Friedrich Peters was an Unteroffizier-anwärter (Non-Commissioned Officer Candidate). His military career began in October 1941 with a Signals Company in Norway where he was stationed until 1942. He transferred to Semlin (Zemun, Serbia) to train as a Bordfunker.

He became operational with 8. Staffel of Transportgeschwader 2 where he served as a Radio Operator on a Junkers Ju 52 where he flew transport missions from Brindisi, Italy to Corsica. He was awarded the Radio Operators Badge.

On September 24th 1943 his Ju 52/M (Werk Nr 10018) was shot down above Corsica in actions against RAF Beaufighters of 39 Sqn, 272 Sqn and 603 Sqn. Peters was killed - aged 20 - along with the pilot, Unteroffizier Negele. Bordschütze Obergefreiter Jäger was wounded.

This was a catastrophic day for transport units - 15 aircraft were lost over the southern front from TG-1, TG-2 & TG-4 with TG-2 losing nine of those.

Deathcard

Savoia-Marchetti SM82 Transport

In operation, when faced with a fighter opposition, the SM.82 suffered a devastating loss rate. On 24 November 1942, three Beaufighters downed seven SM.82s, a 100% loss. Later on 10 April 1943, 10 out of 20 in formation were downed by a single pass of a P-38 Lightning squadron. At altitude, the SM.82 was almost a fixed target for both flak and fighter opposition.

JU-52 Transport

RAF Activities

The Germans were attempting to remove vital war equipment from Corsica using JU52 transports and Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 Marsupiale transports (in German markings). The RAF mounted attacks to destroy these efforts, using Beaufighter 1s.

This is the Operational Record Book for 39 Sqn RAF for 23 September 1943.

This is the ORB for 24 September 1943

The Summary of Events for 23/24 September shows how determined the RAF was to deny the German evacuation efforts.

272 Sqn ORB 1943-09-24

272 Sqn was very active attacking shipping being used in the evacuation, again using Beaufighers. It also encountered Luftwaffe transports.

Summary of Events 272 Sqn

Operating on convoy escort duties, pilots of 272 Sqn based in Borizzo, Sicily encountered large numbers of Ju52 transports over Elba. The following colourful account describes what happened.

Bristol Beaufighter

272 Sqn Beaufighter

Luftwaffe Victories 1943-09-24

We have a carefully researched database on this site which attempts to list every Luftwaffe claim by date. Of course, it is far from complete, but we do have entries for the air battles referenced on this page:

Luftwaffe Claims for Corsica evacuation

Sources: Kracker Luftwaffe Archive, warrelics.eu, National Archives, Aircrew Remembered Research Archives

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