Bomber Command

Martyn Chorlton

Description

1942 was a crucial year for the fortunes of Bomber Command. The newly appointed Commander-in-Chief, Sir Arthur Harris, knew he had to show quickly that his ideas for broader, strategic bombing could make a real difference to the war, so with Churchill's blessing he set about planning a vast initial air attack using at least one thousand bombers. It was Cologne which became the target of the colossal raid on the night of 30th May 1942. The success of that first raid was convincing while the two major follow up 'Thousand' raids on Essen and Bremen in June were less so, but still emphatically justified Bomber Command's new expansive and aggressive role. More importantly, the raids forced an outraged Hitler to divert large and increasingly scarce military resources to the defence of his German cities.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Reino Unido
• Military history
• World War II
• United Kingdom
• History of Europe
• Great Britain
• Royaume-Uni

Informations

• Publié par: Countryside Books
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781846749100
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

B OMBER C OMMAND
T HE
T HOUSAND B OMBER R AIDS
M ARTYN C HORLTON
First published in 2017 Text © Martyn Chorlton 2017
The right of Martyn Chorlton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder and publishers.
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ISBN 978 1 84674 347 4 Cover image by Piotr Forkasiewicz
Produced by The Letterworks Ltd., Reading Typeset by KT Designs, St Helens Printed by Short Run Press, Exeter
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1    Bomber Command
2    Defence of the Reich
3    ‘The Thousand Plan’
4    The Raid - Operation Millennium
Cologne (May 30/31)
5    Essen
(June 1/2)
6    Operation Millennium II
Bremen (June 25/26)
7    The Aircraft involved
Bibliography
National Archives
Abbreviations & Glossary
Index
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to thank Nick Battle and all the staff at Countryside Books for giving me the opportunity to produce a book on this fascinating and important subject. Special thanks to Alastair Goodrum for historical information and photographs and to John Clifford, curator of the excellent Pathfinder Museum also for historical documentation and photography. Thanks to Dr. Phil Judkins at the Purbeck Radar Museum and to Stuart Davidson of JD Transport Collectables for the chance to acquire many of the photographs in this book and help to build up a new archive on this subject. Thank you to Kelvin Youngs and his excellent website www.aircrewremembered.com and to Tony Buttler for various photographs and last but not least, to my wife Claire for proof reading my amateur efforts, without complaint.
Introduction
Harnessing the force
The number 1,000 or even the word ‘Millennium’, when associated with a military force has an impressive ring to it. It should be a figure that would impress any man on the street during the dark years of the Second World War and he would surely be happy to know that such a number was associated with our forces rather than with the enemy. The newly-appointed Air Officer Commanding, Sir Arthur Harris had taken the reins of Bomber Command at a time when the odds were stacked against its very existence. Harris was fully aware that he had to impress and impress in a big way if he was going to keep this large resource-consuming giant at the forefront of the fight against Nazi tyranny. Harris had to show that Bomber Command had clout; small, generally ineffective raids up to May 1942 had had little impact in raising civilian morale let alone in the airmen who flew over obscure targets in France, the Low Countries and Germany.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, the mastermind of the ‘Thousand Plan’ and saviour of Bomber Command.
New navigation technology was being introduced as Harris took over, the number of operational bomber squadrons was on the increase and new aircraft such as the Lancaster were beginning to gain a foothold in the inventory. However, if Harris was going to reach that magic number ‘1,000’ he would need aircraft not only from Bomber Command but also from Coastal and Flying Training Commands. The mainstay of this number would be a stalwart of a bomber, the Vickers Wellington which, even by mid-1942, was still the backbone of Bomber Command and, with the exception of the Whitley and Hampden, was the most prolific bomber in the Operational Training Units as well. On paper, the number was feasible but the variables which would mean success or failure such as weather, serviceability and the skill of enemy defences, to name a few, were all unpredictable factors.
Once established, Harris planned on using his ‘1,000 Force’ for a series of raids during the spring and summer of 1942, but in the end only three were carried out and the first, to Cologne, on May 30/31, was the most successful by some margin. While success was incredibly important, Harris was clearly trying to demonstrate what Bomber Command could do when unleashed en masse against a single target and there is little doubt that these ‘Thousand Bomber Raids’ were a major contribution to the survival and both ultimate success of this powerful force. In fact, Bomber Command never looked back after these large raids and questions about iits effectiveness were not raised at a high level ever again.
Martyn Chorlton
1
Bomber Command
The Lie of the Land in 1942
F ormed in July 1936, Bomber Command’s early existence relied heavily on a popular slogan of the day; ‘the bomber will always get through’. This thinking relied heavily on the fact, (which in part was true at the time) that the average bomber of the mid-1930s had virtually the same performance as the average fighter and as such would receive very little opposition when approaching an enemy target. It was believed that anti-aircraft defences would cause some casualties and that only some of the fighters that had been scrambled in time would harass the bomber on its return journey but, generally, this method of attack was seen as a way of causing total destruction and therefore was the perfect deterrent to future wars.
However, the mid-1930s was a period of rapid military development while the world accelerated into an unavoidable Second World War. Aircraft were part of this technological race which saw both the capacity and the range of bombers increase significantly while fighters gained more horsepower, more effective weapons and improved their general all-round performance to a point where very few bombers could escape on their capability alone.
In July 1936, the RAF was equipped with a range of biplane bombers such as the Hawker Hind, Boulton Paul Overstrand, Fairey Gordon and Hendon, Handley Page Heyford and the Vickers Virginia, the latter having served in various marks since the early 1920s. The eleven Auxiliary squadrons serving with Bomber Command also fielded a collection which included the Hawker Hart and Hind and the Westland Wallace and Wapiti. To think that machines of this calibre would be thrust into a worldwide conflict in just over three years’ time must have sent some serious warning signals to the Air Ministry and, as a result, the development of a new breed of bombers had already begun.

Hawker Hind light bombers of 15 Squadron in 1936 capable of delivering a total bomb load of 510lb. Less than five years later, the squadron was operating the Short Stirling with the capacity to carry 14,000lb of bombs.
By the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the Bomber Command inventory had dramatically changed. The biplane had yielded to the multi-engined monoplane with one exception; the Fairey Battle. The Battle was not the greatest of aircraft and its failings were exposed during the Fall of France in 1940 when losses quickly saw this light bomber despatched to the second line. The remainder, which made up Bomber Command’s Order of the Battle in September 1940, were the Bristol Blenheim, Vickers Wellington, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Handley Page Hampden. All of these machines were destined to take part in the ‘Thousand Bomber’ raids, although it was only the reliable and rugged Wellington which would remain in frontline RAF service for the entire war. The Wellington would also be the most prolific type to join the ‘Thousand Bomber’ raids and it was not until 1943, when production of the four-engined heavies began to gain momentum, that this Barnes Wallis, geodetic-designed classic began to yield.
As well as the aircraft already mentioned, prior to May 1942, four more bombers had joined the Bomber Command inventory. The first, the Short Stirling, entered Bomber Command service in August 1940 followed by another heavy, the Handley Page Halifax, in November. The twin-engined Avro Manchester and first bomber variant of the de Havilland Mosquito followed in 1941 while the four-engined Avro Lancaster entered service in early 1942. Further resources, such as the Douglas Boston and Havoc were also available, thanks to ‘Lend-Lease’ from early 1941. This, on paper, gave Bomber Command a formidable capability which, when harnessed under the right leadership and despatched in an organised fashion, could strike a serious blow against the enemy.

The Blenheim was the fastest bomber in the RAF inventory at the beginning of the Second World War but by 1942 was already obsolete. However, it would play a key role in the ‘Thousand Plan’. These are 57 Squadron machines; by May 1942 the unit had converted to the Vickers Wellington. Bristol Aircraft
However, while this collection of aircraft appears impressive, Bomber Command still only had one type available in numbers which could deliver a large bomb load even though it was classed as a medium bomber; namely the Wellington. The Blenheim, by 1942, was serving with 2 Group in the light bomber/intruder role, while the Whitley and Hampden, both medium bombers and mainly serving with 4 and 5 Groups respectively lacked the clout, although both were good, respected aircraft in their own right. With regard to the new heavy bombers, the Stirling and Halifax were still not available in large numbers; the Manchester proved to be virtually ineffective thanks to mechanical issues and the Lancaster, fresh into service, was still finding its feet, although the latter was already hitting the headlines.

The Rolls-Royce Vulture-powered Avro Manchester, which thankfully led to the highly successful Lancaster. 99 sorties were flown by this unpopular aircraft during the three ‘Thousand Plan’ raids.
By May 1942, there were five marks of Wellington in operational service; the Br