A Short Intermission will now follow...........

Hullo ma wee blog,

The lovely G and I are taking a break for a few days. We have rented a chalet on the edge of Aviemore - temp last night -12C - and plan to do a bit of walking, sight seeing and chilling out so my frazzled wee wifey can recover from the stress and strain of keeping me in the manner to which I have become accustomed {Yea. Right.} and I can prepare to become a whole year older.

Good grief, what is that going to do to my grumpiness..........

Although my trusty laptop will be coming I know the chalet doesn't have internet connections so it might be a wee while to the next post.



see you later.

Be good.

listening to Manfred Mann, 'Blinded by the Light'

153 Sqn. 5th March 1945 - Chemnitz

These posts follow 153 Sqn operations from Jan '45 to the end of hostilities in real time.

Having been on 'stand by' throughout 4th March, the Squadron was ordered to send 13 aircraft to Chemnitz on 5th March, on yet another 'Thunderclap' operation. 'Met' accurately predicted severe icing conditions, which caused many crashes on both outward and homeward journeys. Among those lost was PB 872(P4-2ndX), flown by F/O Bill Bailey who crashed in Czechoslovakia, killing all the crew. Despite the foul weather experienced, the target was successfully attacked using sky-marking techniques, and suffered severe fire damage in the central and southern areas, which included several important factories, especially the Siegmar plant producing tank engines which was totally destroyed. My research indicates 16 aircraft and their crew lost on this mission - 27 RAF Lancasters lost in total that night.

Airborne 1640 5Mar45 from Scampton. All are buried in Praha War Cemetery. Their average age was 21. Both Air Gunners were ex-ATC Cadets. F/O W.J.Bailey KIA Sgt J.Howard KIA F/O R.G.D.Adlam RNZAF KIA F/O E.J.S.Morris KIA Sgt J.Dixon KIA Sgt W.B.Meecham KIA Sgt W.Simpson KIA "

Bill Meecham, the tail gunner, was a member of 137{Ayr}Sqn Air Training Corps with Dad.



Several crews reported seeing 'Scarecrows' which can be best described as an aerial explosion that gives an impression of a bomber receiving a direct hit and disintegrating completely. During the course of de-briefings, crews had regularly been reporting seeing far more aircraft exploding in mid-air than were actually failing to return. The disparity in numbers alerted RAF Intelligence to the new device, and crews were duly warned about 'scarecrows' in their briefings. Even though this may have been an elaborate ploy to sap their moral, at the very least it could act as a disturbing distraction, aimed to frighten crews during the run-up to the target.

During the bombing run aircraft flew straight and level for some 20 to 30 miles under the direction of the bomb aimer to align to the target correctly.
Once bombs had been dropped the crew were required to maintain this steady flight, usually under the most intense fire of the operation, until a photograph was taken to confirm the bomb damage before being able to begin evasive action and the run home to base. Night fighter tactics were often to follow the bomber stream and pick off any damaged stragglers who couldn't maintain height or position with returning bomber stream and the fire cover of the other aircraft. The relief of a successful bomb run and a possible lack of concentration due to increasing tiredness would all contribute to losses on the return leg also.

For more on the aircraft P4-X and its crew lost on this date see here and here

And Now.......For something Completely Different.

Hullo ma wee blog,

Seems like all I'm posting about these days is 153 Sqn. When I started it seemed like a good idea. I never thought for a second it would take up all this time - posting, reading, thinking and posting again. Those guys were busy!

It's a good thing I'm unemployed at the moment........{not}

Yesterday was interesting, in a strange and odd kind of way.

I had been invited - no, tell the truth - I had been sent a letter saying I was 'required' to attend, not a meeting, but 'an interview' with a business manager at the local Job Center Plus offices. They had sent me a letter the week before, but it had arrived the day after my 'required interview', and were frankly disbelieving when I phoned them about two minutes after the letter had dropped into my letterbox. The letter may have said what I was required to do and when but it singularly failed to make any mention of 'why' so I queried this on calling. I said that I didn't think it was a particularly productive means of approach to require people to attend without any indication about why. After all, I had explained, I might want to prepare, or to bring some documents etc with me to help along any discussion of whatever I was being 'required' to discuss. I was given a perfunctory 'Its routine' by way of an explanation in return. Having other things to do, I smiled down the phone and said "Oh, right then." in return and hung up.

I love the smell of bureaucracy in the morning......

Yesterday afternoon then, I was perched on my seat across the table from a business manager as he explained that it was the process when someone had been claiming job seekers allowance benefit for 6 months to hold an interview to investigate why this was the case and to explain the change in the situation that occurred after that time.

He smiled {fool} and said,

"And you ARE still unemployed, aren't you?"

as he sat back in his seat and folded his arms. {smug git}

I smiled back at him and said,

"AM I? Jings, I never noticed....."

This kind of smart reaction was obviously nothing new to him so he started to explain that after 6 months claiming this benefit that it was now a requirement for me to review the kind of jobs I was looking for and to scale down my obviously ridiculous expectations about salary and the like. {He didn't actually say it exactly like that but I'm paraphrasing here and anyway, the tone is accurate.} He went on to say that I now needed to scale back my improbable demands for a decent wage and to be open to applying for any and all vacancies that were available, and that if I failed to do this, they would be very likely to stop my claim as I obviously wasn't really seriously looking for work, or being in any way realistic about my prospects, was I?

He sat back again, which was just as well as he was wearing a hideous tie and I was at that point fantasising about grabbing it, hauling him across the desk and pulling on it until his eyes bulged very scarily while I experimented on how many shades of purple I could make his face go.

But also of course, I didn't.

I looked at his badge and as he had been calling me 'Alistair' throughout the interview, I said,

'Actually, CRAIG, I think I have been altogether realistic in my expectations and in my job search. I have been looking at jobs with a salary scale up to 20% less than I was previously on until recently and have now been looking at jobs with 30% less salary. Thats as low as I can afford to go'

I handed over from my folder of documents I had brought with me, 6 examples of jobs I had applied for in the last week and another half dozen rejection letters dated across the last fortnight. I explained how I conducted my job search daily, showed him my much more than required evidence of searches to go along with my examples of applications and explained how I had widened my search away from the restricted list I had originally considered when feeling like I needed a change of career direction, to the list of current applications which more reflected my last employment. I also explained 'in case he hadn't noticed from my records' that I was no longer receiving jobseekers allowance as I had used up all of my 26 weeks at £64 per week to which I was entitled after paying tax and insurance throughout my 32 year to date working life.

Alongside this - after all my lovely G had excluded me from any further benefit by dint of having the gall to be in full time employment herself - I had had the foresight over the years to pay for private insurance to cover my lost salary to the scale of £1700 per month in order to pay my large mortgage and other bills, something that would be in place for up to 2 years.

'So tell me. Why do you think it would be fair and reasonable of you to terminate any claim I'm making when by doing that you would cut me off from the very evidence that my insurers need to continue paying my payment protection claims? Do you think that is a reasonable move when I am meeting every one of your criteria except taking a job for the minimum wage?'

I went to the next desk and pulled off a copy of the local newspaper and put it on the table in front of him and asked him to find me any job advertised in it which would pay anything like the monthly salary my careful wife and I had insured ourselves against losing. I explained very clearly that I would not be intimidated into applying for any crap job which would ultimately cost me my home when I had been practical enough, sensible enough and had foresight enough to protect myself for a long enough time to preserve those things until I could find suitable work without beoming a burden on the state. I asked why he thought this was the right way to do things when I was no longer receiving any job seekers allowance support but in fact had already been cast adrift.

He mouthed platitudes about 'government policy' and 'not his decision', that any termination would be decided by a panel in another dept who would 'take all I had just said into consideration no doubt'.

I held up my hand and said that in case he had missed it that the country was in the middle of recession and that as he could see in the papers, there are few real jobs being advertised. I finished by saying that I wondered how the local and national press would view a member of the public coming to them with a story of how despite trying everything they could to find a job the government had forced them to take a unfeasably low paid job and lose his house {at a time when house prices are at their lowest for years} when that decision didn't need to be faced for another 18 months as there was absolutely no on cost to the government. Perhaps they would see it like I do - that what you are really trying to do is manage the unemployment figures down at any cost and bears no relation to constructively supporting me back to work.

'Would that have anything to do with an election coming up perhaps?'

He looked stunned.

'Of course, the other benefit I have from my insurance is £50,000 of legal cover, and if you try any kind of move to terminate my genuine claim which in turn affects my payment protection, I wouldn't hesitate to use every penny to fight it'

I thanked him for his time and explained that I would have to go as I had an afternoon of job hunting ahead of me and left without a backward glance.

Grrrrr........

see you later.

Listening to Kate Bush 'Man with a child in his eyes'

153 Sqn. 3rd March 1945 - Gardening

Night fighter damage

These posts follow 153 Sqn operations from Jan '45 to the end of hostilities in real time. My Father served as rear gunner.

Four of the five crews that set off on the Gardening trip of 3rd March had flown in the raid on Cologne, including that of F/O Gregoire who, flying in LM 750(P4-R) failed to return. Yet another case of 'nothing heard since take off' which was often posted as the only known information on a missing aircraft.

These 'gardening' operations, {so called after the code name for dropping points, which were often vegetables} had from the outset galled the squadron with the perceived increased exposure to risk. The low chance of survival if baling out or ditching due to operations being conducted over water where life expectancy in the cold of northern seas was no more than 2 minutes continued to take its toll of experienced crews such as Gregoires, and exert its negative influence over squadron morale. It was one of the most heartily disliked operations as, with only 5 aircraft on each mission and the requirement for each bombing run to be done individually, German night-fighters and naval gunships were able to concentrate their attentions on a small and therefore more vulnerable number of aircraft. The bomb run for mine laying required each lancaster to fly straight and level for a significant period making it an easier target for predicted {radar controlled} flak as well as the shipping lanes being patrolled by fighter aircraft from several northerly air bases. As mines had to be laid in the few suitable shipping lanes, flak gunships knew where the hot spots would be for enemy activity and could plan accordingly.


Anti shipping mine used on gardening ops.

The route to the drop point in the Baltic sea - this one between Denmark and Sweden - involved a long flight over the North Sea, often skirting the German coastline and then across the top of Jutland and on along the Baltic coast to the dropping zone, returning along a similar route. This meant the small number of crews involved were flying through areas patrolled by night fighters for several hours at a time. There was a night-fighter training airfield in the north of Denmark, close to the route taken by crews on these 'gardening' missions. Night fighters, controlled and directed by ground radar could be vectored very effectively onto individual bombers and, as mentioned in previous posts, were fitted with the upward firing 'Shrager musik' system of machine guns. Directed into position below and behind the bombers, the fighters would approach 'blind side' and use the upward firing guns to attack from below. A highly effective tactic, it was very difficult for bomber crews to spot this attack before a devastating and frequently final blow was struck upon the aircraft.


JU88 Nightfighter fitted with 'Shrage Musik' guns

LM750 was delivered new to No.166 Sqdn 18th Sep 1944, transferring with crews from 166 Sqdn to form No.153 Sqdn 7 Oct44. LM750 took part in the following key Operations: With No.166 Sqdn; Neuss 23/24Sep44; with No.153 Sqdn as P4-R, Duisburg 22/23 Jan 45; Gardening 3/4 Ma r45-Lost. No record of total hours. Airborne 1645 3 Mar 45 from Scampton for mine-laying duties in the Baltic in the area coded Silverthorne (Kattegat Areas). Lost without trace. All are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. W/O McGregor had flown with 61 Sqdn, his DFM being Gazetted 26th May1942. WO2 McCoy had been the sole survivor from a 626 Sqdn Lancaster lost during a raid on Duisburg 21/22nd May '44 (ND964). After making a successful evasion, he had resumed operational flying only to die with victory in sight.


                                                               Low level at sea

F/O L.J.R.Gregoire DFC RCAF KIA Sgt W.L.James KIA WO2 M.M.Sandomirsky RCAF KIA WO2 K.L.D.McCoy RCAF KIA W/O D.S.McGregor DFM KIA F/S J.E.Sabine RCAF KIA F/S W.W.Webber KIA "


                                                         A letter from The King.

As the month progressed 'gardening' ops would continue. Ultimately they would exact a very heavy price on the squadron. As described in Dads fear of deep water, they would also, for some, exact a toll over many years to come.

153 Sqn. 2nd March 1945 - Cologne

These posts follow 153 Sqn operations from Jan '45 to the end of hostilities in real time.

By day break on 2nd March, and within thirteen hours of landing back from Mannheim, nine crews had been de-briefed, slept, eaten two meals, attended a fresh briefing and were actually airborne en route for Cologne, together with seven other crews. Exceptionally clear weather conditions, combined with precise Pathfinder Force markings, resulted in a highly effective raid by 858 aircraft. With once again the miraculous exception of its cathedral, Cologne, by now almost a front line city, suffered considerable damage in this last RAF raids - only four days later it was occupied by American troops.

During the bombing run, LM 752(P4-S) flown by F/Lt Jock Lennox and crew, on the second operation of their second tour, was hit by flak, but they were able to bomb and get back to base without much difficulty, even though the hydraulic systems were damaged and not responding well. When attempting to land at Scampton, only the starboard undercarriage wheel could be lowered, so they were diverted to Carnaby. F/O Ron Fullelove (Nav) recorded that Jock did a superb job of landing on only one wheel; none of the crew was injured; unsurprisingly, LM 752(P4-S) suffered so much damage (particularly to the port wing) that the aircraft was classified 'DBR'.{Damaged Beyond Repair} My research shows that 7 aircraft were lost on this final Cologne raid.


Cologne Cathedral lies untouched in the ruins

In World War II, Cologne endured 262 air raids by the Western Allies, which caused approximately 20,000 civilian casualties and almost completely wiped out the center of the city. During the night of 31 May 1942, Cologne was the site of "Operation Millennium", the first 1,000 bomber raid by the Royal Air Force in World War II. 1,046 heavy bombers attacked their target with 1,455 tons of explosives. This raid lasted about 75 minutes, destroyed 600 acres (243 ha) of built-up area, killed 486 civilians and made 59,000 people homeless. By the end of the war, the population of Cologne was reduced by 95%. This loss was mainly caused by a massive evacuation of the people to more rural areas. The same happened in many other German cities in the last two years of war. At the end of 1945, the population had already risen to about 500,000 again.


The Cathedrals survival is all the more remarkable considering its proximity to the railway station which was a prime target of the bombing raids.

153 Sqn. 1st March 1945 - Mannheim

SCAMPTON - MARCH 1945

These posts follow 153 Sqn operations from Jan '45 to the end of hostilities in real time.

For Dads squadron the whole of March would develop as a period of intense, concentrated, operational activity, coinciding with a degree of disruption caused by the arrival of 14 new crews, and the departure of 13. From the beginning to around the middle of March, the Squadron could normally muster around 31 crews, but this figure rose eventually to 37. Initially the month started with a significant number of inexperienced crews.

The situation on aircraft was markedly different. Starting with 18, no fewer than 12 were lost -7 on operations. 2 badly damaged in February - NE 113(P4-H) and PB 472(P4-K) - were never replaced and 3 were declared 'DBR' (Damaged Beyond Repair). Only 9 new aircraft were received.



So, on any given day the actual strength of the Squadron was limited to a maximum 17 aircraft and frequently fewer.

THE GROUND CAMPAIGN

American forces crossed the Rhine at Remagan (using the Railway Bridge) early in March, and during the rest of the month allied ground forces moved across in strength, en route bypassing enemy strongholds, such as Holland. Dubbed the "Miracle of Remagen," the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge opened the way for Allied troops to drive into the heart of Germany. Over 8,000 men crossed the bridge in the first twenty-four hours after its capture as engineers frantically worked to repair the span. Infuriated by its capture, Hitler swiftly ordered the trial and execution of the five officers assigned to its defense and destruction. Desperate to destroy the bridge, the Germans conducted air raids, V-2 rocket attacks, and frogman assaults against it.



In addition, German forces launched a massive counterattack against the bridgehead with no success. As the Germans were attempting to strike the bridge, the 51st and 291st Engineer Battalions built pontoon and treadway bridges adjacent to the span. On March 17th, the bridge suddenly collapsed killing 28 and wounding 93 American engineers. Though it was lost, a substantial bridgehead had been built up which was supported by the pontoon bridges. The capture of the Ludendorff Bridge, along with Operation Varsity later that month, removed the Rhine as an obstacle to the Allied advance.

IN THE AIR.

Contrary to any false impression that they were finished as an offensive force, the Luftwaffe mounted "Operation Gisella" on the night of 3rd/4th March, when over 200 intruder raids were mounted against UK airfields, causing many casualties to operational and advanced training bases of bomber aircraft.

Scampton and 153 Squadron escaped untouched.

Targets allotted to the Squadron during the month fell into three broad categories - oil installations and transport centres in East Germany, sea-mining and continued isolation/neutralisation of the Ruhr valley industrial complexes. More than half the raids were made in daylight, frequently with strong fighter escorts. This was a marked change from the night time operations that the squadron had been predominantly involved in and reflected growing allied air supremacy over the European theatre.

On the afternoon of 1st March, 16 aircraft joined the last large Bomber Command attack on Mannheim. Conditions over the target necessitated bombing on skymarkers, and results were inconclusive. However, subsequent reconnaissance revealed that many bombs hit the nearby town of Ludwigshafen - just across the Rhine. Whilst crossing over The Wash on its homeward flight, NG 184(P4-U) inexplicably exploded, killing F/O Jack Rhodes and all his crew, including the rear-gunner, F/Sgt Hugh Cuthbertson, RCAF, who was one of only three to survive the crash at Laon on December 17th.

Airborne 1150 from Scampton. Last heard on W/T at 1635 advising that the English coast was being crossed. Five are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, and two, F/O Rhodes and F/S Livick, are buried in cemeteries at Great Bircham and Cambridge respectively. F/O J.Rhodes KIA Sgt M.F.Kingdom KIA F/O P.C.H.Clark KIA F/O D.G.Webb KIA F/S J.E.Livick KIA F/S T.J.Bicknell KIA F/S H.Cuthbertson RCAF KIA "

It's a beautiful day...........

Hullo ma wee blog,

It's a beautiful day. This mornings drive to Dunbar station with The Lovely G was the first time this year I had not used lights on the car for the journey. Although it was a nose tingling -2C, and with a wind behind it making it feel even more biting, the sky was clear and pastel blue. Once the car had heated up you could almost imagine that it was a summers morning, with the exception of the trees all around being bare of leaves.

After dropping G at the station I took time, on the spur of the moment, to go down to the harbour and spend just a few moments walking round and enjoying the light and the air, despite the cold reminding me just how spur of the jacketless moment it had really been. Despite that, the view all the way across the estuary to a sunny Fife coastline and the fantastic colour of the castle ruins, red in the rising sun, was almost as invigorating as the lack of temperature, with a pale blue sea set underneath that pastel sky and the gentlest of swells moving the surface. I watched some seabirds afloat near the harbour walls before turning, envious of their complete disregard for the cold, taking a deep breath of icy air and heading briskly back to the car and its retained warmth. I felt almost purified, but that might just have been icicles in the brain.

By the time I had turned onto the A1 again for the drive home, my shivering had stopped and body temperature had reached a more comfortable sense of proportion. I was able once more to appreciate what a fantastic start to March we've been given. The snows of February easily forgotten, I felt like it was the first time this year that I could really see the green of the grass in roadside fields, notice that sometime recently a farmer must have created a newly ploughed field of red Dunbar earth, and how little left of the winter feed the herds of sheep had left to them in stubble strewn pastures near the village. As the car climbed over the crest of the hill at the edge of the village, a few hardy, but well insulated, souls were completing the obligatory early morning walking of winter wrapped dogs. As I pulled past them into the drive and scrunched across ice covered puddles I was already thinking of coffee and remembered with an eager smile, the two large croissants left from Sundays solitary breakfast. That will do very nicely, thank you very much.

It's a beautiful day......

see you later.

listening to Mott The Hoople 'All the Young Dudes'