1942 & The Lightning Girl
In 1942, Großmann met Ilse Wansky in Lille, France, where she was stationed as an army signals auxiliary. Lille served as a primary logistical and command center, housing both the headquarters of the 16th Flak Division and the Luftwaffe’s Air District Command for Belgium and Northern France (Luftgaukommando Belgien-Nordfrankreich), requiring regular duty travel for Großmann from his battery positions in Belgium. Despite distinct regional and cultural backgrounds—Wansky from Prussian Lower Silesia and Großmann from Swabia—the two formed a lasting partnership.
This period also marked an escalating operational tempo for Großmann’s unit, as anti-aircraft defenses along the Channel coast and Low Countries faced intensified Royal Air Force "Circus" operations—concentrated daylight sweeps by Allied fighters escorting light bomber formations to draw German air defense assets into battle.
By 1942, the Luftwaffe in the West, commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle (Luftflotte 3), had adopted a defensive crouch. The bulk of the fighter strength had been transferred to the Eastern Front or the Mediterranean. What remained were two elite fighter wings, Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" and Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter," and a dense, increasingly sophisticated network of anti-aircraft artillery (Flak). This scarcity of fighter aircraft elevated the importance of the Flak arm - units like Großmann’s became the backbone of the defense. They were not merely passive defenders; in the integrated air defense system created by General Josef Kammhuber (the Kammhuber Line), Flak batteries were mobile, aggressive units that worked in concert with radar and searchlights to deny airspace to the enemy.
On May 26, 1942 the Officers and NCOs of Flak Abt 402 gathered for a group picture in Blankenberge, Belgium. Note the "kill rings" on the 88mm Flak
They changed position from Calais to Brussels on May 28, 1942
Generalfeldmarshall Hugo Sperrle, commander of the Luftwaffe in the West - photo taken by Ernst
The year 1942 started quietly for him as he spent the first two months training others in the operation of the Wurzburg. That quiet was punctuated on January 15th when General Job Odebrecht, soon to be General of the Flakartillerie, was in Ernst’s classroom observing the training of radar operators. After a short leave home to visit family, coinciding with a rare visit from his brother Heiner from the Russian front, Ernst returned to Calais. Upon his return to the front in late February and March, the tempo of the war shifted. The RAF, having recovered from the Battle of Britain and now equipped with the new Spitfire Mk V, stepped up the "Circus offensive."
The British "Circus" strategy was an attritional tactic: send a small number of light bombers (Blenheims or Bostons) to attack a target in France (railway yards, power plants) protected by a massive escort of hundreds of fighters. The bombers were bait. The goal was to force the Luftwaffe fighters (JG 2 and JG 26) to scramble and fight, hoping to wear down the German fighter arm. The Luftwaffe commanders, Sperrle and Galland, realized the bombers were often attacking non-critical targets. They ordered their fighters to engage only under favorable conditions. However, the Flak units could not ignore the incursions. For Ernst and his radar crew, every "Circus" raid was a full combat engagement. They had to track the incoming formations, discriminate between bombers and fighters, and provide firing solutions for the heavy 88mm batteries. April 1942 brought a new location on the beach in Calais. April also brought a promotion to Wachtmeister, the Flak equivalent of the Feldwebel, or Sergeant First Class.
July 12, 1942 during a visit to Kirchheim after his promotion to Wachtmeister
The Shootdown of Sergeant Clubb: A Micro-History
The ability to correlate Großmann’s diaries to real world events shows his habit of capturing events immediately after they happened. The diary entry for April 27, 1942, contains a remarkable piece of specific historical data:
"Spitfire shot down on Calais beach at 1130 pilot’s name was Sgt Clubb."
This entry aligns perfectly with RAF and Luftwaffe records, providing a verified anchor point for the diary's accuracy. It is also accompanied by two photographs Großmann snapped - the remnants of the aircraft and the body of SGT Clubb, parachute deployed.
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The Operation: On April 27, 1942, the RAF launched Circus 142 targeting the German aerodrome and encampments at Camps Forêt de Clairmarais, near St. Omer in the Pas-de-Calais region.
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The Pilot: The pilot was Sergeant Oswald Lindsay Clubb (RAF Service Number 1256362) of No. 111 Squadron. He was flying a Spitfire Mk VB, serial number BL417.
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The Engagement: No. 111 Squadron was providing cover for eight Hurricane bombers. They were "attacked by Focke-Wulf 190s of Jagdgeschwader 26 (Schlageter).
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The Aftermath: Sgt Clubb was killed. His aircraft crashed on the beach near Calais in front Großmann's radar station, and he was there to photograph the aftermath. Sgt. Clubb's body was buried and he rests in the Pihen-lès-Guînes Communal Cemetery, a village located about 10 kilometers south-south-west of Calais. His specific resting place is Row C, Grave 6.
Remnants of Spitfire Mk Vb serial number
AA865 from 313 Squadron
Grave of Sgt. Clubb
source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24182053/oswald_lindsay-clubb#view-photo=155850155
Sgt Walter James Clubb, RAF was killed over Calais on April 27, 1942 as he was covering bombers
Sgt. Oswald Lindsay Clubb
source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24182053/oswald_lindsay-clubb#view-photo=171319948
Meeting in Lille
Ernst at the pool in Lille with Ilse (in uniform) and her friend Marianne on August 26, 1942. On the right Ilse and Marianne stand dressed for work in Lille on November 30, 1942.
In the summer of 1942 a weekend trip to Lille, France amongst the occupation changed his life when he met Ilse Wansky, his future wife. The first photo of them together was taken in August at a pool which became their regular hangout. From there his diaries are dominated with mentions of her.
Ilse was serving as a Nachrichtenhelferin des Heeres (Army Signals Auxiliary). With the lightning bolt emblem on her uniform, she was a "Blitzmädel” (Lightning Girl so named for the lightning bolt worn on their uniforms) working in the German Army HQ in Lille (today a museum). Lille was a nexus of command and control. It housed headquarters for the 16th Flak Division (where Ernst often served) and logistical units supporting the 15th Army. It also served as a nexus in the Nazi security apparatus' coordinated counter-insurgency operations against the French Resistance across the region. The city’s proximity to the English Channel also meant it was heavily integrated into the air defense network.
She had come from Grünberg in Silesia (present day Zielona Góra, Poland), a world away from Ernst's Swabian home. Their courtship is recorded in his diary: swimming dates in Lille, coffee at the "Künstlerheim," and hours of phone calls he made from his radar station while scanning the skies for British bombers. They fell in love in the eye of the storm. While the air war raged overhead—with Ernst tracking the "Einflug nach Deutschland" (flights toward Germany)—they built a private world of letters, phone calls, and brief reunions.
Shadow War
Ernst on the left in Calais
August had him back on duty. The diary provides evidence of the "shadow war" fought behind the front lines by the resistance in northern France and Belgium. On August 1, 1942, he notes: "radar failed - the resistance (Orion)". This explicit attribution of technical failure to sabotage ("the resistance") highlights the vulnerability of the high-tech German air defense grid to low-tech partisan disruption. The Orion Network started operations against the Nazis shortly after France capitulated. Many were sadly captured by the Gestapo, their leader executed in Cologne, ironically one of my Großmann's final duty stations.
The most significant combat event of 1942 he noted was the Allied raid on Dieppe, known as Operation Jubilee.
Diary Entry (Aug 19): 'Tommy lands at Dieppe'
Diary Entry (Aug 22): "Installation of explosive devices!"
Operation Jubilee was a disaster for the Allies (over 3,000 casualties) but a major intelligence event for the Germans. One of the secret objectives of the raid was for a British radar expert, Flight Sergeant Jack Nissenthall, to inspect a German radar at Pourville (near Dieppe) to understand its anti-jamming capabilities. The Germans became paranoid about their radar security immediately after Dieppe. The entry on Aug 22 regarding "Installation of explosive devices" is a direct consequence of this and earlier raids in 1942. Realizing the Allies were targeting their technology, the Luftwaffe ordered all radar sites (like his Würzburg) to be rigged for demolition to prevent capture. Dieppe was also the largest single day of air combat in the war to that date. The RAF lost 106 aircraft; the Luftwaffe lost 48. Großmann’s unit, situated in Calais (approx. 100km east), would have been on maximum alert, engaging the flanks of the massive Allied air armada.
