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    #1

    Award Criteria for Operational Clasps

    Hi all

    I know that the subject of award criteria for operational clasps has come up before but I could not easily find the threads.

    I have been looking at a Flugbuch today and was interested to find this note in the comments regarding the recognition of operations towards award of the Bomber Clasp:

    'The flights to London will be paid as 3 enemy flights if 2 launches are made in one night.'

    This means that two sorties to London in one night would count as three. I was not aware of this previously and thought it might be of interest. The comment is against a raid on London dated 16th April 1941.

    Best wishes
    Tim O.
    Tags: None
    #2
    Very interesting, Tim. I would think that these 1941 sorties against London would be even more dangerous than the previous fall and winter as the LW was being pulled away for the upcoming campaign in the East and defenses around the capital being stronger and more effective than ever before. It really shows what these guys had to do to earn these flight clasps.

    Comment

      #3
      Originally posted by Tim O. View Post
      'The flights to London will be counted as 3 enemy flights if 2 launches are made in one night.'
      Counted, not paid

      Regards, Thomas

      Comment

        #4
        Hi Thomas

        I took it in that sense but thank you for the correction and all your help too!

        Best wishes
        Tim O.

        Comment

          #5
          Originally posted by Tim O. View Post
          I know that the subject of award criteria for operational clasps has come up before but I could not easily find the threads.
          I always get back to this thread: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...clasp+criteria

          Comment

            #6
            Originally posted by Tim O. View Post
            Hi Thomas

            I took it in that sense but thank you for the correction and all your help too!

            Best wishes
            Tim O.
            You are more than welcome Tim!

            I wonder if recognitions like this one concerning London were also used in other theaters of the war. London was probably at that time the most dangerous city to fly on.

            On the 21th of July 1941 (3months after the note in your FB) Moscow was bomber for the first time by a total of 195 bombers. A very experienced crew from 1/KG53 also participated in this raid. The flak about Moscow was the worst they had encountered up to that moment. They flew before on Poland, France and Britain. They probably thought it could not get worse than London.

            Missions to the pockets of Cholm, Stalingrad, Welikije Luki or Demjansk came also with high losses. Although some of these supply missions were already counted double for the length in time, I never heard of scoring extra when 2 or more launches were made in one day/night, which was more than common.

            But it is a interesting note in your Flugbuch for sure. There must be other FB with the similar notes.

            One more comment. This was in April 1941. Did something in the defence of London change to the worse of German crews? Or did the number of sorties to London go up?

            Regards, Thomas

            Comment

              #7
              Originally posted by Thomas H View Post
              You are more than welcome Tim!

              I wonder if recognitions like this one concerning London were also used in other theaters of the war. London was probably at that time the most dangerous city to fly on.

              On the 21th of July 1941 (3months after the note in your FB) Moscow was bomber for the first time by a total of 195 bombers. A very experienced crew from 1/KG53 also participated in this raid. The flak about Moscow was the worst they had encountered up to that moment. They flew before on Poland, France and Britain. They probably thought it could not get worse than London.

              Missions to the pockets of Cholm, Stalingrad, Welikije Luki or Demjansk came also with high losses. Although some of these supply missions were already counted double for the length in time, I never heard of scoring extra when 2 or more launches were made in one day/night, which was more than common.

              But it is a interesting note in your Flugbuch for sure. There must be other FB with the similar notes.

              One more comment. This was in April 1941. Did something in the defence of London change to the worse of German crews? Or did the number of sorties to London go up?

              Regards, Thomas
              Hi Thomas

              By the date of this flugbuch, most Luftwaffe aircraft were committed to Russia so all other theatres were on skeleton staff. Two missions to London in one night are indicative of this I think - the Germans just had too few aircraft available for the task. In terms of the British response, the night fighter force was now up and running and pretty effective (being guided by ground and air to air radar). Both Defiant turret fighters and the awesome Beaufighter were on night operations - not a good place to be in front of the guns of either of these: the Beaufighter had a collection of cannon and machine guns; the Defiant could fire four machine guns into the cockpit from beside its victim. A lot of experienced German aircrew began to fall victim to night fighters from 1941 onwards.

              I guess the criteria may therefore have changed at this time. My understanding is that the Flak over places like Leningrad was prolific (one German pilot wrote that he could have walked from flak burst to flak burst across the sky without falling - probably not really a good idea but it provides a clear image of the intensity!). Nevertheless it was possible to fly above or below Flak so perhaps it was not as deadly as radar-guided night fighters.

              Best wishes
              Tim O.

              Comment

                #8
                Originally posted by Tim O. View Post
                Nevertheless it was possible to fly above or below Flak so perhaps it was not as deadly as radar-guided night fighters.
                I also thought about that. Thank you for your informative reply.

                Regards, Thomas

                Comment

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