LONE RAIDERS

摘要

It was suggested by the Luftwaffe during the spring of 1942 that the Junkers Ju 86R be converted from the pure high-altitude reconnaissance role to having the ability to drop a single 250kg bomb. The Ju 86R was fitted with a pressurised cabin, which enabled it to fly at altitudes in excess of 40,000ft, way above the maximum ceiling of RAF fighters. On 17 June 1942, Flieger-Hauptingenieur Werner Altrogge, a test pilot based at the Luftwaffe test centre at Rechlin, first flew the Ju 86R from Oranienburg in Germany. Just over a month later, he was active from Gosstkino in the Soviet Union on operational trials. Attached to the 3. Staffel/Aufklaerungsgruppe Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe, his maiden operational flight took place on 26 July. By 7 August he had completed seven proving or operational sorties, after which he returned to Oranienburg. Then on 18 August he flew west, arriving at Beauvais in northern France two days later, the day after the Allied assault on Dieppe.