大象传媒

Mailly le Camp Operation May the 3rd 1944.
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We were fairly new flying crew members of 166 Squadron Kirmington having completed our first operation on the 18th of April 1944 to Rouen. A trip that must have been an uneventful operation, as I am completely at a loss to remember anything about it. Karlsruhe was our second operation on 24th of April 1944, this one I remember very well. When the call came for briefing I was standing in the doorway of our Nissen hut, when a fellow from another crew stood up at the end of his bed and calmly announced that a crew from this hut was 鈥済oing for a Burton tonight鈥�. I gazed at him in astonishment when he confidently said, 鈥� it鈥檚 ok mate, it won鈥檛 be you鈥�. We duly took off, the whole trip being fairly uneventful for us, We returned to our beds only to be awoken at 5-30 in the morning, the door opened and in came the Service Police to pick up the other crew鈥檚 personal belongings.
A few days leave followed before we were detailed for an operation against Mailly le Camp, the night of which I clearly remember. I was detailed to do an 鈥� air test鈥� for a Wireless Operator who was late back off leave, 鈥淚 hated flying with a crew other than my own鈥�, how ever I did it and briefing time came. There was a model of the Mailly le Camp area for us to study, and our squadron鈥檚 task was to bomb the ablution block. All high explosives were to be used. The Commanding Officer said 鈥渋t will be a piece of cake chaps, just like falling off a log, tonight there will be no night fighters, very little ack鈥� ack鈥�, just go in and wipe it off the map and come home鈥�. We were to bomb from 8,000 feet. On reaching the assembly point, we were to circle the avenue of flames, and await the instructions from the Master Bomber, who would then give the go ahead to head for the target and bomb precisely on the markers. It all sounded so simple, and we were in such good spirits, This was to be a real military target, manned mainly by the Panzer Regiments.
I met the Wireless Operator for whom I had air tested, and let him know that I was not very pleased with him. He replied by saying that he鈥檇 had a rotten leave, he had fallen out with his girl friend, didn鈥檛 like tonight鈥檚 operation as it was out of 鈥淕ee鈥� range, and without it his Navigator was useless. His final words were 鈥渢his operation we鈥檝e had it鈥�. We had a good laugh and parted. He was lost with the rest of the crew that night.
We arrived over Mailly le Camp on time and flares almost like daylight lighted the whole scene. A bright moon shone, the assembly point marked. and the flares to the target were very prominent. The radio some how was being jammed, and it was very difficult to pick up instructions from the Master Bomber. My job over the target was to stand in the Astro-dome to report sightings of aircraft being hit, and if possible record the position according to a clock dial.
Suddenly I saw a burst of green tracer fire flash across the sky, then another and so it went on and there were aircraft going down in all directions. I was busy giving Nick our Navigator the sightings, and after a few minutes he called to me to say, 鈥渄on鈥檛 give me any more I am too busy鈥� In that time I had counted 17 aircraft shot down. It was very hectic, and the Master Bomber was being constantly called by a number of anxious crews who were told in no uncertain terms by a booming Canadian voice to, 鈥淧ipe Down鈥�. After this a dead silence pervaded the airwaves, then we were given the orders by the Master Bomber to go in and bomb. This we did, and thankfully we were lucky to come out without a scratch.
Our station lost four that night, but later we found that one aircraft had made it to Mildenhall. I don鈥檛 remember the exact number of aircraft that we lost in that operation, but of about 350 bombers that took part, 43 were lost. It was a night that I shall never forget, and I think that a lot of boys were turned into men on that raid. I remember at the de-briefing, the Commanding Officer came over to a group of crewmembers demanding to know what had gone wrong. A Flight Sergeant who was on his third tour of operations, in the region of 90 operations including trips to Berlin turned round on the Commanding Officer and told him to (expletive deleted) off. And don鈥檛 you talk to me about falling off a log, give me Berlin any time鈥�. The Commanding Officer quickly disappeared. The Flight Sergeant was a pilot that had refused a commission, as he wanted to be with his own crew at all times and was very keen on operations. I have always wondered if he survived the war.
I have returned to Mailly le Camp on two occasions, to attend the remembrance ceremony held by the French. Each time the memories return to me of that eventful night. They are vividly impressed on my mind, and I often wonder if the sacrifices made at that time were really justified. Unknown to Bomber Command, two nights before we arrived over Mailly le Camp, four German Night Fighter Squadrons had been moved to airfields nearby. No wonder there were casualties on such a large scale.

Ron Storey.
Ex 166 Squadron
RAF Kirmington. April to July 1944.

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