In the evening we served hell for them

A foretaste of the book by Pokoritel Alsterufer, in which General Schwarz recalls the sinking of the German ship, the greatest success of the 311rd RAF bomber during the Second World War:

The rapidly moving German merchant ship Alsterufer was taken from the Japanese port Kobe Tungsten on 27 December 1943. Acutely important and necessary in the arms of the Third Reich. A total of 344 tons. Annual stock.

Because of the high density of tungsten, it has been used to produce bearings and projectiles capable of penetrating diver tanks or bunker walls. Block couplings – they called these German ships in an attempt to break the Allied blockade of the Atlantic in an inappropriate way. Alsterufer was almost successful. As long as the journey was strictly followed by the radio room. He did not make contact with other boats, he only swam.

"It was Alsterufer to find it on the surface and hit it We knew we were going to the big yacht There was a very bad weather with little clouds and heavy rain So we flew by if we could find it "said the general.

Remains: "When we flew through the hole in the clouds, the reflection of Alsterufer was just below us, it was a sensation, I will tell you, and at the same time relief … Finally there was a struggle ahead that really made the effort would be worth it. "

And he stood. It was 15.34 when Captain Oldrich Dolezal ran from 1000 meters to 270. Below the bottom of the cloud. The German crew launched the fire. "They also had rockets pulled through the wires, you were stuck in the propeller and you have …"

In a surprisingly daring maneuver, Liberator flew over Alsterufer. He photographed again and disappeared into the clouds.

"During the first attack, I was in the upper tower and fired from two half shot guns, I was able to hit their radio communication bridge and one of the guns on the radio tower," says Ivan Schwarz, who is in Captain Dolajal's crew. the role of the shooter was fulfilled.

A final attack began at 16.07. Captain Dolezal bent the bomber to Alsterufer and reopened a close anti-aircraft gun. From a distance of 550 to 365 meters, Liberator fired eight unmanned rockets and fired all his weapons. Well, the boat is not gone yet.

"The decisive factor was the amazing assessment of Zdenko Hanuš, navigator and bomber, his first bomb exploded close to the ship and damaged, but the other was completely breathtaking, and she flew the Alsterufer bowl straight to the chimney to the kitchen. of the warm evening the Germans had a hot hell on the ship.

The ship was dead. She dives. The Germans had to evacuate it … "the general remembers, the German captain Piatek, who was of Yugoslav origin, ordered to leave the dive Alsterufer.

Up to 74 German sailors survived in four lifeboats. The Irish ship saved them for two days. They placed it in neutral Ireland. Foundations in the prison camp survived there until the end of the war. Only two died.

The huge explosions that shocked the ship were also flooding the Liberator. Because at the moment of the collapse of the bombs almost the surface of only 180 meters crept. Moreover, when the bomber shot brutally through the walls of an enemy fire, one of his engines was damaged by the German defense. He started to cough. It was also fuel. Captain Dolezal then took the course back to the base.

"It was euphoria on the plane: Impossible joy, we caught a huge fish …" even after more than seventy years, the feelings of Major General Ivan Schwarz.

"The most amazing feeling I had when we arrived at the base, all the ground staff were waiting for us, mechanics, arms, clutches, cooks, friends, they were screaming for us to boast – and we were looking forward to them. beer by the brook But the reflection came to me differently I would have liked to have a different time because the boys chose me as head of the Nobile Club.

I did not even organize a party so celebrated – and I knew the party knew. But then everything fell out of me – and at the same time it made me sick. I celebrated my friends only a few moments. Because we won the Germans and the teeth. But after a while I disappeared from the party. Really terrible, I needed sleep … "

About the Czechoslovaks in the coming days they wrote all the British newspapers on the title page & # 39; s. With information about the enormous success of MS. the airmen appeared in the British Parliament for the government of Winston Churchill, Secretary of the War Department, Sir Dingle Mackintosh Foot. British king Juraj VI. Captain Oldrich Dolezal and the bomber of Zdeněk Hanuš appreciated the high aviation price for the Merry Air Cross.

The prize was taken over by Sir William Sholto Douglas, the commander of the British Coast Air Force, part of which was 311st MS. Bomber Squadron. The remaining crew members were honored Cz. 1939, which was surrendered on 7 February 1944 by the Czechoslovakian inspector. Air Vice Marshal Air Force Karel Janoušek. Also revered was Sergeant Ivan Otto Schwarz, born in Bratislava, who grew up in Bytč.