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ARTICLES
During the first period during which the
moon was full or near full, mining operations
were planned on eight nights, but sorties flown
on only three, weather conditions making
accurate minelaying impossible on the rest.
The first operation, on 8/9 April, was carried
out as planned, but that on the following night,
described in the 205 Group Operations Record
Book as ‘Completion of Mining in Danube’ was
cancelled, as was what would have again been
a ‘Completion’ on 10/11 April. On 12/13 April,
mining was successfully carried out, but a repeat
the next night was cancelled. Success came
again on 14/15 April, but yet another repeat, on
15/16 April, had to be cancelled. The cancellation
of the early ‘Completion’ drops was unfortunate,
in that it gave the German authorities time to
begin planning counter-measures.
205 Group scheduled a major raid on the
Tököl airfield, Budapest, on 8/9 April 1944,
but this was cancelled late in the day, so the
Group’s first mining operation was the only one
undertaken that night. Two Wings operated, 231
Wing dispatching twenty Wellingtons from 37 and
70 Squadrons, and 240 Wing three Liberators
of 178 Squadron, their designated ‘beds’ in the
Danube lying between Bazias and Belgrade.
Preparation for what was, for 205 Group,
an entirely new operational experience was not
without its difficulties, the Group Operations
Record Book April summary stating:
‘Gardening’ operations commenced in April
1944, and the River Danube was mined with
approximately 200 mines, Mark IV and V. Difficulty
was experienced in obtaining the necessary
slings, suspension bands, and bomb beams; and
the necessary experienced electrical personnel
specialized in the preparation of the mines.
The electrical personnel were eventually flown
from the Middle East the day prior to the operation.
It seems likely that the ‘electrical personnel’
came from squadrons in Egypt specializing in
minelaying and anti-shipping operations, such
as 38 Squadron, though the actual briefing was
carried out by Royal Navy personnel.
Ten Wellingtons of 37 Squadron were detailed
to mine the Danube, laying ‘cucumbers’ in
a three-mile bed east of Belgrade, but one did not
operate because of magneto failure. The other
nine were airborne at Tortorella between 20:20
and 20:27 hours. Three crews, LN920 “C” of W/O
J.C. Bailey (RAAF), MF139 “K” of Lt. M. Britz (SAAF)
and ME872 of F/Sgt. H.C.M. Johnson (RAAF), were
forced to abandon their tasks, F/Sgt. Johnson’s
encountering severe electrical storms, while
W/O. Bailey’s and Lt. Britz’s crews were unable to
identify crucial pinpoints. All three brought their
mines back. F/O. Pagram’s crew laid its mines
six miles west of the prescribed bed. The rest,
LP182 of F/Sgt. G.D.E. Adamson, HE518 of F/Lt.
R.M. Cranchey, HZ814 of W/O. E.D. Upson (RAAF),
JA522 of F/Sgt. J.C. Macallum (RAAF) and JA531
of F/Lt. C.H. Muggeridge, did so in the prescribed
areas east of Belgrade between 22:27 and 23:21
hours from between 400 and 500 feet. F/Sgt.
Johnson’s aircraft landed at Tortorella at 23:35,
the remainder between 00:48 and 01:47.
Ten Wellingtons of 70 Squadron were detailed
to mine the Danube and took off from Tortorella
between 20:20 and 20:41. In fairly good weather,
though some cloud, nine crossed the Dinaric
Alps and pinpointed the River Sava and Belgrade.
LP130 “D” (F/Sgt. G.J. Custance) experienced
engine overheating and rising oil temperatures
that developed almost immediately after take
off. The crew turned back and landed at Celone at
22:30, as instructed, with mines on board. Seven
planes, LN640 “A” of F/Lt. H.C. Bownas, MF194
“F” of F/Sgt. D.C. Twigg (RAAF), LN985 “K” of F/O.
C.O. Ellison (RAAF), HE694 “L” of F/Sgt. P.D. Nihill
(RAAF), LN489 “O” of F/Sgt. R.P.F. Gelle (RAAF),
LN870 “U” of F/Sgt. H. Pollard and LP126 “Z” of
F/Sgt. A.S.R. Ross (RAAF) claimed to have planted
their ‘cucumbers’ in the correct gardens, seeing
parachutes and noting the splashes, but F/Lt. L.M.
Mason and crew in LN851 “Y” slightly overshot
and may have planted in a neighbouring garden.
Mining was carried out between 22:29 and 23:10
from a height of 250 to 500 feet, crews planting
sixteen 1600lb Mk.III and IV mines.
Four rear gunners strafed barges, Sgt. M.W.
Maddick in LN640 firing 2000 rounds near
Omoljica and Starčevo, Sgt. A. Roberts in LM870
1000 rounds at Ritopek, and Sgt. Graysmark, rear
gunner in HE694, 1000 rounds at a fair-sized
vessel near a neighbouring garden. The greatest
success, however, was achieved by Sgt. E.R.
Butcher in LN985, who opened fire on six barges
being towed by a tug. The tug cast off its tow on
being attacked, which appeared to cause some
consternation on the barges.
P/O. Gibson and crew failed to return.
The remaining eight crews landed at Tortorella
between 00:39 and 01:40.
Vickers Wellington B.Mk.X LP139 “B” of 70
Squadron ditched in the Danube after having the
starboard engine set on fire by light flak while
mining between Belgrade and Bazias. Two of
those who died, navigator F/O. Jeffrey J.K. Burr
and air gunner Sgt. Clifford J. Selby, were buried
locally, but reinterred post-war in Belgrade War
Cemetery, the former in grave 9.A.A4 and the
latter in 9.A.B.5. But W. Operator F/Sgt. Frank
Dadd, also interred locally at the time, at Pencevo,
is buried in Cassino War Cemetery, grave
XVII.C.22. It seems F/Sgt. Dadd was recovered
from Pencevo by the American Military, who
believed he was an USAAF pilot, and buried in the
Naples US Military Cemetery. Later, however, the
body was identified as that of F/Sgt. Dadd and in
Vickers Wellington LN640 ‘A’ of 70 Squadron. In the background a B-17 of the 15th Air Force is landing.
INFO Eduard
7
April 2024