Messerschmitt Bf.110 in service with the Luftwaffe. Part three. Blitzkrieg on the North & the West.

 

During the first 6 months of 1940 the production of the Bf.110 rose to around one hundred aircraft per month on average, increasing this way the number of units employing the type to ten, as was originally intended. Furthermore, as the Bf.110 was available in larger numbers, it could adopt new roles. Thus, during the spring of 1940 a new unit, the Erprobungsgruppe 210 was created, mostly equipped with the Bf.110C-4 and some few C-6s and some Bf.109s, to develop new fighter-bombers methods and tactics. Four additional reconnaissance groups were also equipped  with the Bf.110C-5.

It was also during the invasion of Denmark and Norway when the Zerstörer squadrons were heavily employed, when Germany launched a blitz attack on Denmark and Norway in April 1940. After Denmark was occupied the I./ZG 76 with sixteen of its thirty aircraft available, was assigned to the invasion of Norway with the objective of clearing the skies over Oslo and Stavanger airfields in order to protect German paratroopers and Ju.52 transport planes as they landed. This was problematic as the planes' limited range meant that if they were engaged in combat, they would not be able to return to Germany or even Denmark.
In this campaign, the objective of I./ZG 76 was to help and secure Oslo Fornebu airport by escorting the Ju.52 transports. The Germans were engaged by Norwegian Gloster Gladiator fighters and anti-air fire and, during the ensuing battle, both sides lost two aircraft. The Germans pilots ignored that the first wave of transport planes bound for Fornebu were forced to turn back because of bad weather and the airport was not secured. 
A second wave was launched and this time the Ju.52 transport landed at Fornebu to deploy their troops (instead of paradropping them), resulting in the destruction of various transports due to the risky nature of this procedure. The remaining Bf.110s strafed the airfield and helped the ground troops to secure it. 
During the Norwegian Campaign the Zerstörerwaffe lost twenty machines, most of them over Narvik and also proved that it was an excellent anti-bomber airplane when, on 13th June 1940 a squadron of British Blackburn Skua dive bombers from the Fleet Air Arm was intercepted on their way trying to bomb the German Battleship Scharnhorst. One squadron of Bf.109s and another of Bf.110s shot down eight Skuas with the Bf.110s claiming four kills. Later, in July the Royal Air Force made many raids on Norway and, on 9th July seven Bristol Blenheim, out of a force of 12 were shot down by a mixed formation of both Bf.109s and Bf.110s from ZG.76 ang JG.77, when bombing Stavanger.
The Bf.110D, a extended-range variant, was also used very effectively on this battle, with one staffel (squadron) of ZG.76 equipping it and operating from Trondheim.

On 10th May 1940 Germany launched the offensive over Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg to invade France. By that date the Bf.110 fully equipped every Zerstörergruppe, so they did not have to employ the Bf.109 as an interim. On the first day of the campaign only two Bf.110 were lost, with five British Bristol Blenheim lost. However, as the campaign developed, loss rate was also increasing against stiffening opposition. On the second day, 11th May, four Zerstörers were shot down by French Dewoitine D.520s and on 15th May nine more, with Maj. Walther Grabmann, a veteran of the Condor Legion, being shot down at the controls of his Bf.110 on 18th May.
As the Germans advanced towards the Channel and the North Sea, things got tougher; by day the British increasingly fought them, specially over Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force) and they had to cope against the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire, a much tougher enemy than anything they had fought until that date. 
To fight the British fighters, the Zerstörer units invented the so-called 'Defensive circle' tactic, where the planes under attack started to fly in line astern, forming a circle to protect each other with their fuselage guns, enabling this way to avoid the worst. 
It was during this time that the Bf.110 also encountered opposition over... Swiss skies as several German raids violated Swiss airspace, with around five Bf.110 being shot down by Swiss Bf.109s. 
In total, during the Western Campaign sixty Bf.110 were lost, 32 percent of the Zerstörerwaffe's initial strength, with at least 174 enemy aircraft claimed by Bf.110s alone.
However, this campaign showed that the Bf.110 was vulnerable in hostile skies, especially when confronted with the Hurricane or the Spitfire, as the type had to perform a role it was never designed for, close-range bomber escort. In this type of missions the Bf.110 could not take advantage of its superior altitude performance and speed, so it was forced to wait for the enemy to attack, instead of roaming around to find and destroy enemy aircraft, as the initial concept of the Zerstörer had intended. 

Sources:
1st Histoire & Collections - Avions et Pilotes 11 - Messerschmitt Bf.110 & Me.210-410 1939 -1945

2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_110_operational_history

Messerschmitt Bf.110 in service with the Luftwaffe. Part two. The Invasion of Poland and late 1939.

 

The Messerschmitt Bf.110C was the first major production variant of the Bf.110. It was powered by two Daimler Benz DB 601 engines and was employed first at the very beginning of World War 2, when Germany invaded Poland.
When in late 1938 the DB 601 engine, which used fuel injection system and not the usual carburetor, became available the Bf.110C was put into production, so in early 1939 the first pre-production version, designated as Bf.110C-0 was supplied to some units of the Luftwaffe. Of that C-0 variant only ten machines were built but were followed by the C-1, with almost 160 machines manufactured by 1st September 1939.
The DB 601 engines changed the external appearance of the aircraft, especially the engine nacelles, which were now faired due to the main radiator. 
Wing tips were changed too, as they were no longer rounded, but square. This change was kept on every later Bf.110 until the end of the war, as it reduced the wingspan and wing surface, making it more manoeuvrable.
When the war broke out in September 1939 less than one hundred Bf.100C-1s were operational. Of those, eighty were equipping three units: I.(Zerstörer)/LG 1 , which was an operational development unit, I./ZG 1 and I./ZG 76. There seven additional Zerstörer squadrons, but they were still equipped with Messerschmitt Bf.109E fighters due to the lack of Bf.110s.
As the Bf.110 appeared too late to take part in the Spanish Civil War, it was employed first during the Polish Campaign. During this time only I.(Z)/LG 1, based at Greifswald, was fully equipped with the Bf.110C, since the two other groups were still operating the Jumo-powered Bf.110B. The aforementioned three units were immediately put into action by escorting bombers or strafing ground targets, tasks which they carried out with great efficiency with a total of 12 machines lost, reinforcing Luftwaffe's reputation of being invincible. 
The success of the Polish Campaign and the good operational numbers shown by the Bf.110, prompted further development of the Bf.110C. 
This way the Bf.110C-2 was identical to C-1 but had better radio equipment, the Bf.110C-3 was equipped with MG FF/M cannons, which became standard on the following variants, the Bf.110C-4 incorporated every mentioned previous improvement and featured also extra armour, making it heavier. The C-4 was also equipped with bomb racks allowing it to carry two 250 kg (550 lb) bombs and new engines were fitted in order to make it more powerful; the DB 601Ns rated at 1,270 hp. 
The Bf.110C-5 was a reconnaissance variant which got the ventral cannon replaced by a photographic camera, the C-6 was a semi-experimental version of which only twelve machines were made and was equipped with a ventral-mounted 30 mm Mk 101 cannon replacing the original 20 mm one. The C-6 was put into service in the spring of 1940.
The Bf.110C-7 was a Jabo (Jagdbomber - Fighter-Bomber) variant with reinforced undercarriage to carry two 500 kg (1,100 lb) bombs placed side by side under the fuselage. This variant was manufactured in limited numbers as the C-4 was the main production version.

After the end of the Polish Campaign, the during the period of the Phoney War the Zerstörer activity was limited, although they were redeployed to the Western frontier of Germany. 
The first aerial claim of the Bf.110 took place on 23rd November 1939 when various Bf.110s of LG 1 engaged and shot down a French Morane-Saulnier Ms.406 over Verdun. Three week later, on 18th December, one the first major engagements of the war took place, when the British Royal Air Force (RAF) sent 22 Vickers Wellington bombers to attack the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven. The British bombers could not find their targets and turned back... to be intercepted by a formation of sixteen Bf.110Cs belonging to I./ZG 76 and thirty-four Bf.109s. In spite of the help given by the Bf.109s, it was the Bf.110 which showed its great capacity as a bomber destroyer and, by the end of the fight, official Luftwaffe reports counted 38 British bombers shot down, a number clearly exaggerated as actual losses were 11 Wellingtons shot down and six damaged, with some sources claiming a 12th Wellington as destroyed. This disastrous raid convinced the RAF's Bomber Command to abandon day bombing in favour of night raids. 

Sources:
1st Histoire & Collections - Avions et Pilotes 11 - Messerschmitt Bf.110 & Me.210-410 1939 -1945
2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_110_operational_history
3rd https://www.armedconflicts.com/prehled-verzi-t15722

Messerschmitt Bf.110 in service with the Luftwaffe. Part one. The Bf.110 before the war.

 

The Messerschmitt Bf.110 was a German twin-engined Zerstörer (German word for 'destroyer' or heavy fighter) designed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke and produced by its successor company, Messerschmitt. It was mainly operated by the Luftwaffe throughout the whole World War 2.
Its inception traces back to the early 1930s when the main air forces of the world were transitioning from biplanes to monoplanes. Most of the theorists concentrated on single-engined fighters, but, back then, the range was quite a problem. The Reichluftfahrtministerium (German Ministry of Aviation - RLM for short), encouraged by Hermann Göring issued a request for a new multipurpose fighter known provisionally as Kampfzerstörer (battle destroyer) with long range and internal bomb bay. This order called for a twin-engined, three-seat, all-metal monoplane armed with cannon and a bomb bay. Seven German companies were requested, but eventually only three, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Messerschmitt), Focke-Wulf and Henschel responded the request.
Focke-Wulf submitted the Focke-Wulf Fw.57, Henschel the Henschel Hs.124 and Messerschmitt submitted the Messerschmitt Bf.110, which skipped the internal bomb load request of the specification to increase the armament of the type. Thanks to this, the Bf.110 proved far superior to its rivals in speed, range and firepower and Messerschmitt was granted funds to to build several prototypes. By the end of 1935 the Bf.110 concept had evolved into an all-metal, low-wing cantilever monoplane of semimonocoque design with vertical stabilizers, powered by two Daimler-Benz DB-600A engines and featuring Handley-Page wing slots. 

Construction of the prototype, called Bf.110 V1, began in the summer of 1935 and took off for the first time on 12th May 1936 at Augsburg-Haunstetten airfield with test pilot Rudolf Öpitz at the controls. It was powered by two Daimler-Benz DB.600As engines rated at 986 hp each. Those engines were the fastest ones available for the, back then, clandestine Luftwaffe and the aircraft turned to be slightly faster than RLM's request, faster even than the Messerschmitt Bf.109B. The next two prototypes, Bf.110 V2 and V3 flew for the first time on 24th October and 24th December 1936 respectively, with official trials being conducted at Erprobungsstelle Rechlin (Evaluation unit Rechlin) in January 1937. Those trials showed two serious flaws of the type. It was too slow accelerating and it was not very manoeuvrable, however, both the RLM and Hermann Göring did not consider those handicaps important compared to the potential of the new aircraft and decided to go ahead by building four pre-production examples, designated A-0, rejecting this way the other competitor's designs. 

The four pre-production series Bf.110 A-0 were built between August 1937 and March 1938. Although they were initially going to be powered by the Daimler-Benz DB.601A engines, they were not available, so they were fitted with Junker Jumo 210 engines, rated at 610 hp, way too underpowered. In spite of the lack of power, those machines were employed for testing purposes.
While awaiting for the DB engines, it was decided to put the Bf.110 into mass production, so the first production version, Bf.110B-0 was launched, powered by the Junkers Jumo 210G engines, with some aerodynamic changes applied in order to fit the armament. This armament, which was only fitted from the B-1 version onwards, consisted on four 7,92 mm MG 17 machine guns in the nose plus two 20 mm Oerlikon MG FF cannons placed in the lower part of the nose. Those cannons could be reloaded in flight by the radio operator/gunners. It was equipped also with a defensive flexible 7,92 mm MG 15 machine gun at the back of the cockpit. 

The Bf.110B were assigned first to the newly created Schwere Jagdgruppen (heavy fighter groups), which were created ad hoc in July 1938 by Hermann Göring himself who wanted to form an elite corps. Accordingly many of the best fighter pilots of the time were put in command of these units causing tensions with the German fighter units, as they were cut of a large number of their pilots and resources. In fact, at the time there were not enough Bf.110 manufactured and many Zerstörergeschwadern (destroyer wings meant to be equipped entirely by Bf.110s) were equipped with the Bf.109C and D. 

The last Bf.110B variants were the B-2 and B-3, which were employed for reconnaissance and training respectively. 
In total 45 examples of the Bf.110B were manufactured, although some sources rise that number to 88. Anyway as the B variant was already outdated at the beginning of the war, many B-1s and B-2s were converted into B-3 trainers and remained in service with various Zerstörer schools until 1941.

Sources:
1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_110#Early_variants
2nd Histoire & Collections - Avions et Pilotes 11 - Messerschmitt Bf.110 & Me.210-410 1939 -1945
3rd https://www.armedconflicts.com/prehled-verzi-t15722

Supermarine Spitfire. At Royal Air Force's service. Part ten.

 

The Spitfire had also a photo-reconnaissance  (PR)variant, the PR sub-types. These were a true revolution for the, back then, traditional reconnaissance procedures as before World War 2, common knowledge was to use converted bombers into recon aircraft, given their longer range and sturdiness, specially when compared with a fighter. Those bombers, which were also equipped with defensive armament as they were an easy target to intercept, suffered heavy losses against the Luftwaffe and the German anti-air fire. 
This was already foreseen by Flying Officer Maurice Longbottom, who, inspired by Sidney Cotton, issued a memorandum about reconnaissance over enemy territory during wartime at the Royal Air Force (RAF) in August 1939, just one month before the beginning of the war. 
In that memorandum he reached to the conclusion that airborne reconnaissance was better suited to small and faster aircraft with high service ceiling in order to avoid detection and interception. He proposed the use of Spitfires with their armament and radios removed and replaced with extra fuel tanks and cameras. Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding approved his idea, so two Spitfires were sent to the newly created "Heston Flight", a highly secret reconnaissance unit. During the Phoney War, while the regular Spitfires flew from British bases, the first PR missions were flown from bases in France, which was initially known as "No. 2 Camouflage Unit". The first RAF high-speed, high-altitude photo-reconnaissance mission of the war took place on 18th November 1939 when Flt. Lt. Longbottom took from Seclin airfield, in France and photographed the German city of Aachen, from an altitude of 33,000 ft (10,000 m).
Those initial Spitfires were later baptised as "Mk. I PR Type A" and practically every single variant of the Spitfire had a PR sub-variant attached, with the Mk. I PR Type D being the first variant manufactured specifically for recon duties and not converted from existing airframes. 
This type was difficult to flight, as the extra fuel altered the center of gravity, but its extra long range made it possible to perform reconnaissance missions over Stettin, Marseille, Trondheim and Toulon. 
The PR Type F was an interim super-long range variant which was put into service in July 1940 while the Type D was becoming available. When operated from East Anglia, this type could reach, photograph and return from Berlin itself. 
The PR Mk. IV were recon sub-variants of the Spitfire Mk. V.
The PR Mk. I Type G was the first mixed fighter-reconnaissance version configured for low-level tactical reconnaissance, similar to the Type E, which acted as its prototype. The first PR Type G were converted from Mk. I airframes and had their Merlin Mk. II engines replaced with Merlin 45s. Late PR Type Gs were converted from Mk. V airframes and were fully armed with 8 0.303 Browning machine guns in the wings. 
In 1941 a new system of mark numbers was introduced for the PR types, so the Type C became the PR Mk. III, the Type D the PR Mk. IV , the Type E the PR Mk. V, the Type F the PR Mk. VI and the Type G the PR Mk. VII. 

Sources: 
1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire#Variants
2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_(early_Merlin-powered_variants)#Early_reconnaissance_(PR)_variants
3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_operational_history#Photo-reconnaissance

Messerschmitt Bf.110. Part four. The Bf.110 in British hands.

 

During World War 2 the British managed to capture a great number of German aircraft, among them, many Messerschmitt Bf.110. 
One of them, a Bf.110D (pictured below) was captured in Iraq, after the May 1941 campaign. This particular machine was abandoned in Mosul due to the lack of spare parts, which, just as many other Bf.110 of Sonderkommando Junck, made the machine not airworthy. In fact, by the date the Germans began their retreat from Iraq, there wasn't any Bf.110 in flying condition and were abandoned on the spot. 
After the British forces entered Mosul many machines were captured and at least one machine was put into operational status by Royal Air Force's (RAF) mechanics by cannibalising parts from other aircraft. 
With its new owners, this machine received the nickname of 'The Belle of Berlin' and was used as a communications aircraft and later as an unit 'hack' by No. 267 Squadron. 

Another machine, this time a Bf.110C-4, belonging to 4. (H)/Aufklärungsgruppe 14 was intercepted over Sussex, England by fighters belonging to No. 238 Squadron on 21st July 1940. Its pilot, Oberleutnant Friedrich Karl Runde was taken prisoner and his machine was sent to the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) to be evaluated, after being repaired with pieces taken from another shot down Bf.100, coded 2N+EP. 
The RAE gave the machine a new serial number; AX722 and new colours and, after performing handling trials it was flown to the Air Fighting Development unit at Duxford in October 1941 to be flown in mock-up aerial combats against British fighters. 
In March 1942 this very same machine was sent to No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) flight, commonly known as the 'Rafwaffe'. It stayed there until January 1945 when it was sent to the Central Flying School at Tangmere, where it was employed as an educational airframe until November 1945 when it was transferred to No. 47 Maintenance Unit in Sealand until it was eventually scrapped in 1947.

After the war, a total of 37 Messerschmitt Bf.110 were captured by the British but only seven of them received RAF markings and serial numbers. One of them, a Bf.110G-4/R6, was equipped with a FuG.220 radar and was captured at Grove airfield, in Denmark. 
This machine was part of 1/Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 and served in the night defence of Denmark and Northern Germany. It was given the serial number of 'AM34' and was later evaluated by the RAE. This aircraft is nowadays preserved at the RAF's museum in Hendon.

Sources:
1st Scale Aviation Modeller International 2013-07
2nd Histoire & Collections - Avions et Pilotes 11 - Messerschmitt Bf.110 & Me.210-410 1939 -1945
3rd Wydawnictwo Militaria 71 Bf 110 vol.1

Further reading:
https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/messerschmitt-bf-110-in-british-service/

Messerschmitt Bf.110. Part three. The Bf.110 in Iraq.

 

Preliminary note: Although strictly speaking Fliegerführer Irak wasn't an Iraqi unit, we have decided to consider it as an independent unit to lighten the number of posts that we will write about the Bf.110 in Luftwaffe service.

After the campaign of Crete, II./Zerstörergeschwader 76 was rebased back to Germany to be retrained in the nigh-fighter role. Only 4. Staffel (flight) remained in Crete to be part of an expeditionary force to fight in Iraq, together with another Staffel of Heinkel He.111 bombers.
In April 1941, a pro-German coup d'état took place in Baghdad, forcing the British forces to act quickly to send troops in order to protect their interests there and take control of the land. Given the imminent beginning of Operation Barbarossa (the German attack on the USSR), the German high command could not send a big force, so the Luftwaffe contended itself by sending a small force made up of bombers, Bf.110s and several transport planes. This force would be coordinated with another Italian contingent. 
The German contingent was unofficially known as "Sonderkommando Junck" (Special force Junck) , after its Chief Officer Generalleutnant Werner Junck and soon later it was officially known as "Fliegerführer Irak" (Aviation Command Iraq). 
The main goal of this force, which operated from Mosul (north or Iraq), was to take control of Habbaniya airfield, west of Baghdad. The fight was brief but violent and losses were heavy, specially on the ground, due to Royal Air Force's attacks on Mosul which destroyed or captured every Bf.110 with the last two surviving Heinkel He.111 flying out of the country on 29th May. 
During the short period of time ranging from 13th May 1941,when Sonderkommand Junck arrived in Mosul, to 29th May 1941, when the German-Italian forces left Mosul, many sorties were flown over Iraq.

Sources:
1st Histoire & Collections - Avions et Pilotes 11 - Messerschmitt Bf.110 & Me.210-410 1939 -1945
2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fliegerführer_Irak
3rd Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 30 - Messerschmitt Bf-110 Zerstörer in Action

Supermarine Spitfire. At Royal Air Force's service. Part nine. The early Mk. IX.

 

In order to cope with the dusty north African climate, the Spitfires were fitted with a large Vokes air filter under the nose, which was detrimental to Spitfire's performance due to the increased drag, this sub-variant, called Mk. Vb (trop) or Mk.Vc (trop), depending on the type of wing, equipped many squadrons of Royal Air Force's (RAF) Desert Air Force during the North African Campaign during the summer of 1942.
On this operational theatre, the Mk.Vc was also employed in the tactical fighter-bomber role, carrying a maximum payload of 500 lb of bombs (227 kg).
One of the main antagonist of the Spitfire on Malta and North Africa was the Italian Macchi C.202 fighter. This fighter was often regarded as superior to both the Hawker Hurricane and the Curtiss P-40, which were, until the Spitfire was introduced, the main Allied fighters in North Africa, as the C.202 was, in terms of performance, a close equal to the Spitfire. 
The Spitfire met the C.202 for the first time on Libya in November 1941 and it was claimed the C.202 could outrun all three types of fighters, although the Spitfire was better armed and had a superior rate of climb. 
The same could be said about the other three main Italian fighters, the Reggiane Re.2001, Reggiane Re.2005 and the Macchi C.205, they had good performance, comparable to that of the Spitfire and the German Messerschmitt Bf.109, but  they lacked heavy armament, which hampered them. 

Moving on to the European Theatre of Operations (ETO), when the German Focke-Wulf Fw.190 was introduced in late 1941 it came as an absolute shock for the RAF. Initially it was thought that they were Curtiss 75 fighters captured from the French, due to their radial engines, however it was soon clear that the new fighter could easily outperform the Spitfire Mk. V and was also much better armed than the Curtiss. In fact, the Fw.190 was a mystery for the RAF until 23rd June 1942 when one Fw.190A-3 belonging to Jagdgeschwader 2 landed at RAF Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, by mistake. After performing some comparison flights against British fighters, the Fw.190 proved superior to every aspect, except turning radius. 
Given the high number of casualties that was being inflicted on Spitfires, the Focke-Wulf was dominating the skies in the ETO for the most part of 1942. It was during the later part of that year that, in order to achieve some degree of parity, that the squadrons received the Spitfire LF Mk.Vb. This variant featured reduced diameter supercharger impeller blades on the Merlin engine for optimum performance at lower altitudes and the wing tips were removed and replaced by short fairings to improve their roll-rate. 
Meanwhile, on parallel, the Mk. IX was being developed and in April 1942 a modified Mk. Vc, coded AB505 was tested by the Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU). This variant was powered, at first, by the much improved Merlin 61 engine, which could deliver up to 1,720 hp of power and was armed with two 20mm Hispano Mk. II cannons and four .303in Browning machine guns, in the "C" wing configuration. 
The Merlin engine had also various configurations depending on the altitude, so the Merlin 70 was optimized for high altitudes, the Merlin 63 for medium altitudes and the Merlin 66 for low altitudes. This led to the use of prefixes, applied to various marks, VII through IX, depending on which engine was installed. For instance a Mk. IX with the Merlin 63 and the "C" type of wing, would be officially marked as "Spitfire F.Mk.IXc"
In July 1942 the flight performance of the early Mk. IX was found comparable to that of the Fw.190, at any altitude, although the AFDU noted that the Fw.190 was "a little faster". Although the Mk. IX had better turning radius, it could be outdived and outrolled by the Fw. 190. 

Sources:
1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_operational_history
2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_(late_Merlin-powered_variants)