The most recent book about the aerial attacks on Tirpitz, 617 squadron historian John Sweetman's ' Tirpitz - Hunting The Beast ' ( Sutton, 2000 ) devotes several pages to an attempted analysis of this mystery. He is forced to conclude that ' Precisely what happened to III/JG.5 at the crucial time, and why, remains obscure mainly because comprehensive records have not survived' (p.157 ).

A combination of confused communication and radar mis-plotting at Bardufoss certainly contributed, and the general consensus is that Major Heinrich Ehrler was 'scapegoated'. Sweetman feels certain that records were deliberately destroyed to cover up a serious blunder or, as is so often the case, a series of blunders leading to a catastrophic outcome.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson