RAF Wickenby – This week in history – World War 2
RAF Wickenby history week by week during World War 2
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.
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.
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.
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.
A quiet week for both squadrons, with only one mission to a fuel dump on the Ghent-Termeuzen canal – there were no losses.
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?
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.
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!
Bomber Command now reverted back to attacking German targets during this week, the first major raids on German cities for 2 months. Wickenby aircraft attacked Kiel Naval Base and Stuttgart, the later on successive nights. No aircraft were lost.
Attacks continued on sites in France, in direct support of the Allied forces in Normandy, especially the operation on 18th July prior to Operation Goodwood, the armoured breakout from Caen. Bomber Command aircraft dropped more than 5000 tons of bombs on German positions during this attack, which was described as one of the most useful operations in direct support of the Allied armies.
During the attack on the Courtrai marshalling yards on 20th July, 3 aircraft from Wickenby were lost, with 15 aircrew being killed, 4 evading capture and 2 becoming POW’s.
RAF Wickenby - This week in history - World War 2 