5 Group Bomber Command: An Operational Record by Chris Ward

Author:Chris Ward [Ward, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Aviation, Bisac Code 1: HIS027140
ISBN: 9781844687374
Publisher: Pen and Sword Books
Published: 2007-10-05T21:00:00+00:00

1945. Victory

The juggernaut lays waste

New Year’s Day began with a flourish on the Continent, as the Luftwaffe launched its ill-conceived and ultimately ill-fated Operation Bodenplatte at first light. The intention to destroy the Allied air forces on the ground at the recently liberated airfields in France, Holland and Belgium was only modestly realized, and any such success was nowhere near in proportion to the scale of the losses sustained. Those aircraft surviving the low-level attacks into the teeth of strong airfield flak defences then had to run the gauntlet of Allied fighters, and many failed to make it home. Hundreds of front line BF109 and FW190s crashed or were written off with battle damage, and a large number of pilots were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. This was a setback from which the Luftwaffe day-fighter force would never recover, although the night-fighter force remained intact, if short of experienced crews and fuel supplies. No. 5 Group crews were also out of bed early on New Year’s Day, preparing for a return to the Dortmund-Ems Canal near Ladbergen, which had once more been repaired. Some 102 Lancasters departed their stations either side of 08.00 hours, and some three hours later the repair work had been undone. It was during this operation that F/S George Thompson, a 9 Squadron wireless operator, displayed selfless courage in the most difficult of circumstances, which earned him a posthumous Victoria Cross. The Lancaster in which he was flying was hit by flak shortly after bombing and a fierce fire developed, which trapped both mid-upper and rear gunners. Thompson, a hardy Scotsman, disregarded his own welfare and fought through the flames even as a howling gale whipped through the gaping holes in the floor and fuselage. He dragged his injured colleagues from their turrets and beat out the flames with his bare hands. The Lancaster was eventually crash-landed in Holland, where the afflicted were taken to hospital. One of the gunners succumbed to his injuries, but the other survived, and owed his life to Thompson’s gallantry and self-sacrifice. So badly burned was Thompson, however, that he too lost his fight for life three weeks later. This was the second 5 Group VC to be gained at this target. It was a testing operation altogether for 9 Squadron, which lost two aircraft to crashes soon after take-off, and another to the defences. Later, in the early evening, the Group followed up with an attack on the Mittelland Canal at Gravenhorst, and this was also successfully dealt with.

5 Group sat out heavy raids on Nuremberg and Ludwigshafen on the 2nd/3rd, which involved a total of 900 aircraft. The former was hit harder than ever before, suffering the destruction of over 4,600 houses and apartment blocks, along with 2,000 preserved medieval houses. Industry was also smashed, and more than 1,800 people lost their lives. In the early hours of the 5th, 1, 5 and 8 Groups carried out a controversial two-phase attack on the French town of Royan, in response to requests from Free French forces laying siege on their way to Bordeaux.

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