ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 196759
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| Date: | Tuesday 18 February 1941 |
| Time: | 16:10 |
| Type: |  Junkers Ju 87R-1 |
| Owner/operator: | I./StG 1 Luftwaffe |
| Registration: | 5548 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Agedabia -
 Libya
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
At 08:00 hrs on 18 February 1941, three Hurricanes of 3 Sqn RAAF piloted by Flight Lieutenant Gordon Henry Steege (V6737), Flying Officer Saunders (V7770) and Flying Officer L. Jackson (P5176) took off to carry out an offensive patrol over forward troops in the Agedabia – Agheila area. No enemy aircraft were encountered and the aircraft landed at Agedabia at 10:10 hrs.
At 1440 hrs they took off again to repeat the patrol and at approximately 16:10, whilst flying at 5000ft. in the vicinity of Mersa Brega, Flying Officer Jackson sighted a formation of a reportedly 10 or 12 Junker Ju87s flying at approximately 1000ft. He dived to attack and the others quickly followed. The enemy aircraft dived to about 50 ft and scattered in all directions. Jackson attacked three aircraft in turn, the first two which he damaged, whilst the third crashed in flames. Flight Lieutenant Steege attacked four aircraft in turn, all of which he damaged, and the last of which he chased 15-20 miles to sea. Flying Officer Saunders attacked two aircraft in turn and also damaged them. Later reports received from Army sources confirmed that eight enemy aircraft had been shot down in this engagement – three each by Steege and Jackson and two by Saunders.
Steege and Saunders returned direct to Benina, whilst Jackson refuelled at Agedabia before returning to Benina.
They had intercepted twelve Ju87s from I./StG 1 attacking British positions near Mersa Brega. It seems that only one Ju87 was lost in this combat when the Ju 87 R-1 WNr. 5548 flown by Feldwebel Hans Drolshagen and with the gunner Unteroffizier Wolfgang Schafer was lost, with both crew killed. Several returned damaged. The death place of Drolshagen is listed by the Volksbund as Agedabia.
Sources:
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/commonwealth_steege.htm
http://www.volksbund.de/index.php?id=1775&tx_igverlustsuche_pi2[gid]=089a35564c2714491579a6c9e8ee1109
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=24357
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajdabiya
http://www.maplandia.com/libya/ajdabiya-agedabia/ajdabiya/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Jul-2017 21:58 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 22-Feb-2020 10:08 | Xindel XL | Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator] |
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