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Other participating crews which were not
mentioned due to nonproblematic flights were Lt.
J.N. Hall (SAAF) in BZ928, Lt. G.C.E. Gibson (SAAF)
in BZ929, Lt. J.G. Schuurman (SAAF) in BZ930 “S”,
Lt. J.F. Young (SAAF) in BZ946 “L”, W/O. J. Strenach
(RAAF) in BZ947 “N”, F/Lt. E.F.S. May in EV825 “D”
and F/Sgt. A.L. Steele in EV841. All crews landed
at Celone between 05:43 and 06:30.
Newly planted ‘cucumbers’, as the mines
were often called in the RAF slang, found their
victims again. On the 13th, seven ships were sunk,
including B.L. tanker 778, N.F.R’s Hotin and the
M.F.T.R. tug Grof Szapary Gyula lost at km 1466.
Aboard the tug ten people lost their lives.
Originally, for the night 14/15 April 1944 the
205 Group scheduled a major attack on the Turnu
Severin Marshalling Yards in Romania, but this was
cancelled, and in its place modest-sized raids by
the three Wellington wings were mounted against
shipping and harbor installations at Piombino,
San Stefano and Leghorn. One Wellington from
236 Wing was also detailed to carry out a leaflet
drop (‘nickelling’) over Romania. It was therefore
only the Liberators of 240 Wing that operated
upon what was to be the final mining operation
of the first full moon period, and easily the least
successful.
Between 22:00 and 00:01, 178 Squadron
dispatched eleven crews to mine the Danube near
Jiul, in Romania, with six of them detailed to drop
leaflets over Romanian cities prior to mining. Two
aircraft crashed shortly after take-off and of the
remaining nine only one, EV959 “T” of F/Lt. D.A.
Eardley, managed to locate the designated bed
with any certainty. Of the rest, two (BZ932 “Y” of Lt.
W.J. Van der Merwe and BZ946 “L” of Lt. J.F. Young,
both SAAF) mined the Danube, though uncertain
as to where, while W/O. Strenach’s crew (in BZ930
“S”) dropped their mines 15 miles south of Craiova
in the river Jiul after they could not locate the
Danube. In all, thirty Mk. 5A mines were laid
between 03:20 and 03:44 from a height of 50 to
200 feet. The other crews of Lt. H. Hosken (SAAF)
in BZ947 “N”, F/Sgt. A.L. Steele in BZ929 and
F/Sgt. W.A. Molyneux in EV822 “V were defeated
by a combination of haze and a waning moon low
in the sky, conditions worsening as the night
progressed, with crews unable later to identify
the Danube, despite having used it successfully
as a pinpoint earlier, en route to nickelling. Two
aircraft successfully dropped leaflets over
Ploesti, and one each over Bucharest and Craiova.
Returning crews all highlighted the difficult
weather conditions and the efforts they had
made to locate the designated drop zone.
S/Ldr. R.A. Brown’s crew, flying in B-24 BZ928, for
instance, reported:
“Tried to find Danube after dropping ‘nickels’
but unsuccessful. A town brightly lit up and all
pinpoints coincided with Turnu Măgurele but
Danube could not be located. Moon was giving
poor illumination as it shone just above haze.
Orbited to find Danube but still unsuccessful.
Flew South and made astrosight which gave
aircraft at 43°05’N: 22°47’E at 03:05 hours. This
gave aircraft too far South of Danube to mine
before 03:20 hours. Decided to abandon operation.
Fifteen minutes later another astrofix confirmed
the other one. 04:16 hours – two mines jettisoned
from rear bay at position 42o04’N: 18o32’E from
9000 feet on heading 260°.”
W/O. Strenach and his crew had to contend not
only with difficult weather, but also with enemy
opposition:
“01:54 hours made a complete circuit of
Ploesti – searchlight shot up and caught aircraft
straight away. Light stayed on for approx. 30secs
then moved off then another repeated. Master
searchlight held aircraft, the others swinging
towards aircraft’s course passing on to the master.
Evasive action taken and searchlights lost. 02:20
hours en route back to Danube. A single radial-
engined aircraft (unidentified) observed flying
same way as ‘S’. ‘S’ turned to port. Height 4000
ft – fighter’s height 3000 ft. Unidentified aircraft
then lost. After losing unidentified aircraft spent
at least one hour searching for Danube. Aircraft
flew at 300 ft following rivers to see if they
flowed into the Danube but was unable to find it.
03:44 hours, 200 ft – mines dropped in Jiul River
from Craiova which is fairly large. Unable to find
Danube owing to evasive action, bad visibility,
black night and haze.
Returning aircraft landed at Amendola
between 05:50 and 06:40.”
Two aircraft of the 178 Squadron were lost that
night. Consolidated Liberator B.Mk.VI EV825 “D”
took off normally but crashed shortly afterwards,
one kilometer east of San Marco. The cause was
never established. All crewmembers, including
pilot Lt. Harold E. Rogan (SAAF), navigator Sgt.
Denis A. Bennett, Air Bomber Sgt. Bernard E.
Hart, Wireless Operator Sgt. John C.W. Martin,
Flight Engineer Sgt. George H. Evans, Air Gunner
M.F.T.R. tug Grof Szapary Gyula lost on 13 April 1944 at km 1466.
178 Squadron RAF Liberator being armed with mines.
ARTICLES
INFO Eduard
11
April 2024