Author: propatria27

Overview

There were 3 missions this week; Westkapelle in Holland, mining in the Kattegatt and Saarbrucken on the French/German border. One aircraft and all 7 of the crew were lost.

Westkapelle is the most western point of Walcheren island and the bombing opened a wide breach in the sea wall which flooded the reclaimed polder below sea level, submerging some German gun batteries and hampering enemy defences against ground attack.

The operation to Saarbrucken was in support of the American 3rd Army with the intention of cutting railway lines and supply routes used by the Germans – the attack was very successful.

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Overview

Only 3 missions this week, one of which was cancelled by the master bomber due to cloud covering the target area in Calais – this was probably to prevent bombs landing on friendly troops besieging the port and to reduce civilian casualties. Another point to note is that all the missions were flown in daylight. One aircraft with the entire crew were lost.

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Overview

This week saw the start of Operation Market Garden, the airborne operation to open a corridor to an eventual Rhine crossing at Arnhem – 12 and 626 Squadrons flew missions to support this operation, as well as minelaying and a heavy attack on Calais. There were no losses.

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Overview

Wickenby aircraft attacked Le Havre twice this week along with a minelaying operation and an attack on Frankfurt. One aircraft was lost on the Frankfurt raid, with 5 crew members killed and 3 becoming POW’s, another aircraft crash landed near Wickenby on a training exercise (with several crew members badly injured and the flight engineer killed) which caused all the aircraft on one of the Le Havre raids to divert to RAF Faldingworth, home of a Polish bomber squadron – the humorous results of this diversion are detailed in the Station Diary.

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Overview

A fairly quiet week for 12 and 626 Sqn’s, with 2 attacks on Le Havre, where German forces were still holding out despite being bypassed by Allied ground forces, and one attack on an airfield near Eindhoven in Holland. There were no casualties.

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Overview

There were heavier losses this week than had been the case since the Mailly-le-Camp attack in May, 6 aircraft being lost during operations and one lost on landing at Wickenby – 26 aircrew were killed, 10 became POW’s and 8 were interned in Sweden, but were back in the UK by October. Reading the damage and combat reports, it is also clear that several aircrew also received wounds that took time for them to recover from. Attacks were made to targets in Germany as well as a V2 rocket site and storage area.

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Overview

A quiet week for both squadrons, with only one mission to a fuel dump on the Ghent-Termeuzen canal – there were no losses.

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Overview

A mixture of targets for Wickenby aircraft this week, with a continuation of support for the Allied troops in Normandy, an attack on a German night fighter base in Holland and a couple of operations to Germany itself, including a long range one to Stettin on the Baltic. Two aircraft were lost with 9 aircrew killed and 6 becoming POW’s.

During the attack on Falaise on 14 August, Bomber Command dropped some bombs on a quarry occupied by Canadian troops, causing a number of casualties, including 13 fatalities. It is thought that the cause was the Canadians using yellow smoke canisters which resembled the amber target indicators released by the Pathfinders. It is interesting to note that the Station Diary mentions some Wickenby aircraft dropping bombs 300 yards short of the target – could this have been onto the Canadians?

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Overview

All attacks made this week were to targets in France, including oil storage, close support for Allied ground troops and mine laying. One aircraft was lost returning from the mine laying with 5 aircrew killed and 2 badly injured. Also of note is the fact that some of these missions were being flown during daylight, some with Mosquito fighter support, which helped with accuracy.

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Overview

RAF Wickenby aircraft continued to support the Normandy landings and breakout as well as attacking flying bomb sites and a single operation to Stuttgart during this week. 3 aircraft were lost, with 21 aircrew killed and one becoming a POW.

It is also worth noting the rather pithy comments, at the start of the August Station Diary, about aircraft bombing from whatever height they wanted and some gunners having sensitive trigger fingers!

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