Bluffefjord, with damage to its left propeller and thrust shaft, and the two main engines were also damaged and incapacitated, and had to be towed by two tugboats to Trondheim for repairs, before entering the Feldfjord berthing at dawn on 9 February.
■ The scenery of the Norwegian Feldfjord, the shore peaks are high, the cliffs are steep, and it is very difficult to fly in the fjord.
Feldfjord is a small fjord in the north of Westlandshire on the southwest coast of Norway, with a total length of 36 kilometers and a maximum width of only 2 kilometers, the fjord waterway is tortuous, and the two banks are rolling hills, ranging from hundreds to one thousand meters above sea level, and many steep shore cliffs, which are very conducive to the concealment of ships. In the middle of winter, with the coastal peaks covered in snow and the fjord waters mostly frozen, German ships used naval guns to crush the ice and open suitable berths, while the broken ice floes scattered across the sea also provided background camouflage for the ships. In order to protect the Z-33 safely through the dangerous day, the Germans deployed 1 minesweeper and 2 anti-aircraft ships in the Feldfjord to resist air raids together with the anti-aircraft artillery positions on the shore. At Hördera Airport, 105 km south of Feldfjord, the 9th and 12th squadrons of the JG 5 Wing were stationed, equipped with Fw 190 fighter jets to provide air cover for the fjord, and the 12th Squadron Commander, Lieutenant Rudy Lintz, an ace pilot with a record of 69 aircraft, was awarded the Gold German Cross on New Year's Day 1945.
In the summer of 1944, Lieutenant Rudy Linz was photographed at an airport in northern Norway, an ace pilot of JG 5.
Battleships or merchant ships
In the early morning of February 9, two "handsome warriors" of the 489th Squadron took off from Darachi on a morning routine reconnaissance mission, crossing the North Sea, turning north after seeing the Norwegian coastline, carefully searching each fjord. New Zealand pilots first found a 1500-ton cargo ship in stonefjords, and then flew to Feldfjord, when the Z-33 and its escort ships entered the field of vision, the pilots were suddenly adrenaline rushed, and there were very few surface warships that the German Navy could still fight in the late stages of the war, and this destroyer was as rare as a rare beast in their eyes, a tempting prey! Excitedly recording the orientation of the target, the pilot continued his reconnaissance and found 5 large transport ships, 2 minesweepers and 1 anti-aircraft ship at the anchorage near Clemange. Although the New Zealanders were surprised by their discovery, the Allied top brass had already grasped the approximate whereabouts of the Z-33 through "super secrets".
■ Two "Handsome Warrior" fighter jets start their engines on the runway of Darachi Airport and prepare to take off.
After receiving the morning reconnaissance report, the Dalach Wing first selected the priority targets for attack. In terms of the location and tactical value of the German ships, the transport fleet at Clemange was easier to attack and more important, after all, in the current war situation, a lone German destroyer was difficult to stir up, and those transport ships were likely to be loaded with supplies, and sinking them would weaken the supply capacity of the Norwegian German army. However, although the Coast Command belonged to the Royal Air Force, it was controlled by the British Admiralty in operations, and the Royal Navy's guiding principle was that warships were given higher priority than transport ships, so the Dalach Wing listed the Z-33 as the number one target for the day's operations, although its defense was stronger and the position was not conducive to air attack.
■ Pilots of the Australian Air Force's 455th Squadron pose in front of the Handsome Warriors at Darakhi Base in November 1944.
Lieutenant Colonel Jack Davenport, staff officer of the 18th Brigade of the Royal Air Force, was responsible for drawing up the attack plan, according to the mode of tentacle tactics, first sending 2 aircraft deep into the fjord, pinpointing the target position precisely, the main formation first flew east over the anchorage, and then turned around and launched an attack to the west, sinking the target before it fled to the open sea! Davenport sought to minimize losses as much as possible, but the narrow terrain of the fjord and the air defense forces at the anchorage were doomed to the operation to be highly risky. Squadron Leader Colin Milson, commander of the 455th Squadron, served as commander of the raid, and as a veteran of the war for many years, he sank many German and Italian ships in the Mediterranean and North Seas, and served as a squadron leader at the age of 25. Milson had reservations about the operation, especially as there was no need to launch costly operations near the end of the war, but he was ordered to strike and do his best to achieve the goal.
■ On February 9, 1945, the destroyer Z-33 and other German ships moored deep in the Feldfjord showed that there was still a large area of freezing on the sea surface.
The Germans did not sit still, and after the British reconnaissance planes had flown in the morning, they realized that the exposed Z-33 had moved deeper into the fjord, anchored at the new berth close to the south bank of the fjord, and the other vigilance ships were moored in the vicinity of the two shores of the fjord, all the berths were within the range of the coastal anti-aircraft gun positions, forming a full circle of anti-aircraft fire, whether on the shore or on the ship, all anti-aircraft gunners and lookout posts were on high alert, vigilantly watching the sky, and the German fighter units stationed in Herdra were also ready to go out.
■ Hölderra Airport, 105 km south of the Feldfjord, where the 9th and 12th squadrons of the JG 5 Wing are stationed.
Fighting between mountains and seas
At 1:30 p.m. on February 9, Milson led 32 "handsome warriors" from the base of Dalach to take the Feldfjord directly, all four squadrons of the Dalach Wing participated in the operation, the aircraft of the 404th and 455th squadrons carried eight RP-3 rockets under the wing, and the aircraft of the 144th and 489th squadrons did not carry bombs or rockets, and would use four 20mm cannons and six 7.7mm machine guns to rain bullets on the target. The RP-3 rocket with a 25 kg armor-piercing warhead, a maximum speed of 480 m / s, a maximum range of 1600 m, for cargo ships with thin hulls and light ships has a good killing effect. 12 P-51s of the 65th Squadron were escorted, and 2 Warwicks of the 279th Squadron were sent as backups.
■ British ground crews loading RP-3 rockets (top) and 20 mm cannon shells (bottom) for the Handsome Warrior fighter.
The British fleet crossed the Norwegian coastline at 3:40 a.m., the "handsome warriors" lowered their altitude and prepared to attack, while the "Mustangs" remained on high alert. Squadrons 144 and 489 each sent one aircraft to act as tentacles, and they flew over the Feldfjord from the location reported by the reconnaissance aircraft in the morning, but there were no ships there, so they reported to Milson at 3:50 a.m. that no target had been found, and then flew east to the end of the fjord, still not seeing the German ships hiding under the rock wall on the coast, and had to turn north to reconnoiter another fjord. Meanwhile, Fw 190 at Hölderlar Airport was alerted and took off at 3:50 a.m. to intercept the British attack formation in the Feldfjord.
■ The "Mustang" Mk III fighter aircraft equipped by the Royal Air Force fighter unit, that is, the American P-51B/C fighter.
A few minutes after receiving the report, the main formation led by Milson flew from south to north to the southern shore of Feldfjord, and suddenly the British pilots found themselves in a network of fire composed of crisscrossing tracer trajectories and explosive smoke clouds, countless shells soaring into the sky from the sea and land below, and the thick smell of gunpowder in the air could be felt through the canopy, and the whole sky seemed to be trembling. It turned out that the British aircraft group just flew over the German anchorage, and the Germans, who mistakenly thought that the British plane was about to drop bombs, could not hold back and hurriedly opened fire to intercept. However , german artillery fire was initially inaccurate , failing to hit any of the British aircraft.
■ The famous aviation painter Robert Taylor's painting "Assault and Assault" shows the "handsome warrior" fighter attacking in the narrow fjord braving German anti-aircraft artillery fire.
In the face of the sudden engagement, Milson ordered the formation to turn right and prepare to attack from east to west as planned, but soon he found that due to the coastal hills and the direction of the coastline, it was difficult to enter the attack route from the predetermined direction, and could only be forced to turn to the entrance of the fjord, and then regrouped from west to east to attack, which meant that the British aircraft group had to face the German anti-aircraft artillery fire, and after the attack, quickly climbed, close to the rising hillside out of the German fire circle, and if he was not careful, he would be shot or hit the mountain, and worse, Under the limitation of the mountains on both sides of the strait, the British aircraft group could only approach the target from one direction, and could not pinch the target from multiple directions as in the past, dispersing the German anti-aircraft fire, on the contrary, the Germans could concentrate their artillery to organize interception barrages. In short, the whole battle is completely contrary to the battle plan.
■ During the battle in Feldfjord on February 9, a German anti-aircraft ship was strafed and rocketed by "handsome warriors".
Despite the difficulty, Milson could not choose to abandon the attack, which would be equivalent to escaping from the battlefield. At 4:10 a.m., he took the lead in driving a plane into the fjord, swooping down at a small angle to meet the dense barrage approaching the anchorage, aiming the sight at an anti-aircraft ship with a tongue of fire, firing all the rockets, hoping to suppress the German anti-aircraft fire to some extent and create conditions for a follow-up attack. Behind The Milson landline, the other "handsome warriors" also entered the attack position in turn. At this moment, 12 Fw 190s led by Lieutenant Linz arrived and risked intercepting the "handsome warriors" despite their own anti-aircraft artillery fire. The appearance of German fighters made the "Mustang" who were covering at a high place very stunned, and hurriedly swooped down to prevent the opponent from intercepting and killing the "handsome warrior", and suddenly the sky of Feldfjord was filled with the sound of harsh engines and the roar of guns, and more than 50 aircraft from both sides were mixed together to start a melee. The Fw 190 and P-51 got into a dogfight, while the Handsome Warrior stubbornly strafed german ships in the embarrassment of artillery fire in front and pursuing soldiers in the rear, the largest air battle ever fought in Norwegian airspace.
The painting shows the three protagonists of the Feldfjord air battle: the Fw 190 fighter, the Handsome Warrior and the Mustang.
The destroyer Z-33, which was attacked by British aircraft, suffered only minor injuries and killed 4 sailors.
The fierce fighting lasted until 4:25, 7 "Handsome Warriors" were shot down by German anti-aircraft artillery, and 2 "Handsome Warriors" and 1 "Mustang" became the result of the Fw 190, of which 6 of the 11 aircraft of the 404th Squadron participated in the battle fell, losing more than half, 14 British pilots were killed and 4 were captured. On the German side, 4 to 5 Fw 190s were shot down and 2 pilots were killed, including Linz himself, who was shot down and killed after the 70th victory and was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross on 12 March. Z-33s and several German ships were damaged in the air raids, killing at least 7 sailors.
Side view of the Fw 190A-8 fighter jet piloted by Lieutenant Rudy Linz on February 9, with the JG 5 Wing logo on top and 69 victory marks painted on the rudder.
The afterglow drifts with the wind
After the end of the attack, the surviving "Handsome Warriors" flew out of the fjord to meet the "Mustang" and returned westward, many aircraft were injured by German artillery fire, so that they could not land safely, and 2 "Handsome Warriors" could only land in the belly of the plane because of the destruction of the landing gear. The Battle, in which the British lost 9 Handsome Warriors, 1 Mustang and 18 pilots, inflicted only minor damage on the Z-33, failed to achieve their objectives, and lost more than expected, the largest loss of the British Coast Command during the war in a wing-sized air raid, a day known by the pilots of the Dalaqi Wing as "Black Friday".
■ A "Handsome Warrior" fighter of the 144th Squadron returned from Feldfjord and made a forced landing at Darachi Airfield.
The Feldfjord air battle prompted the Admiralty to accept the advice of Air Force Admiral Salto Douglas, commander of the Coastal Command, to make transport ships a priority target, while an additional squadron of "Mustangs" was dispatched from early March to protect patrols of the Norwegian coast. Lieutenant Colonel Milson was awarded the Merit Service Medal for his courage and mobility in operations Feldfjord.
Lieutenant Colonel Colin Milson, commander of the 455th Squadron, stood in front of the "Handsome Warrior", who was awarded the Medal for his bravery in Operation Feldfjord.
The Z-33, which had escaped the disaster, pulled anchor and set sail after nightfall, but encountered another thrilling air raid on the way, arrived in Trondheim on February 11, returned home on March 26 after repairs, and finally entered Sweenemingde Harbor safely on April 2. However, the German Navy no longer had enough fuel to go to sea, and the Z-33 was decommissioned at the end of April, placed in Deutsche Bay as a floating anti-aircraft battery for the end of the war, handed over to the Soviet Navy as a trophy in January 1946, renamed the Astute, and served in the Baltic Fleet until April 1955.
The destroyer Z-33 at the end of the war was handed over to the Soviet Navy as a trophy after the war and served until the mid-1950s.
On 8 May 1985, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of norway's liberation, the Norwegians erected a war memorial in the Feldfjord to commemorate the Anglo-German officers who died in that battle, which was later moved to Bergen International Airport. The wreckage of two Fw 190 fighter jets that were shot down during the Feldfjords battle was found and recovered after the war, including the Fw 190A-8 piloted by Lieutenant Linz, which is now preserved in the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia, USA.
Lieutenant Rudy Linz's Fw 190 fighter jet was recovered after the war and displayed in the United States Military Aviation Museum.
All colleagues of the Qijun Battle History Team bid farewell to the majority of friends, thank you for your long-term and firm support, and wish you all a happy new year, all the best, and a good year of the ox!