RAF Wickenby – This week in history – World War 2
RAF Wickenby history week by week during World War 2
This was the week of the Peenemunde Raid against the German V1 and V2 rocket site on the Baltic coast, which also found the first use of upward firing cannons on some German night fighters (see Schrage Musik item below) and the final attacks on Italy by Bomber Command during the war.
12 Sqn carried out attacks on Genoa, Mannheim and Nuremburg during this week. Only one aircraft was lost (see Station Diary below) but there were no aircrew casualties. The raid on Genoa, one of several that week in Italy, was called urgently for political reasons, probably because of the overthrow of Mussolini at the end of July, in order to further disrupt the uncertainty caused by that event.
There were continuing attacks on Hamburg during this week, as part of Operation Gomorrah, which included 4 major attacks on the city in 10 days. Whilst Bomber Command slept, the USAAF carried out 2 consecutive raids on Hamburg, adding to the destruction and reducing the capacity of the German fire and rescue services to reach many parts of the city.
12 Sqn lost one aircraft and its crew this week. One aspect of the Hamburg raid on 2nd August was the huge electrical storm enroute to the target, which caused a lot of icing and led to a number of early returns.
This was the week of the beginning of the attacks on Hamburg, which led to the fire storm resulting in the death of 40,000 people on the ground and the evacuation of over 1,200,000 more. It was also the first use of Window, strips of black paper, exactly 27 x 2 cms with thin aluminium foil stuck to one side, which completely confused the German radar, producing false echoes. This worked for a few weeks and losses were reduced, but the Germans soon adapted their tactics to counter this new technology.
Although Hamburg was outside the range of Oboe (see earlier post for description) it was thought to be suitable for H2S, the ground seeking radar, which seemed to work best when flying over water.
12 Sqn took part in two attacks to Hamburg and one to Essen this week and one aircraft was lost.
A very quiet week for 12 Sqn with no missions flown and no casualties. It may help readers to understand the chain of command for Bomber Command, from the Commander in Chief down to 12 and 626 Sqns at RAF Wickenby. Below is a chart I’ve put together that helps to explain it. Bomber Command was broken down into Groups, commanded by an Air Vice Marshall, then to Station Bases, commanded by an Air Commodore then to individual Stations, commanded by a Group Captain, and finally to the squadrons, commanded by a Wing Commander, based on those stations. As can be seen, RAF Wickenby was part of 1 Group and the Base Station was Ludford Magna, just outside Market Rasen.
12 Sqn took part in one minelaying mission and three bombing operations this week, to Cologne, Gelsenkirchen and Turin. Two aircraft were lost on operations and one during a training exercise – 18 aircrew were killed and 4 became prisoners of war. Operations to Italy must have been pretty spectacular as the Lancasters had to fly over the Alps both out and back. This particular raid was the most successful of the ten against Turin carried out by Bomber Command.
There is some mystery about the aircraft that crashed into the Firth of Forth on a training flight, with some suggestions of sabotage, and there are plans to raise the aircraft to see if it can be established what the actual cause of the accident was.
Two aircraft and 13 aircrew were lost this week, all during the attack on Cologne on 3/4 July. That night saw the first operations of a new German unit, Jagdgeschwader 300, equipped with single-engined fighters using the “Wilde Sau” (Wild Boar) technique.
Wilde Sau (Lit. wild sow; generally known in English as “Wild Boar”) was the term given by the Luftwaffe to the tactic used from 1943 to 1944 during World War II by which British night bombers were engaged by single-seat day-fighter aircraft flying in the Defence of the Reich.
It was adopted when the Allies had the advantage over German radar controlled interception. The fighters had to engage the British bombers freely as they were illuminated by searchlight batteries, while avoiding their own anti-aircraft fire. After some initial successes, rising losses and deteriorating weather conditions led to the abandonment of the tactic. Wikipedia
Simultaneous with Wilde Sau, Zahme Sau (Tame Boar) was introduced, in which the twin-engined night fighters in the Himmelbett system using individual ground-controlled interception were released. The fighters flew against the bomber stream in a co-ordinated operation over a wide area, guided by a running commentary derived from radar, ground observation, wireless interception and contact reports from aircraft tracking the bomber stream. Audio and visual beacons were used to assemble the fighters, which circled the beacons until the target was known and then intercepted the bombers, above a height beyond which the flak did not fire. Wikipedia
12 Sqn lost 3 aircraft this week, although only one of them was on operations, the others were on take-off and during a training flight. Of the over 55,500 aircrew killed serving in Bomber Command during WW 2, more than 7,700 were killed in training accidents. A lot of training was carried out by those crews who had completed their 30 missions of an operational tour, and it was the opinion of many of these men that training new crews to fly 4-engined bombers was as dangerous as flying an operation to Berlin or the Ruhr.
During this week 12 Sqn carried out 2 attacks in Germany, to Cologne and Krefeld and a mine laying mission off the River Gironde in France. One aircraft was lost, with all the crew, during the Cologne attack and one aircraft was lost on a training exercise, with 4 crew members killed. It is interesting that there were 2 “second dicky” pilots in this aircraft, who both survived, having only arrived at RAF Wickenby that day – some welcome to RAF operational flying!
Sgt Henry Joseph Patrick Lackey, the Wireless Operator in Sgt Aylard’s aircraft, lost in Belgium during the Cologne operation, was the son of Pte Henry Thomas Lackey, Duke of Wellington’s Regt (killed in action in Belgium 21/09/1917) & Hannah Sarah Lackey. Therefore, both father and son were killed and are buried in Belgium. Sometimes fact can be stranger than fiction.
A very bad week for 12 Sqn, with 6 aircraft lost and 38 aircrew being killed and 4 becoming prisoners of war. 5 aircraft was lost during the attack on Dusseldorf on 11/12 June, the highest loss rate in a single night for the squadron for the whole of 1943 (20.83%). Other attacks were made on Bochum and Oberhausen.
The attack on Dusseldorf was the most successful of the war. German reports state that the fire area measured 8km by 5km with no less than 8,882 separate fire incidents recorded or which 1.444 were classified as large. 1,292 people were killed and 140,000 were bombed out of their homes.
RAF Wickenby - This week in history - World War 2 