大象传媒

RAIDS, SIX TO NINE. On February 8th, at 19.15 hours, we took off to attack the ship building centre and oil storage depot of Politz (Stettin) at the mouth of the Oder River and 75 miles north east of Berlin. Flying IQ-Sugar, we flew a course of 085 degrees across the North Sea, and then turned and flew a long leg of 135 degrees (i.e. southeast) to just west of the target. This was a scary run as we were flying over light cloud with a full moon in the east; the planes left prominent contrails which could have led fighters to us, but we were fortunate in that regard.
A raid 90 minutes earlier had met strong resistance in the form of fighters and flak, but fighters were relatively scarce now. We were lucky enough to be on our target run when most of the defending fighters were being refuelled. Visibility was very good over the target, and widespread damage was done to over 50 storage tanks and other installations. On the return flight we flew north, passed over the southern tip of Sweden, west over Denmark, the long flight over the North Sea, and finally, home to base at Hemswell.
A real thrill it was to fly over Sweden with all the cities brightly lit up, yet they put on a good show to substantiate their neutrality. Bofors ack-ack fire looked awesome and colourful, but it was soon apparent that it was reaching about 10,000 feet and we were flying at 17,000 feet.
We were relieved when Sugar landed smoothly 9 hours and 10 minutes after take-off. Four hundred and thirty bombers took part in the raid and thirteen failed to return, two of them from our base.
On February 13th, aircraft IQ-Louie took off from base at 21.25 hours to attack Dresden, the capital of Saxony, a very distant target about 150 miles south and slightly ease of Berlin. It was an important industrial centre; it鈥檚 marshalling yards and harbour handled a considerable amount of rail and river borne freight. A force of 200 bombers had hit the target three hours earlier, visibility was good and fires started by the first attack served as a beacon for the second bomber stream. The Master Bomber skilfully controlled the crews and achieved well concentrated bombing in areas not hit in the earlier raid. Despite the long trip back across Germany, losses were light, much of the success being attributed to the action of 鈥渨indow鈥� fouling up the enemy鈥檚 radar system.
We 鈥減ancaked鈥� or touched down at base 10 hours and 20 minutes after take-off. This was to be the longest time spent in the air on any of our raids. It has come to light since the war, that some sources think that this was not so much a tactical raid, as it was a 鈥減ropaganda鈥� raid. They feel that it was staged to show the nearby advancing Russians what might happen should Russia step out of line. If such was the case, it is sad to think of the heavy loss of civilian life, and some people still cynically refer to this operation as 鈥淭he Dresden Affair鈥�. However, at the time and until much later, bomber crews just considered it as another successful raid.
The very next night, February 14th, we were designated to fly IQ-Willie to another distant target along with 23 other aircraft from our squadron and 170 Squadron. Because of the great distance involved, all planes had maximum fuel load but carried a smaller than normal bomb load. This time we carried no 鈥渃ookie鈥�, but did carry four 1,000 pound high explosives as well as eight containers in incendiary bombs designed for starting fires. Each container would hold about 100 individual incendiary bombs, each about 15 inches long and 2 inches square.
Our target was Chemnitz in the province of Saxony about 200 miles south and slightly west of Berlin. It was an important textile manufacturing centre, but also was on of the major rail junctions with railway repair shops among the largest in the whole Reich.
At briefing, it was pointed out that the raid would be split between two forces of 300 and 120 aircraft with a three hour interval between them. We were to be in the first attack. Take-off was at 20.25 hours. We circled base to a height of 10,000 feet before setting out on the first leg. We finally broke through cloud at 18,000 feet as we passed about sixty miles north of the Ruhr Valley. Miraculously the cloud dissipated and the rest of the way to the target was clear; ideal conditions for the German defence.
鈥淢aster鈥� searchlight beams, those with the bluish light, could be seen waving back and forth, trying to pick up a bomber in its beam. When that happened, it stayed on the plane until seven or eight more came on, and the plane was 鈥渃oned鈥�. This would allow heavy flak units the opportunity to concentrate on the plane and shoot it down in flames, or a direct hit on the bombs would destroy the plane with a terrific explosion. Sometimes the flak would slack off to nil, and the German fighters would move in to shoot down the 鈥渃oned鈥� plane.
Not only were there five actual bombers observed either exploding or going down in flames, but the enemy proved that they were masters of psychological warfare as well. At least eight 鈥渟carecrows鈥� were observed as we flew on the 090 degree course toward Leipzig. These were most nerve racking, particularly to new and inexperienced crews.
Past Leipzig we turned to fly directly south to hit our target and immediately were over cloud at 15,000 feet. Because cloud conditions prohibited the use of ground marking methods, we were forced to use 鈥淲anganui鈥� or sky marking procedure. In this case red flares were dropped by parachute. Out of the bottom of these red flares dripped brilliant green stars. This colourful display was used as the aiming point for bombers flying well above the clouds, and if the flares were properly placed, would allow the bombs to hit the specified target on the ground.
Crews reported that many fighter/bomber encounters were made on the way from the target to the coast, but after all the excitement on the way in, we were fortunate and saw no fighters and only scattered flak. We landed safely at base at 05.30 hours.
When we were awakened in the early afternoon, we were informed at the bombing section on the Squadron about two jagged holes way out near the end of the starboard wing. We concluded that it had been caused by two incendiary bombs which had hit and had passed right through the wing without igniting; no doubt dropped by a plane flying well above us. It was just another example that luck was with us.
On February 21st at 19.30 hours, we took of in IQ-X (X-Ray) to bomb Duisburg in the Ruhr Valley, commonly known by bomber crews as 鈥淔lak Happy Valley鈥�. This night it lived up to it鈥檚 name; one crew at debriefing described the flak 鈥渁s being so heavy one could walk on it鈥�. Other crews reported seeing fighters, but we saw none. After leaving the target, our GEE equipment 鈥減acked up鈥� (would not work), making navigation difficult. We mistakenly flew over Dunkirk on the French Coast which was still occupied by German forces. They gave us a real rough time with accurate flak, but we were able to 鈥渃orkscrew鈥� out of it, and landed safely at base 6 hours and 35 minutes after take-off.

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