Mast High Over Rotterdam
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MAST HIGH OVER ROTTERDAM A TRIBUTE TO THE BLENHEIM AIRCREW OF NO 2 GROUP, RAF BOMBER COMMAND, WHO TOOK PART IN THE LOW-LEVEL DAYLIGHT RAID ON ROTTERDAM DOCKS ON 16TH JULY 1941 RUSTY RUSSELL FOREWORD BY AIR MARSHAL SIR IVOR BROOM KCB, CBE, DSO, DFC**, AFC Brief Summary This is a story about courage. The anti-shipping campaign of the No 2 Group Blenheims of Bomber Command was at its height during the summer of 1941. It meant that crews were faced each day with the statistical and very real possibility that their young lives would be violently extinguished, as they attacked merchant vessels which were escorted by a large number of destroyers and flakships, all bristling with fearsome anti-aircraft armament. They would have to fly at 50 feet or lower, in broad daylight, in an obsolescent aircraft, at a ludicrously slow speed by modern standards. No wonder Winston Churchill likened these courageous attacks to the Charge of the Light Brigade. This book is about one such raid, on the docks at Rotterdam on 16th July 1941. It was one of the most spectacular raids of the war. In 2 Group terms, it was an outstanding success, not only because of the tonnage of shipping claimed as destroyed or damaged, but also because 'only' four Blenheims were lost out of the 36 despatched to bomb the docks. Hitherto, some squadrons had been virtually annihilated on one raid alone. Of the Blenheims shot down, nine gallant aircrew lost their lives, including the young and charismatic leader of the Second Wave - Wing Commander Tim Partridge, CO of No 18 Squadron. Also lost was my cousin, Sergeant Leonard Mynott, a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner on No 21 Squadron. After Len's Blenheim, V6240 (YH:B), had been shot down at 1655 hours, British Double Summer Time, it crashed into Waalhaven - the largest dock in Rotterdam. The wreckage of the Blenheim, and the bodies of Len's crew, Sergeant Eric Bevan (pilot) and Pilot Officer Ralph Slade (observer) were all recovered shortly after the crash, but no trace was ever found of my cousin, who is thus commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial as having no known grave. In 1981, as the 40th anniversary of the raid approached, I felt an overwhelming urge to find out why Len's body was never found. This was my sole motivation for my research at that time. After interviewing many survivors of the raid, and learning much more about the 'Cinderellas' of Bomber Command, and their incredible fight against overwhelming odds, I decided to commit my research to paper, with strong encouragement from those veteran Blenheim aircrew. I wanted to know everything I could about the raid - all the fascinating details. Richard Passmore (Roger Peacock), an ex-Blenheim Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, kindly perused my typescript and informed me that my book was not commercially viable, but the RAF Museum would dearly like to get their hands on it! He was right. The publishers were only interested if I wrote solely about the raid and excluded all the biographies of the participants. I felt that this would be unacceptable, and declined their offer. With the passage of time, I had an attack of conscience, and set to in earnest, polishing up my typescript for presentation to the RAF Museum. I now know what successful authors have to go through before a publisher will accept their work! Though disappointed that I could not get this book published, it has occurred to me that it could well be read by a much wider audience than a conventional book, which would quickly disappear off the shelves. My hope is that Mast High Over Rotterdam will prove a welcome reference for anyone researching those very brave souls who served on Blenheims in No 2 Group, Bomber Command during the Second World War. Rusty Russell MAST HIGH OVER ROTTERDAM A TRIBUTE TO THE BLENHEIM AIRCREW OF NO 2 GROUP, RAF BOMBER COMMAND, WHO TOOK PART IN THE LOW-LEVEL DAYLIGHT RAID ON ROTTERDAM DOCKS ON 16TH JULY 1941 RUSTY RUSSELL FOREWORD BY AIR MARSHAL SIR IVOR BROOM KCB CBE DSO DFC** AFC (i) This typescript, only one hard copy of which has been produced by the author, was donated to the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon in 2015. It is intended to be a source of research material for those people interested in the Blenheim aircrew and operations of No 2 Group, RAF Bomber Command. In view of this, the author (and copyright holder) hereby authorises the use of any part of this book that is clearly the domain of the author, and not the copyright of other sources, provided that the quotation begins with the following introduction: 'Rusty Russell, in his book Mast High Over Rotterdam (lodged with the RAF Museum, Hendon, in 2015) states that...' Likewise, any photos annotated 'Author's photo' should be annotated (Rusty Russell). Copyright Lionel D.A. 'Rusty' Russell, 2015 Lionel D.A. 'Rusty' Russell has asserted the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. Cover illustrations Front top: painting by Barry Wallond of 21 Squadron's Blenheim V6240 (YH:B), my cousin's aircraft, running through Waalhaven just before it crashed on 16th July 1941. Bottom: Blenheim V5580 (YH:X), the lead aircraft on the Rotterdam raid of 16th July 1941, running up at Watton on 4th July 1941, crewed by Sgts Taylor, Newman and Spriggs of 21 Squadron. Back top: very low over the Oranjefontein in Waalhaven on 16th July 1941 - note flakship Vorpostenboot Vp 1107 being manoeuvred in the middle right of the picture. Bottom: a WOp/AG's view of Waalhaven after the crew's bombing run on 16th July 1941. (ii) Contents 21 Squadron Crest and Title (i) Copyright Information (ii) Dedication (iii) Contents 1 Foreword 5 Acknowledgements 6 Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations 12 Introduction 18 Preface 21 PART ONE - THE RAID Chapter 1 The Briefing 25 Chapter 2 Departure 48 Chapter 3 Formation and Low Flying 60 Chapter 4 The Transit 67 Chapter 5 The Attack 71 Chapter 6 Homeward Bound 120 Chapter 7 Debriefing 125 Chapter 8 Assessment 131 Chapter 9 Congratulations and Gongs 147 Chapter 10 The Netherlands at War 150 Chapter 11 Reflections of a Decade 152 PART TWO - THE CREWS Introduction to Biographical Section 173 List of Aircrew covered in this Section 174 21 SQUADRON Wg Cdr P.F. Webster DSO DFC & Bar 177 Sqn Ldr J.B. Robertson MBE DFM 186 Sqn Ldr R.E. Hunter DFM 190 Sgt J.E.S. Bevan 199 1 Plt Off R.M. Slade 202 Sgt L.R. Mynott 204 Sqn Ldr D. Graham-Hogg 213 Flt Sgt D.W. Wyatt 217 W/O J. Marsden 222 Fg Offs Wotherspoon, Buchanan & Derrick 225 Plt Off Ashby, Flt Lt Lowes & Plt Off Seeley 231 Plt Off Orme, Plt Off Gunnis & Fg Off Collins 236 Flt Lt Reiss, Sqn Ldr Shewell & Sqn Ldr Nunn 241 226 SQUADRON Wg Cdr J.O.C. Kercher DSO 250 Plt Off B.G. Evans DFM 255 Flt Lt R.O.C. Carey RCAF 258 Sqn Ldr J. Onions DFM & Bar 265 Fg Off H.P. Warmington 283 Flt Lt J.F.L. Morton 288 Fg Off N.J.A. Paton DFM 291 Flt Lt J.G.A. Maguire DFC 294 Sqn Ldr F.L. Campbell-Rogers RCAF 297 W/O D.E. Bingham 315 Sgt J.P. Sullivan 318 Gp Capt J.S. Kennedy DFC & Bar AE 322 Sqn Ldr H.A. Asker DFC DFM 328 Fg Off E.J. Brett 333 18 SQUADRON Wg Cdr T.N. Partridge DFC 336 Sgt G.A. Dvorjetz 344 Flt Sgt J.O.N. Smith DFM 346 Wg Cdr D.C. Smythe DSO GM 349 Sqn Ldr A.S. Aldridge DFC 355 Wg Cdr J. Welch DFC 366 Sgt A.C. Cutler 370 Wg Cdr T.G. Jefferson DSO AFC AE 375 2 Flt Lt R.F. Millns 449 Flt Lt M.S. Scotney AE 453 Sgts Rost, Hughes & Winter 461 Flt Lt A.C. Powner MBE 465 Flt Lt J.B. Sands 470 W/O F. Daniels 473 139 SQUADRON Sqn Ldr E. Sydney Smith DFC 477 Plt Off R.A. White 484 W/O E.G. Caban DFM 491 Sgt Hatton, Sgt Holroyd & W/O Bennett 495 105 SQUADRON Sqn Ldr B.W. Smithers DFC 501 Fg Off C.F. James 506 Flt Lt J. Fisher 507 Flt Lt A.B. Broadley DFC 509 Plt Off A.S. Ramsay DFC 511 W/O V.R. Marsh DFM 513 Fg Off J.G. Bruce DFM 514 W/O A.H. Flett DFM 518 W/O H. Gibson DFM 520 Sgt R.J. Scott 522 Sgt W.B. Healy 526 Sgt S.G. Bastin 528 Sqn Ldr G.E. Goode DFC 531 Flt Lt F.A. Harbord DFM 538 Flt Lt E.W. Applebee DFM 544 Epilogue 548 3 APPENDICES Appendix I Final Order of Battle 16 Jul 41 551 Appendix II Fighter Escort - No 257 Sqn 555 Appendix III Personal details of Crews 556 Appendix IV Blenheim Mk IV Selected Data 593 Appendix V Explanations of A/C Record Cards 599 Appendix VI Blenheim Aircraft on Raid 16 Jul 41 600 Appendix VII Bombing Reports for 16 Jul 41 611 Appendix VIII Admiralty Definitions of Ship Damage 617 Appendix IX Admiralty Record of Ship Casualties 618 Bibliography 620 4 Foreword by Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom KCB, CBE , DSO, DFC**, AFC On 16 July 1941, 36 Blenheim aircraft were briefed to carry out a daring mast high attack on ships in the docks at Rotterdam.