I-Item, the Imp Rides Again, of 166 Squadron, Kirmington, July 23, 1944 at which time it had 28 operations to its credit. (J. F. Clark)
Shot down: three of this 103 Squadron Lancaster died when their Lancaster was shot down by a night fighter over eastern France en route to Stuttgart, July 28, 1944. They are (left to right), rear gunner Keith Kibbey (killed), mid-upper Bert Cutting, navigator Cyril Shaw, pilot Bob Armstrong (killed), bomb aimer Terry Holland, flight engineer Malcolm McCrea and the wireless operator Doug Thomas (killed). The four survivors all evaded capture. (F.S. Cutting)
Lancasters at dispersal, North Killingholme, summer 1944. (Roland Hardy)
Another communications target hit by 1 Group on the night of D-Day was Vire, south of the American beach-heads, at a cost of three 1 Group Lancasters and the lives of 15 men. Two complete crews were lost, those of Canadian F/Lt Bill Way from 103 and P/O Fred Knight, a 21-year-old Australian who had already won a DSO with 460 Squadron. The third casualty was the Lancaster of F/O George Bain of 576 Squadron. It was shot down by a night fighter and five of the crew managed to make it to the Allied lines, including the Canadian pilot who had suffered a broken leg while parachuting to safety. His navigator was captured by the Germans but the rear gunner, Sgt Gordon Humphreys, was killed in the attack.
Two other targets were to dominate briefings at bomber airfields throughout Eastern England that summer, oil refineries and storage facilities and V1 and V2 launch and storage sites. The V1s in particular were to become a real menace to Southern England during 1944 and thousands of sorties were to be flown against launch sites, mainly in the Pas de Calais region, in the coming weeks. The first of the oil targets to be hit was the Nordstern synthetic oil plant at Wanne-Eickel, near Gelsenkirchen on the night of June 12-13 by Lancasters of 1 and 3 Groups. Seventeen aircraft were lost including 10 from 1 Group. The Poles at Faldingworth suffered their worst Lancaster losses so far when three aircraft were shot down, two by flak, with the loss of 19 lives. One of the men who survived was picked up in the North Sea by a Dutch fishing vessel and handed over to the Germans while the second briefly evaded escape only to be shot once he had been captured. This raid also cost 166 Squadron three Lancasters and there were no survivors from the crews of P/Os John Kirton, Bill Grant and Trevor Boyce.
The following day marked another change for 1 Group when they took part in a daylight attack on E-boat pens and dock installations at Le Havre. Escorted by a large number of Spitfires, the Lancasters devastated the docks area and ended the threat to the invasion fleet from the light naval vessels based there. 1 Group crews returning from the attack also reported seeing the huge explosions caused by the 12,000lb Tallboy bombs dropped by Lancasters from 5 Group’s 617 Squadron. Just one aircraft was lost from the raid, a Lancaster from 3 Group.
1 Group was to escape relatively lightly from what turned out to be a disastrous attack on the synthetic oil plant at Sterkrade on the outskirts of Oberhausen. The raid involved Lancasters and Halifaxes from 1, 4 and 6 Groups and, unfortunately, the route chosen passed close by a Luftwaffe night fighter beacon. Thirty-one bombers were lost, the majority to fighters. It was the Halifax squadrons of 4 Group which suffered the bulk of the casualties but seven of the 10 Lancasters lost were from 1 Group, including three from North Killingholme. One full 550 Squadron crew survived as PoWs but the other two both crashed in Holland. One was flown by S/Ldr Gavin Smith DFC, a 22-year-old flight commander, and his experienced crew included navigator F/O John Berg DFC, wireless operator, F/Sgt Ralph Townsend, who had won a DFM with 460 Squadron in 1943, and the squadron’s gunnery leader, F/O St John Tizard. The second crew lost was a multinational affair, including pilot F/O Don Neilson who, although nominally in the Royal Canadian Air Force, hailed from Brazil, two Canadians and New Zealander F/Lt Alex McDonald DFC, the wireless operator. Three aircraft were also lost from Elsham, two from 576 and a third from 103, which is believed to have crashed in the Isjelmeer. Only two men survived from the three aircraft. 101 also lost a Lancaster while a second crashed at Woodbridge with battle damage, the crew escaping injury. A few nights later 101 lost two more ABC Lancasters supporting a raid on another oil target at Wesseling, near Cologne.
Volkel airfield near Uden in Holland, pictured from P/O Twynam’s 101 Squadron Lancaster during a concerted attack on German night-fighter airfields in August 1944 as Bomber Command prepared to resume attacks on Germany. (Vic Redfern)
Maximum bombs loads were the order of the day, particularly at North Killingholme where 550 Squadron prided itself on carrying a heavier weight of bombs than other squadrons. This led to some unusual practices, including those of F/Lt Jack Shaw, a pilot with the squadron remembered by armourer Bill Marshall. Shaw would insist on starting his take off with his tail wheel on the grass at one end of the runway and then trying to delay his lift off until the last minute before climbing at a 45-degree angle. As one daylight attack got under way it was clear his landing gear had been damaged on take off as it would not retract. Shaw was ordered to land as the replacement aircraft was ready to leave. But he ignored the instruction and flew all the way to France and back with his wheels down, even drawing the attention of other Lancasters in the bomber stream. On another occasion his aircraft was seen by the legendary fighter pilot Johnny Johnson to dive on a German military column and strafe it. Not satisfied, F/Lt Shaw then made another pass over the column before heading back to Lincolnshire.
The pace of attacks grew as the month wore on. Railway targets and rocket sites were hit repeatedly and three Lancasters were lost from Wickenby in raids on Rheims and Saintes. On the first 20-year-old Sgt Bob Woolley and his crew, who had recently joined the squadron, are believed to have been hit by flak and all were killed. On the second raid another Lancaster from 12 Squadron was again hit by anti-aircraft fire but the crew successfully ditched in the Channel where they were quickly rescued. The second Lancaster from the squadron, flown by Canadian F/O Frank Jeffrey, simply disappeared. Contact was lost soon after the raid finished and nothing more was heard from the crew.
A-Able’s air and ground crew pictured on top of their 166 Squadron Lancaster at Kirmington. The aircrew at the rear are (left to right) F/O Don Fenn, bomb aimer, Sgt Jim Garutt, wireless operation, F/O Bill Kuyser, pilot, Sgt Trevor Wall, navigator, Sgt Doug Greenacre and Sgt Frank Attwood, gunners, and flight engineer Sgt Mick Hicks. (Doug Greenacre)
Bob Sarvis, who flew with 576 Squadron with his USAAF rank of flight officer, and five of his crew at Elsham in the summer of 1944. He was an American who was brought up in Tennessee and was a student at Tennessee Middle State University. He later joined the Royal Canadian Air Force but later transferred to the US Air Force but was allowed to remain with the squadron to complete his tour of operations. He had almost achieved this when, at the end of July 1944, his Lancaster was damaged during a raid on Stuttgart. He headed back to the Allied beach-head only for his aircraft to be shot down by American flak gunners. Six of the crew bailed out but Sarvis didn’t make it, his aircraft crashing near Carentan. (Elsham Wolds Association)
More and more daylight raids were being undertaken, particularly against flying bomb sites. The Luftwaffe posed little threat on these thanks to the complete air supremacy enjoyed by the Allies, but flak gunners could still take their toll, as one 300 Squadron crews found to their cost. They were hit soon after bombing a site in Belgium and made it back to within a few miles of Faldingworth before their Lancaster crashed, killing all on board. A 12 Squadron Lancaster was hit in an attack on a V1 site at Siracourt, four of the crew managing to bail out before the Lancaster plunged out of control, killing the remaining three, including the pilot, P/O Ken Underwood. Flak wasn’t the only problem. In an attack on a flying bomb site at Mimoyecques, F/O Strath’s 166 Squadron Lancaster was struck by two 1,000lb bombs from another Lancaster, one tearing the port outer engine out of its mountings and the second leaving a five feet-wide hole in the fuselage, the aircraft managed to make it back to Woodbridge. Despite the damage, it
was later repaired and flew again as a conversion unit aircraft at Lindholme. That raid also saw a mid-upper gunner on the same squadron, Sgt Stan Parrish, record his 122nd operation, a record for anyone who served in 1 Group. He had flown 21 operations in P/O Jim Dunlop’s crew having already completed 101 on Wellingtons in the Middle East. He was taken off operations and became an instructor. However, when Dunlop’s 166 Squadron crew prepared for their 30th and final operation to the rocket site at Wizernes on July 20, Stan Parrish was back at Kirmington to wish them well, only to stow away on the aircraft, flying without a helmet and parachute, to complete an unofficial 123rd operation.
F/O Bill Way, a Canadian pilot who was killed on the night of June 6/7, 1944 over the Normandy beach head. Note Elsham’s remaining J-type hangar in the background. (Elsham Wolds Association)
An evocative picture from Wickenby as crews lounge on the grass outside flying control in readiness for a daylight operation. Pictured also is one of the station’s Hillman pickups. (Wickenby Archive).
When the bombers operated by night they still found the night fighters waiting for them. A 1 Group attack on the rail junction at Vierzon, south of Orleans, at the end of June cost its squadrons 14 aircraft and the lives of 86 airmen. Worst hit were 101 and 625 Squadrons, which each lost three aircraft although six of the men on board managed to survive and later returned to Allied lines, only one of them from 101 Squadron, P/O Harry Taylor. Wickenby was the airfield worst hit with four failing to return. There were no survivors from the 12 Squadron crews of P/Os Ormond Pollard and Leonard Honor while three survived from 626 Squadron crews of P/Os Bill Pocock RCAF and Archie Orr. The Special Duties Flight at Binbrook also lost the experienced crew of P/O Wilf Knowles.
During July Bomber Command was being called upon more and more to act as the heavy artillery for the ground campaign, which was being held up by stubborn resistance, especially around Caen. These operations called for the greatest accuracy which, although there were some exceptions leading to Allied forces being hit, was achieved. They also came at a price, one attack on July 7 costing 1 Group three aircraft. S/Ldr Ralph Weston’s 166 Squadron aircraft was brought down by flak over German lines, killing all on board, while another from 550 crash-landed at Manston and the third from 626 Squadron ditched, five of the crew being rescued. It is believed both gunners had been killed when the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire.
The rail junction at Revigny, which was of vital importance to the Germans, was to be attacked three times in July at great cost of Bomber Command. The first two raids, both of which were carried out by 1 Group, had to be abandoned because of poor weather conditions but not before 1 Group lost 16 aircraft with another two crashing on return. What made matters worse that many of the aircraft did not even get the opportunity to drop their bombs.
The first attack on the night of July 12-13 was particularly costly for the 13 Base Squadrons. 103 lost three in the raid with only the wireless operator in P/O John Harrison’s crew, F/Sgt Greenwood, surviving. The crew of a fourth aircraft bailed out over the East Yorkshire coast as their aircraft ran out of fuel. 576 Squadron, which shared Elsham with 103, lost one Lancaster, P/O Hart’s aircraft crashing in France after straying off course and colliding with a 5 Group Lancaster engaged on another operation. Only the two gunners survived. 166 at Kirmington lost four although, remarkably 11 of those on board escaped back to Britain. Most of them were picked up either by the Resistance or by SOE or SAS members. Three were arrested by the pro-German Milice but managed to escape and made it back to Allied lines. Among the evaders was P/O Dudley Gibbons, who’s exploding Lancaster had made such a mess of Kirmington’s main runway earlier in the year. 13 Base’s third squadron, 550, lost two aircraft on the raid while a third crashed out of fuel in Suffolk after the crew bailed out. Although this attack was not a deep penetration raid some crews spent over nine hours in the air as they ‘stooged around’ waiting for the visibility to improve over the target and many of those which returned reported they were very low on fuel.
12 Squadron’s Minnie the Moocher pictured over a heavily bombed French target, 1944 (Wickenby Archive)
Two nights later 1 Group was sent back to Revigny but once again the attack had to be abandoned because the target could not be properly identified. Yet again the Lancasters were forced to orbit the target to await instructions and the night fighters struck once more. One of the first casualties was a Lancaster from 550 Squadron flown by their CO, W/Cmdr Patrick Connolly, who had only joined the squadron in May and was flying his sixth operation from North Killingholme. He died alongside his crew, which included 550’s gunnery leader, F/Lt Ken Fuller DFC. This was one of six 1 Group aircraft lost with once again Lancasters from 13 Base being hit particularly badly. 103 Squadron lost two and there were further losses from 550, 576 and 166. One aircraft from Elsham which did make it back was the veteran ED888, Mike-Squared, now flying with 576 Squadron. It had first flown with 103 back on May 4, 1943 and the second Revigny operation was its 99th. It was being flown by Scotsman P/O Jimmy Griffiths and crew who were on their 30th and final operation and their 27th in this particular aircraft. As they were circling the target the gunners spotted a Ju88 illuminated by the glow of its Lancaster victim from 156 (PFF) Squadron and immediately opened fire. The night fighter turned on its back and went down in flames, exploding as it hit the ground. It was credited to the rear gunner, Sgt ‘Taffy’ Langmead, his second confirmed ‘kill’ in Mike-Squared.
One for the album: LACW J. Clark poses in front of a Wickenby Lancaster, summer 1944. (Wickenby Archive)
When this particular crew had arrived at 576 Squadron they flew in ED888, which was by then the oldest aircraft on the squadron and one which other crews shunned in favour of newer Lancasters. But, after baling out of one new aircraft during an air test, they went back to Mike-Squared and it saw them safely through to the end of their tour. Flying with Griffiths’ crew that night was P/O Jim Bell who went along for experience. He then took his own crew to the V1 site at Wizernes a few days later for Mike-Squared’s 100th operation and they flew the aircraft until their tour ended in a daylight attack on Duisberg in October. Revigny was to be attacked a third time, this time by 5 Group, and they were to lose 24 Lancasters but did destroy the target area.
Bravery and good fortune often go hand in hand and nowhere was that more so than in the early morning of July 18 over Normandy and the English Channel. A huge force of RAF bombers, 667 Lancasters and 260 Halifaxes, dropped over 5,000 tons of bombs from around 8,000ft on five fortified positions around Caen. American bombers added another 1,800 tons of bombs in an operation to help the British break-out from this French city. There was little opposition and only five Halifaxes were shot down. Several other aircraft were hit and damaged, including a Lancaster from 300 Squadron at Faldingworth and it was to lead to one of the most remarkable escapes for any Allied airman.
The Lancaster of F/Sgt Stepian was on its bomb run when it was hit by at least one 88mm shell, which damaged the bomb release mechanism and the rear turret. The shell exploded just as rear gunner F/Sgt Zentar was swinging his turret, the blast forcing the turret beyond its normal limits, blowing open the steel doors behind the gunner and sucking F/Sgt Zentar out. He was only stopped from falling clear of the aircraft by his left foot, which became trapped in the doorway. The plight of the unfortunate rear gunner was quickly spotted and the flight engineer, Sgt Pialucha, and the mid-upper gunner, F/Sgt Derewienko, went to his assistance. They tried unsuccessfully to pull him back into the aircraft but, as they tried, F/Sgt Zentar’s foot began to slip from his shoe as the lace snapped. F/Sgt Derewienko grabbed the gunner’s trousers but these, too, began to tear.
With this F/Sgt Pialucha decided there was only one way of ensuring the tail gunner did not fall to his death. Amazingly, he climbed out of the damaged turret into the aircraft’s slipstream and, holding on with one hand, managed to loop a length of rope around F/Sgt Zentar’s body as they flew over the Channel. The rope was tied to
the seat in the rear turret and F/Sgt Pialucha climbed back inside the Lancaster. Then, with other crew members keeping a watch on the rear gunner, who was still hanging upside down from his turret but now secured, he went back to the front of the aircraft to help the pilot get the damaged aircraft back to England. They still had a full bomb load on board but were given permission to land at the fighter airfield at Tangmere where F/Sgt Zentar, who had to swing from side to side to prevent hitting his head on the runway, was finally rescued. He was bleeding from his mouth and ears after being inverted for so long in the slipstream of the aircraft but was otherwise unhurt.
The Rose turret, twin .5 guns and much better vision for the rear gunner. (Dick Preston)
The production line for Rose turrets in Rose Brothers factory in Gainsborough. Before the war this production line made tea packaging equipment. (Dick Preston)
F/Sgt Pialucha was immediately awarded a Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for what was, in any circumstances, an outstanding act of bravery in which he undoubtedly saved the life of the rear gunner. But, like so many others, the brave flight engineer was not to live long enough to receive his award. Three days after news that a CGM had been approved, he was killed while flying on operation early in September 1944 on behalf of the Special Operations Executive.
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