I was in 92nd LAA Regt's RHQ in Venraij, Holland, on the radio in a school and on the morning of 1 January 1945 the roar of aircraft passing overhead took me outside for a butcher's. Just in time see watch a large number of ME 109s going over at tree top height followed by masses of Bofor's fire, my pal came dashing out of the latrine pulling his trousers up. You don't forget the detail! It was the start of the 1,000 odd rag-tag last fling of the Luftwaffe going for our airfields, the RAF joined in bringing down as many as possible. The total loss for the Germans was over 200, with 29 credited to the corps, of these the 92nd downed 14 'by far the largest to the credit of a single LAA regiment on that memorable morning'. (Facts cribbed from 92nds history by Tom) By the way, Fox Troop with six guns downed 17 confirmed, on the Pegasus & Horsa Bridges in five days. Jim
My dad's unit 336 Battery of 102 LAA Regt (337 & 338 now operational on the Land Mattress) recorded 7 Enemy aircraft (FW190 & ME109) over Breda at 09-15 that morning and claimed 3 category one kills.
Jim Thank you for posting. I believe you are referring to Operation Bodenpaltte. Unternehmen Bodenplatte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Regards, Nick
My Dad was on duty in the signals hut on the airfield at Eindhoven when the Focke-Wulfs came over. He too rushed outside to see what all the noise was about. He has actually just got himself an internet connection but I'm going to have to check what embarrasing rubbish I've posted on here before I tell him about this forum. I fear that it could all be rather like going down to the pub for a session when the family are there as well.
