Attacks on V Weapon sites – Pas De Calais – Summer 1944
The threat posed by the V 1 and V 3 weapons in Northern France by the summer of 1944 was very severe and destruction of these launch sites and bunkers was of the utmost priority for RAF Bomber Command including 103 Sqn and 576 Sqn. The V 3 multiple charge cannons were to be housed in a large underground complex at Mimoyecques. These massive cannons were never operational but were still a potential major danger and needed to be dealt with. The German V 2 rockets were fired from mobile launchers outside France in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and therefore not suitable targets for Bomber Command
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V1 Flying Bomb
V1 on launch ramp
In June, 1942, Germany began working on a new secret weapon. It was officially known as the F2G-76 but was also called Vergeltung (Retribution) as it was built in response to heavy bombing of urban areas in Germany.
British intelligence first became aware of this new weapon when on 22nd August, 1942, a Danish naval officer discovered an early test version that had crash landed on a small island between Germany and Sweden. The officer sent a photograph and a detailed sketch of the bomb to Britain and preparations began to deal with this new weapon that had the potential to win the war for Germany. Military intelligence eventually discovered that the V-1 missile was being built at Peenemunde and in May, 1943, Winston Churchill ordered Operation Crossbow, a plan to destroy V-1 production and launch sites. Over the next few months over 36,000 tons of bombs were dropped on these targets.
The V-1 (also known as a flying bomb, buzz bomb or doodlebug) was a pilotless monoplane that was powered by a pulse-jet motor and carried a one ton warhead. They were launched from a fixed ramp and travelled at about 350mph and 4,000ft and had a range of 150 miles (240km). It was 8 metres (25 feet) long and had a wingspan of about 5.5 metres (20 feet).
Germany launched its new weapon from Pas-de-Calais on the northern coast of France, on 12th June, 1944. The first ten failed to reach the country but on the following day one landed in Essex. Over the next few months 1,435 hit south-east England. These attacks created panic in Britain and between mid June and the end of July, around one and a half million people left London.
Germany fired 9,521 V-I bombs on southern England. Of these 4,621 were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire or by RAF fighters such as the new turbojet fighter, the Gloster Meteor. An estimated 6,184 people were killed by these flying bombs. By August only 20 per cent of these bombs were reaching England.
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V3 – Multiple Charge Gun
Mimoyecques V3 site
Mimoyecques Fortress was a V3 bunker located in the commune of Landrethun-le-Nord in the Pas-de-Calais department.
The V3 or multiple charge gun is a 127 metre long cannon developed by the engineer August Coenders that could fire 150 mm shells. Additionally an extra 32 explosive charges, placed in lateral chambers, increased the speed of the shell at the exit of the gun's mouth to 1550 metres per second with a range of 165km. The site had to be constructed on several levels to shelter this immense cannon and to protect it from Allied bombings.
The site was chosen by the Todt Organisation for its geographical position (150km from London) and its geological structure.
The first workers (German engineers, miners from the Ruhr and Soviet prisoners) arrived on the site in June 1943. In September 1943, a 600-metre-long and 30 metres deep railway tunnel was completed to supply the site. The workers then immediately began digging the lateral galleries and the level 100 metres below which served as the loading base for this super gun. Five shafts for five guns were planned to fire up to 1,500 shells per day at London.
The Allies knew about the existence of the Mimoyecques site as early as 18 September 1943. The first two bombings were carried out on 5 and 8 November 1943. Between November 1943 and the spring of 1944, sixteen air raids targeted the fortress. Despite the 4,100 tonnes of bombs dropped on the site, the damage was insignificant because the bombs used at that time were not powerful enough to penetrate the 30 metres of chalk and the 5 metres of reinforced concrete.
However, the attack of 6 July1944 was decisive:16 Lancasters of 617 Sqn dropped heavy Tallboy bombs on the fortress. Eight of them hit the target. Part of the complex was completely flooded, tunnels and shafts collapsed and hundreds of slave workers were entombed underground. Construction works were abandoned by the German troops and on 5 September 1944 the site fell to the Canadian troops without any resistance.
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103 Squadron.
During the summer of 1944 the Squadron participated in 12 attacks on V Weapons sites and storage facilities in Northern France plus one in the Netherlands
These were as follows :-
22 June 1944 – Mimoyecques – 20 aircraft
25 June 1944 – Flers – 21 aircraft
28 June 1944 – Chateau Benapres – 21 aircraft
29 June 1944 – Domleger – 20 aircraft
2 July 1944 – Domleger – 20 aircraft
17 July 1944 – Sanneville – 15 aircraft
20 July 1944 – Wizernes – 19 aircraft
25 July 1944 – Bois-des-Jardines – 7 aircraft
1 August 1944 – Belle-Croix-Les-Bruyeres - 8 aircraft
3 August 1944 – Troissy-St-Maximin – 15 aircraft
18 August 1944 – La Nieppe – 1 aircraft – FTR – P/O JP Austin and crew in PB363 – Flak victim
28 August 1944 – Chappelle Notre Dame – 6 aircraft
31 August 1944 – Agenville – 14 aircraft – 1 aircraft - FTR - F/O DA Ryerse RCAF and crew in LM243 – Probable flak victim.
17 September 1944 – Eikenhorst – 10 aircraft
197 Sorties in total
F/O JB Moss and crew flew on 8 of these operations for 103 Squadron
F/O J B Moss
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576 Squadron.
During the summer of 1944 the Squadron participated in 12 attacks on V Weapons sites and storage facilities in Northern France
These were as follows :-
22 June 1944 – Mimoyecques – 18 aircraft
24 June 1944 – Flers – 18 aircraft
27 June 1944 – Chateau Benapres – 17 aircraft
29 June 1944 – Domleger – 18 aircraft
2 July 1944 – Domleger – 18 aircraft
17 July 1944 – Sanneville – 16 aircraft
20 July 1944 – Wizernes – 19 aircraft
25 July 1944 – Bois-des-Jardines – 8 aircraft
1 August 1944 – Belle-Croix-Les-Bruyeres - 12 aircraft
3 August 1944 – Troissy-St-Maximin – 12 aircraft
18 August 1944 - Wemars Cappel – 4 aircraft
28 August 1944 – Chappelle Notre Dame – 4 aircraft
31 August 1944 – Agenville – 16 aircraft – 1 aircraft
181 Sorties in total. No losses
These attacks were carried out at medium altitude which incurred some light/medium flak damage to a number of aircraft and injuries to crew members are reported
F/S J J B Ryder
F/S J J B Ryder and crew flew on 7 of these operations for 576 Squadron
Compiled by David Fell. Photos from the Moss and Stevens family and my archive.
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