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 1 Brief Summary inside Front Cover 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 2 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 3 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. 4 For my cousin, Len, and the 20,455 airmen commemorated on the Panels of the Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial, Runnymede, as having no known grave. I could not love thee, Dear, so much, Lov'd I not Honour more. RICHARD LOVELACE (1618 - 1658) To Lucasta, Going to the Wars My late brother, Malcolm, had this memorial window inserted in his flat in Kew Gardens, dedicated to Len and his crew. In the top left hand corner is the 21 Squadron crest and the bottom right hand corner reads: '1941 16TH JULY ROTTERDAM IN MEMORIAM ERIC: RALPH: LEN' 5 Contents Cover Page 1 Brief Summary Inside Front Cover 2 21 Squadron Crest and Title 3 Copyright Information 4 Dedication 5 Contents 6 Foreword 10 Acknowledgements 11 Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations 16 Introduction 22 Preface 25 PART ONE - THE RAID Chapter 1 The Briefing 29 Chapter 2 Departure 50 Chapter 3 Formation and Low Flying 61 Chapter 4 The Transit 68 Chapter 5 The Attack 72 Chapter 6 Homeward Bound 120 Chapter 7 Debriefing 124 Chapter 8 Assessment 128 Chapter 9 Congratulations and Gongs 144 Chapter 10 The Netherlands at War 147 Chapter 11 Reflections of a Decade 149 PART TWO - THE CREWS Introduction to Biographical Section 170 List of Aircrew covered in this Section 171 21 SQUADRON Wg Cdr P.F. Webster DSO DFC & Bar 174 Sqn Ldr J.B. Robertson MBE DFM 179 6 Sqn Ldr R.E. Hunter DFM 183 Sgt J.E.S. Bevan 184 Plt Off R.M. Slade 187 Sgt L.R. Mynott 189 Sqn Ldr D. Graham-Hogg 198 Flt Sgt D.W. Wyatt 202 W/O J. Marsden 207 Fg Offs Wotherspoon, Buchanan & Derrick 210 Plt Off Ashby, Flt Lt Lowes & Plt Off Seeley 216 Plt Off Orme, Plt Off Gunnis & Fg Off Collins 221 Flt Lt Reiss, Sqn Ldr Shewell & Sqn Ldr Nunn 226 226 SQUADRON Wg Cdr J.O.C. Kercher DSO 234 Plt Off B.G. Evans DFM 239 Flt Lt R.O.C. Carey RCAF 242 Sqn Ldr J. Onions DFM & Bar 248 Fg Off H.P. Warmington 266 Flt Lt J.F.L. Morton 271 Fg Off N.J.A. Paton DFM 274 Flt Lt J.G.A. Maguire DFC 277 Sqn Ldr F.L. Campbell-Rogers RCAF 280 W/O D.E. Bingham 298 Sgt J.P. Sullivan 301 Gp Capt J.S. Kennedy DFC & Bar AE 305 Sqn Ldr H.A. Asker DFC DFM 311 Fg Off E.J. Brett 316 18 SQUADRON Wg Cdr T.N. Partridge DFC 319 Sgt G.A. Dvorjetz 327 Flt Sgt J.O.N. Smith DFM 329 Wg Cdr D.C. Smythe DSO GM 332 Sqn Ldr A.S. Aldridge DFC 338 Wg Cdr J. Welch DFC 349 7 Sgt A.C. Cutler 353 Wg Cdr T.G. Jefferson DSO AFC AE 358 Flt Lt R.F. Millns 432 Flt Lt M.S. Scotney AE 436 Sgts Rost, Hughes & Winter 444 Flt Lt A.C. Powner MBE 448 Flt Lt J.B. Sands 453 W/O F. Daniels 456 139 SQUADRON Sqn Ldr E. Sydney Smith DFC 460 Plt Off R.A. White 467 W/O E.G. Caban DFM 474 Sgt Hatton, Sgt Holroyd & W/O Bennett 478 105 SQUADRON Sqn Ldr B.W. Smithers DFC 484 Fg Off C.F. James 489 Flt Lt J. Fisher 490 Flt Lt A.B. Broadley DFC 492 Plt Off A.S. Ramsay DFC 494 W/O V.R. Marsh DFM 496 Fg Off J.G. Bruce DFM 497 W/O A.H. Flett DFM 501 W/O H. Gibson DFM 503 Sgt R.J. Scott 505 Sgt W.B. Healy 509 Sgt S.G. Bastin 511 Sqn Ldr G.E. Goode DFC 514 Flt Lt F.A. Harbord DFM 519 Flt Lt E.W. Applebee DFM 525 Epilogue 529 8 APPENDICES Appendix I Final Order of Battle 16 Jul 41 532 Appendix II Fighter Escort - No 257 Sqn 536 Appendix III Personal details of Crews 537 Appendix IV Blenheim Mk IV Selected Data 574 Appendix V Explanations of A/C Record Cards 580 Appendix VI Blenheim Aircraft on Raid 16 Jul 41 581 Appendix VII Bombing Reports for 16 Jul 41 592 Appendix VIII Admiralty Definitions of Ship Damage 598 Appendix IX Admiralty Record of Ship Casualties 599 Bibliography 601 Self Profile 607 Back Page of Cover 609 9 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.