British Military Aviation in 1944 - Part 5

Part 4

8 September
One of only two Victoria Crosses awarded in recognition of an extended period of operational flying and outstanding prowess during the Second World War is won by Wing Commander G.L. Cheshire (4 such awards were made in the First World War). "In 4 years of fighting against the bitterest opposition he has maintained a record of outstanding personal achievement, placing himself invariably in the forefront of the battle." No.617 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command.

15 September
Operation Paravane: 27 Avro Lancasters of No.9 and No.617 Squadrons, armed with 12,000 pound 'Tallboy' bombs and 500 pound 'Johnny Walker' anti-shipping bombs and led by Wing Commander J.B. Tait, attack the German battleship Tirpitz at anchor in Altefjord in Norway. In order to reach the target, the attacking force had detached to the Soviet airfield at Yagodnik near Archangel. Although the target was obscured by cloud, 17 'Tallboys' were dropped; one struck the foredeck of the Tirpitz, causing severe damage.

17 September
Operation Market Garden: a mass parachute and glider (sailplane) assault by three divisions of the First Allied Airborne Army takes place to seize bridges in the area of Eindhoven (United States 101st Airborne Division), Nijmegen (United States 82nd Airborne Division) and Arnhem (British 1st Airborne Division).

A simultaneous ground assault by 30 Corps, British 21st Army Group, was intended to use the bridges held by the parachute troops in order to create a bridgehead from which the German West Wall defensive line could be outflanked.

However, this plan was frustrated by the presence of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions in the area selected for the assault. Elements from these formations slowed the attack by 30 Corps to a crawl and drove much of 1st Airborne Division into a pocket some distance from both its dropzones and its objectives, the road and rail bridges at Arnhem.

Attempts to reinforce and resupply the airborne divisions were also badly disrupted by poor weather. Eventually, on 25 September the survivors of 1st Airborne Division were withdrawn across the Rhine. In attempting to drop reinforcements and supplies to the British paratroopers at Arnhem, RAF Transport Command lost 57 aircraft shot down or destroyed in crashes.

19 September
A posthumous Victoria Cross is awarded to Flight Lieutenant D.S.A. Lord for his action during an airdrop of supplies at Arnhem, during Operation Market Garden. The aircraft involved was Douglas Dakota III KG374 of No.271 Squadron RAF Transport Command

19-20 September
Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC and his navigator, Squadron Leader J.B. Warwick, are killed while returning from a raid on the twin towns of Mönchengladbach and Rheydt. Wing Commander Gibson, then serving at RAF Coningsby as Base Operations Officer, was acting as the Master Bomber for this raid. The aircraft he was flying, a de Havilland Mosquito of No.627 Squadron, crashed near the Dutch coast. Both he and his navigator are buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery at Steenbergen-en-Kruisland, 13 kilometres north of Bergen-op-Zoom.

24 September
Following the liberation of Araxos airfield on 23 September, the first Royal Air Force (RAF) unit to return to Greece, No.32 Squadron (Supermarine Spitfire), flies into the airfield on this date.

12-14 October
Operation Manna: the Allied liberation of Athens commences with a parachute assault on Megara airfield by No.2 Independent Parachute Brigade Group, carried to the dropzone by the 51st Troop Carrier Wing United States Army Air Force (USAAF). British paratroops subsequently entered the Greek capital, Athens, on 15 October.

15 October
Air Defence of Great Britain is renamed RAF Fighter Command.

18 October
The Combat Cargo Task Force is formed within Air Command South-East Asia.

21 October
The Luftwaffe commences V1 attacks against targets in Belgium. The primary target for this bombardment was the key port of Antwerp, with attacks continuing until March 1945.

28 October
RAF Central Navigation School is renamed Empire Air Navigation School.

31 October
Twenty-four de Havilland Mosquitoes of Nos. 21, 464 and 487 Squadrons, escorted by 8 North American Mustangs, carry out a successful low-level attack on the Gestapo Headquarters at Aarhus in Denmark in order to destroy German records relating to the Danish resistance groups.

12 November
Following an earlier attack, which was unsuccessful due to poor weather over the target, the battleship Tirpitz is finally sunk in Tromso Fjord in Norway, during a raid by 30 Avro Lancasters from No.9 and No.617 Squadrons, RAF Bomber Command, using 12,000 pound 'Tallboy' bombs. The Tirpitz capsized after being hit by at least two 'Tallboys' and approximately 1,000 of the 1,900 crew aboard the battleship were killed.

4 December
Following growing unrest, demonstrations in Athens by the communist-based National Liberation Front (EAM) and National Popular Liberation Front (ELAS) on 2 December result in British troops being forced to fire on the demonstrators. Two days later, police stations were attacked and Royal Air Force (RAF) units operating from Hassani began flying sorties against EAM and ELAS targets in the Athens area.

9 December
The Home Secretary, Mr Herbert Morrison, announces that the 'black out' would become a 'dim out' as most of the attacks on Britain were being made by V1 flying bombs or V2 missiles.

16 December
Operation Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine): the final offensive by the German Army in the West, commences with a surprise assault on United States Army positions in the Ardennes area of Belgium by 200,000 men, including seven Panzer (armoured) divisions.

Although the offensive succeeded in carving out a dangerous salient in the United States' line, the German advance lost momentum as fuel supplies were exhausted and ground to a halt. US forces then successfully counter-attacked.

To support the offensive, the Luftwaffe had assembled some 2,460 combat aircraft, including 1,770 single-engine fighters. However, both the Allied air forces and the Luftwaffe were initially prevented from intervening by poor weather conditions. When the weather began to clear from 23 December, the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) rapidly established air superiority over the battlefield and were able to provide extensive close air support to the defenders.

19 December
AHQ Greece at Kifisia is attacked by ELAS troops. Despite the best efforts of No.2933 Squadron RAF Regiment, the headquarters was overrun on 20 December and a large number of British prisoners were taken and marched north. Supplies were dropped to the column by No.221 Squadron RAF (Vickers Wellington XIII).

23 December
The Victoria Cross is posthumously awarded to Squadron Leader R.A.M. Palmer for gallantry displayed during a daylight bombing raid on Gremburg marshalling yards in Cologne. Palmer's aircraft was an Avro Lancaster (PB371) of No.109 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command.

Part 4