Mildred Harnack.



Mildred was born Mildred Fish in Milwaukee USA on September 16th 1902. In 1926, she married Arvid Harnack whom she met while studying literature at Wisconsin University. In 1929 she and her husband moved to Berlin where she was a lecturer at the university. They became friends with Martha Dodd and were often invited to receptions at the American Embassy where she met many influential Germans. When the war started, Arvid and Mildred supported the resistance movement against the Nazi regime through their friendship with Harro Schulze-Boysen and the spy ring known as "The Red Orchestra". On September 7th 1942, she was arrested and taken to Gestapo headquarters. At her trial in December 1942, she was sentenced to six years in prison for "helping to prepare high treason and espionage". On December 21st Hitler rejected the sentence and ordered another trial which took place in January 1943 and resulted in a death sentence. At 6.57 p.m. on February 16, 1943, Mildred Harnack was guillotined, becoming the only American woman to be executed inside the German Reich for resisting Adolph Hitler and the Nazionalsozialisten (Nazis). . (By September, 1943, all fifty one members of the 'Red Orchestra' had died, two by suicide, eight on the gallows and forty-one guillotined).


http://www.dsha.k12.wi.us/harnack.htm




Arvid and Mildred Harnack, an economist and teacher, respectively, were leaders in the German resistance movement.

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What?

No conversation? Kill all the US persons in Reich for the *** of it? Hello? Anyone know this woman? Or was her sacrifice a total zero?

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Ok, but that´s a fact that I sent you earlier...if that doesn´t make you feel I don´t know if anything else will???



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Big Yank’s Crew Story

http://www.483rd.com/yank2.html

The second Unit Citation was for a March 24, 1945 mission. It was called the longest mission flown in Italy, 75 miles beyond Ruhland to the capital of the Fatherland, Berlin. The target was the Daimler-Benz Tank Works which had been assembling heavy and medium tanks for direct shipment to the Russian front. The bomb pattern was accurate in spite of an attack by 16 ME-262 German jet fighters. In the ensuing battle, we were credited with the destruction of six jets against the loss of only one Fortress, the Dailey/Dean crew of the 817th.

The 483rd is the only Bomb Group in the entire Air Force to be credited with having shot down three German turbo-jet fighters (Me-262) on one mission by one plane, and is the only Group with an aerial gunner to be credited with having shot down two Me-262's. This is the story of the gallant crew that was the Group’s tail-end Charlie in the Big Yank on the Berlin mission on March 24, 1945 and who won these honors for us and helped to earn the second Presidential Citation awarded to the 483rd Bomb Group (H).

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A story of one different story how to drink the toast in WW2 ( in Norway ):

From "Eye of Dietl" by Konrad Knabe:

During the years the reconnaissance men had developed a form of therapy called " Göppinger Salamander"; As well this was the home place of the men in Württenberg:

During the early hours the commander would say:

" All up! Attention! Grap the table by your right had! Grap the table by your left hand! Lift the table! Left hand off! Right hand off!"

And a crash as all the bottles and glasses fell to the ground...

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The Polish and Iran 1942 ( Yes, the Polish!)

http://www.polandsholocaust.org/1942.html

March 1942

Over 70,000 Polish ex-POWs and exiles assemble at Buzuluk, USSR, as members of Anders' Army. Evacuated to Iran, they will be equipped by the British and will
form the Polish 2nd Corps which will fight in the Middle East and Italy.

April

First mass evacuation of Poles from the USSR. Overcrowded Soviet ships ferry them across the Caspian Sea from Krasnovodsk to Iran. Some 77,200 soldiers and 37,3000 civilians, including 15,000 children, are released by the USSR.

September 12 Polish Army is formed in Iraq from Command in the Middle East
and Polish Military Forces in USSR evacuated to Iran. In 1943 the army is transferred
to Palestine in preparation for the Italian Campaign, and the Polish 2nd Corps leaves
here for Europe.

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http://www.immi.gov.au/research/publ...langfitt52.htm

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http://www.netiran.com/Htdocs/Clippi...430XXSO01.html

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Exile and Identity: Polish Women in the Soviet Union During World War II, 356 pages, published in 2002 by the University of Pittsburgh Press.

http://news-service.stanford.edu/new.../exile-25.html

After the Red Army invaded and annexed eastern Poland in 1939, Communist authorities began a series of carefully orchestrated deportations. Similar events took place in the Baltic states and to many ethnic groups within the USSR. Of those, about 600,000 were women.

What is unusual about the Polish experience, compared to that of the other deported groups, is that an estimated 115,000 people were permitted to leave Soviet territory in 1942. After the German army invaded the USSR, the Soviets turned to the Poles as allies. The 1941 Sikorski-Maiskii Pact called for the formation of a Polish army in the USSR to fight the Nazis and it promised an amnesty to all Polish citizens inside the country.

Jolluck explains that a Polish general, Wladyslaw Anders, was released from a Moscow prison to form what became known as the Anders army. In the summer of 1941, waves of Poles began arriving in the southern portions of the USSR in search of the military outposts.

"Although the Soviets were supposedly amnestying everyone, they tried to hold people back by not giving travel documents or money," Jolluck said. "Soviets would divert trains to collective farms and force people to pick cotton. Women sold their last possessions -- like a sweater -- to buy food. Many of those people were stuck there for good."

As part of the amnesty, two evacuations took place in 1942 from Soviet territory across the Caspian Sea to Iran. More were promised but did not materialize because Soviet-Polish diplomatic relations broke down following the 1943 discovery of the massacre in Katyn, Ukraine, where Soviet authorities murdered 4,400 Polish army officers in 1940.

Shortly after arriving in Iran, evacuees were asked by Polish officials to write about their experiences under the Soviet regime. The objective was partly to collect information that would be used to help nullify the annexation of eastern Poland after the war ended. The exiles also formed the first large group of people in about 20 years who were exposed to life in the Soviet Union and then allowed to leave. "The testimonies may constitute a precious source enabling us to reveal to world opinion the truth about Russia," one official noted in the book. Of the tens of thousands of handwritten reports collected, about 20,000 ended up in the Hoover Institution, including at least 2,000 written by women.

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Germany´s attempt to kill Churchill (?)

Jun. 2, 1943: Leslie Howard, the British actor who had played Ashley Wilkes in the 1939 classic film “Gone With the Wind,” was killed as the airplane in which he was flying was shot down by German raiders. Howard was returning to London from Lisbon, where it is now believed he was on a secret mission. Also onboard BOAC Flight 777 was Alfred Chenfalls, a double for British Prime Minister Winston Churchill . It is thought that the Germans believed that the great English statesman was on the plane. The last film in which Howard appeared was “The First of the Few,” the film-bio of Reginald Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire, England’s most successful fighter plane of World War II. Unfortunately, Howard was not the first of the few, but one of many British citizens to die in the service of his or her country during the war.

http://www.ojornal.com/Community/article_11_english.htm

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A very interesting ( and now very rare ) book about this incident, called 'Flight 777' by Ian Colvin, was published in 1957.

The aircraft was apparently attacked by eight Ju 88 C-6 aircraft of KG40, and the fatal attack is believed to have been made by a Leutnant Bellstedt.

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

Ha haa,

back to the weird stories of the WW2:

On Risto Peltovuori´s book "Germany and Winter war " (1975 )

Marshal Göring sent his first message in late October 1939 to the Finnish government through Count Eric von Rosen. Rosen told to Finnish R. Numelin in Stockholm that Göring had been backing Hitler´s Russian politics for an hour after which he had burst to tears: " No, I cannot any more; I´m here backing the communist regime and that´s totally against my conviction!"

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The turbocompressor

http://aerostories.free.fr/technique/turbo/page2.html

by Philippe Bauduin


The first known air turbine was made in Alexandria 150 years before our era. It consisted of a large vertical tube which by the draught it created, spun a propeller on which revolved pictures from mythology.

Not until last century with the development of aviation was any interest shown in air turbines or exhaust gases as a supercharge for engines. More than its known performance, it was its use in lack of air at high altitude that led to the use of the compressor in the First World War. It was a Frenchman Auguste Rateau who, in 1916 suggested the fitting of compressors as a supercharge. Two methods were used : to combine the compressor with the motor or to use the exhaust gases passed through a turbine. The first method: that of coupling the compressor to the motor was soon abandoned since at a certain altitude the power used by the compressor was greater than it produced. The second method, the turbo compressor, using energy from the exhaust gave greater force.

Of all the aircraft fitted with a supercharge of this nature, two are worthy of note. They were engaged in a dog-fight at 44,000 feet, a record altitude. One was a Junkers 86 fitted with a German heavy oil two-stroke diesel and a compressor attached, piloted by Horst Götz , (of whom more later as pilot of the Arado 234).

He was intercepted over Christchurch on his way to bomb Cardiff. His adversary in a Spitfire with a Rolls-Royce carburetor engine fitted with compressor was an Ace pilot of the RAF : Prince Emmanuel Galitzine, a descendant of Catherine the Great of Russia . They met at 44 000 feet in the first dog fight ever at that altitude, in a rarefied atmosphere for men and motors alike.

The engagement lasted 45 minutes without either gaining advantage. Horst Götz returned to Caen-Carpiquet worn out. It was an engagement that remains without parallel in air warfare of the Second World War.

After Mario Pezzi in 1939, they demonstrated that high altitudes were accessible to men and machines.
It may be noted in passing that Diesel aviation motors of the time were more powerful in relation to their weight than those fuelled by petrol. This perhaps explains why there is renewed interest today in diesel motors for light aircraft.

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http://www.sonic.net/~bstone/archives/000902.shtml

Under the publicly stated terms of the British guarantee to the Poles in March 1939, the British would have been within their rights to declare war on the Soviets for their invasion of Poland, although a secret clause in the Anglo-Polish treaty stipulated that the term aggressor applied to Germany only . For the moment, the British confined their response to a Foreign Office note delivered to the Soviets condemning their invasion of Poland and making it clear that a permanent partition of the country was unacceptable.



I guess the British government policy had been quite early on set to the fact that they need the Russians to beat Hitler´s Germany...

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Osborn, Patrick R. Operation Pike: Britain versus the Soviet Union, 1939-1941. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000.

http://www.sonic.net/~bstone/archives/000902.shtml

From the site:

"He discusses in considerable depth Winston Churchill's seriously hare-brained scheme, Operation Catherine, for providing Royal Navy battleships with water-filled "galoshes" to reduce their draft, "mine bumpers," and an additional "umbrella" of deck armor-- all so they could sail into the Baltic and isolate Germany from Scandinavian iron ore, consequently winning the war in record time."

Churchill, still First Lord of the Admiralty, also forecast that Germany would promptly move into the Balkans before attacking France; this led to his much-cherished dream for a Balkan bloc to offer a unified front against Germany. Similarly, General Weygand in the Levant wanted desperately to introduce Allied troops into the Balkans. Meanwhile, General Wavell in Egypt communicated fears of a Russo-German thrust through Turkey or Iran into the Near East to capture the oilfields in Iran and Iraq and the Suez Canal and proposed strategies for dealing with the threat.

Various other far-fetched schemes were mooted by assorted diplomats and soldiers: convincing Tokyo to join in an Anglo-Japanese declaration of war against Russia; infiltrating agents and saboteurs into the country; sailing a Royal Navy squadron into the Black Sea to "hold it" in case of war with Moscow; slipping submarines into the Black Sea to attack Soviet oil tankers; "encouraging" Free Polish submarines to sink Soviet shipping in the Baltic Sea. In short, many Western leaders were in favor of going to war against Stalin, and indeed many in a position of power in the British government still found Bolshevism more of a threat than Nazism. This attitude was mirrored in Paris, and soon reached new levels.

The Soviet invasion of Finland set off another frenzy of brainstorming that hatched more hopeless schemes of anti-Bolshevik intervention, now including, at least in theory, Mussolini's Italy. Among those seriously considered was "intervention by proxy" with Free Polish troops landed at Petsamo, since Poland was already considered to be at war with Russia.

By the end of Marc 1940 Churchill was advocating that three British submarines move into the Black Sea to intercept Russian oil traffic there.

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http://www.feldgrau.com/30i.html

30.Infanterie-Division

In Sept.1939 as a part of Heeresgruppe Sud, 8.Armee, X.Armeekorps (General Ulex), the 30th, led by Generalmajor von Briesen, saw very heavy action against the cut-off Polish Army in the final stages of the short campaign. After action reports state that with his division stretched to the limits against the counter-attacking Poles, Generalmajor von Briesen personally led his last reserve battalion into the desperate fighting, halting the Poles, but losing his left forearm in the process. Vistied in Hospital by Keitel and Hitler, von Briesen was awarded the Knights Cross for his gallantry, and for maintaing the integrity of Blaskowitz's 8.Armee's lines; the first Divisional commander of the war to be thusly awarded. Hereafter, the 30.Infanterie was commonly known as the Briesen Division. (Von Briesen himself was promoted, and later became Military Commandant of Paris, 1940-42.)

General der Infanterie von Briesen retired from active service in 1943.

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Wehrmacht Oath of Loyalty

http://ddickerson.igc.org/oath-of-loyalty.html

Each member of the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) swore an oath of personal allegiance to Adolf Hitler -- and not to the constitution. This oath went into effect on 2 August 1934, the day that Reich President Paul von Hindenberg died, and Hitler immediately consolidated the offices of president and chancellor.

The Wehrmacht Oath of Loyalty to Adolf Hitler, 2 August 1934


"I swear by God this sacred oath that I shall render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German Reich, supreme commander of the armed forces, and that I shall at all times be prepared, as a brave soldier, to give my life for this oath."

The defence minister General von Blomberg accepted this oath for the army and the oath was written by General major Walter von Reichenau.

An addtition to the oath by General Blomberg was that all soldiers must call Hitler as "Führer"!

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You are right, Kai. Beneath Anhalter, at the underground station, the Headquarters of Panzerdivision 'Münchenberg' was located along with hundreds of refugees and civilians hiding from the bombings. But when the Russians started getting into the underground tunnel-system, Hitler ordered his SS troops to flood the tunnels to prevent the Russians from using them. However, some one forgot to tell the Führer that there were many civilians and German troops hiding in the tunnels...

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

And forgot to tell you that the gallery of British military leaders was very useful, thanks!

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

Most welcome, Friedrich!

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RADIO WERWOLF. On April 1, 1945, the German station ' Radio Werwolf' began broadcasting for the first time. Created by Propaganda Minister Joseph Geobbels to rally the population to suicidal resistance. Its theme, repeated over and over again was, 'Besser tot als rot' (Better dead than red).

LOST DIVISION. This was the name given to the American soldiers who had deserted in France and in Germany at the end of 1945. They numbered around 19,000, many living on farms and working as labourers, as black market racketeers, or in safe hiding places in the homes of their new found girl friends. By 1948, about 9,000 had been found. In 1947, the British Government announced an offer of leniency for British deserters. A total of 837 gave themselves up.

DOCUMENT. When the German Forces in North West Germany, Holland and Denmark (over one million men) surrendered to the C-in-C, 21st Army Group, Field Marshal Montgomery, the Supreme Commander, General Eisenhower, demanded that the surrender document be handed over to him. Montgomery refused. In the House of Commons, Churchill defended his right to keep it. Today the document can be seen in the Imperial War Museum in London where it was deposited by the Field Marshal after a burglary at his home.

HIGH COMMAND.

3,363 German officers achieved the rank of General during the War.
819 were dead by the time of the surrender.
352 were killed or missing, presumed dead in action.
310 died natural deaths.
101 committed suicide.
57 received death sentences from Allied courts.
25 received death sentences from German courts.
26 of these had their sentences commuted.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/Facts-2.html

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Had read somwhere that the Werwolf resistance went strong until sometime in 1947. Instances of occupying forces' jeep/truck drivers being decapitated by piano wire strung across roadways and the like. Military Book Club offers a book called "Werwolf" on the subject. Have you ever heard of it and is it any good/worth ordering???

Amazing data, Kai! I did like this! I had already made some counts and I had esteemed the cypher in 1.500... I see I'm wrong!

Here is something to complete it:
German Army generals casualties

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

By the way: I have at least one photograph of:

-19 field marshals
-41 colonel generals
-84 generals
-58 lieutenant generals
-42 major generals

And that's only the German Army!!! I, of course have many more photographs of WSS and Luftwaffe generals, plus Kriegsmarine Admirals and many generals and marshals from other nations! As well as photos of junior officers!

If you need any photograph or information about any man you want, don't hesitate and tell me!

[ 04. June 2003, 12:50 PM: Message edited by: General der Infanterie Friedrich H ]

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

Hitler made a radio address to the nation at 1 A.M.on 21st July 1944:

"My German comrades! If I speak to you today it is first in order that you should hear my voice and should know that I am unhurt and well, and secondly, that you should know of a crime unparalleled in German history. A very small clique of ambitious, irresponsible, and at the same time, senseless, and stupid officers have concocted a plot to eliminate me and, with me, the staff of the High Command of the Wehrmacht. The bomb planted by Colonel Count Stauffenberg exploded two meters to the right of me. It seriously wounded a number of my true and loyal collaborators, on of whom has died. I myself am entirely unhurt, aside from some very minor scratches, bruises, and burns. I regard this as a confirmation of the task imposed upon me by Providence...The circle of these usurpers is very small and has nothing in common with the spirit of the German Wehrmacht and above all, none with the German people. It is a gang of criminal elements which will be destroyed without mercy. I therefore give orders that no military authority...is to obey orders from this crew of usurpers. I also order that it is everyone's duty to arrest, or if they resist, to shoot on sight anyone issuing or handling such orders...This time we shall settle accounts with them in the manner to which we National Socialists are accustomed."

http://www.thirdreichpages.org/valkyrie.htm

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January 10 1940 brought an incident that would raise a lot of controversy with the Allies as to the interpretation of its implications. On that day a Bf.108 'Taifun', Coded DNF+AW made a forced landing under foggy conditions near Mechelen-aan-de-Maas in the Belgian Province of Limburg. Piloted by Major Eric Hönmanns, the liaison aircraft also held a passenger, i.e. Major Helmuth Reinberger, Adjutant to Colonel Bassenge, Commanding Officer of Dienststelle Fliegerführer 22O, 7. Flieger Division. Soon after the crash the two men were arrested by the Belgian Gendarmerie. On Major Reinberger top-secret documents divulging the invasion plans for the Low Countries
were found. Reinberger attempted several times during his arrest to destroy the documents, however without success.

A thorough investigation was made of the matter in order to ascertain the value of the documents and discussion ensued at very high level. The Belgian Army eventually re-enforced their troops and left it at that. History would prove the plans genuine.

http://ibelgique.ifrance.com/baha2/W...ePhoneyWar.htm
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However Hitler changed his plans and we know what then happened...

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Tiger Tank bits:


http://www.achtungpanzer.com/tiger.htm

Tiger I heavy tank originally received the designation of Panzerkampfwagen VI H (8.8 cm) Ausf H1 - Sd.Kfz.182, but then in March of 1943, was redesignated to Panzerkampfwagen Tiger (8.8 cm L/56) Ausf E - Sd.Kfz.181.

It is reported that in July of 1944, commander of 3rd company of schwere Panzer Abteilung 506, Captain Wakker, destroyed Soviet T-34 at the range of 3900 meters.

Original 250 Tigers were powered by 12-cylinder Maybach HL 210 P 45 engine with total power of 650hp, which made Tiger badly underpowered and its off-road performance suffered as a result. To improve that problem modified 12-cylinder Maybach HL 230 P 45 engine with power increased to 700hp was installed in all models since May of 1943. The sound of the Tiger engine starting had a distinctive noise even at the distance and was well known to the Allied soldiers, who remember it with respect.

The first 500 (495) Tigers were equipped with a snorkelling device allowing them to travel underwater as deep as 4-5 meters for 2.5 hours. Later models were provided with wading equipment allowing them to travel underwater only as deep as 1.3 meters.

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Roth, Ernst-August (1898 – 1975)

Became the last Komandandierende General der Luftwaffe in Norwegen on 10.10.44 as a Generalmajor, being promoted Generalleutnant on 01.01.45, a post which he held until entering British captivity on 09.06.45. Roth entered the German Navy on 03.01.16 as an officer and was involved in naval aviation from the start, transfering to the Luftwaffe on 03.01.34 but remaining involved in naval aviation until 1940 when he became Lufttransport-Chef for X fliegerkorps for the invasion of Norway. Later on he became Geschwader-Kommodore for KG26 whilst it was stationed in the country and involved in anti-shipping strikes against the Arctic convoys sailing to and from Murmansk and Archangel. On 11.02.43 he became Fliegerführer Lofoten at Bardufoss before the post was renamed Fliegerführer 5 on 19.04.44 and moved to Trondheim. On 19.08.44 Roth left this post and returned to Germany before being recalled to Norway to take on the Komandandierende General der Luftwaffe in Norwegen post on 10.10.44. Roth was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 06.11.43 whilst acting as Fliegerführer Lofoten.


http://www.specialcamp11.fsnet.co.uk...ust%20Roth.htm

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Operation Judgement



The war was going towards the end, and the negotiating about a German capitulation was in progress. Adolf Hitler committed suicide April 30th 1945, and his successor, chosen by Hitler himself, was Grossadmiral Carl Dönitz. The German u-boats were still attacking the Murmansk convoys which delivered airplanes, tanks, ammunition, and fuel among other necessary supplies to the Red Army who was chasing the Germans south through a burned-out Finnmark. A strategic point was the u-boat depot in Kilbotn, near Harstad in northern Norway. German u-boats operating in the arctic water used this base to get replenishes with fuel, torpedoes, AA ammunition and food, in addition to recreation for the crew.

May 1st 1945 Admiral McGrigors Force One left Scapa Flow with the cruisers
Norfolk, Diadem, the escort aircraft carriers Searcher, Trumpeter, Queen and the tanker Blue Ranger, and finally two destroyers. Their mission was to meet the westbound convoy RA 66 which had left Murmansk on the evening of May 29th. The Admiral had at two occasions made an attempt to attack the u-boat depot in Kilbotn, but failed due to bad weather. They would now, for the third time, try to attack the base, and the operation was given the name Judgement.

May 4th, at 17:23 GMT the force was west of the Lofoten islands. From the 3 escort aircraft carriers 16 Avenger bombers and 28 Wildcat fighters were launched for the attack against the German forces in Kilbotn. Their plan was to let some of the fighters enter the war-scene first to engage the enemy and reduce their anti aircraft artillery (AAA). The bombers, guided by the rest of the fighters, whose plan were to attack Black Watch and other ships, would follow them. The intelligence had done a good job, and the bombers succeeded in doing what they were there to do when they dropped their 500 lb. bombs towards the targets. Black Watch, the u-boat depot supply ship, was hit in the stern, and set on fire. She was hit by a total of 7 bombs, in addition to 4 bombs that fell into the sea close to the ship. After a few minutes the ship exploded, before it broke apart and sunk.



When the attack started U-711 was lying moored to the side of Black Watch, and Kaptlt. Hans-Günther Lange managed together with a few of his crew to sail his boat away from Black Watch, towards the outlet of Kilbotn. The damages on U-711 are too serious to allow the u-boat to submerge, and approximately 0,2 nautical miles from Black Watch she sinks. She was still close to the shore, and the crew managed to survive.



In addition to U-711 and Black Watch the cargo boat M/S Senja was sinked. The motor barge MW6 and the anti aircraft cruiser Thetis (former Norwegian panzer ship Harald Haarfagres) were beached with severe damages. The German losses were approximately 250 men, but also the British had their losses. The AAA shot down one of the bombers which crashed into the sea and all 4 of the crew were reported killed. Also 2 of the planes returned to the aircraft carrier with injuries after being hit by enemy fire.

What actually caused the sinking of U-711 is a little unclear, since the participating aircrews never mentioned this in their reports. One possibility is that she was hit by bombs or depth charges at the site where she's sunk, but it may be even more likely that she was injured when she was moored to the side of Black Watch. Aboard U-711 there is 12 men who survives the attack, while 40 of her crew is killed. Those who were killed were all aboard Black Watch when the attack started.



The Black watch was HQ ship for General Der Infanterie E.Dietl since 1943.


http://server794.dnslive.net/~vrakdy...11,_side_2.htm

http://home.online.no/~djandres/innhold.htm

http://www.skovheim.org/bwatch.html

http://www.atd.no/projects/u-711.htm

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A Short Profile of Banff Strike Wing



THE Banff Strike Wing enjoyed a spectacular success during its brief life on the exposed north-facing coast of the Moray Firth. Six squadrons joined forces to create an effective multi-national unit which denied Germany many thousands of tons of vital iron ore and other supplies during operations from RAF Banff between September 1944 and May 1945. Under the command of Group Captain The Hon. Max Aitken, son of the then Lord Beaverbrook, the mixed Mosquito and Beaufighter Wing mounted concentrated attacks on German surface vessels and U-boats in the North Sea and along the Norwegian coastline. Often penetrating deep into heavily defended fjords to reach their anchored supply ship targets, which only dared venture to sea under cover of darkness; the Strike Wing crews ran the gauntlet of formidable anti-aircraft fire to achieve their goal. Although their reputation was built on the outstanding capabilities of both the Beaufighter MK. 10 and the Mosquito FB.VI, it was undoubtedly the latter which became synonymous with the Strike Wing and eventually equipped the RAF Banff based squadrons. Armed with a deadly mixture of cannon and rockets the Wing’s aircraft inflicted heavy damage on shipping. The unit was unique because of the presence of 333 Sqn Royal Norwegian Air Force as part of the Strike Wing. Their skills in the air and ability to locate targets concealed in mountain-fringed fjords became one of the RAF Banff unit’s great strengths and helped the joint RAF, Norwegian and Commonwealth aircrews who made up the unit achieve outstanding success in the destruction of supply ships, flak ships and U-boats. Flying alongside 333 Sqn were 143 Sqn, 248 Sqn, 404 Sqn, 144 Sqn and 235 Sqn whose losses were heavy. More than 80 RAF Banff Strike Wing aircrew died on operations.

The Banff Strike Wing which operated from RAF Banff in the closing months of World War II, often jointly with the nearby RAF Dallachy Strike Wing Beaufighter force, made a significant contribution to the defeat of Germany by denying them vital raw materials.

http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/rafbanff.html

HEY! AND LOADSA GREAT PICTURES....

http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/banimage.html

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