Bomber Command Operations from East Anglia 42-45
Title
Bomber Command Operations from East Anglia 42-45
Description
A brief description of bombing activity during the war. Starting with the ineffectual early operations to 1000+ bomber operations. He lists some of the operations then details some of the hazards for returning aircraft. After the war Stan took a new Lancaster to a park in Colchester, then Chelmsford for public display. He then transferred to the Middle East on the Medloc route. Newhaven-Dieppe, train through France.
Creator
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Three handwritten sheets
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
MShawSR3002545-160211-110001, MShawSR3002545-160211-110002, MShawSR3002545-160211-110003
Transcription
[circled 1]
[underlined] BOMBER COMMANDS OPERATIONS FROM EAST ANGLIA 42 – 45 [/underlined]
1) SHOW MAP OF RAF & USAF STATIONS ON SCREEN ENGLAND WAS FLOATING AERODROME.
AIR MARSHAL AFFECTIONATEY [sic] KNICKNAMED ‘BOMBER’ OR ‘BUTCH’ BY AIRCREWS SERVING UNDER HIM TOOK OVER BOMBER COMMAND IN 1942 (JAN). UP TO THEN WHITLEYS, MANCHESTERS HAMPDENS & WELLINGTONS HAD BOMBED TARGETS ALMOST INDIVIDUALLY NOT IN SQD STRENGTH. ACCURACY WITHIN 5 MILES RADIUS OF TARGETS AREA BOMBING ON 30TH MAY 1942. FIRST 1,0000 BOMBER RAID ON COLOGNE. O.[inserted] P [/inserted] T. [inserted] R [/inserted] UNITS USED ON THIS RAID 44 A/C LOST. 1,046 A/C TOOK PART.
[underlined] 2 [/underlined] 8th AIRFORCE DAY LIGHT RAIDS. IN STRENGTH. FORTRESSES. 10 MAN CREWS
AUG 17th 1943 SCHWEINFURT. 229 TOOK PART 36 LOST
OCT 14th 1943 “ 291 “ “ 60 LOST
[underlined] 3 [/underlined] [inserted] R.A.F. [/inserted] 1944 – 1945. UP TO 900 A/C OPERATING AT NIGHT
USAF – IN DAYLIGHT. 1,000 + 500 A/C FIGHTER ESCORTS.
[underlined] 4 NUREMBURG 30TH MARCH. 1944 [/underlined]
1,009 A/C OPERATED THAT NIGHT.
782 SENT TO NUREMBURG. 55 ABORTED 636 BOMBED TARGET OR CLAIMED.
95 A/C LOST. 75 SUFFERED DAMAGE. 22 CRASHED IN ENGLAND ON RETURN.
[underlined] AIR CREW CASUALTIES [/underlined] ON THIS RAID.
745. KILLED OR WOUNDED. 26 INJURED. 159 MADE PO.Ws.
[underlined] HAZARDS TO RETURNING AIRCRAFT. [/underlined]
FOLLOWING GERMAN NIGHT FIGHTERS. FRIENDLY ACK-ACK. AIR COLLISIONS. BOMBS FROM OTHER AIRCRAFT. FOG OR BAD WEATHER OVER BASES.
F.I.D.O. AT WOODBRIDGE & MANSTON CRASH STRIPS.
BESIDES BOMBER COMMAND. MANY AIRCRAFT FROM OPERATIONAL TRAINING AND HEADY CONVERSION UNITS.
STIRLING FROM DOWNHAM MKT. SEPT. ’43. THREE WEEKS OLD. 22 HRS TOTAL FLYING TIME SHOT UP BY N/F OVER HANNOVER. CRASHED AT BARROW.
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
IN OCTOBER 1945, OUR PARTY TRAVELLED TO KEMBLE RAF STATION WHERE LINES OF PRACTICALLY NEW LANCASTERS STOOD WAITING TO BE SCRAPPED. WE WERE GIVEN A BRAND NEW LANCASTER, FULLY EQUIPPED, TO STRIP DOWN, LOAD ONTO SEVEN LOW LOADING QUEEN MARY’S, AND TRANSPORT TO COLCHESTER. WITH THE AID OF A COLES CRANE, IT WAS ASSEMBLED COMPLETE IN A LOCAL PARK, AND THE PUBLIC ALLOWED TO INSPECT THE AIRCRAFT.
AFTER THREE WEEKS, THE LANC WAS STRIPPED AGAIN, LOADED UP, AND TRANSPORTED TO CHELMSFORD, FOR FURTHER PUBLIC DISPLAY. THIS TIME, THE SITE WAS ONLY FIFTY YARDS FROM A PUB, AND NEEDLESS TO SAY, IT TOOK JUST A LITTLE LONGER TO ASSEMBLE. AFTER THREE DAYS IN CHELMSFORD, THIS IDYLIC SITUATION WAS SUDDENLY BROUGHT TO AN ABRUPT END. A VAN ARRIVED FROM OUR NEWMARKET BASE TO TRANSPORT ME BACK. I WAS POSTED OVERSEAS.
[underlined] IN TRANSIT [/underlined]
I WAS ALLOWED HOME ON LEAVE FOR CHRISTMAS 1946, AND THEN TRAVELLED UP TO HEATON PARK, TRANSIT CAMP, JUST OUTSIDE MANCHESTER. EVERYTHING WAS FROZEN SOLID, SHAVING AND WASHING WAS DONE STANDING ASTRIDE A SMALL STREAM JUST OUTSIDE OUR NISSEN HUT. RAZOR IN ONE HAND, AND A MIRROR IN THE OTHER. THE DINING HALL WAS A JOURNEY OVER THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PARK, AND I CAN’T REMEMBER HAVING A DECENT MEAL THERE. MOST OF THE TIME, WE SPENT GUARDING THE COAL COMPOUND. AFTER BEING ISSUED WITH TROPICAL KIT, WE WERE PUT ON A DRAFT FOR THE AZORES. THREE DAYS LATER, THIS WAS SCRUBBED, OUR KIT BAGS WERE STAMPED MEDLOC, AND WE WERE BOUND FOR THE MIDDLE EAST.
[underlined] THE MEDLOC ROUTE. [/underlined]
IN LATE JANUARY, AT 6 AM ON A FROSTY, FOGGY MORNING, WE LEFT NEWHAVEN, ON THE DUNKIRK VETERAN, “EMPIRE DOFFODIL”. CROSSING A GLASSY, WAVELESS CHANNEL, TO THE PORT OF DIEPPE. THE RECEPTION CAMP WAS SITUATED ON A SEA OF MUD, DIFFERENT TENTED AREAS WERE REACHED BY CROSSING WOODEN DUCKBOARDS. AFTER A QUICK MEAL, MONEY CHANGED TO FRANCS, GIVEN A PACKET OF SANDWICHES, WE WERE MARCHED TO THE RAILWAY STATION, AND LOADED ABOARD THE “TOULON
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
EXPRESS” ANYONE THAT UNDERTOOK THAT PARTICULAR JOURNEY, WILL NEVER FORGET THE SHEER LUXURY THE TRAIN AFFORDED. THE FRENCH RAILWAY SYSTEM, DURING THE WHOLE WAR HAD BEEN HAMMERERED [sic] BY ALLIED BOMBERS DURING THE NIGHT, AND STRAFED BY FIGHTERS DURING DAYLIGHT. EACH COMPARTMENT WAS FITTED WITH WOODEN BENCH SEATS, FOUR EITHER SIDE, NO STEAM WAS LAID ON TO [inserted] THE [/inserted] CARRIAGES, AND FOR THE 36 HOUR JOURNEY, SLEEP WAS NIGH IMPOSSIBLE. THE TRAIN STOPPED THREE TIMES, AT BRAM, NEVEAX PALLIAX AND LIMOGES
[underlined] BOMBER COMMANDS OPERATIONS FROM EAST ANGLIA 42 – 45 [/underlined]
1) SHOW MAP OF RAF & USAF STATIONS ON SCREEN ENGLAND WAS FLOATING AERODROME.
AIR MARSHAL AFFECTIONATEY [sic] KNICKNAMED ‘BOMBER’ OR ‘BUTCH’ BY AIRCREWS SERVING UNDER HIM TOOK OVER BOMBER COMMAND IN 1942 (JAN). UP TO THEN WHITLEYS, MANCHESTERS HAMPDENS & WELLINGTONS HAD BOMBED TARGETS ALMOST INDIVIDUALLY NOT IN SQD STRENGTH. ACCURACY WITHIN 5 MILES RADIUS OF TARGETS AREA BOMBING ON 30TH MAY 1942. FIRST 1,0000 BOMBER RAID ON COLOGNE. O.[inserted] P [/inserted] T. [inserted] R [/inserted] UNITS USED ON THIS RAID 44 A/C LOST. 1,046 A/C TOOK PART.
[underlined] 2 [/underlined] 8th AIRFORCE DAY LIGHT RAIDS. IN STRENGTH. FORTRESSES. 10 MAN CREWS
AUG 17th 1943 SCHWEINFURT. 229 TOOK PART 36 LOST
OCT 14th 1943 “ 291 “ “ 60 LOST
[underlined] 3 [/underlined] [inserted] R.A.F. [/inserted] 1944 – 1945. UP TO 900 A/C OPERATING AT NIGHT
USAF – IN DAYLIGHT. 1,000 + 500 A/C FIGHTER ESCORTS.
[underlined] 4 NUREMBURG 30TH MARCH. 1944 [/underlined]
1,009 A/C OPERATED THAT NIGHT.
782 SENT TO NUREMBURG. 55 ABORTED 636 BOMBED TARGET OR CLAIMED.
95 A/C LOST. 75 SUFFERED DAMAGE. 22 CRASHED IN ENGLAND ON RETURN.
[underlined] AIR CREW CASUALTIES [/underlined] ON THIS RAID.
745. KILLED OR WOUNDED. 26 INJURED. 159 MADE PO.Ws.
[underlined] HAZARDS TO RETURNING AIRCRAFT. [/underlined]
FOLLOWING GERMAN NIGHT FIGHTERS. FRIENDLY ACK-ACK. AIR COLLISIONS. BOMBS FROM OTHER AIRCRAFT. FOG OR BAD WEATHER OVER BASES.
F.I.D.O. AT WOODBRIDGE & MANSTON CRASH STRIPS.
BESIDES BOMBER COMMAND. MANY AIRCRAFT FROM OPERATIONAL TRAINING AND HEADY CONVERSION UNITS.
STIRLING FROM DOWNHAM MKT. SEPT. ’43. THREE WEEKS OLD. 22 HRS TOTAL FLYING TIME SHOT UP BY N/F OVER HANNOVER. CRASHED AT BARROW.
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
IN OCTOBER 1945, OUR PARTY TRAVELLED TO KEMBLE RAF STATION WHERE LINES OF PRACTICALLY NEW LANCASTERS STOOD WAITING TO BE SCRAPPED. WE WERE GIVEN A BRAND NEW LANCASTER, FULLY EQUIPPED, TO STRIP DOWN, LOAD ONTO SEVEN LOW LOADING QUEEN MARY’S, AND TRANSPORT TO COLCHESTER. WITH THE AID OF A COLES CRANE, IT WAS ASSEMBLED COMPLETE IN A LOCAL PARK, AND THE PUBLIC ALLOWED TO INSPECT THE AIRCRAFT.
AFTER THREE WEEKS, THE LANC WAS STRIPPED AGAIN, LOADED UP, AND TRANSPORTED TO CHELMSFORD, FOR FURTHER PUBLIC DISPLAY. THIS TIME, THE SITE WAS ONLY FIFTY YARDS FROM A PUB, AND NEEDLESS TO SAY, IT TOOK JUST A LITTLE LONGER TO ASSEMBLE. AFTER THREE DAYS IN CHELMSFORD, THIS IDYLIC SITUATION WAS SUDDENLY BROUGHT TO AN ABRUPT END. A VAN ARRIVED FROM OUR NEWMARKET BASE TO TRANSPORT ME BACK. I WAS POSTED OVERSEAS.
[underlined] IN TRANSIT [/underlined]
I WAS ALLOWED HOME ON LEAVE FOR CHRISTMAS 1946, AND THEN TRAVELLED UP TO HEATON PARK, TRANSIT CAMP, JUST OUTSIDE MANCHESTER. EVERYTHING WAS FROZEN SOLID, SHAVING AND WASHING WAS DONE STANDING ASTRIDE A SMALL STREAM JUST OUTSIDE OUR NISSEN HUT. RAZOR IN ONE HAND, AND A MIRROR IN THE OTHER. THE DINING HALL WAS A JOURNEY OVER THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PARK, AND I CAN’T REMEMBER HAVING A DECENT MEAL THERE. MOST OF THE TIME, WE SPENT GUARDING THE COAL COMPOUND. AFTER BEING ISSUED WITH TROPICAL KIT, WE WERE PUT ON A DRAFT FOR THE AZORES. THREE DAYS LATER, THIS WAS SCRUBBED, OUR KIT BAGS WERE STAMPED MEDLOC, AND WE WERE BOUND FOR THE MIDDLE EAST.
[underlined] THE MEDLOC ROUTE. [/underlined]
IN LATE JANUARY, AT 6 AM ON A FROSTY, FOGGY MORNING, WE LEFT NEWHAVEN, ON THE DUNKIRK VETERAN, “EMPIRE DOFFODIL”. CROSSING A GLASSY, WAVELESS CHANNEL, TO THE PORT OF DIEPPE. THE RECEPTION CAMP WAS SITUATED ON A SEA OF MUD, DIFFERENT TENTED AREAS WERE REACHED BY CROSSING WOODEN DUCKBOARDS. AFTER A QUICK MEAL, MONEY CHANGED TO FRANCS, GIVEN A PACKET OF SANDWICHES, WE WERE MARCHED TO THE RAILWAY STATION, AND LOADED ABOARD THE “TOULON
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
EXPRESS” ANYONE THAT UNDERTOOK THAT PARTICULAR JOURNEY, WILL NEVER FORGET THE SHEER LUXURY THE TRAIN AFFORDED. THE FRENCH RAILWAY SYSTEM, DURING THE WHOLE WAR HAD BEEN HAMMERERED [sic] BY ALLIED BOMBERS DURING THE NIGHT, AND STRAFED BY FIGHTERS DURING DAYLIGHT. EACH COMPARTMENT WAS FITTED WITH WOODEN BENCH SEATS, FOUR EITHER SIDE, NO STEAM WAS LAID ON TO [inserted] THE [/inserted] CARRIAGES, AND FOR THE 36 HOUR JOURNEY, SLEEP WAS NIGH IMPOSSIBLE. THE TRAIN STOPPED THREE TIMES, AT BRAM, NEVEAX PALLIAX AND LIMOGES
Collection
Citation
Stan Shaw, “Bomber Command Operations from East Anglia 42-45,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed May 20, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/25820.
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