Lincolnshire Air War by Martin King Lear

Author:Martin King Lear [Lear, Martin King]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Spiderwize
Published: 2017-08-30T04:00:00+00:00

RAF Wickenby Operation

3rd March 1945

The Lincolnshire weather on March 3rd 1945 was fine during the day but it clouded over in the evening. Five Lancasters, all from RAF Wickenby’s second squadron no.626, were required that night. Their ‘H’ hour, which was the hour at which the operation was to be initiated, was 19:33hrs. They were on ‘Gardening’ Operations’, dropping mines in the Kattegat. Crew briefing took place at 15:00hrs and take-off commenced at 16:57. The bomb load was 6 Mk 6 mines.

‘Gardening’ refers to the aerial dropping of magnetic or acoustic mines into waters to disrupt German shipping. In-keeping with the gardening terminology, coastal areas designated for mine laying were given botanical code names such as asparagus, daffodil, hawthorn and pumpkin, and the mines were referred to as vegetables.

This operation was a consequence of Allied successes in Western Europe. By March 1945, German troops and equipment in Norway were being shipped south to Jutland and Baltic ports to reinforce military strength in Germany. To disrupt such movements, Bomber Command mined waters through which German ships were expected to be passing.

The ‘Gardening’ route took them out over Mablethorpe and conditions allowed accurate placement of mines. Using ‘Fishpond’, (a radar to detect German night-fighters), the wireless operator in Lancaster UM-M2 detected an aircraft approaching on the port quarter. He notified the gunners and instructed the pilot to corkscrew port. The front gunner saw a fighter flare on the port bow and then saw a twin engine fighter at 400 yards range. He gave the enemy two good bursts and it seemed to catch fire and disappear from view, still burning. The aircraft was claimed destroyed.

They returned following the outward route, back over Mablethorpe, the last of the five no. 626 Squadron Lancasters landing without incident at 23:20hrs.

Flying Officer Ansdell’s crew in PB476 PH-Y and Pilot Officer Thomas’s crew in ME323 PH-P had been out on bombing training in the daytime on their first recorded flight since arriving at no.12 Squadron. Later that day, they would join a greater raid on night flying exercise in PB476 PH-Y and ME323 PH-P. A third aircraft, on the same exercise that night, was flown by Flight Lieutenant Edward Stephenson. His account is quoted later in this book.

The night flying exercise was supporting Operation Sweepstake. This was part of a diversionary force of around 95 bomber aircraft, made up from 100 Group aircraft, and the training establishments were supplied to act as a diversionary for the main bomber forces. These tactics were employed on a number of nights in 1945 and became known as ‘Operation Sweepstake.’ The training aircraft and crews were pulled mainly from crews serving with the Heavy Conversion Units, contributing to the total 3,721 bundles of Window dropped over the North Sea.

Although they were not involved in the main hazardous raids on the Kamen oil installation and on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, their later return time unfortunately meant they flew through air space now invaded by the German night-fighter intruders, who would attack any Allied bomber they encountered.

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