Page 164 - KBHA BULLETIN 6

In 1938 he left for England and joined the RAF as an Acting Pilot Officer. Details of his

first years there are not to hand but he was always attached to bomber squadrons and in

September 1941 he was mentioned in dispatches while still an instructor. In 1942 he was
made Squadron-Leader and served with No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron (comprised mainly of

Rhodesian, South African and Canadian airmen) based at Waddington Air Station,
Lincolnshire. The squadron took part in a number of the notable bombing raids on the

German battleships Gneisenau, Prinz Eugen, and Scharnhorst in their French ports, on
Berlin and Essen, and on German North Sea and Baltic ports.

Early in 1942 No. 44 Squadron became the first to be equipped with the new four-engined
Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. In April they began training for a top-secret long-distance

raid by flying at tree-top height up the length of England, simulating an attack on Inverness

in Scotland, and returning south along the same course. They believed they were practising

for an attack on Kiel, but when the briefing took place on 17 April they were informed they
were to undertake a daylight attack on the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg Nurnberg AG
(M.A.N) which manufactured diesel engines for U-Boats. It would involve a hazardous

1000 mile round-flight over occupied and enemy territory, but it was a vitally important
mission as the U-Boat war was at its peak at this time. “When the target was revealed we

were shattered; suicide was the common thought.” – according to Sqdn-leader David

Penman of 97 Squadron. (obituary in Weekly Telegraph issue No. 699, December 2004.)

Six planes from each of Nos. 44 and 97 squadrons were to execute the attack. Each plane
was loaded with four 1 000 lb general-purpose bombs with eleven-second delay fuses. The

maximum fuel load of 2 154 gallons was also taken on. As they prepared to take off other
bombers were carrying out diversionary raids on French targets while some 800 fighters

swept the French coastal areas over which the Lancasters would pass. The idea was to

involve the German planes in combat for long enough to enable the Lancasters to pass
through while the enemy craft were refuelling and re-arming. However, all this activity

served to put the Luftwaffe on the alert, with disastrous consequences for the Lancasters.

At 15h00 the two squadrons took off – 44 from Lincolnshire and 97 from Woodlands Spa
in Lincolnshire.

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