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BOXART STORY

Stukas under fighter command

Text: Jan Bobek

The Ju 87 Stuka units from the Battle of

Britain period are mainly known for the

heavy losses they suffered on August 18,

1940. However, they returned to combat in

early November. Their targets were once

again Allied vessels in the Channel.

One of the units that made it through the

entire western campaign was III./St.G.1.

It was formed in July 1940 from I.(St)/Tr.Gr.

186,whichwasoriginallyintendedtobeonboard

of the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin. Gruppe’s

commander, Obstlt. Walter Hagen became

Kommodore of Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 in

mid-1940. His former Gruppe, under the new

designation III./St.G.1, was taken over by

Hptm. Helmut Mahlke, who served in the

Luftwaffe from 1935 after previous service in

the Navy.

In early November 1940, well protected by

fighters from III./JG 51 and from Galland's

JG 26, Mahlke's unit made three attacks on

allied vessels within sight of the British coast.

In mid-November, III./St.G. 1 found itself in

an unexpected situation. For organizational

reasons, it was incorporated under the

fighter command of Luftflotte 2, the so-called

Jagdfliegerführer 2 (Jafü 2). Its commander

was GenMaj Kurt-Bertram von Döring,

a World War I fighter ace.

Mahlke had legitimate doubts about how

Jafü 2 would handle leading a bomber unit

in attacking vessels. His fears were realized

on the first deployment on November 14,

1940. This is a transcript of a communication

between the two staffs that began at 1100.

The document is part of the St.G. 1 Chronicle

March 2023

in the Bundesarchiv collections: Jafü 2:

“III./St.G.1 will attack: enemy convoy reported

to have passed Dover in a north-easterly

direction towards the Thames estuary.

Fighter escort to join at 1445 on the Channel

coast. Do not fly beyond Cape Margate due to

limited range of escort fighters.”

III./St.G.1: “When and where was the convoy

sighted, how many ships and at what speed?”

Jafü 2: “A formation of ships was sighted

at 0900 off Dover, medium speed, easterly

course.”

III./St.G.1: “Then the convoy of ships will pass

Cape Margate before we reach the target

area. We request permission to deploy

beyond Cape Margate in this case.”

Jafü 2: “The Cape Margate restriction must be

respected at all times.”

III./St.G.1: “What is the alternate target if the

ship group is not in the restricted area?”

Jafü 2: “Then attack the other ships in the

Dover-Margate section. If there are no ships

there: the alternate target is the radio station

at Dover.”

III/St.G.1: “If we get to Margate and then turn

towards Dover, we'll have the entire British

fighter fleet on our tail! - Which radio station

at Dover is to be the alternate target, we have

3 radio stations here in the Dover files.”

Jafü 2: “The one with the mirror” (“Spiegel”,

German for mirror, a codename for radar)

III./St.G.1: "Which one is it?”

Jafü 2: “We don’t know that either. We will

try to find out and tell you before the takeoff. Otherwise, just attack the largest radio

station in Dover.”

Illustration: Marek Ryś

Just as Mahlke predicted, they did not

encounter a single ship on the flight to

Margate. The formation of nineteen Stukas

then proceeded to Dover, where it was

attacked by five RAF squadrons. Some of the

Stukas had as many as five enemies on tail.

Yet some of them managed to drop bombs on

Dover facilities. Stuka gunners claimed two

victories and RAF fighters reported 16-4-5

Stuka victories. A number of Stukas were

hit, but only two were shot down and three

more made emergency landings in France.

Galland’s fighter escort arrived at the scene

of the engagement 10 to 15 minutes late.

Kommodore Galland, CO of 7./JG 26 Oblt.

Müncheberg and CO of 9./JG 26 Oblt. Ruppert

each claimed one Spitfire. However, the RAF

lost only one Spitfire from No. 74 Sqn. and

two others from No. 66 Sqn. were damaged.

After a few days, a meeting between the

staffs of Jafü 2 and St.G. 1 took place. In the

process Mahlke and his commander learned

that it was a mistake to disband the formation

and try to escape from the Spitfires. After

a subsequent exchange of views, Jafü 2

no longer required the deployment of the

Stukas, explaining that there were no fighter

units available as escorts.

Helmut Mahlke retired in 1970 at the rank of

Generalleutnant and had not only 159 combat

sorties in the Stuka but also a number of

flights in the F-104 Starfighter in his flight log.

He is the author of Stuka Angriff: Sturzflug,

published in English as Memoirs of a Stuka

Pilot.

INFO Eduard

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