Black Friday (1945) 1945
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 9 February 1945 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1945 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Norway | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | World War II | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 61.4625, 5.6400 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
On 9 February 1945, near the end of the Second World War, a force of Allied Bristol Beaufighter aircraft suffered many losses during an attack on the German destroyer Z33 and its escorting vessels; the operation was called Black Friday by the survivors. The German ships were sheltering in a strong defensive position in the Førde Fjord in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway, forcing the Allied aircraft to attack through massed anti-aircraft fire (FlaK).
The Beaufighters and their escort of Mustang Mk III fighters from 65 Squadron RAF were intercepted by twelve Focke-Wulf Fw 190s of Jagdgeschwader 5 (Fighter Wing 5) of the Luftwaffe. The Allies damaged at least two of the German ships for the loss of seven Beaufighters shot down by FlaK. Two Beaufighters and a Mustang were shot down by the Fw 190s and four or five of the German aircraft were shot down by the Allied aircraft, including that of the ace Rudi Linz.
The decision to attack Z33 and her escorts, rather than a nearby group of merchant ships, followed instructions from the Admiralty to RAF Coastal Command. The losses led to merchant ships being made the priority over destroyers and small warships. Another squadron of P-51 Mustangs was assigned to protect Allied aircraft operating near Norway from German fighters.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Black Friday (1945) (revision 1370604393), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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