Unternehmen Seelöwe - Sturzkampfflugzeug beta testing

[Rami]

Question for our British BoB scholars...

Good afternoon,

I'm currently working on the German side of the Battle of Britain, the Stuka campaign to be precise. One of the missions has the Stukas attack "coastal installations on the Isle of Wight" on 7 July, three days before "official" hostilities began. My question is, aside from Ventnor, what might those "coastal installations" be?

The only major towns or cities I can find are Newport, Cowes, Sandown, Shanklin, and Ryde. I don't know if these coastal installations should be AA positions, a small port, or some other type of facility. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sc7500]

Chek Yer Mail...

... You have Reading Material Waiting.

SC

 

[dhasdell]

My venerable copy of "Battle Over Britain" by Francis K. Mason has no mention of Stuka attacks on July 7. Was there an aircraft factory at Bembridge in those days? That might have been a target, but that's only a guess.

 

[Rami]

Reply...

Good afternoon,

This looks promising: http://www.clique.co.uk/coloptics/luftwaffe/ISLEOFWIGHT.htm

 

[Ian Astill]

There were radar arrays at Ventnor and St Lawrence

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/v/ventnor/index.shtml

 

[Motormouse]

As thats' my 'home' territory... Stuka attack was (one of several) on the Chain Home High installation on St Boniface Down;
700ft above sea level it was easy to spot.

The Chain Home Low was at Woody Bay; St Lawrence, in what is known locally as the 'undercliff' area so less likely
to be spotted from the air.

Cowes was deliberately targeted on 4th May 1942 by a force of 88 Ju88's; known locally as the Cowes Blitz, the target was the shipyards of J S White and Co; and but for the timely intervention of the free polish warship Blyskawica, berthed at White's
undergoing repairs, damage would have been greater.

ttfn

Pete

 

[achim27619]

This looks promising: http://www.clique.co.uk/coloptics/lu...SLEO

Andrew,

I am afraid the link simply is a listing on landmarks. On pages 114 and 119 are airfields mentioned but only in the sense of navigation.

Cheers

Achim

 

[Motormouse]

My venerable copy of "Battle Over Britain" by Francis K. Mason has no mention of Stuka attacks on July 7. Was there an aircraft factory at Bembridge in those days? That might have been a target, but that's only a guess.

No factory at Bembridge in those days; out of the four island airfields (Ryde, Cowes (Somerton) Bembridge and Sandown)
only Cowes remained 'open' ; it was a manufacturing aerodrome used by Saunders-Roe; the others 'closed for duration of hosilities'.

Cowes was also used as an emergency landing ground by returning aeroplanes in difficulties.

Rami:

The book you want is 'Air War over The Island (Isle of Wight)' by HJT Leal; published by Isle of Wight County Press 1982.

ttfn

Pete

 

[Rami]

Reply...

Good evening,

Well, Bembridge was the only harbor on the east end of the island where I could build anything significant, so I built a small harbor with an aircraft facility there. It's not meant to be huge, and it's directly across the Solent from Gosport. Here are a few pics, but remember this is pure invention and conjecture. There are no real photographs or other intelligence to make sure of.

Tomorrow, I'll have to go back and fix the RAF Radar station at Ventnor, creating the GSL file for Bembridge wiped it out. But don't worry, That's an easy fix.

 

[Motormouse]

Good evening,

Well, Bembridge was the only harbor on the east end of the island where I could build anything significant, so I built a small harbor with an aircraft facility there. It's not meant to be huge, and it's directly across the Solent from Gosport. Here are a few pics, but remember this is pure invention and conjecture. There are no real photographs or other intelligence to make sure of.

Tomorrow, I'll have to go back and fix the RAF Radar station at Ventnor, creating the GSL file for Bembridge wiped it out. But don't worry, That's an easy fix.

The boatyard at Bembridge,(actually the St Helen's side of Bembridge harbour) Woodnutts; was one (of several) local boatbuilding yard impressed into building small craft for the RN; particularly the Fairmile ML class.

Other boatyards building similar small craft were Lallows and Groves and Gutteridge in Cowes (MTB's; ML's and ASR launches;
as well as troop landing craft)

the RNAS aircraft facility in Bembridge harbour was WW1 only

IIRC there is/was a FS2002/4 scenery package that put all the Chain Home High stations in their correct locations,
as per this map ---> http://www.anti-aircraft.co.uk/chain_home_map.html

Of course if you're fortifying the Solent area; you'll need to add the (now submerged) anti-shipping and submarine barriers between the 'Forts' and coastlines as per this nautical chart

http://www.harbourguides.com/charts.php/River-Solent


Hope this helps

ttfn

Pete

 

[Rami]

Good afternoon,

Well, I have completed the infrastructure improvements for the Stuka campaign involving the Battle of Britain and will start working on the .dyn files tonight. If all goes well, I should be ready for beta testing very soon. This campaign will use pretty much the identical components from the RAF side to the Battle of Britain, so those who have that campaign installed will not have to do extra work.

The missions focus on Channel shipping attacks, as well as a strong focus on the harbors at Portland and Dover. The campaign then shifts in its latter stages to attacks on Tangmere, Detling, and Hawkinge airfields before drawing to a close in mid-August.

After this is completed, I'll start working on the Zerstorer campaign.

 

[Jagdflieger]

Good news Rami.

Will you be using Wolfi's Ju-87B?

 

[Rami]

Reply...

Will you be using Wolfi's Ju-87B?

Jagdflieger,

Absolutely. Not only it is a superbly detailed model, its AI behavior is a thing of beauty. As an escorting "Emil," (not for this campaign, but that's on the plate as well) there's nothing finer than to watch those puppies circle around and make attacks on enemy shipping.

I'm also going to be using K. Malinowski's Ju-88a, the Groundcrew Heinkel He-111, Thicko's Dornier Do-17z, the AH Bf-109e, and Tango Romeo's Messerschmitt Bf-110c.

 

[Rami]

Reply...

Good evening,

Well, the triggers are done for all twenty of the missions, all that remains are the events, and then the missions will be done. However, I'm stopping for the night and making a backup of my files.

 

[Rami]

Reply...

Good evening,

With some of my sleepless or sleep-deprived nights of late, I've used some of the time to work on the German side of the Battle of Britain. At this moment, the entire Stuka campaign has been completed, and I am 50% done with the Zerstörer campaign.

For those who have the Battle of Britain and would like to beta test, no new objects will be required, though I will have to send you the GSL harbor at Bembridge. Following the completion of the Zerstörer campaign, there will be a Bf-109 campaign as well as the converted CFS1 campaign.

I also decided that when I build the bomber campaign, it will be a 10-10-5 split. Ten missions will utilize the Dornier Do-17Z, ten missions will use the Junkers Ju-88a, and the other five missions will use the He-111. The reason for this low number is that the Heinkels! campaign already covers that aircraft exceptionally well, including the raids on the Shetlands, reece over the Orkneys, and the missions off of Scotland, as well as the en masse raid by Luftflotte 5 that got massacred over northeast England.

The bomber campaign for now will follow the general progression of the others, though I may have a stronger lean toward the raids on the airfields and cities, including the possibility of a few "Blitz" missions, because more than half the Stuka missions, as well as a handful of Zerstörer missions, focus on striking ports and convoys.