Black Friday (1945)

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Black Friday is used to refer to the air battle waged between German and British aircraft on 9 February 1945. It was the largest aerial clash over Norway during World War II.

A number of warships of the Kriegsmarine had entered the Førdefjorden in an attempt to avoid British reconnaissance aircraft, but they were spotted by two Bristol Beaufighters of 489 Squadron. A formation of British planes, led by Wing Commander Colin Milson, took off from Scotland to attack the ships. These consisted of:

9 Beaufighters from 144 Squadron (RAF)
11 Beaufighters of 404 Squadron (RCAF)
11 Beaufighters of 455 Squadron (RAAF)
an escort of 12 P-51 Mustang Mark III's from 279 Squadron (RAF)

German fighters were based only 15 minutes flight-time away at Herdla Airfield. Nine FW-190's of 9 Staffel, with three more from 12 Staffel flying top cover, surprised the British in the midst of their attack on the German ships.

One Mustang and nine Beaufighters were shot down. Six of those came from the hard-hit 404 Squadron, which suffered eleven men killed that day. A total of approximately 15 planes and 24 lives were lost.