18-8-44
432 Sqn RCAF (East Moor – Halifax VII)
Sixteen aircraft were detailed to attack Bremen. Fifteen took off successfully and the crews report the target clearly marked. With bombs well placed they all returned safely. Aircraft captained by J. 29071 P/O Gault, J.A., swerved off the runway on take-off, took fire and presented a fireworks display that could be seen for miles. The two thousand pounder fortunately did not explode in the normal way, but rather burned causing a little damage. The crew were uninjured with the exception of R22336 Sgt. Walters, R.G., the Rear Gunner, who suffered shock to his neck. The boys in the control tower and the onlookers boat a hasty retreat knowing what havoc the big bomb could cause.
BOMBER COMMAND
L’ISLE-ADAM
158 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitoes of 5 Group attacked a German supply depot near Paris. 2 Lancasters lost.
Minor Operations: 64 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitoes to oil-storage depots at Bordeaux and Ertvelde-Rieme, near Ghent, 16 Halifaxes and 16 Lancasters to 7 small flying-bomb sites, 23 Lancasters to La Pallice U-boat pens. 2 Lancasters lost on the flying-bomb site raid.
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18/19 August 1944
BREMEN
288 aircraft – 216 Lancasters, 65 Halifaxes, 7 Mosquitoes. 1 Lancaster lost.
Visibility over the target was clear and the Pathfinders provided perfect marking throughout the raid. Bremen’s own records show this to have been the most destructive raid of the war, although only 274 aircraft attacked, dropping just over 1,100 tons of bombs. The whole of the centre and the north-western parts of Bremen, including the port area, were devastated. The 10-page report from Bremen is a more emotive and erratic document than normal, much of it describing the effect of the fierce fires (described as a firestorm), the condition of the packed bodies of victims later found in shelters (300 bodies were found in the Lesmona public shelter), the distress of the rescue workers and the sufferings of the bombed-out people. At least 1,058 bodies were recovered, of which 375 bodies could not be identified. The number of people classed as ‘missing’ far exceeded the 375 unidentified bodies.
8,635 ‘dwelling-houses’, as usual in German cities, many of them being blocks of flats, were burnt out and 611 were severely damaged. The official who compiled the report made no attempt to list the commercial and industrial buildings hit, ‘it would be endless’, he wrote, but he did stress the severe damage caused to the port area, mentioning that 18 ships were sunk in the harbour and 61 seriously damaged alongside wharves.
Special ration cards were issued to the civilian population after this raid to help restore morale – 100 grammes of real bean coffee and 2 half bottles of spirits, 250 grammes of sweets for the children.
STERKRADE
234 aircraft – 210 Halifaxes, 14 Mosquitoes, 10 Lancasters – mainly from 4 Group, to attack the synthetic oil plant. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster lost. Bomber Command documents state that the raid was successful and that the plant was seriously damaged.
CONNANTRE
144 aircraft – 122 Halifaxes, 18 Lancasters, 4 Mosquitoes – of 6 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost.
The target here was a railway station and yards 70 miles east of Paris. The Pathfinder marking was accurate and much damage was caused. This raid marked the end of the long series of attacks on the French and Belgian railway systems.
ERTVELDE RIEME
108 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitoes of 1 and 8 Groups attacked and caused severe damage to the oil depot and storage tanks. No aircraft lost.
SUPPORT AND MINOR OPERATIONS
139 training aircraft on a diversionary sweep to the Normandy area, 21 Mosquitoes to Berlin and 19 to five other targets, 33 R.C.M. sorties, 62 Mosquito patrols, 11 Halifaxes minelaying off Biscay ports, 5 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito lost on a raid to Harburg.
Total effort for the night: 1,069 sorties, 4 aircraft (0.4 percent) lost.
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2nd TAF
On this date the gap at the mouth of the pocket closed to less than ten miles. Polish troops took Trun, while US First Army units advanced through the Foret de Gouffern towards the Trun- Chambois road. 5. Panzer Armee launched furious counter-attacks from the east in an effort to keep the escape route open.
For the first time some disagreement occurred between 2nd TAF and Ninth Air Force, following a ruling from Montgomery that 21st Army Group should operate north of a line running east-west through Argentan, and US First Army to the south of this. However, as the latter had been ordered to close the gap at Chambois, which was north of Argentan, this could have put its operations outside Ninth Air Force's area of operations. To complicate matters further, P-47s attacked Canadian troops in the Trun area by mistake.
Air Marshal Arthur Coningham requested HQ, AEAF to exclude Ninth Air Force from the airspace north of Argentan, but General Vandenberg objected strongly, as this would mean that his units were prevented from supporting their own army. An arrangement was reached whereby requests for assistance from US troops within the 2nd TAF area should still be met by Ninth Air Force fighter-bombers. Generally however, 83 Group was to attack targets south-east of Falaise, including in the Trun, Chambois and Vimoutiers area, while 84 Group covered the area Pont Audemer-Lisieux-Bernay.
Weather on 18th proved to be good apart from a little cloud during the morning, and groups of vehicles were attacked on the roads from the gap to the Seine. 83 Group also attacked craft on the river, claiming to have sunk ten barges and two steamers ferrying German troops to the east bank. In the afternoon long convoys of circa 400 vehicles were seen heading for Vimoutiers, and Allied artillery fire from the sides of the pocket now joined the attacks from the air. By 1700 the area outside Vimoutiers was a confused mass of transport, and attacks were redoubled. Burning vehicles created roadblocks and many drivers abandoned their charges, or drove them into the surrounding forest in an effort to find cover.
The area between Trun and Chambois became known to the attackers as "The Shambles' (an old English name for a slaughterhouse) and here, after the closing of the gap, investigators were later to count more than 3,000 motor vehicles and 1,000 horse-drawn carts which had either been destroyed by air attack or artillery fire, or abandoned and set on fire by the Germans themselves. Two days later AVM Broadhurst and his 83 Group SASO would inspect the area, where apart from vehicles, large numbers of men and horses lay dead, obviously killed by rocket and cannon fire. It was clear that the morale effect of these attacks had been to cause great panic, but again there proved disappointingly little evidence of specific destruction attributable to air attack, particularly of armoured vehicles. Here there had been little or no opportunity for the Wehrmacht recovery services to extricate damaged tanks and other AFVs for repair and re-use. By the end of the day 2nd TAF claims totalled:-
Vehicles Destroyed Tanks Destroyed
83 Group 1074 73
84 Group 230 37
Larger numbers were claimed to have been damaged. Although operating over a more limited area, Ninth Air Force added claims for about 400 more vehicles destroyed.
The cost had been heavy however, for 83 Group had lost 23 aircraft and 84 Group seven more. Almost every Typhoon unit suffered some loss. In 83 Group 137, 175, 181, 182, 184(two), 245(two), 247(two), 438(two) and 440 Squadrons all lost aircraft, with nine pilots killed and one captured. 84 Group's units suffering losses included 164, 183, 193, 197, 198 (two), 263 and 609 Squadrons; three of the pilots were killed. It was the greatest loss of Typhoons in combat in a single day - 17 destroyed and four badly damaged.
Amongst the Spitfire units all losses were suffered by 83 Group, the squadrons of 126 Wing losing six, with one pilot killed and one taken prisoner (Flt Lt A.F.Halcrow subsequently escaped and returned); 125 and 127 Wings each lost one aircraft. 122 Wing lost three Mustangs, two from 19 Squadron and one from 65. Of the aircraft shot down, four of the Typhoons and a similar number of Spitfires managed to crash-land or force-land. Nearly all these losses were to ground fire of one sort or another, only one Typhoon and one Mustang were believed to have been shot down by opposing aircraft.
Among the highlights of the day had been an attack by Wg Cdr Johnny Baldwin and three pilots of 197 Squadron on a tunnel near Beuzeville; it housed railway guns which had been shelling the beachhead. While Baldwin and his wingman blocked one end with 1,000 lb bombs, the other end received similar treatment from Sqn Ldr A.H.Smith and his wingman. Hit by Flak, Baldwin would lose his second 'JB' in five days when it was 'written off' on his return. 127 Wing alone reported claiming between 450-500 MT, nearly 100 of them by 416 Squadron.
The day was to see two other extraordinary operations. One of the Polish squadrons of 133 Wing, 315, now no longer a part of 2nd TAF, had, like 306 Squadron recently, been released from anti V-1 patrols to undertake a sweep over France. Taking off at 0729, Sqn Ldr E.Horbaczewski led 12 Mustangs to the Beauvais area, where they caught II./JG 26 forming up after taking off at 0830. In moments ten Fw 190s had gone down, eight pilots killed and two more wounded. The survivors returned claiming five Mustangs shot down, three of these claims subsequently being rejected by the RLM. The two claims accepted appear to have been made by Lt Hofmann, the 8. Staffel commander (his 29th) and ofw Wilhelm Mayer (his 17th). In fact only one Mustang was lost, but it was that flown by Horbaczewski, who was killed. The other Polish pilots returned claiming 16 Focke-Wulfs shot down, plus one probable and three damaged; three of those destroyed were, they claimed, shot down by their missing commander, bringing his personal total to 16.
In the evening 14 of 613 Squadron's Mosquito VIs went off to strike a school building in Egleton, south-east of Limoges, reported to be in use as another Gestapo HQ. In PZ222 flew the 2 Group commander, AVM Basil Embrey. Between 1802-1818 attacks were made from between 50 and 1,500 feet, 30 500lb bombs being released of which at least 20 gained direct hits on the target. One Mosquito, crewed by Flt Lt C.R.A.House/Flg Off S.E.Savill, failed to return, but the crew evaded capture and were able subsequently to reach Allied territory.
As night fell 2 Group was out in force, making concerted attacks on the Seine crossings where much activity was seen at Quillebeuf and Elbeuf. A ferry at La Mailleroye and pontoons at Elbeuf were destroyed, and returning pilots reported seeing over 700 vehicles, claiming to have destroyed 125 of them. 142 sorties were made by the Mosquitoes, 58 of these going out twice. It proved to be the Group's most successful night since D-Day. Nineteen Mitchells also operated, dropping flares to aid the Mosquito crews, but three of them were lost with their crews whilst undertaking these operations, one each from 98, 226 and 320 Squadrons.
Meanwhile Mosquitoes from the night fighter squadrons were continuing to take a toll of the Luftwaffe's bombers as they sought to hit back. At 2305 Sqn Ldr J.A.Hatch/Flt Lt Eames of 409 Squadron claimed a Ju 188 near Routot, while 15 minutes later this same crew claimed a Ju 88 near Autheuil. Flg Offs R.G.Jeffs/A.N.Crookes of 488 Squadron then claimed a Do 217 south of Rouen at 2343.
USAAF
BELGIUM: 1st Bombardment Division B-17s attack bridges at Liege and Namur.
FRANCE: Forty-three 3d Bombardment Division B-24s attack Roye/Amy Airdrome, and ten B-24s attack targets of opportunity. Escort is provided by 96 VIII Fighter Command P-51s. Two B-24s are lost.
Eighth Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack bridges, a marshalling yard, several airdromes, fuel dumps, and an aircraft- engine factory. Three escort fighter groups attack three airdromes during the return flight.
Three hundred twenty-three VIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack transportation targets along the Seine River and into Belgium. Losses are 13 fighter-bombers and ten of their pilots.
Approximately 100 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack rail lines, an important road junction on the German Army line of retreat, a fuel dump, and an ammunition dump.
IX and XIX TAC fighters and fighter-bombers mount more than 1,000 sorties in support of advancing Allied ground forces, especially in the Paris-Argentan area and along the Seine River.
Eighth and Ninth air force fighter pilots down 19 GAF fighters over France during the day.
When it is learned that the battleship Strasbourg, cruiser La Gallissoniere, and a former French Navy destroyer and submarine have been moved into a position in Toulon harbor from which they can sally against the DRAGOON invasion fleet and beachhead, 36 321st Medium Bombardment Group B-25s based in Corsica are ordered to conduct an immediate attack aimed at sinking the three warships. Arriving over the ships following a dead-reckoning approach, the B-25s attack from 13,000 feet through intense flak that damages 27 of the aircraft and wounds 12 crewmen, including the group commander. Nevertheless, bombs sink the Strasbourg, the La Gallissoniere, and the submarine at their anchors.
Twelfth Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers attack rail facilities and German Army defensive positions in the invasion area.
XII TAC headquarters is established ashore in the DRAGOON invasion area to oversee air operations in direct support of U.S. Seventh Army troops.
The Twelfth Air Force’s 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron is transferred from Corsica to an airfield in the DRAGOON beachhead.
NETHERLANDS: 1st Bombardment Division B-17s attack Eindhoven Airdrome and a bridge at Maastricht.
ROMANIA: Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers conduct a particularly damaging raid against five refineries around Ploesti.
When a mere 35 Axis fighters attack the heavy bombers, 31st Fighter Group P-51 pilots down nine and drive the rest away. Capt Leland P. Molland, the commanding officer of the 31st Fighter Group’s 308th Fighter Squadron, brings his final personal tally to 10.5 confirmed victories when he downs a Bf-109 near Ploesti at 1045 hours.
YUGOSLAVIA: Eighty-nine Fifteenth Air Force attack Alibunar Airdrome.
BASE CHANGES
33 Sqn (Spitfire LFIXE) moves to Selsey
72 Sqn (Spitfire LFIXB) moves to Ramatuelie
451 Sqn RAAF (Spitfire LFIXB) moves to Poretta
