Black Friday (1945) - Background

Background

See also: RAF Coastal Command during World War II

Due to Allied victories in France and Eastern Europe, Germany's surface shipping was largely confined to the lower Baltic and Norwegian waters by late 1944. This left ports in Norway as Germany's last remaining bases to continue the Battle of the Atlantic and conduct trade with Sweden. When the Baltic iced over during the winter of 1944–45, Germany was forced to transport its vital imports of Swedish iron ore from the port of Narvik in northern Norway.

In response to the growing importance of German maritime transport routes through Norwegian waters, the Royal Air Force's Coastal Command transferred seven squadrons of anti-shipping aircraft from bases in eastern England to northern Scotland during September and October 1944. Three squadrons equipped with Mosquito light bombers were stationed at RAF Banff while a wing made up of four squadrons operating Beaufighter heavy fighters was based at RAF Dallachy. The Dallachy Wing comprised the British No. 144 Squadron, Canadian No. 404 Squadron, Australian No. 455 Squadron and New Zealand No. 489 Squadron. These four squadrons were veterans of many anti-shipping operations over the North Sea.

Attacks by the Banff Wing quickly forced German ships travelling along the Norwegian coast to sail at night and take shelter in deep fjords during the day where they were very difficult to attack. In order to locate German ships the two wings sent out aircraft on almost daily patrols along the Norwegian coastline from the Skagerrak to Trondheim. During this period the Allied squadrons developed a tactic of sending two 'outriders' ahead of the main body of the patrol; these aircraft were manned by experienced aircrew and penetrated into fjords in search of shipping which might not be spotted by the other aircraft. By December 1944 patrols were also routinely escorted by RAF Mustang Mk III fighters and accompanied by Vickers Warwick air-sea rescue aircraft. Only a single squadron of Mustangs was available, however, as these long-ranged fighters were needed to escort daylight raids by heavy bombers against Germany. German fighters began to be encountered off the Norwegian coast in December, and from the end of the month onwards it was common for Allied wing-sized operations near Norway to be attacked by groups of up to 30 fighters. In March 1945 the Luftwaffe had 85 single-engined and about 45 twin-engined aircraft operating from ten or twelve airfields south of Trondheim.

During the first weeks of 1945 the Allied strike wings flew few operations due to severe weather. On 15 January, the Banff Wing was intercepted by 30 Fw 190 fighters from the III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 5 (III./JG 5) during a raid on the town of Leirvik. In the resulting fighting five Mosquitos and five Fw 190s were shot down. By 9 February, the Ninth and Twelfth Squadrons of JG5 were based at Herdla near Bergen, about 65 miles (105 km) to the south of Førde Fjord. These units were equipped with Fw 190s and the Twelfth Squadron was commanded by Leutnant Rudi Linz, a 28-year-old flying ace with 69 'kills' to his credit.

The German Narvik-class destroyer Z33 entered service in February 1943. She served in Norwegian waters from July of that year and saw combat on several occasions. She was the last German destroyer to leave northern Norway, and sailed for Germany on 5 February 1945. It was intended that Z31, which had completed initial repairs at Bergen after being heavily damaged in the Action of 28 January 1945, would join her to make a joint passage to the Baltic. However, Z33 ran aground in Brufjord on 7 February, damaging her port shaft and propeller and causing both engines to fail. She was subsequently taken under tow to be repaired in Trondheim. Z33 and the two tugboats that were towing her chose to shelter in Førde Fjord during the daylight hours of 9 February while en route to Trondheim.