Goss, Chris. Bloody Biscay: The Story of the Luftwaffe's Only Long Range Maritime Fighter Unit, V Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 40, and its Adversaries, 1942-1944. Manchester, England: Crecy Publishing, 1997.

ISBN 0-947554-62-9
254 pages

Introduction; Acknowledgements; Glossary; Prologue; Epilogue; Bibliography.

Appendices: Commanders; Aircrew Members; German Identification Drawings of British Aircraft; Air Combat Victories; Air Combat Losses; Inconclusive Air Combat Reports; Operational Instructions

For two years -- from July 1942 through August 1944 -- the Luftwaffe's only long range maritime fighter unit, V Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 40, battled enemy aircraft in the skies off France's west coast above the Bay of Biscay. Its mission: to control the airspace above the Bay and protect outbound and inbound U-boats (based at Brest, Lorient, La Pallice, Sainte Nazaire, and Bordeaux) from Allied anti-submarine air missions. When V/KG40 became operational in July 1942, its heavily armed Ju 88 C-6 aircraft (seven machine guns and a 20mm cannon) were more than a match for the RAF flights intruding above the U-boat routes.

Goss follows the course of the air battles as V/KG40 initially disrupted the RAF patrols and caused heavy casualties. In response, the RAF moved fighters to Cornwall and began flying sweeps in support of its anti-submarine aircraft. Air-to-air combat intensified as both sides raised the stakes over the Bay. Among the German successes was the downing of an airliner carrying British actor Leslie Howard. Goss documents every V/KG40 victory and every V/KG40 loss by carefully comparing Luftwaffe and RAF records and utilizing dozens of firsthand accounts of the action. Almost 200 photographs of Axis and Allied aircrews and aircraft, including many photos of planes crashing and burning in the ocean, complement the narrative.

   The Japanese submarine I 29 was entering the Bay of Biscay and the Germans committed considerable air and surface assets to ensure its safe arrival at Lorient. In the afternoon of the 9th of March, two German torpedo boats and two destroyers had set sail to meet up with the submarine. Meanwhile, aircraft from ZG 1 had moved to the airfield at Cazeaux towards the south of the Bay. Operating from there would allow the German fighters to remain longer on patrol for both the German warships and Japanese submarines which were now off the north coast of Spain.
   The sudden burst of activity in the Bay did not go unnoticed by the RAF and so on the 10th of March, four Mosquitoes from 248 Squadron escorting two Tsetse Mosquitoes from 248 Squadron's Special Detachment were sent to attack the submarine and its escorts. Tsetse was the code name for a 57mm cannon carried by Mosquitoes and which had the potential to do serious damage to any submarine, surface vessel, or, for that matter, a Ju 88.
   The RAF formation found the ships off Cape Penas being circled by eight Ju 88s. Immediately, the fighters tried to draw the German fighters away from the ships, allowing the Tsetse Mosquitoes to attack unhindered. Individual and confused dogfights ensued and 248 Squadron claimed to have shot down three Ju 88s and to have damaged the submarine. In reality, only one Ju 88 was lost and the submarine sailed on undamaged. One RAF pilot, Sqn Ldr Tony Phillips, DFC, even claimed to have shot down one of the Ju 88s using his 57mm cannon but this cannot be proven.

As the war over the Bay continued, the tide of battle began to turn against V/KG40 and by summer 1943 its Ju 88s were operating at a disadvantage against the Allied Mosquitoes, Beaufighters, and Liberators in their ever increasing numbers. In October 1943 the gruppe was redesignated I Gruppe/Zerstorergeschwader 1, but a simple change in name could not hold back the tide. By April 1944 the German flyers were losing heavily against their technologically and numerically superior enemies. The situation was further exacerbated by strenuous and often successful Allied efforts to save their downed pilots from the sea; Luftwaffe aircrew were less likely to be rescued by their comrades, if at all.

With the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, ZG 1 was thrown into suicidal missions against the beachhead and the invasion fleet. The planes and their crews were slaughtered, taking over 75% losses in less than a week, and the survivors withdrew southward to Cazeaux. From there the pilots were posted away to other units and the gruppe was disbanded on 5 August 1944.

   From a German viewpoint, was the effort and bloodshed all worthwhile? First of all, the Ju 88 C-6 was initially suited to its role of maritime reconnaissance and long range fighter but when confronted by RAF Beaufighters and the far superior Mosquito, they had no alternative but to either increase formation sizes, retreat or try and fight it out. Thus, missions had to be planned to take this into considerations and as a result, the effectiveness of the unit began to decrease from the summer of 1943 onwards, by which time the Allies had got the upper hand in the U-boat war. The decision to then throw the Ju 88 C-6 and R-2 into the air battle over the invasion beaches in Normandy was nothing more than murder and to then convert pilots, most of whom were originally bomber and reconnaissance trained, to single-seat fighters and pit them against far superior Allied aircraft was criminal. But, at that stage of the war, did the Luftwaffe have much of an alternative? The answer is probably no.
   Therefore the answer was that the effort was worthwhile up to the summer of 1943 but at a terrible cost. At least 222 personnel died in action flying the Ju 88, 58 were killed in accidents, seven were taken prisoner and 51 suffered wounds or injuries of varying degrees. Little did I think nearly 30 years ago that whilst I was enjoying the sunshine and playing on the beaches near Bordeaux that many airmen of many nationalities had fought and died off those French beaches. For most of those who died, many of them in their early twenties, their remains lay, as they do today, within the wreckage of their aircraft somewhere at the bottom of the Bay of Biscay-- bloody Biscay.

Bloody Biscay is a very well done book on a little-documented aspect of the war. Good narrative information, enlightening firsthand accounts, well-chosen photos of airmen and aircraft, and useful tablular appendices including day-by-day lists of victories and losses. Recommended.

Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Crecy Publishing.

Thanks to Crecy for providing this review copy.