At midday on December 24, 16 German jet aircraft attacked a ball-bearing factory and tool-die warehouse in Ciege. They then proceeded to attack railway yards supplying the Allies. This was the first jet bomber attack in history. Is this a fact? Does anybody have more information on this? ( Erich? )
Kai : for 24 December 1944 Not sure yet, checked two references and nothing ! KG (J) 51 was doing bombing sorties during the first weeks of November 44.....so..... still searching. 6./KG(J) 51 moved it's ground personell and signals unit to Bonn Hangelar. 9 Me 262's were transferred to III./JG 7 at Parchim and 16 a/c to I./KG 54 at Giebelstadt. E
Just on a slight side note, the first Jet bomber mission was a recce made by an arado blitz over the Normandy beach head on D-Day, more a mission by a bomber than a bomber mission but you get my meaning
adding my two cents to Stefan's post...... the first Arado 234 unit to be established was by two men ! Erich Sommer and Kommandeur Horst Götz. On August 2, 1944 Erich Sommer flew the world's first jet recon mission in the Ar 234V-7 photographing most of the Allied beachead and taking in the airfield at St. Pierre and the artifical harbor at Aisnelles sur Mer. On the same day Horst Götz joined Sommer at Juvincourt forming the new little squadron Kommando Götz. Unofficially known as " Aufklärungskommando Brandenburg ". Pretty impressive name for only two crewmen ! E
maybe this??? Captain Diether Lukesch In October 1944, as his Arado training proceeded, Lukesch was awarded Eichenlaub (Oak Leaves) to his Ritterkreuz. On the day before Christmas 1944, Lukesch led nine Ar 234 B-2's in the first jet bombing missions ever, supporting the German counterattack out of the Ardennes. The target was a factory complex at Liege, Belgium. Returning home, Lukesch came up behind a patrolling British Spitfire. The Spitfire pilot had no way of knowing that the Ar 234 carried, as yet, no defensive armament--only Lukesch and his pistol--and the Spitfire veered off. In the days that followed, Lukesch and the Arado pilots attacked Allied troops, rail yards, and other positions. On New Year's Day 1945, Lukesch led history's first jet, night-bombing sortie, attacking targets at Brussels and Liege. He concluded the war with a total of 436 bombing and long-range reconnaissance missions. After the war, Lukesch worked at first for US Armed Forces in Austria. He then became a commercial airline pilot, flying for 18 years first with KLM, and later Lufthansa. http://www.au.af.mil/au/goe/eaglebios/96bios/lukesc96.htm http://www.web-birds.com/kaplan/panels/117.htm
Kai : I am going to have to search this out as off-hand I am not sure. did you know that the Ar 234C-series, what few were given out to two units and the rest broken up......this variant was the fastest turbo-jet a/c in the world during WW 2 ! be back with more I hope ! E
WOW! That Ar 234C is quite a plane... http://www.mjdtools.com/books/52379.htm Gotta get this book.... "Powered by four BMW 003A-1 turbojet engines, with a combined thrust of 7,040 pounds, early test results indicated that it could reach speeds of over 550 mph even when loaded with tons of high explosive bombs and/or guided missiles. " http://modelstories.free.fr/histokits/AR234_P/page7.html
