Losses were high amongst the ABC aircraft. Two were lost in an attack on Hanover, including one with nine men on board, two more over Düsseldorf early in November and four in two raids on Berlin, three of them ABC aircraft. There began to be growing concern among some crews that the Germans were able to lock on to ABC transmissions, although there was no hard evidence of this. The Germans were able to examine the ABC equipment on the Lancaster of P/O Charles McManus, which was shot down over Holland during an attack on Berlin in November but there is nothing to suggest that night fighter tactics were changed as a result of this discovery. That didn’t stop some 101 Squadron crews looking on their special operators as ‘Jonah’s’.
Sometimes the fates were kinder to the special operators than they were to other crew members. Sgt van Geffen’s first crew at Ludford left to join a Pathfinder squadron after his first three operations. He then joined a second crew only for their aircraft to be ruled unserviceable on the morning of an attack on Pforzeim. The spare aircraft was a non-ABC Lancaster and Sgt van Geffen was left behind. The aircraft was one of two from 101 which failed to return.
Two weeks later his pilot was taken ill before an attack on Dessau and he was switched to fly with the stand-by crew, whose own special operator, 19-year-old Sgt Rudy Mahr, another British Jew flying as a Canadian, had been switched to S/Ldr Monty Gibbons’ crew, who were short of a ‘spec op’. Gibbons’ aircraft disappeared without trace. Five days later he volunteered to fly on a daylight raid over Dortmund as a passenger. On their way back the Lancaster developed engine problems and was diverted to the emergency airfield at Carnaby, near Bridlington where they remained for four days until repairs could be carried out. Back at Ludford he learned that a previous regular skipper, S/Ldr Ian Macleod-Selkirk, had asked for Sgt van Heffen to be reassigned to his crew for a daylight attack on Dahlbruch but, because he was still at Carnaby, Sgt Johnny Toy, another 19-year-old special operator, volunteered to take his place. Theirs was the only aircraft lost on the raid.
Harry van Geffen was one of the lucky ones. 101 was to fly 2,477 sorties with ABC from Ludford, losing 171 Lancasters with 1,040 men killed and 178 ending the war as prisoners, one of the highest loss rates in the whole of Bomber Command.
Chapter 11
The Big City
The Assault on Berlin
1943 – 1944
Early on the afternoon of Thursday November 18, 1943 crews at Wickenby crowded into the briefing room. They had been told ops were on again that night after a stand down of almost two weeks and were noticeably quiet as the curtain covering the map of the target was drawn back. Then there was a collective groan. It was Berlin, the ‘Big City’, and the red ribbons stretched tight across the map indicating the route they would have to take meant it was going to be tough. They were to be routed across Holland, passing north of Hanover and then onto the German capital. They would then turn south briefly before heading back across Germany, passing north of Leipzig, south of Cologne and out over Belgium. They were told that this was to give them the advantage of a diversionary raid on Ludwigshafen which would draw off the fighters. At least, that was the plan.
This was to become the opening encounter of what later became known as the Battle of Berlin, a series of 16 heavy raids on the capital between November 18 and the end of March 1944. Some historians suggest three earlier attacks in August and September should be included, but it mattered little to those men at Wickenby on that cold November Thursday. They knew they had a long night ahead of them.
Bomber Command crews were no strangers to Berlin. The city was attacked no fewer than 47 times in 1940 and 1941 although comparatively little damage was done. It was a distant target for the twin-engined Wellingtons, Hampdens and Whitleys then forming the bulk of the bomber inventory. It was only the arrival of the four-engined bombers, initially Stirlings and Halifaxes, which made Berlin more of a viable target. But it was the arrival of the Lancaster, with its superior performance and carrying capacity, that heralded the start of the true assault on Berlin. Air Chief Marshal Harris had been urged throughout the year to launch his attack on the German capital. He needed little encouragement to do this but he knew only too well that he had to conserve his forces until he had sufficient Lancasters to deal what he hoped would be a knock-out blow. In a famous memorandum he sent to Churchill early in November 1943 he wrote: ‘We can wreck Berlin from end to end if the Americans will come in on it. It will cost us between 400 and 500 aircraft. It will cost Germany the war.’ He was wrong. The Americans didn’t come in, Bomber Command’s losses on the 16 attacks amounted to 569 aircraft and the lives of 2,938 airmen. And it didn’t cost Germany the war. Post-war accounts of men who took part speak of their disappointment and frustration that all the sacrifices made by Bomber Command failed to bring a speedy end to the conflict. Berlin was a huge, sprawling target, enormous damage was done and heavy, mainly civilian, casualties inflicted but the city, like London before it, survived to fight another day.
Eric Parker and his 626 Squadron crew with a cookie destined for Berlin. (Wickenby Archive)
1 Group’s contribution to the Battle of Berlin was to be a significant one. Its squadrons flew the second highest number of sorties in Bomber Command, lost the highest number of aircraft and suffered the most casualties. 460 Squadron at Binbrook flew the most sorties of any Bomber Command squadron and suffered the highest losses of any non-Pathfinder squadron. The squadron with the second highest number of sorties was 101 at Ludford, just along the road from Binbrook. And those men in the briefing room at Wickenby were to suffer almost as badly, with more than half their number amongst the missing over the next few months.
The Australians at Binbrook lost five aircraft in the three Berlin attacks in late August and early September, 22 men being killed, nine becoming prisoners and three being interred in Sweden. The latter included F/O Randall and two of the crew from his aircraft which crashed in Denmark on the night of September 3-4 after being hit by flak and then finished off by a night fighter. All seven men got out of the aircraft but it is believed the navigator, F/Sgt Norman Conway, drowned. Two of the crew were picked up by a Swedish ship and another managed to make his way to Sweden where the pilot joined them. 101 Squadron also lost five aircraft but only three of the 35 men on board survived. Two Lancasters were also lost from Elsham.
103 was to lose another couple of Lancasters a few nights later during an attack on Mannheim but this time all 14 men survived and, even more remarkably, half of them escaped captivity.
W/O Bob Cant and his crew had taken off from Elsham shortly after 7.30pm in 103’s S-Sugar on their second operation. They were hit by flak and all bailed out over Luxemburg, landing safely. Cant along with his flight engineer F/Sgt Dicky Dickson and mid-upper gunner Sgt Bill Milburn made it to Switzerland thanks in no small way to the many French people who risked their lives on their behalf. The rear gunner, Sgt Bob Parkinson, and wireless operator Sgt Syd Horton managed to reach Paris where a priest arranged for them to reach the coast, the pair later crossing the Channel in a fishing boat. The bomb aimer, Sgt Denys Teare, met up with members of the French Resistance and, during the next year, took part in a number of operations against the Germans before finally meeting up with invading Allied troops. The only member of the crew not to make it back was the navigator, Sgt Tommy Thomas, who was captured in the Pyrenees in December, virtually within sight of the Spanish border. He was later accused of spying and spent some time in Fresnes prison in Paris before eventually being transferred to a PoW camp. Bob Cant’s crew later discovered they were the most successful evaders of any wartime Bomber Command crew at that stage of the war. The second aircraft lost from Elsham that night was abandoned out of fuel by its crew in the Cherbourg area after becoming lost in bad weather. Six became prisoners, but the seventh, F/Sgt Bawden, also made it back to England.
P/O Ellis, one of the founder members of 625 Squadron, pictured soon after the squadron moved there in the autumn of 1943. His flight engineer, Sgt Mor
timer, is just visible behind him. (625 Squadron Association)
Briefing for Berlin: 626 Squadron aircrew pictured before the Black Thursday attack on Berlin in December 1943. They include – pilot W/O J. Butcher, W/O A.H. Rew, pilot S/Ldr J. Spiller, S/Ldr J.A. Neilson, F/Sgt Jacques (PoW 1944), pilot F/O R. Wellum, F/O Jack Hutchinson (killed Schweinfurt February 24/25, 1944). (Wickenby Archive)
Losses throughout 1 Group were high that September. 166 suffered its first Lancaster losses on the night of September 27-28 when three aircraft failed to make it back from Hanover. One returned early and crashed just outside Caistor, killing W/O Cecil Boone and his crew. A second, flown by W/O Paul Chesterton, crashed in Germany killing all but two of the eight on board, including the squadron signals leader F/Lt Henry McGhie. The third aircraft was shot down by a night fighter with three of the nine men on board being killed. The survivors included a two-man cine unit from the Ministry of Information.
An attack on Hanover on the night of October 8-9 marked the final bombing operation for 300 Squadron in its Wellingtons. They were joined by Wellingtons from 432 Squadron in 4 Group in the attack and all made it home safely. 300 hadn’t quite finished with its Wellingtons. They were used solely for mining operations and the Poles at Ingham were to lose five on these operations before finally being stood down after an operation to St Nazaire on the night of February 20-21, 1944 when F/Sgt Kabacinski and his crew became the last Wellington operational casualties in Bomber Command. By that time a number of 300 Squadron crews had moved to Ludford to train on Lancasters before the squadron’s final move of the war to Faldingworth.
The Poles, who had relished their first opportunity to bomb Berlin back in 1941, felt somewhat left out that autumn as bigger and bigger raids were mounted on German cities while they were tasked to carry out difficult and often dangerous mining operations in aircraft which were so much inferior to the Lancasters equipping other 1 Group squadrons. 300’s squadron historian notes that the crews became ‘browned off’ by these thankless and arduous operations and never lost the hope of doing something ‘useful’ with their talents. On one occasion the squadron received a signal from Bomber Command HQ stressing how valuable their work was, not just in sowing mines, but in providing information. On this particular occasion in October, as they returned from a mining operation off the French coast, 300 crews had spotted a number of enemy ships. Thanks to the information they provided, a surprise attack by 25 E-boats on a British convoy was thwarted, four E-boats sunk and another seven damaged.
626 Squadron, aircrew, armourers and a WAAF enjoying the sunshine at Wickenby later 1943. (Wickenby Archive)
Time for tea: radar mechanics of 626 Squadron take a break when the tea wagon arrives, Wickenby 1944. (Wickenby Archive)
Briefing for Berlin. This pictures dates from December 1943 and shows crews of 460 Squadron at Binbrook. (Laurie Wood)
In November the squadron laid its 2,000th mine, a Bomber Command record. There was a 48-hour pass plus a bottle of spirits for the crew responsible and a message from Air Chief Marshal Harris which read: ‘Heartiest congratulations to the whole personnel of 300 Squadron of laying last night, in good and painstaking fashion, their 2,000th mine. It is a most valuable contribution towards winning the war with Germany and affords further proof of the splendid spirit of co-operation between both our air forces. I am proud to be in command of you!’ It was a message that went down well with the Poles, but not half as well as the news that they would soon get Lancasters, a new airfield and the opportunity to bomb Germany themselves.
The Hanover raid of October 8-9 proved another tough night for 12 Squadron. Three of their aircraft failed to return and one of them was being flown by their new CO, W/Cmdr Bob Norman. He was an Australian who had already flown one tour with 460 Squadron and flew with a new crew from Wickenby on what would be his first and last operation from the airfield. His aircraft, which ironically had been supplied by 460 Squadron under the Base system when a 12 Squadron Lancaster was not available, was shot down over Germany but he survived along with two other members of the crew. There was only one survivor from the other two crews lost that night.
A second attack on Hanover nine days later cost 103 another three aircraft, all 21 crew members being killed. During the same raid two ABC Lancasters were lost from Ludford with just one man of the 16 on board surviving. Two nights later there was another long operation for the 1 Group Lancasters, this time to Leipzig. Among the aircraft lost that night was a Lancaster from 625 Squadron at Kelstern, the first operational loss from the station. It was flown by 20-year-old P/O Bill Cameron, one of three Canadians on board. There were no survivors.
The pilot of a 100 Squadron Lancaster, W/O Claude White, won a Conspicuous Gallantry Medal on the Leipzig operation. Not long after the aircraft had left Waltham the intercom system failed. Then, as they were crossing the Dutch coast, the port outer engine caught fire and the extinguisher built into the engine failed to put out the flames, which were now bright enough to illuminate much of the aircraft. In spite of this, W/O White decided to press on and, despite presenting a target for both fighters and flak, bombed Leipzig and turned for home, with flames still coming from the engine. With few instruments working, the navigator, Sgt Les Dowdell, displayed exceptional skill in plotting a course back to Waltham. Theirs was the last of 100 Squadron’s aircraft to return from the raid, another landing on three engines while a second had landed at Bardney with technical problems. Just as Claude White’s aircraft arrived over Waltham, with flames still visible in the port wing, an SOS was received at the airfield from a 61 Squadron Lancaster which was almost out of fuel. White was asked if he wanted to make an emergency landing but replied that ‘another few minutes wouldn’t make any difference’ and flew round the circuit again. When he finally landed four minutes later, flames threatened to engulf the aircraft but he remained at the controls until the other crew members got out.
His citation concluded: ‘In serious circumstances, this gallant pilot displayed skill, coolness and tenacity, which inspired all.’ Sgt Dowdell was awarded a DFM for the ‘valiant’ support of his captain. Their crew went on to complete their tour at Waltham.
Two nights later and it was Kassel. Forty-three aircraft were lost that night, the highest figure of the autumn campaign. The Germans had changed tactics again and it was paying dividends for them. Thanks to their Window countermeasures, fighters were now freed from the shackles imposed on them by the old ‘box’ system and were now acting independently. Just as single engined fighters had been allowed to ‘freelance’ over the illuminated target areas, ‘tame boar’ twin-engined night fighters were now given their head to follow bomber streams both to and from targets and, with the aid of flares and radar which was able to pick up H2S transmissions, they were to have a devastating effect. The RAF countered this by using Mosquito night fighters equipped with Serrate radar. They were to prove effective but not enough to prevent almost 400 German night fighters wreaking havoc among the bomber streams over the coming weeks and months. Among the losses were another three Lancasters from Elsham, the casualties including another experienced flight commander, S/Ldr Clifford Wood. Two aircraft failed to make it back to Waltham, one being shot down over Germany and the second, flown by P/O Peter Andrews, hit a hillside at North Elkington, near Louth, killing the pilot, mid-upper gunner and bomb aimer. The crew was returning from their 23rd operation with 100 Squadron. An attack on Düsseldorf on the night of November 3-4 saw 18 Bomber Command aircraft lost, five of them from 1 Group. 12 Squadron at Wickenby lost two that night while two ABC Lancasters failed to return to Ludford and 625 Squadron suffered its second loss.
There then followed a two-week break from attacks on German targets for the Lancaster force. There was one long range operation for experienced crews to attack marshalling yards and the entrance to the Mont Ceris railway tunnel at Modane in the French Alps. It was an outstanding success with all aircraft returning safely. In their authoritative Bomber Command War Diaries
Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt record this as an attack by 5 and 8 Group Lancasters alone, but squadron records show that 1 Group was also a participant that night, with aircraft from Elsham, Waltham, Ludford, Binbrook and Wickenby all taking part.
Lancasters ready for bombing up, 460 Squadron Binbrook. (Laurie Wood)
Crews were then given a week-long rest before the first of the 16 winter attacks on Berlin. This came on the night of November 18-19 and it proved to be something of an anti-climax for both sides. The German capital was covered in thick cloud and the 440 Lancasters taking part had to bomb on blind markers. Damage was limited and only nine bombers were lost, one each from 101, 460 and 100 Squadron failing to return, with a second from Waltham crashing when the crew bailed out over Surrey with the aircraft out of fuel. 1 Group was to escape lightly when the second raid took place on November 22-23. Bad weather kept many night fighters on the ground and Berlin was once again covered in cloud. But this time the PFF marking was remarkably accurate as was most of the bombing. A large area of the city was badly damaged in what was later reckoned to be the most effective attack of the war on Berlin. Twenty-six British aircraft were lost, more than half of them Halifaxes and Stirlings which were shortly to be withdrawn from attacks on the German capital. A 101 Squadron Lancaster was also wrecked in an accident while attempting to take off.
At Kirmington Sgt Stan Miller and his crew were on their first operation and bombed successfully through the clouds before turning for home. However, they strayed off course and, losing the protection of Window, were hit by radar-predicted flak, which damaged the port wing and rear turret. They were then picked up by a formation of no fewer than eight Ju88s and, after briefly exchanging fire, dropped into the cloud and made good their escape. Fifteen minutes later Sgt Miller brought the Lancaster up through the overcast only to be attacked again. Once more he dropped into the cloud and this time stayed there until he knew they were safe. Sgt Frank Taylor’s Lancaster was hit by flak over the Dutch coast but pressed on. However, it soon became clear they were not going to make it to Berlin and back so bombed the alternative target, Brunswick, before turning for home and once again were hit by flak over Rotterdam. Another crew on their first operation were lucky to make it back to England after running the gauntlet of flak batteries. Sgt Bill Butler’s aircraft ran into bad weather and arrived over Berlin 10 minutes after the raid finished. They bombed without opposition but were then subjected to a ferocious barrage of anti-aircraft fire. They were fired on again over Hanover and lost their port inner engine only to be hit by more flak as they passed close to Rotterdam. Over the North Sea they lost another engine and sent out an SOS believing they would have to ditch. However, Sgt Butler managed to nurse the aircraft back to land and they made a wheels-up landing at Bradwell Bay in Essex. All three of the 166 Squadron pilots failed to complete their tours, Stan Miller being killed in a crash on returning from Berlin a month later, Bill Butler being killed over Brunswick in January and Frank Taylor becoming a prisoner at the end of March 1944.
1 Group Page 14
