大象传媒

A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DIP IN THE BALTIC
Chapter 2

WEDNESDAY. 16 AUGUST 1944

Bomber Command Operations Summary

STETTIN
A force of 461 Lancasters attacked the port and its industrial area The number of aircraft lost was five.

KIEL
A total of 348 aircraft attacked the port and shipyards (196 Lancasters, 144 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitoes). Three Halifaxes and two Lancasters failed to return.

SUPPORTING OPERATIONS:
庐 Diversionary Sweep over the North Sea (145 aircraft);
庐 Berlin (23 Mosquitoes);
庐 Deelen Airfield (5 Mosquitoes);
庐 Dortmund (3 Mosquitoes);
庐 Kamen (3 Mosquitoes);
庐 Sterkrade (3 Mosquitoes);
庐 Radio Counter-measures sorties (33);
庐 Intruder/Anti-nightfighter patrols (47 Mosquitoes);
庐 Mine laying in the Baltic and Kiel Bay (89);
庐 Mine laying in the River Gironde (4); and
庐 Operation Training Unit sorties (24)).

A total of six aircraft were lost, 3 Halifaxes in Kiel Bay, 2 Lancasters off Swinemunde and a single OTU Wellington. Just under 1,200 sorties were dispatched in a wideranging and geographically dispersed series of operations.

Source: The Bomber Command War Diaries (Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt)

In East Prussia, the Red Army had surrounded a large German Army and evacuation by sea from Konigsberg and thence Stettin, was the only viable means of saving it. Responding to Soviet appeals, Bomber Command attacked Stettin and laid sea mines in the deep water channel between the port and Swinemunde.

WEDNESDAY 16 AUGUST 1944

RAF East Kirkbv

The RAF bomber airfield at East Kirkby in east Lincolnshire, received the usual morning notification by teleprinter that both its squadrons would be operating that night. For sixteen crews, it would be the usual pounding of German cities that became synonymous with Sir Arthur Harris, but for another six crews, the orders were different; they were charged with laying sea mines in the Baltic off the port of Swinemunde.

In some ways a `gardening' sortie came as relief to the aircrew; it was a break from the still highly effective Luftwaffe night-fighters and flak units that resolutely defended the Reich homeland. But gardening was not without its own risks. Low flying over water at night in virtually no moonlight [the New Moon was only two days off] was not a sport to be undertaken lightly, especially where tiredness and any lapse of concentration of the part of the pilot could have fatal consequences. Light coastal flak, ship-mounted weaponry and roaming night-fighters could, and did, both surprise and inflict terrible punishment on the minelayers.

By the time Sgt Crapper joined 57 Squadron, the practice of specialist briefings was in place. All operating and stand-by Flight Engineers would be briefed before an op. by the engineers' leader. Malcolm's first FE briefing came from F/L Clarke who was shot down on the 31st of July. The replacement engineers' leader was F/O Blanchard.

Bomb aimers, navigators, wireless ops. and gunners all had their own specialist briefings by their respective leaders, as did pilots. Final briefings included all crewmembers scheduled to operate or be on stand-by.

"After final briefing we wanted to get to our dispersal as quickly as possible to go through the pre-flight checks," recalled Malcolm. "Stan Scutt was an extremely conscientious pilot who insisted on strict intercom discipline. We had great faith in him and he was very much the gentleman. We took pride in the fact that we were a daylight formation leader.

"There was no obvious apprehension amongst the crew because this would be our thirteenth op. Like virtually every wartime crew, we were superstitious, but there was a strong feeling that `it couldn't happen to us'."

Making their way to the dispersal that was home to Lancaster III, PB384 DX-F, the pre-flight checks proceeded. This was an almost brand new aircraft, the previous DX-F [PD212] having been lost whilst the Scutt crew was on leave. It was in this aircraft that they had flown their first operation. Her flying career totalled only 58 hours.

With ground checks completed, the aircraft fuelled, the sea mines loaded, guns armed and crew provisions stored, engines could be started to check oil pressures, engine temperatures, compressors, hydraulic systems, generators and magnetos (testing for the dreaded 'mag drop' that could be a justification for an early return).

At 21:17, on August 16th 1944, Lancaster PB384 took off from RAF East Kirkby en route for the Baltic Sea off Swinemunde. In her capacious 33 feet-long bomb bay were six Mk 14 sea mines. Her course took her east, out over the famous Clock Tower at Skegness. Malcolm recalls the outward flight as "Low level across the North Sea. It was a dank and misty evening. Not at all pleasant. We kept hitting the slipstreams of aircraft in front of us, but never actually saw one."

He continues: "There were short moments when it was possible to relax amid the noise and vibration of a heavily loaded bomber, after it had clawed its way upward. Comfortable that engine and oil temperatures were OK and all pressures were right. Check the fuel tanks.... fine.

"A crackle on the headphones and the all too brief overture of an intake of breath preceded 'Enemy Coast ahead!' Aaah! The eternal bomb aimer's clich茅! Very soon, we knew, lay The Baltic."

The mining force climbed to altitude before crossing the Danish coast with the Main Force at 20,000 ft. Malcolm describes the next phase of the operation: "We descended to 200 ft over the Baltic and northern Germany. We circled an in-land lake that at our briefing was identified as our holding point whilst the mining area was marked by Pathfinder Lancs of 97 Squadron using flame floats. Light flak was encountered, but we were not hit. Our gunners fired back although they almost certainly knew they weren't going to do much harm but maybe make a few heads duck

(3) 鈥楳ag drop' was phenomenon inherent in the basic design of these early magnetos which both produced the electrical energy to fire the engines spark plugs and distributed the electrical impulses to the correct plugs in the engine's firing cycle. If the magneto produced a reduced sparking voltage to any of the spark plugs, it would produce a smaller spark to ignite the fuel/air mixture in the cylinder, which resulted in incomplete ignition. Over a relatively small period, carbon and/or oil could accumulate on the plug rendering it virtually useless, thereby reducing the efficiency of the engine, ultimately resulting in total failure.

(4) Early returns citing `Mag drop' were in some instances seen as, if not grounds for accusation of LMF, but possibly a precursor to it, particularly if the trouble seemed to repeatedly afflict a specific pilot.

To put the operation into some perspective, it required accurate low level flying over water and precise air-to-air control. The major risk to survival came from the light and medium flak that would ring the obvious harbour and its approaches. Some commentators have drawn a number of comparisons between the Swinemunde mining operation and the famous Dams Raid of May 1943. One went so far as to state that Swinemunde was a most demanding raid, second only to the Dam-busters in terms of the demands made on skill and courage.

"The Master Bomber from 97 [Squadron], WIC Porter radioed on VHF that he had been hit. I clearly remember him saying `Boys - I've been hit - this is it, going in now. Good-bye.' And with that, they were gone. You don't easily forget something like that... One of the deputies called us in and we started our mining run. The light flak intensified and appeared to be coming from all angles. As we flew straight and level at 300 ft we took hits.

"It turned out we were hit, very badly, by light flak from dead ahead. Stan Scutt, called for a bale out as he tried to climb from our 300 ft mining altitude. We knew the aircraft was fatally damaged and we were already on our way out. Our BA [Bomb Aimer] kicked out the hatch under the nose and went through; I followed him. The aircraft was not even at 500 ft. altitude. In those short few seconds since the kite was first hit, she was burning quite fiercely. Without hesitation I yanked the ripcord. Despite my fear, I still had the presence of mind to recognise that counting to ten before pulling the handle was not a good idea. It seemed that I fell out of the burning Lanc. and into the sea in one movement. One crystal clear memory of those few fleeting seconds was seeing the reflection of our aircraft's flames in the sea below as I jumped. Even now I can shut ray eyes and clearly visualise it. Our aircraft evacuation training must have been pretty good - on hitting the water I hit my parachute release button to avoid being dragged under by the rapidly saturating canopy. Only then did I recall that swimming was not one of my strong points.

"Not content with sweeping the water with searchlights, the Germans started machine-gunning what they thought were aircrew struggling in the water. Every time a searchlight swung my way I tried to duck under the water. Whether my four crew mates who lost their lives died when the plane hit the water or were shot struggling in the sea, I don't know...

"Somehow 1 made the shore. It was then that I realised I had lost one of my baggy flying boots. It was the one in which I stowed my revolver. My other boot, in which was secreted the 0.38 ammunition, was still there. What use were bullets without a bloody gun? Bugger! Edging up the shore I came to a sign planted in the sand. It was too dark to read and anyway it would be in German. I guessed, bearing in mind the nature of the English coast since 1939, that it would almost certainly read "ACHTUNG! MINEN! ". On this premise I agreed that discretion was indeed the better part of valour.

"Moving back a few yards towards the sea, I found a shallow depression in the sand that would shelter me from the sea breeze, and I tried to get some rest, preferably sleep. I must have dropped off. When I woke daylight was breaking and the sign, which had troubled me a few hours earlier, now taunted me. It read in German: "BATHING" and underneath hung a vivid red and white lifebuoy! "ACHTUNG! IDIOT!" I thought to, and of, myself."

Unknown to Malcolm at this time, another of his colleagues had baled out of the crippled Lancaster and had landed close to one another on terra firma. The bomb aimer, who baled out immediately in front of Malcolm, landed close to the mid upper gunner who somehow had struggled free from his turret and leapt from the fuselage door. He broke his pelvis on hitting
a tree on his way down and medical treatment became an absolute priority. From the *injured party's perspective, he was fortunate to have the assistance of a fellow airman but in so doing deprived a comrade-in-arms the chance to evade capture.

Meanwhile, back on beach near Swinemude, Malcolm Crapper forced himself to think and consider his options. The most promising would be to somehow make contact with one of the Swedish sailors whose vessels delivered iron ore to the port he was helping close off very early this morning. What other options were there? Not many, when he thought seriously. OK - first step is to get close to a Swedish ship. After that work out a strategy for getting on board and sailing off to neutral territory.

After making his way in-land into nearby woodland, Malcolm struggled through the undergrowth for what seemed an age. Eventually he emerged into a clearing.

"Leaving the stamina-sapping undergrowth behind me, I was relieved to get into the clearing that opened up in front of me. Relief turned to shock and alarm. Oh Christ! There was a light flak battery at the opposite edge of the clearing. Had they seen me? Do I turn and run? What do I do? What? I didn't want to risk a bullet in my back if I turned and legged it, so I raised my hands. The buggers had not seen me! But by then it was too late. Some young squaddies ran over to me and roughed me up a bit. An older Sergeant appeared from nowhere and barked an order. From the tone of his voice, I guessed the NCO was giving the youngsters (they were probably only seventeen or eighteen years old) a right royal bollocking. I was helped to my feet, taken to the flak battery and basic interrogation took place.

'Your Name?' `Crapper'
'Initials?' 'M'
'Rank?' `Sergeant'
`Serial Number?' `1591526'

"None of the phoney Red Cross forms and whatnot that we had been repeatedly warned about. Coffee and bread were offered. The coffee, or whatever it was, tasted awful but it was hot. The bread, black bread, was inedible but I took it and saved it for later.

"Later I was put in the sergeant's bed. It had blue and white gingham sheets. Now that detail I have absolutely no doubt about whatsoever. We were supposed to be winning the war and the Germans were supposed to be suffering unbelievable privations. So how come this was the first time in months - no! the first time in years - that I had enjoyed sleep in `proper' bedclothes? "

Pr-BR

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