Dedication This book is dedicated to all who took part in Operation OYSTER, or who were affected by the raid, on the ground or in the air. It is especially in remembrance of those, both military and civilian, who were killed. Royalties Royalties from the sale of this book will go to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Pen & Sword Aviation an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd 47 Church Street Barnsley South Yorkshire S70 2AS Copyright © Kees Rijken, Paul Schepers, Arthur Thorning 2014 ISBN 978 1 47382 109 5 eISBN 9781473839786 The right of Kees Rijken, Paul Schepers, Arthur Thorning to be identified as the Authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. Typeset in Ehrhardt by Mac Style Ltd, Bridlington, East Yorkshire Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CRO 4YY Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground, Discovery, Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics, Railways, Select, Transport, True Crime, and Fiction, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press, Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe. For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk Contents Maps Introduction: Eyewitness Accounts and Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Eindhoven and the Philips Company Chapter 2 Choice of Target Chapter 3 Forces Available for the Attack Chapter 4 Planning and Training for the Raid Chapter 5 The Raid Chapter 6 Success Achieved Chapter 7 The Cost to Philips and Eindhoven Chapter 8 Aftermath and Hindsight Chapter 9 Monument: Memorial in Eindhoven Chapter 10 Postscript: Comments on Appendices Appendix I No. 2 Group Operation Order 82 Appendix II Low level navigation to Eindhoven Appendix III Operation Oyster Evaluation Appendix IV American Diversionary Raid Appendix V RAF Casualties Appendix VI Civilians Killed Appendix VII German Soldiers Killed Appendix VIII Philips Fire Service Report Glossary Bibliography Maps Map 1. Operation OYSTER – British Aerodromes Map 2. Eastern England – Route of Practice Flight Map 3. Operational Routes to and from Eindhoven Eindhoven showing principal features, including the Strijp and Emmasingel Map 4. plants Map 5. Route across Eindhoven taken by Boston aircraft OM-Z Map 6. Route of Boston RH-K Map 7. Route of PR Mosquito XD-F over Eindhoven Bombs outside Philips – stray HE bombs dropped early and to the east of the Map 8. Strijp target Map 9. Appendix VIII – Map of area surrounding the Emmasingel complex Map 10. Appendix VIII – Map of area surrounding the Strijp complex Introduction: Eyewitness Accounts and Acknowledgements Kees Rijken’s words My interest in aeroplanes dates back from 1932, when the airfield at Eindhoven was opened and my grandad offered me a flight in the single-engine Fokker F.7A PH-ACT above the city of Eindhoven (this aircraft was destroyed on 10 May 1940, when hangared at Schiphol, by a German bombardment during the invasion of The Netherlands). Through the magazine De Vliegwereld I was able to follow the development and production of all new aircraft. This enabled me on 10 May 1940 to recognize the German Heinkel 111s, which were flying in great numbers across Eindhoven on a Western heading. This was the invasion of The Netherlands and the beginning of the war in our country. During the war years, the only possible way to gain knowledge about participating aircraft from the countries at war was via German publications. However, this proved rather satisfactory and I never had difficulty in instantly recognizing any particular type of plane during the war. Whenever it was reasonably possible, I tried to see as much as possible of the aerial movements above and around Eindhoven during these years. My favourite spotting place was the roof of my parents’ house along the Sint Rochusstraat. This was also the case on 6 December 1942. It was noon, half-past twelve. We were all having dinner, when suddenly an enormous amount of noise interfered, originating from aeroplane engines, anti-aircraft guns, exploding bombs and machine guns. Up to the roof! From the rooftop I could see a number of Douglas Bostons approaching from the west, flying in the direction of the Philips factories. As seen from my vantage point, some of them started the bomb drop ahead of the St Rochusstraat. Explosions and clouds of smoke were clearly visible. Several minutes after the Bostons’ departure, from a somewhat more northerly direction, another group of aircraft followed which I immediately recognized as Lockheed Venturas, producing a terrific coffee-grinder like noise. They were being hailed by the now fully alert German anti-aircraft guns. Suddenly the right wing of one of the attacking Venturas was enveloped in fire. It pulled up sharply, stalled and dropped like a stone to crash in open terrain near the Schoolstraat (Ventura I, AE702 SB-Q, 464 Squadron). All the crew perished, as I was informed later. I also saw a Ventura, apparently hit, lose height and disappear in an easterly direction. It crashed at the Nieuwe Dijk; all the crew perished. After the departure of the Venturas huge clouds of smoke were filling the sky above Eindhoven, and the blazing inferno of many fires could be seen and heard. Curious as I was, I took to my bike and cycled to the city centre. Stratumseind and the Wal were already sealed off. At the Bergstraat I was ordered to reverse. At that moment a lone Mosquito raced over the city to photograph and film the results of the bombardment as I was told by one of the spectators who had been forced to work in Germany for a while and had seen this happen before. On my way home I saw two not-yet-exploded bombs lying on the Dommelbrug in de Jan Smitzlaan. After the war my interest in this raid never left me and I tried to gain an overall picture of it by buying books in which, albeit mostly on just one or two pages, an anecdote about this bombardment could be found. This has led to overcrowded bookshelves but still no clear picture of what happened on 6 December 1942. It was not until my son-in-law Paul and I started to really investigate the history of Operation OYSTER, by means of repeated visits to the UK Public Records Office, Imperial War Museum, London and RAF Hendon that most (still not all) of the puzzle could be recovered. There followed many discussions and an extensive correspondence with participating veteran airmen and multiple visits to former airfields involved. We reported our findings in one document, so as to have all Operation OYSTER related information at hand at once. This is the result. C. L. J. M. Rijken, Eindhoven, 12 April 1998 Paul Schepers’ introduction to the two-volume research document ‘RAF No 2 Group Operation Order No.82 – Operation OYSTER’ follows: This document is written to be of use to relatives of aircrew and existing RAF Squadron associations who participated in Operation OYSTER (RAF Operation Order No. 82), in researching the whereabouts of particular crews and planes. The authors do not have the intention of reproducing the booklet commercially, unless advised otherwise by any of those mentioned above. Our keen interest in this particular RAF operation is, apart from being aviation enthusiasts above all, twofold. For my father-in-law, because he had a grandstand view of the whole raid from the rooftop of his parental house, guarded against shell-fragments falling on his head by wearing a cooking-pot (!), being fourteen years of age and knowing by type all participating aircraft. He was hooked on retrieving every single bit of information published about this raid since then. For myself, being a Philips employee who works in one of the knocked-down buildings on the Strijp complex, is the reason. The trigger for the document was to combine as much information as possible regarding aircrew and aircraft, plans and results in relation to Operation OYSTER in one single booklet. One can find numerous books and articles which reveal part of the operation, but we found it difficult to get the complete overview by reading them separately. So it was decided to gather the available pieces of the puzzle, gradually filling in the missing ones. Both the authors have collected quite some material over the years; that has all been included. However, not until we started our research at the UK Public Records Office in Kew did we gain an in-depth knowledge of the tremendous effort conducted by the RAF. It was rather amazing to us as to how much authentic information could be retrieved from the PRO, keeping us busy for a much longer time than anticipated, I can tell you (beside providing the first-ever hands-on experience of computers for my father-in-law). By writing to squadron associations, numerous contacts were established with surviving aircrew who actually took part in Operation OYSTER and were very willing to share their experiences. Though people who have contributed to this document are numerous, I would like to thank especially RAF crew members Freddie Deeks, Peter Mallinson, Jim Moore, Stan Moss, Albert Ricketts, George Shinnie, Jay Snow, Tony Valle-Jones, Edith Wagner (widow of late Reg Wagner) and Arthur Wheeler.