Hitler’s Spyplane Over Normandy 1944: The World’s First Jet

189 Pages·2014·12.41 MB·English

by  Bauduin

First published in 2013 by
Editions Heimdal BP 61350
ZA de Damigny, 2 Rue de la Cartoucherie 14406, Bayeux and reprinted in this
format in 2014 by Pen and Sword Aviation
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © Philippe Bauduin (Editions Heimdal) 2013, 2014
ISBN 978 1 47382 339 6
The right of Philippe Bauduin (Editions Heimdal) to be identified as Author of
this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
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Contents
Prelude
Chapter 1 Operation Lusty: Technology Worthy of James Bond
Chapter 2 Arado: From the ‘ploughmen of the seas’ to the Jet
Chapter 3 Götz and Sommer: Two Inseparable Airmen throughout the War
Chapter 4 12 September 1942: The First and Only High Altitude Fight in
History
Chapter 5 Arado Ar234: From Reconnaissance to Bombardment
Chapter 6 Juvincourt: The largest Luftwaffe base in France
Chapter 7 2 August 1944: The Very First Flight of a Jet Aeroplane
Chapter 8 In the Cockpit of the Arado: Flying over the Invasion Beaches at
800km/h
By Way of an Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Annex
Prelude
On 2 August 1944, Luftwaffe pilot Erich Sommer took off from Juvincourt
airfield on board his Arado 234 reconnaissance aeroplane. His mission, which
would last an hour and a half, was to fly over the Normandy front, where the
fighting had continued to rage since the invasion on 6 June. It is important to
remember that although we would today describe the Arado 234 as a ‘jet’, in
1944, jet aviation was still in its infancy. What is more, this ten day mission
coincided with a key episode in the Battle for Normandy: the clash between
German and Allied troops before the breakthrough towards the Paris basin. As it
happened, the last German counter-offensive, in the Mortain region in particular,
began on August 2.
Thirty years later, in 1974, my wife and I purchased a small house on the
bank of the river Seulles, near Creully. At the time, I noticed that the roof was
made by the manufacturing firm Sulzer. Intrigued, I wanted to find out about the
history of the house and, after years of research, discovered it had been built by
British engineers during the Battle for Normandy. At the time it was an immense
pumping station, whose primary function was to hose down the temporary Allied
runways in order to eradicate the dust that would otherwise destroy the
aeroplanes’ engines.
Having carried out my military service as a photographic interpreter in Lahr,
Bade-Wutemberg, I began researching British aerial photographs of the area
both before and after the invasion. I managed to find those for before, but not for
afterwards, which made sense, as this area wasn’t an objective for the British
Army. So, I decided instead to look at photographs taken by the Luftwaffe.
However, I was told that the ones I needed had been seized by the Russians in
1945 from Berlin Templehof Airport, where they had been stored until the end
of the war. I filled my relations in about everything I had learnt, as well as the
fact that the Russians then claimed they did not have the stolen photographs
anyway.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, I went on a business trip to the USA and
whilst there, visited the National Archives in Washington DC to ask if they had
any knowledge of these missing Luftwaffe photographs. I was told that the
Americans had in fact stolen them from the Russians in 1945 during Operation
Dick Tracy - something that had been kept secret, until now. I was informed I
could see them all if I wanted to, but it meant searching for them in an enormous
stockroom and I sadly didn’t have the time. Upon returning to France, I found an
American student from Washington, J. Waldron, who would be able to do the
work for me. In 1995, he hit the jackpot; all the aerial photographs of Normandy
taken by the Arado aeroplanes, a collection that was later to form the subject of
my first book.1 Unfortunately, the Arado aeroplanes would not have taken
photographs of my house, however the Junkers aeroplanes had done shortly
before!
It is thanks to this research that my curiosity for the extraordinary machines
that took these photographs was born. The Arado 234, that one day in 1944, in
the skies above Normandy, saw the beginning of a new era in aviation: the jet.
The unexpected introduction of jet aviation in the Normandy skies is only one
example of so many new technologies that were used on its battlefields. From
portable telephones, naval airborne surveillance radars and the ballpoint pen,
through to snorkels and streptomycin, Normandy has well and truly been at the
forefront of some of the twentieth century’s great inventions.
Despite my best efforts during the research for my first book, the German
authorities always prevented me from seeking out any Arado pilots. However,
once the book had been published, and it was clear I was not looking to write a
story on ‘war criminals’, tongues began to loosen slightly. When the book was
released in Australia, it attracted the attention of a friend of mine who knew
Erich Sommer, who had been living out there.
This introduction was the beginning of some extremely fulfilling exchanges
between the two of us; Erich Sommer had indeed taken the photographs I
wanted, but he did not have copies, although his memories have formed the basis
for this book. Erich put me in contact with his friend Horst Götz and the three of
us often talked together (in English) from his home.
This book acts as a beautiful dedication to these exchanges, as well as to the
incredible photographs that are contained within it.
Philippe Bauduin
____________
1. Philippe Bauduin, Eric Charon, Normandie 44, les photos de l’avion espiron,
(Mait’ Jacques)
Chapter One
Operation Lusty: Technology Worthy of
James Bond
In the afternoon of 29 June 1945, Louis Lemarquand, a 14 year old boy from
Querqueville in the suburbs of Cherbourg, heard loud noises coming from the
airfield near the village. It was a place he had frequented for nearly a year; he
knew every corner and every aeroplane, not to mention ‘his’ GIs, who would
share their chewing gum with him from time to time. With the war in Europe
over and the atmosphere on the base pretty relaxed, Louis headed over to the
airfield as soon as he could. Once there, he was astonished to see aeroplanes
without any propellers. He asked what they were and was told they were Arados
as well as Messerschmitts and other unknown aircraft. The man he spoke to may
well have been Flight Lieutenant Roy Brown of the USAAF (United States
Army Air Force), who had just landed with his Me 262 ‘Pick II’.
Louis Lemarquand and Roy Brown have each described their individual
memories of the last moments of Operation Lusty. Similar to Operation Dick
Tracy (mentioned in the introduction), it consisted of capturing the Luftwaffe’s
most interesting technological innovations, in order to deconstruct and study
them back in America.