It was a similar story at other 1 Group airfields. At Waltham the King’s Head public house, which was not far from the station’s main gate, was put out of bounds while work went on round the clock to get 22 Wellingtons prepared for the raid. At Binbrook 12 Squadron managed even more, a grand total of 28, the highest of any squadron in Bomber Command, plus three Whitleys of the station’s 1481 Bomber and Gunnery Flight. The Poles at Hemswell and Lindholme were joined by crews from 18 OTU at Bramcote, the Poles’ own training unit.
At briefings, crews were given detailed instructions of routes, turning points and the need for discipline in the bomber stream and, in particular, over the target itself. A personal message from ‘Bomber’ Harris was also read out to all crews in which he promised them the opportunity ‘to strike a blow at the enemy which will…resound throughout the world.’ He urged them to press home their attack with determination and resolution and added: ‘Let him have it – right on the chin!’ It was a message which went down well as crews realised that a new stage had been reached in the bomber war.
The raid itself was led by Gee-equipped Stirlings and Wellingtons of 3 Group with those 1 Group aircraft which had been modified to take Gee close behind. The attack itself was split into three waves, all the aircraft being scheduled to ‘go through’ the target in just 90 minutes. Cologne had been selected as the target primarily because it was expected to be cloud free, thus dramatically lessening the chance of mid-air collisions and none were reported. Of the aircraft which took off, many were to return early because of mechanical defects, more were shot down en route and others were forced back by battle damage. A total of 898 aircraft claimed to have bombed one of three aiming points in the city, although this was later revised down to 868, so the actual figure of 1,000 was not achieved, but that mattered little in the post-raid euphoria. ‘A Thousand Bombers!’ screamed the headlines the next day, and that was what really mattered. The raid itself was a great success for Bomber Command. The centre of Cologne was badly damaged, mainly by fire with two-thirds of the 1,455 tons of bombs dropped being incendiaries. That more damage on the scale of later raids on Hamburg and Dresden was not inflicted owed more to the modern street layout of Cologne than anything else. Almost 500 people died while thousands more were injured or bombed out of their houses.
For the RAF, too, it was a costly night, 41 aircraft failing to return. 12 Squadron at Binbrook suffered the highest losses in Bomber Command, three of its aircraft falling to flak and night fighters over Holland and Germany while a fourth blew up as it attempted an emergency landing in Norfolk. Two ‘fresher’ crews of their first operation were killed flying from Waltham while a 150 Squadron crew made it back only for their aircraft to crash near Faldingworth, killing all on board. Elsham lost a single Wellington but four of the 22 OTU aircraft failed to return with only one survivor from the 20 men on board. Several of those who died in those aircraft were highly experienced instructor including five men with DFMs, one with a DFC and a seventh, F/Lt Alwyn Hamman who had a DFC and Bar. There was a further tragedy in store for Elsham the following day. Sgt Les Flowers and his crew had been diverted to the new airfield at nearby Kirmington, which was still under construction, when they returned from Cologne. Later in the day they took off for the five-mile flight back to Elsham only for the port engine to fail, the Wellington crashing close to the airfield perimeter. Sgt Flowers died along with three other members of his crew and was later buried in Brigg cemetery. Although the losses were comparatively heavy they were nowhere near the 100 bombers Churchill thought the RAF could lose and proved that good though the German defences were, they could be overwhelmed.
Many senior officers flew with 1 Group that night. At Elsham the indefatigable station CO Hugh Constantine was at the controls of one of the first Wellingtons to take off. Another station commander taking part was G/Capt Clayton Boyce at Binbrook (Boyce later became second in command of the Pathfinder force and was promoted to air vice marshal after the war). At Waltham the squadron CO W/Cmdr Don Simmons flew as a second pilot.
Some of those who didn’t make it back. RAF prisoners at camp L3 during the summer of 1942 or 1943. The chalked notice on the hut tells us it is Officers versus NCOs in the Inter-Command Sports. (Greg Brett)
Handley Rogers, who had returned to Binbrook following his injuries in January 1941 (see Enter the Wellington), remembered the squadron also supplied three Wellingtons manned by scratch crews from OTUs. He was still medically unfit because of his injuries and was aerodrome control pilot that night. He had laid out the flare path on the (still grass) runway, watched as the aircraft left and remained at his post until they returned. One aircraft, a Whitley, was unaccounted for and he had just finished taking in the paraffin-filleds ‘goose-neck’ flares when he heard that the missing aircraft arrived on reduced power after engine problems which developed shortly after take-off. The pilot, Sgt Mead, had flown all the way to Cologne and back, bombing completely on his own.
The Cologne raid marked the biggest turning point of the bomber war and the all-out assault on Germany’s industrial heartland. The bomber stream became the norm and, while the actual scale of that night’s attack would not be surpassed until the war was in its final stages, the weight of that assault would expand dramatically as bigger and better aircraft came into the equation, particularly the Lancaster, of which just a handful flew on the night of May 30-31. The Germans, however, were quick learners and they were to adapt their defensive tactics to handle the bomber streams to the extent than losses on the Cologne scale were to be surpassed night after night.
With the 1,000-force still largely intact, a second assault was launched the following night, although this time only 956 aircraft were sent to Essen, a more difficult target in the heartland of the Ruhr and one which proved to be covered in haze. This time the bombing was scattered and little damage was caused, although the attackers lost another 31 aircraft. Among them was a 305 Squadron Wellington from Lindholme flown by the squadron CO W/Cmdr Hirzbandt, a former test pilot who had already won a DFC and been awarded an OBE. His second pilot was F/O Wieliczko who had been awarded the George Medal the previous year for rescuing a trapped tail gunner from a burning Wellington at 18 OTU, a Polish training unit which also took part in the Essen raid, one of its aircraft failing to return to Hemswell. Over at Breighton 460 lost two Wellingtons that night while another aircraft from 142 Squadron was lost when it turned back from the raid only to crash near Waltham, killing five of those on board.
Targets in the Ruhr and German ports were the main targets that month as Bomber Command returned to its ‘bread and butter’ attacks of around 200 aircraft at a time. But the same tactics were deployed, with the leading aircraft dropping flares to light the way for the main force. The Polish squadrons in 1 Group were to suffer particularly badly during this period. 300 Squadron, now flying from Ingham, lost its first aircraft from its new home in an attack on Bremen, although the crew were picked up by an air sea rescue launch after spending six hours in a dinghy off the Norfolk coast. Not so fortunate was the CO at Lindholme, G/Capt Stanislaw Skarzynski, who flew as second pilot in an attack on the same target at the end of the month. Four of the crew managed to escape and were picked up by the Royal Navy but the body of G/Capt Skarynski, who was 43 and a famous pre-war aviator in his native Poland, was later washed up on the Dutch island of Terschelling, where he was buried. This was to be the last operational loss from Lindholme, 305 moving to Hemswell while the South Yorkshire airfield had new runways laid in readiness for its new training role within 1 Group.
Despite the advent of new tactics casualties were rising amongst the 1 Group bomber crews. 460 at Breighton was amongst the worst affected, losing two aircraft at a time on eight occasions that summer and 23 in total before mid-September. One of those killed was S/Ldr Gilbert’s replacement, S/Ldr John Leighton. At Waltham two flights from 142 Squadron were temporarily detached to Thruxton in an unsuccessful experiment to convert Wellingtons for paratroop use. Once they re
turned losses mounted as attacks on the Ruhr continued. Three aircraft failed to return from a series of attacks on Duisburg and three in a single night over Hamburg. 12 Squadron at Binbrook lost two in the same attack along with two Wellingtons the previous night which failed to make it back from Duisburg. A third turned back early with engine problems and crash-landed at the Coastal Command airfield at North Cotes, south of Cleethorpes. 150 at Snaith fared little better, losing 21 Wellingtons during the summer of 1942, including three in an attack on Bremen and another in a rare daylight raid. This involved just 10 aircraft which attempted to attack Essen at low level, the raid being aborted but not before the 150 Squadron Wellington was shot down by a flak ship off the Dutch coast, only the pilot surviving. Among 150’s casualties that summer was one of its flight commanders, S/Ldr Lionel Cohen, whose Wellington crashed near Calais during an attack on Saarbrucken.
One man who was to see things at first hand that summer was Arthur Johnson, who flew as a gunner on P/O Ron Brooks’ crew with 142 Squadron at Waltham. He had already served on Wellingtons in the Middle East but, on their return to the UK, the crew was broken up and he was eventually posted to Binbrook and then on to Waltham. He was pleasantly surprised by conditions there but when he entered his new quarters in a small hut just off Cheapside he was shocked to see orderlies clearing out the lockers of its last occupants, a crew missing from the previous night’s operations. On their third operation to Frankfurt he saw a Wellington flying astern of their aircraft when there was suddenly a huge flash and he watched as debris rained down. The bomber, probably from 150 Squadron at Snaith, had taken a direct hit in its bomb bay. Arthur Johnson and his crew were to fly 12 operations from Waltham before returning to the Middle East with 142 Squadron later in 1942.
The summer was to see the peak of Wellington operations in 1 Group. A new era was about to begin and it would bring with it the first of the ‘heavies’, new squadrons and new airfields.
Chapter 6
Enter the Heavies
New Aircraft, New Squadrons, New Airfields:
Autumn – Winter 1942
It was only a week after the 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne that the introduction of four-engined aircraft to 1 Group began but it would be the end of the year before they would begin to make a meaningful contribution.
The change came amidst a re-organisation of 1 Group with new squadrons and several new airfields opening during the autumn as part of the huge expansion of Bomber Command.
In late September 101 Squadron was told to prepare for a move north from its base at Stradishall in Suffolk. It was ‘to rearm with the Avro Lancaster’ within 1 Group, news that was welcomed by 101 and by 1 Group alike. 101 Squadron had flown Blenheims in 2 Group before moving to Stradishall where it had operated Wellingtons as part of 3 Group. In its monthly summary, 1 Group announced the switch as ‘excellent news’ as the squadron had a ‘fine record’. Now 101 was about to make a bit of history by becoming the first squadron in 1 Group to operate Lancasters.
R/T in the control tower, a vital part of every bomber airfield. Pictured is Jessie Clarke, on the station staff at Wickenby. (Wickenby Archive)
F/Sgt Ken Berry with some of his Lancaster crew, Elsham early 1943. This crew had flown Halifaxes with 103 before the squadron re-equipped with Lancasters. He was awarded a DFM and returned to the squadron in 1944 only to be killed almost immediately. (Elsham Wolds Association)
A 460 Squadron Lancaster pictured shortly before the move to Binbrook. (D. Woods)
The way ahead. The entry of the Lancaster was to change the whole bomber war. (Author’s collection)
460 Squadron’s G-George pictured with Australian air crew at Binbrook. It first flew operationally from Breighton on December 6, 1942 and went on to complete 90 operations with
the squadron. (Author’s collection) A 460 Squadron Lancaster on an air test during the squadron’s time at Breighton. (Author’s collection)
Waltham May 1943 and Joe Clark and his crew are pictured with a brand new 100 Squadron Lancaster. (Author’s collection)
Its new home was Holme-on-Spalding Moor in Yorkshire. The airfield had opened the previous year and had been used briefly by the Australians of 458 Squadron before it was transferred to the Middle East. 101 was to remain in Yorkshire until the following summer, at which point the airfield was allocated to 4 Group.
Two days after their arrival 10 of the squadron’s Wellington crews were sent to 5 Group’s 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit at Wigsley in Nottinghamshire to begin Lancaster training. There they were joined by a complement of flight engineers and mid-upper gunners to make up full Lancaster crews. The squadron received its first two Lancasters at Holme-on-Spalding Moor on October 11, a week before the men returned from Wigsley. 101’s Wellington operations ceased at the end of October, by which time the squadron had 14 Lancasters and the remainder of its aircrew about to complete conversion onto the new bomber.
101’s move to Yorkshire coincided with the opening 50 miles or so further south of another new airfield, Wickenby, mid-way between Market Rasen and Lincoln, 12 Squadron moving in from Binbrook on October 25. It, too, was under orders to begin re-equipping with Lancasters. The following day Binbrook, 1 Group’s first airfield in North Lincolnshire, was officially declared unserviceable and closed to flying to allow long-overdue work to begin on runway construction.
F/Sgt Leslie Naile of the Royal Australian Air Force and his crew pictured with their 100 Squadron Lancaster at Waltham in May 1943. A month later the aircraft was attacked by a night fighter during a raid on Gelsenkirchen and exploded. Only three bodies were ever recovered. The 27-year-old pilot’s was not amongst them. (Author’s collection)
Cliff Annis and crew at Elsham, 1943. Annis, a Lincolnshire man who ran his own aerial crop spraying business after the war, was later to be shot down, escaping when thrown through the roof of his Lancaster when it exploded. He spent the remainder of the war as a PoW (Elsham Wolds Association)
A third new airfield opened early in October at Kirmington and its first occupants were to be 150 Squadron which moved its Wellingtons and personnel from Snaith into Lincolnshire for the first time, Snaith immediately being transferred to 4 Group where it became the wartime home of 51 Squadron. The third new airfield to come on line that autumn was Blyton where a new squadron, 199, was formed on November 1942, the squadron taking over the relatively-new Wellington IIIs formerly used by 12 Squadron. Blyton had been used occasionally during the summer by B Flight of 18 (Polish) OTU, which was to continue to operate its Wellingtons from there alongside 199 Squadron until February 1943 when the airfield took on a new role as the home of a heavy conversion unit.
Earlier in the year a decision had been taken at Bomber Command HQ at High Wycombe to convert the all-Wellington 1 Group to heavy aircraft. By this stage of the war the first two of the RAF’s triumvirate of four-engined ‘heavies’, the Stirling and the Halifax, were already in squadron service and the third, the Lancaster, was about to make its debut. The Lancaster was a design which had emerged from Roy Chadwick’s drawing board following the enormous problems encountered by 5 Group with the twin-engined Manchester. It proved to be the greatest masterstroke of the bomber war, the Lancaster going on to become the outstanding aircraft of its generation and, eventually, the mainstay of Bomber Command. But much of this was unknown early in 1942 and there were very few Lancasters available anyway. The enormous Stirling had also proved a disappointment with poor performance and a worrying vulnerability. The Halifax, in the meantime, was judged to be better although some of the earlier variants were unforgiving to fly and could be catastrophic in the wrong hands. While the Lancaster was born great, the Halifax was only to achieve its successes later in the war when much-improved variants became available. The Halifax IIs and Vs destined for 1 Group, mainly in a training capacity, did not fall into that category.
103 Squadron at Elsham was first out of the blocks with the Halifax with the formation of the 103 Halifax Conversion Unit on June 7 1942
. In charge was S/Ldr David Holford, still only 21 years old but with an impeccable record as a pilot behind him. He had already completed two tours of operations, had a DSO and DFC and Bar to his credit and, it seemed, a glittering career in the RAF ahead of him. He was to go on to become the youngest wing commander in Bomber Command history only to meet his death in tragic circumstances 18 months later.
Australian rear gunner Sgt Piper pictured at Elsham 1943 (Elsham Wolds Association)
A new 12 Squadron Lancaster at Wickenby draws some admirers. (Wickenby Archive)
At Elsham his two instructors were P/O Potts and W/O Reg Fulbrook and they began work as soon as the first Halifax 11s arrived and by late July 103 was declared operational as a Halifax squadron. Their first operation was scheduled for the night of August 1-2 but the day was marked by an awful incident which underlined the problems with the Halifax 11. That morning 19-year-old pilot Sgt William Bagley took off on a short training flight in one of the Conversion Flight’s aircraft. He had climbed out of Elsham and was returning when both port engines began misfiring and, as the Halifax approached the airfield, it suddenly stalled and spun into the ground. On board with Sgt Bagley were 11 other aircrew from 103 and all were killed instantly when the Halifax crashed just a matter of yards from the airfield boundary. Two days earlier one of the Halifaxes on the squadron’s books had stalled and crashed between Grimsby and Louth, killing Sgt Stewart Stockford and his crew. Sudden stalls were one of the unnerving traits of the Halifax 11 and, no matter how experienced the pilot, they could prove lethal. That is exactly what happened to Reg Fulbrook on September 22, the senior instructor on the Conversion Flight. W/O Fulbrook, at 31 with a DFC to his name and a tour with 103 behind him, was practising three-engined landings when his aircraft suddenly stalled, turned on its back and dived into the ground killing everyone on board.
1 Group Page 8
