16/17th June - Target Essen
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Title
16/17th June - Target Essen
Description
An operation to Essen with HE Batchelder pilot. Main force bombed Bonn but three aircraft from 102 Squadron were diverted to Essen to bomb using Gee. The aircraft was damaged and everyone baled out successfully. All were taken prisoner.
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Two printed 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
EBatchelderHE[Recipient]C920907-0004, EBatchelderHE[Recipient]C920907-0005
Transcription
16/17th June 1942 – target Essen – aircraft W7652 "DY-P".
Crew:
Sgt. H E Batchelder – pilot and captain.
Sgt. G Hobsbawn – navigator.
Sgt. F L Ringham – wireless operator.
Plt. Off. D McRae (Canadian) – mid-upper gunner.
Sgt. F Bell – flight engineer.
Sgt. R H Rivers – tail gunner.
Don McRae's second trip – the regular mid-upper gunner Sgt E Jackson had fallen sick with Mumps and Don was drafted into the crew to get operational experience.
Briefing – main force Bonn but three aircraft from 102 plus four from other squadrons, were directed to divert to Essen and bomb on a GEE fix at a defined height and heading – then to fly straight and level for 58 seconds to obtain photographs which were needed to assess the accuracy of the attack! "Bomber Command War Diaries" report 8 aircraft (7.5%) lost from force of 106 – this included all three Squadron aircraft on Essen.
Take-off 2305hrs. Flying in substitute aircraft, regular one for this crew was then W7712 "DY-S" which was on major overhaul. Attained bombing height, 20,000 feet, over Holland and proceeded direct to Essen and bombed as directed. While approaching GEE aiming point intense searchlight activity developed and the aircraft was coned by four "blue" master searchlights with all their attendant white ones. As the bombs were dropped a heavy calibre anti-aircraft attack began and continued all the time the aircraft was flying straight and level to get the photographs. While still under attack the captain started taking violent evasive action and eventually managed to escape by diving steeply – have no recollection of the duration of this phase. The aircraft had been damaged but was still flyable so headed north west in an attempt to firstly reach Holland. Engines were mal-functioning and the starboard inner stopped after a short period of heavy vibration – Squadron log records receiving signal of this at 0230hrs. In quite rapid succession the port inner and starboard outer failed and at 5,000 feet heading towards Wesel the captain had to instruct the crew to abandon the aircraft. The crew left in sequence, the flight engineer lingering sufficiently to clip on the pilot's parachute as he was having difficulty controlling the aircraft. The captain eventually left the controls at 800 feet – all the crew landed safely and were eventually taken prisoner of war. The, captain who left the aircraft last, landed nearly 2km north west of the village of Hamminkeln, which is about 8km north of Wesel.
An interesting facet on this operation is that the "Bomber Command War Diaries" give the target for the night's activity as Essen while the Squadron's Log and the pilot's Log Book, completed by the Flight Commander after the aircraft was reported missing, both give the target as Bonn. The RAF Form 1180 (Accident Report Form) gives the Purpose of Flight as "Raid on Essen".
While it was obviously necessary to experiment with new techniques of attack it is difficult to comprehend why such a heavily defended target as Essen was chosen for this raid with the primary of Bonn about 90kms away. If say Duisberg had been the primary, Krefeld would have been only some
[page break]
20kms distant – that would have better confused the defences and being a smaller target, would have given a greater illustration of the technique.
Crew:
Sgt. H E Batchelder – pilot and captain.
Sgt. G Hobsbawn – navigator.
Sgt. F L Ringham – wireless operator.
Plt. Off. D McRae (Canadian) – mid-upper gunner.
Sgt. F Bell – flight engineer.
Sgt. R H Rivers – tail gunner.
Don McRae's second trip – the regular mid-upper gunner Sgt E Jackson had fallen sick with Mumps and Don was drafted into the crew to get operational experience.
Briefing – main force Bonn but three aircraft from 102 plus four from other squadrons, were directed to divert to Essen and bomb on a GEE fix at a defined height and heading – then to fly straight and level for 58 seconds to obtain photographs which were needed to assess the accuracy of the attack! "Bomber Command War Diaries" report 8 aircraft (7.5%) lost from force of 106 – this included all three Squadron aircraft on Essen.
Take-off 2305hrs. Flying in substitute aircraft, regular one for this crew was then W7712 "DY-S" which was on major overhaul. Attained bombing height, 20,000 feet, over Holland and proceeded direct to Essen and bombed as directed. While approaching GEE aiming point intense searchlight activity developed and the aircraft was coned by four "blue" master searchlights with all their attendant white ones. As the bombs were dropped a heavy calibre anti-aircraft attack began and continued all the time the aircraft was flying straight and level to get the photographs. While still under attack the captain started taking violent evasive action and eventually managed to escape by diving steeply – have no recollection of the duration of this phase. The aircraft had been damaged but was still flyable so headed north west in an attempt to firstly reach Holland. Engines were mal-functioning and the starboard inner stopped after a short period of heavy vibration – Squadron log records receiving signal of this at 0230hrs. In quite rapid succession the port inner and starboard outer failed and at 5,000 feet heading towards Wesel the captain had to instruct the crew to abandon the aircraft. The crew left in sequence, the flight engineer lingering sufficiently to clip on the pilot's parachute as he was having difficulty controlling the aircraft. The captain eventually left the controls at 800 feet – all the crew landed safely and were eventually taken prisoner of war. The, captain who left the aircraft last, landed nearly 2km north west of the village of Hamminkeln, which is about 8km north of Wesel.
An interesting facet on this operation is that the "Bomber Command War Diaries" give the target for the night's activity as Essen while the Squadron's Log and the pilot's Log Book, completed by the Flight Commander after the aircraft was reported missing, both give the target as Bonn. The RAF Form 1180 (Accident Report Form) gives the Purpose of Flight as "Raid on Essen".
While it was obviously necessary to experiment with new techniques of attack it is difficult to comprehend why such a heavily defended target as Essen was chosen for this raid with the primary of Bonn about 90kms away. If say Duisberg had been the primary, Krefeld would have been only some
[page break]
20kms distant – that would have better confused the defences and being a smaller target, would have given a greater illustration of the technique.
Citation
“16/17th June - Target Essen,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed October 22, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/40202.
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