B-25 Mitchell and Bristol Beaufighter that sank the ship SINFRA (Crete 1943)

[mufasa]

I'm a fan of military history and I joined to this great forum because I'm doing a little research on the sinking of the German ship Sinfra in the Aegean on October 18 by ten USAAF North American B-25 Mitchell and RAF Bristol Beaufighter.
I have tried to look for the squadron of the aircraft of this sinking, but without success. I only understood that they left from airports in North Africa. Thanks for your help.

MS Sinfra - Wikipedia


Oriano

 

[mufasa]

Excuse me for posted in a wrong sub-section. Many thanks Oriano

 

[Wurger]

No problemo. Welcome to the site.

 

[GrauGeist]

I believe the RAF Beaufighters involved in the sinking of the MS Sinfra were with No. 603 Squadron, based out of Egypt at the time.

 

[mufasa]

Many thank for your track. I try to research.
Oriano

 

[GrauGeist]

You're very welcome!

I hope this information is of some help to you

 

[mufasa]

thanks to your precious help and with your information I closed the lop!

the unit that sank the Sinfra was the 38 Squadron ... I continue to ask for your help: I found that the 38 Squadron was equipped on the Aegean sea with the Wellington Mk VIIs with ASV radar. Correct?
thanks again Oriano....

 

[CATCH 22]

The unit that sank the Sinfra was the 38 Squadron ... I continue to ask for your help: I found that the 38 Squadron was equipped on the Aegean sea with the Wellington Mk VIIs with ASV radar. Correct?
thanks again Oriano....

There is some mismatched information about operations on 18-19.Oct.1943 in the MTO. On both days RAF Beaufighters escorting 4 B-25Gs from the 321-st BG (the detached squadron in Gambut, Libya) did attack German boats and ships, but none of this a/cs had torpedoes. Sinfra was hit by a torpedo AFAIK. There is a description of this attack by RAF Wellingtons from No.38 squadron online - check here:
War in the Aegean
There is a chance you might order a Weekly Intelligence Summary here:
Weekly Intelligence Summaries 213-238 | The National Archives

 

[GrauGeist]

The Sinfra wasn't torpedoed, she wss bombed and strafed.

 

[CATCH 22]

The Sinfra wasn't torpedoed, she wss bombed and strafed.

Doch!
This is exactly the discrepancy I wrote above. Most of the internet-sources give the information about Sinfra being strafed and bombed by "Mitchells" and "Beaufighters". She was hit by an (air)torpedo and a bomb from the RAF-Wellingtons.
Die italienischen Militärinternierten im deutschen Machtbereich 1943-1945
The above link (this time from a German source) describes the correct operation/mission.
Previously I posted a link to another source with the same information in English.

 

[mufasa]

A special thanks Catch 22!

had indeed found the news, following your the information in the book "War in the Aegean: The Campaign for the Eastern Mediterranean in World War II
By Peter C. Smith " :

The Wellingtons of the 38 Squadron depart from Berca III (Benghazi) the first attack with the torpedoes fails (Squadron Leader John Maurice Milburn) but the second (Sergeant Hendrick John Van Der Pol) hits the ship.

Previously just at sea the Sinfra had been attacked (and hit by a bomb if I correctly understood y) from the B25 Mitchell of the 321 Bombardement Group departed from the Gambut airport.



thanks again
Oriano

 

[mufasa]

so it is not Sergeant Van Der Pol that has sunk the ship. right?
thanks Oriano

 

[CATCH 22]

Previously just at sea the Sinfra had been attacked (and hit by a bomb if I correctly understood y) from the B25 Mitchell of the 321 Bombardement Group departed from the Gambut airport.
thanks again
Oriano

Hi Oriano!
No, I wrote that Sinfra wasn't attacked by Mitchells and Beaufighters!
The B-25G from the 321-st BG. + RAF Beaufighters attacked different targets on this day! And on the 19.October 1943 as well.
IMHO they were not involved in the attack on Sinfra!
I suggest you check the war diaries of the 321-st BG. for October 1943 and you'll see that the description of the targets does not match Sinfra. Check the 18.-19. Oct. - there has been 3 missions (#5, #6 and #7) of the "G" detachment in Gambut, Libya, all during the day not in the night! Start reading on page 125 of the pdf-document:
http://57thbombwing.com/321stHistory/321_BG_1943-10.pdf
As per historical records: "The sea was smooth as glass and there was a full moon when the Sinfra left the port of Heraklion, escorted by at least one ship. No lights were allowed on the ship as the danger of being spotted by enemy planes or submarines was very high. For the same reason even those who wanted to smoke had to go inside. Some of the Italian Officers on deck were trying to control their stress by walking from bow to stern or discussing the situation in small groups. Most of them were asking the same question: would the ship make it to Pireaus? At 23:30, one of the German guards, started to shout in panic "Flieger alarm!".
This was the night of 18.October 1943. The B-25-mission #5 was in the afternoon and missions #6 and #7 were on the next day! This is the discrepancy.
Cheers!
Yves Marino

 

[mufasa]

I follow you very carefully:

on Americans so there are discrepancies as you have perfectly pointed out .......

while on the English, to read the motivations of the medals, it should be all confirmed ... including torpedoes ... correct?

Thank you very much.
Oriano

 

[CATCH 22]

I follow you very carefully:
on Americans so there are discrepancies as you have perfectly pointed out .......
while on the English, to read the motivations of the medals, it should be all confirmed ... including torpedoes ... correct?
Thank you very much.
Oriano

Hi Oriano!
Yes, you are right - this should be confirmed. I still think the British National Archives can be a great source for this matter (see link in my first posting).
But when you write about "Americans" and "British", please remember that the B-25s from the 321-st BG. and another squadron B-25Gs from the 310-th BG. were under British command at that time! They flew together with Beaufighters (RAF Coastal command I think) as mentioned in the war diaries.
The above were not together with the Wellingtons from No.38 Squadron (flying anti shipping duties as part of No.201 Group AFAIK). I think you need to focus on this squadron (38) in your research.
Maybe somebody on this forum with better RAF-knowledge can help you with more details.
Based on your information below is what I could find in an archive called WWII Distinguished Flying Medals for British Soldiers:

It's interesting that the original document is from Oct.22, 1943. As you see the British already new that the attacked and destroyed ship was Sinfra!
Ciao!
Yves
P.S. The blue link is to a page from Fold3 where I copied the information from. It eventually will not open for guests without account there.

 

[mufasa]

many thanks Catch-22 for your risolutive help.
Oriano

 

[CATCH 22]

many thanks Catch-22 for your risolutive help.
Oriano

Oriano, you are very welcome! Please, inform us if you find any further information.
Ciao!
Yves