Air Battle of Malta by Anthony Rogers

Author:Anthony Rogers [Rogers, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, World War II, Aviation
ISBN: 9781784381905
Google: MIIlDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Published: 2017-04-30T00:27:43+00:00

CHAPTER 7

MAY 1942

At 17:42 hours on 3 May 1942, Malta came under attack by twenty-two Stukas, eight Ju 88s and numerous Bf 109s, including fighter-bombers. The raid lasted less than an hour, at the end of which three soldiers and at least one civilian had been wounded, the latter by AA splinters. A Hurricane was damaged at Ħal Far, and a Photographic Reconaissance Unit (PRU) Spitfire, a Wellington and an aircraft hangar were damaged at Luqa. At least five Spitfires were airborne from Ta’ Qali and Luqa.1 603 Squadron’s Flight Lieutenant William Douglas damaged one Ju 87. Pilot Officer Jack Slade of the same unit attacked another and after stoppages in both 20mm cannon, proceeded to shoot it down with machine-gun fire.

As a result of Slade’s attack, the Ju 87’s engine seized, whereupon the pilot, Gefreiter Karl Haf, made the fatal decision to attempt an emergency landing. While descending over the coast at Żonqor, it must have become horribly apparent to Haf that the area was strewn with rocks and hardly suitable for any kind of landing, but by then it would have been too late. The Stuka touched down, turned over and was wrecked. Haf was killed. The wireless operator, Gefreiter Fritz Weber, was very lucky to sustain only minor injuries. He was taken prisoner by soldiers of 1st Battalion The Dorsetshire Regiment and admitted to Mtarfa hospital, where a nursing sister, Miss G. M. Bates, recorded in her diary: ‘Had a German prisoner admitted to G upper (he hated the raids!) You cannot stop our men from treating people as they find them! They loved Weber and his bed was usually surrounded!’2

Presumably, the 21-year-old airman also won the affection of his interrogator, who was able to compile a detailed two-page report:

1. AIRCRAFT MARKINGS – On the upper surface of the starboard tail plane – the figures 2075 in pencil and on the starboard side of the fuselage a black S followed by a black 7 on a white square.

2. ACTION – This crew took off from Biscari at 1520 hrs. with orders to attack an A/A. Position in the Luqa Hal Far area. When over the Island at about 2,000 feet they were attacked by Spitfires and the engine cut. The W/T. Operator wanted to bale out but the pilot preferred to make a forced-landing, the aircraft crashed and turned over on its back, the pilot being killed and the W/T. Operator WEBER receiving superficial injuries.

3. UNIT – WEBER refused to give this but papers found on the aircraft suggest the presence in Sicily of a Ju. 87 Wing consisting of Squadrons 7, 8 and 9 and a Staff Section probably of three aircraft. The prisoner probably belonged to the 9th. Squadron.

4. SERVICE HISTORY – WEBER had been 2½ years in the Luftwaffe and said that he volunteered for the Air Force because the living and rate of pay were better than in the other Services. He wanted to become a pilot but was evidently rejected and finally allocated as a W/T.

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