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The ''Sonderkommando'' Blaich was a German special unit consisting of one Heinkel He 111 medium bomber that raided Free French–controlled Fort Lamy in the Chad region of French Equatorial Africa.〔(Aircraft profile: He 111 ) Profile Publications, page: 6, accessed: 18 June 2011〕〔Carell, p. 113–24〕 The raid against a target located from the German bases in North Africa was a success. On its return flight, the German plane ran out of fuel and had to make an emergency landing; both crew and plane were rescued a week later.〔 ==Background== The Chad and Fort Lamy came under control of the Free French Forces in 1940 and was a major staging post for the operations against the Kufra oasis group. Theo Blaich—a German adventurer and plantation owner who had joined the ''Wehrmacht'' in 1939, arriving in his own Messerschmitt Bf 108 ''Taifun''—recognised the importance of Fort Lamy as a way point in the overland transport and communication route from the west coast of Africa to the Nile, as well as an assembly point for Allied operations. Blaich proposed the capture of Fort Lamy to safeguard the southern border of Libya. When his suggestions weren't taken seriously in Berlin, he proposed that he should at least carry out a bombing mission.〔Carell, p. 116〕 Blaich found a more interested audience in Erwin Rommel, who approved the idea and forwarded it to the ''Fliegerführer Afrika''. The date for the operation was set as 21 January 1942, to coincide with Rommel′s offensive against the British defences at El Agheila.〔 Blaich′s commando left the oasis of Hun on 20 January, and consisted of German and Italian soldiers and three aircraft, an He 111, a ''Savoia'' and Blaich′s ''Taifun''. The following six of the group were to go on the air raid, while the Italian crew, minus their pilot, stayed behind:〔 *Captain Theo Blaich, pilot of the ''Taifun'' *Lieutenant Franz Bohnsack, pilot of the He 111 *Sergeant Major Heinrich Geissler, engineer *Sergeant Wolfgang Wichmann, wireless operator *Lieutenant Fritz Dettmann, war correspondent *Major Roberto Count Vimercati-San Severino, desert expert of the Italian Army and pilot of the ''Savoia'' The small group flew to a remote natural airstrip in southern Libya, called ''Campo Uno'', discovered by Roberto Count Vimercati-San Severino in 1935 when he landed there during a safari. He later had surveyed and marked out the site after discovering it, but it lacked any facilities. For the purpose of supplies, the small group used the ''Savoia'' as their supply base.〔Carell, p. 117〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sonderkommando Blaich」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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