29 April – 5 May 1944

Posted on by propatria27

Overview

RAF Wickenby squadrons continued to support the build up to D-Day by attacking targets in France, including the infamous operation to Mailly-le-Camp, the base of 21 Panzer Division. This was the worst night of the war for RAF Wickenby, as far as losses were concerned, with 7 aircraft lost, 41 aircrew killed, 6 evading capture and 2 becoming POW’s. This was a 23% loss rate.

The control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according to plan. The “Marker Leader”, Wg Cdr Leonard Cheshire, ordered the Main Force to bomb but the “Main Force Controller”, Wg Cdr L.C. Deane, could not transmit the order to do so because his VHF radio set was being drowned by an American Forces broadcast and his wireless transmitter was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber casualties were heavy.

The main attack eventually started when the Deputy Controller, Sqn Ldr E.N.M. Sparks, took over. Following that, the attack was very successful, but of 346 Lancasters dispatched, 42 were shot down, many during the delay in receiving the order to attack, when aircraft were ordered to circle a marker, some for 10 minutes, which allowed time for the German night fighters to assemble.

It can be seen from the comments of returning crews below and the number of aircraft damaged and in combat with night fighters that this was a particularly unpleasant and dangerous mission.

Extract from Station Diary

Pilot Officer John Carter and his crew who were shot down during the attack on Mailly-le-Camp: L to R, 1 S Johnson – R/G (1096) – Survived, 2 Ken Read – B/A, 3 Ray Ward – Nav, 4 Nick Carter – Pilot, 5 Alex Simpson – M/U, 6 T S Hayhurst – W/Op, 7 Geof Long – F/E
Far right, standing, is Pilot Officer Percy Barkway, a Canadian, who was killed, with all his crew during the Mailly-le-Camp operation
Pilot Officer David Jackson, DFC, aged 21, (3rd from right) and his crew who were all killed attacking Mailly-le-Camp

Extract from 12 Sqn Appendix to Operational Record Book

Extract from 626 Sqn Appendix to Operational Record Book

1 thought on “29 April – 5 May 1944”

  1. My father’s boyhood friend was George Alfred Coote from East Ham, London, bomb aimer of the Barkaway crew of 626 squadron. Sadly my father never knew what happened to his good friend. It has only been in the last few months that I have been able to visit Wickenby and research his sad demise, too late for my late father unfortunately. I am full of admiration for these heroic crews. Thank you for the information.

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