Homberg, Edward King's 27th op of his tour
Title
Homberg, Edward King's 27th op of his tour
Description
A brief description of the op to a synthetic oil plant, reports being attacked by Me 109 and two Ju 88's, his navigation plot, a print of what the H2S return of the target should look like and a page, partly newspaper cuttings and partly a report of the raid by squadrons.
Creator
Date
1944-07-20
1944-07-21
Language
Format
Four items, a typewritten account of the operation, a navigation plot, a radar return plot, newspaper cuttings with part of an official report
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
SKingEJ182986v10134, SKingEJ182986v10135, SKingEJ182986v10136, SKingEJ182986v10137
Transcription
[underlined] HOMBERG [/underlined]
[underlined] Synthetic Oil Plant. 20th July, 1944 [/underlined]
Airborne 2330
Landed 0310
A very active night flight with attacks by Messerschmidt 109 and two Junkers 88s, not to mention 2 rockets. Flak very active. Large explosions caused by bombing.
[page break]
[map]
[inserted][underlined] HOMBERG [/underlined][/inserted]
[page break]
[map]
HOMBERG
[page break]
The "Daddy" Of All Explosions
"A tremendous sheet of flame spurted from the target area and, as black smoke rose, the markers disappeared. It was the 'Daddy' of all explosions."
"The explosion was the biggest I have ever seen. It must have shaken the country for hundreds of miles. Although we were flying at over 19,000ft. it lit the heavens and the Lancasters all around us."
The speakers were Flying Officer D.S. Parry, a pilot, of Kensington, W.. and Squadron Leader H. Lee-Warner. A.F.C., of Parkstone, Dorset.
They had just returned from Homberg in the Ruhr, where they had bombed a synthetic oil plant, and the explosion had been the result.
Largest Plants
Homberg was only one of the R.A.F.'s night objectives. Other Lancasters and Halifaxes bombed the synthetic oil plant at Bottrop-Wilhelm. These two plants were the largest still working in the Ruhr.
Two other forces of R.A.F. heavy bombers – altogether about 1000 bombers are believed to have been sent – struck with success at Courtrai railyards, Belgium.
Big Raid On Ruhr Oil
AN Air Ministry communique today stated:
"Yesterday afternoon, and again in the evening, Lancasters and Halifaxes of RAF Bomber Command, covered by Spitfires, attacked a number of flying bomb installations, and a site believed to be connected with the enemy's threatened use of long-range rockets, in Northern France.
"Last night, aircraft of RAF Bomber Command made heavy attacks on the large synthetic oil plants at Homberg, and Bottrop-Welheim in the Ruhr.
"Both attacks were highly concentrated, and smoke from large fires rose to a great height.
"A force of Mosquitos attacked Hamburg, and Halifaxes attacked a flying bomb installation in Northern France."
"Mines were laid in enemy waters. From these operations 31 of our bombers are missing."
The RAF were out in very great strength during the night. Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris sent to Germany two separate forces of Lancasters and Halifaxes to attack Homberg and Bottrop-Welheim.
The two oil plants attacked are the two largest concerns still working in the Ruhr.
Two further forces were despatched to make a heavy attack on the railway centre at Courtrai, in Belgium.
All three of the main northern routes from Germany through Belgium to France by way of Ghent, Brussels, and Roosendall. converge at Courtrai, where these are the largest and most convenient railway yards in this area for sorting military traffic before it passes on to the Normandy battlefield.
Swiss radio, quoting an official communique said that five U.S. bombers were intercepted by Swiss fighters today and forced to land.
HOMBERG SYNTHETIC OIL PLANT WAS THE NIGHT'S TARGET.
15 SQDN – 15 STARTED, 13 PRIMARY, 1 ABORTIVE, 1 MISSING
90 SQDN – 27 STARTED, 23 PRIMARY, 1 ABORTIVE, 3 MISSING
622 SQDN – 15 STARTED, 12 PRIMARY, 1 ABORTIVE, 2 MISSING
75 SQDN – 26 STARTED, 19 PRIMARY, 7 MISSING
115 SQDN – 22 STARTED, 20 PRIMARY, 1 OUTSTANDING, 1 MISSING.
514 SQDN – 24 STARTED, 17 PRIMARY, 1 ABORTIVE, 4 MISSING.
WEATHER OVER THE TARGET WAS CLEAR WITH SOME INDUSTRIAL HAZE,. RED AND GREEN MARKERS WERE CONCENTRATED AND THE BOBBING [sic] WAS GOOD. ONE LARGE EXPLOSION WAS CAUSED WITH SMOKE UP TO 15,000 FEET. MOST [deleted] CRESS [/deleted] CREWS WERE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE ATTACK.
[underlined] Synthetic Oil Plant. 20th July, 1944 [/underlined]
Airborne 2330
Landed 0310
A very active night flight with attacks by Messerschmidt 109 and two Junkers 88s, not to mention 2 rockets. Flak very active. Large explosions caused by bombing.
[page break]
[map]
[inserted][underlined] HOMBERG [/underlined][/inserted]
[page break]
[map]
HOMBERG
[page break]
The "Daddy" Of All Explosions
"A tremendous sheet of flame spurted from the target area and, as black smoke rose, the markers disappeared. It was the 'Daddy' of all explosions."
"The explosion was the biggest I have ever seen. It must have shaken the country for hundreds of miles. Although we were flying at over 19,000ft. it lit the heavens and the Lancasters all around us."
The speakers were Flying Officer D.S. Parry, a pilot, of Kensington, W.. and Squadron Leader H. Lee-Warner. A.F.C., of Parkstone, Dorset.
They had just returned from Homberg in the Ruhr, where they had bombed a synthetic oil plant, and the explosion had been the result.
Largest Plants
Homberg was only one of the R.A.F.'s night objectives. Other Lancasters and Halifaxes bombed the synthetic oil plant at Bottrop-Wilhelm. These two plants were the largest still working in the Ruhr.
Two other forces of R.A.F. heavy bombers – altogether about 1000 bombers are believed to have been sent – struck with success at Courtrai railyards, Belgium.
Big Raid On Ruhr Oil
AN Air Ministry communique today stated:
"Yesterday afternoon, and again in the evening, Lancasters and Halifaxes of RAF Bomber Command, covered by Spitfires, attacked a number of flying bomb installations, and a site believed to be connected with the enemy's threatened use of long-range rockets, in Northern France.
"Last night, aircraft of RAF Bomber Command made heavy attacks on the large synthetic oil plants at Homberg, and Bottrop-Welheim in the Ruhr.
"Both attacks were highly concentrated, and smoke from large fires rose to a great height.
"A force of Mosquitos attacked Hamburg, and Halifaxes attacked a flying bomb installation in Northern France."
"Mines were laid in enemy waters. From these operations 31 of our bombers are missing."
The RAF were out in very great strength during the night. Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris sent to Germany two separate forces of Lancasters and Halifaxes to attack Homberg and Bottrop-Welheim.
The two oil plants attacked are the two largest concerns still working in the Ruhr.
Two further forces were despatched to make a heavy attack on the railway centre at Courtrai, in Belgium.
All three of the main northern routes from Germany through Belgium to France by way of Ghent, Brussels, and Roosendall. converge at Courtrai, where these are the largest and most convenient railway yards in this area for sorting military traffic before it passes on to the Normandy battlefield.
Swiss radio, quoting an official communique said that five U.S. bombers were intercepted by Swiss fighters today and forced to land.
HOMBERG SYNTHETIC OIL PLANT WAS THE NIGHT'S TARGET.
15 SQDN – 15 STARTED, 13 PRIMARY, 1 ABORTIVE, 1 MISSING
90 SQDN – 27 STARTED, 23 PRIMARY, 1 ABORTIVE, 3 MISSING
622 SQDN – 15 STARTED, 12 PRIMARY, 1 ABORTIVE, 2 MISSING
75 SQDN – 26 STARTED, 19 PRIMARY, 7 MISSING
115 SQDN – 22 STARTED, 20 PRIMARY, 1 OUTSTANDING, 1 MISSING.
514 SQDN – 24 STARTED, 17 PRIMARY, 1 ABORTIVE, 4 MISSING.
WEATHER OVER THE TARGET WAS CLEAR WITH SOME INDUSTRIAL HAZE,. RED AND GREEN MARKERS WERE CONCENTRATED AND THE BOBBING [sic] WAS GOOD. ONE LARGE EXPLOSION WAS CAUSED WITH SMOKE UP TO 15,000 FEET. MOST [deleted] CRESS [/deleted] CREWS WERE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE ATTACK.
Collection
Citation
Edward King, “Homberg, Edward King's 27th op of his tour,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 28, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/34226.
Item Relations
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