Hello, this is probably a long shot, but does any one has info on the RAF units that bombed Blankenberge during several days in May 1940, September 1940, October and November, 1940, July and August 1941 and the heaviest attack on 24 April 1942. Regards, Cnock
This probably isn't too much help, but Middllebrook's 'Bomber Command War Diaries' shows that the target for 24th April 1942 was Flushing docks, apparently for a force of 12 Douglas Bostons. I'm wondering if perhaps Blankenberge was bombed in error for Flushing ? These would most likely have been Boston IIIs from either 99 or 226 Squadrons who at the time were tasked with daylight raids over Holland, Belgium and France as aprt of the strategy of 'leaning over the Channel'.
Hello Martin, thanks for answering. Blankenberge was bombed at midnight during the night of 24 on 25 April 1942. regards, Cnock
OK - there was activity that night ; 39 aircraft were sent to Dunkirk and 4 Bristol Blenheims were 'intruding'. It's frustrating, but that is all the information cited by Middlebrook. I know of no other readily available resource for these early raids so if no-one else on here can assist, the information will need to come from the National Archives.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help. As an aside, it's becoming more obvious that the earlier Bomber Command raids (in contrast to the later, post-1000 bomber activity ) are in danger of being 'lost to history'.
A friend asked me to post this reply. I have processed all the Bomber Command day and night raid sheets to end 1941, few references to the town mentioned, which is not surprising given the bombers would be attacking what they thought was the target. If the poster gives specific dates, including whether day or night I might be able to fill in some gaps. Aircraft type, reported location, date, target type, Day/Night, sent, attacked, bombs Blenheim Blankenburg 21-Sep-40 Ship Day 1 1 2x250lb 12x40lb As for the night of 24/25 April 1942, unless it was a target of opportunity by one of the bombers sent to Germany then the bombs came from one of 4 Blenheims sent to Leeuwarden, 3 reported as attacking, 1 lost.
The earlier dates suggest part of the Battle of the Barges - covered in The Other Few: The Contribution Made by Bomber and Coastal Aircrew to the Winning of the Battle of Britain Red Kite / Air Research, 2004 by Larry Donnelly. It should be noted that some of the raids on Blankenberge were carried out by Coastal Command air craft. BC aircraft appear to have been Blenheims
Further to this - from 1940 to 1944 Coastal Command carried out numerous missions over Blankenberge with a variety of aircraft including mine dropping Swordfish!
It would seem that in 1940 Britain was throwing anything that could fly and drop something against the shipping accumulating in the coves and estuaries along that coast. Not just Bomber and Coastal Commands but also the FAA which did some night ops with Albacores
Maybe something?: "Belgians Remember Them": The Belgian cemeteries where rest the fallen-BLANKENBERGE "Belgians Remember Them": RAF aircraft's crash sites in West Vlaanderen: Off the Belgian coast Memorial Bristol Blenheim R3896 - Dudzele (Brugge) - TracesOfWar.com Aces of the Luftwaffe - Walter Adolph Walter Adolph was born on 11 June 1913 at Fontanelle in the Bacau region of Rumania. Leutnant Adolph served with 1./J.88 of the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War from autumn 1937 until spring 1938. He gained one victory in that conflict, claiming a Republican Curtiss (Polikarpov I-15) biplane fighter shot down on 30 December 1937. From early 1939, Adolph served as Staffelkapitän of 2./JG 1. Towards the end of summer 1939, he was based at Seerapen, given the role of protecting East Prussia. The unit flew several missions over Poland but was soon recalled to Germany. He opened his account for World War 2 by shooting down a RAF twin-engine reconnaisance Blenheim over Osnabrück on 1 October 1939. During the French campaign, Adolph recorded a further five victories. His total included three RAF Blenheim twin-engine bombers, shot down in five minutes in the Maastricht area, on 12 May 1940. Dutch?: Blenheim Z7499 voor Blankenberge | Luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be | Historie Vliegtuigen, piloten, incidenten, locaties | Vliegtuig geschiedenis