HISTORY

Sgt. Eric Sidney Dicks-Sherwood

of No. 266 Squadron RAF in Spitfire

P8505 (STAMFORD) in a dogfight with

Bf 110 of 5./ZG 76 off the Dutch coast on 15 September 1941.

THE OLD LADY GOES TO WAR

Haifischgruppe in the Netherlands

The Messerschmitt Bf 110 units came out

of the Battle of Britain with a 2:1 win-loss

ratio, a better result than any other type

had on either side.1) Zerstörergeschwader

76, equipped with these machines, was the

first Luftwaffe Geschwader to achieve 500

victories. It reached this milestone on September 2nd, 1940 during the fighting over

London, and its Kommodore Walter Grabmann was promoted to the rank of Oberstleutnant and awarded the Knight's Cross.

Two weeks later, JG 51 surpassed this milestone. Part of ZG 76 was II. Gruppe, whose machines had the characteristic shark's

mouths (Haifischmaul) painted on their noses. This marking was used by the crews

of II./ZG 76 for many years and therefore

it was also referred to as Haifischgruppe

(shark group).

After the end of the Battle of Britain, the

necessary rest and replenishment of losses, II./ZG 76 was deployed in the spring

6

eduard

1941 in the attack on Greece and then part

of it fought in Iraq. In July 1941, it moved

to Leeuwarden in the Netherlands and its

5./ZG76 was based at De Kooy from the

first half of July to the end of October. The

Gruppe mainly came into conflict with British bombers when patrolling over the sea,

but occasionally encountered fighters and

did very well in doing so.

No. 19 Squadron found it out for itself in the

early hours of 29 August 1941 off the Dutch

coast. It was searching for S/Ldr Lawson,

who had been shot down during the previous day.2) In doing so, eleven Spitfires

encountered ten Bf 110s from 6./ZG 76 near

The Hague at 500 ft above sea level. The

British were under the impression that the

Germans were practicing bombing of surface targets. Four Spitfires were lost in the

ensuing battle. Canadian P/O P. D. G. Stuart

was missing, and P/O Peter Harfield Edmonds of Yorkshire and Sgt Gordon John

Parkin of Southern Rhodesia were killed.

Only Sgt Clifford Davies was captured.

Photo: Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie

The spring and summer of 1941 passed quickly for RAF

airmen under the sign of offensive operations over the European continent. It was only at this time that the last of

the German "Emils", the Bf 109 E-7 fighters, started leaving

the front line and many Luftwaffe airmen were reluctant to

give them up. In August 1941, the first Focke-Wulfs Fw 190

A entered the fray, but twin-engined Bf 110s were still making inroads. When deployed in the right way, these heavy

fighters (three seaters, no?) posed just as deadly a threat

as they had during the Battle of Britain.

Jan Bobek

Two Messerschmitt Bf 110s from 5./ZG 76 at De Kooy base in the Netherlands. Note the different design of the shark

mouths on the bows of the aircraft.

INFO Eduard - June 2021