Battle of France and Low Countries 80 years ago today

[Heliopause]

Fighting reaches the Dutch town of Goirle. Allied fire gets ever closer to a farm where Karl-Heinz Rosch, a German soldier is posted with his unit manning a gun. As Allied fire gets closer Karl-Heinz takes two Dutch children who are playing outside (and unaware of the developing danger) under his arms and brings them into the basement of the farmhouse. Returning outside he is then mortally hit by a grenade exploding at the exact spot where he took the children under his arms.

 

In 2008 a small statue was unveiled in Goirle to commemorate the act of Karl-Heinz in the presents of Jan and his sister Toos who were taken into their farmhouse by Karl-Heinz in 1944. The statue came about with private funding and is placed on private ground.

Edited October 6, 2024 by Heliopause

[Heliopause]

Airforce personell digging in at Grave-Keent B.82, October 1944.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today--this is more than just the Low Countries, but I didn't want to make a bunch of posts] "• The below B-17G is damaged by a direct hit in a raid on Cologne. The bombardier is killed but 1st Lieutenant Lawrence Delancey is able to return safely, receiving the Silver Star from General Doolittle.

 

B-17G “Lovely Julie” of the 601st Bombardment Squadron

 

• He-111s launch nine V-1 flying bombs off the East Anglian coast bound for London. Only one gets through the defensives, crashing into Southwark and killing eight people.

 

• A V-2 rocket hits near Rettendon in Essex, damaging the village pub and injuring two people.

 

• School submarine U-777 is sunk during a British air raid on Wilhelmshaven.

 

• RAF Beaufighters sink German tanker Inger Johanne off Kristiansand, Norway.

 

• King George VI knights Second Army commander General Miles Dempsey, making him the first since Agincourt to be knighted on the battlefield.

 

• The German Vorpostenboot flakship Vp-1605 Mosel and tanker Norwegen are sunk by Canadian Beaufighters off Justøy in the Skagerrak.

 

Vp-1605 Mosel under attack"

[kraut1]

17 hours ago, cardboard_killer said:

[80 years ago today--this is more than just the Low Countries, but I didn't want to make a bunch of posts] "• The below B-17G is damaged by a direct hit in a raid on Cologne. The bombardier is killed but 1st Lieutenant Lawrence Delancey is able to return safely, receiving the Silver Star from General Doolittle.

 

B-17G “Lovely Julie” of the 601st Bombardment Squadron

 

 

...and from another view angle to see the rest of the cockpit:

[cardboard_killer]

Oops, I accidentally hit the sad emojie when I was aiming for the thanks. Sorry.

[Heliopause]

Pipers on a strip situated between Erp and Veghel are performing missions for HQ 101 Airborne Division. On September 22nd a plane was lost between Eerde and Veghel with the crew becoming POW's. Two days later a Piper was lost due to (light) enemy fire resulting in a crash. The crew perished.

Edited October 19, 2024 by Heliopause

[Heliopause]

Because of rainfall during the last weeks Grave-Keent B.82 has become flooded. The decision is made to move the Wings to Brussel-Melsbroek B.58.

 

The entrance at Grave-Keent. Still reachable with proper transportation.

[Heliopause]

Eindhoven airfield B.78
On September 19th a column of motor transports of 5357 Airfield Construction Wing RAF under escort of the Guards Armoured Division had arrived at the airfield.  On the 23rd the first runway was repaired and ready for use (the second runway will follow on November 23rd and runway three around December 15th). Initially the area is not completely cleared of enemy troops. On the night of 8/9 October a counter attack was carried out by German forces resulting in a large amount of aviation fuel and aircraft parts being destroyed.

 

With a captured vehicle a shed is towed into place. The first Typhoons had landed at B.78 on September 22nd flying out of Brussel Melsbroek. Conducting a strafing mission against enemy armor three Typhoons had been lost. The remaining machines landed in the twilight. 

[Heliopause]

Auster of 658 AOP-squadron seen on a strip near Gemert, Holland. The squadron operates for British Second Army's HQ.

[Heliopause]

The railbridge at Nijmegen. Captured intact on September 20th it was put out of order a week later by a floating mine. Here "Ducks" are seen to keep the connection open.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The Dutch famine of 1944-45 has taken hold in the German occupied areas of The Netherlands. The “hongerwinter” is in part due to transportation infrastructure breakdown and to a German food embargo in response to the Dutch resistance aiding the Allies during Operation Market-Garden. 18,000 Dutch will perish of malnutrition by the beginning of 1945.

 

Dutch family during the hongerwinter.  Many children will have life-long health issues due to malnutrition.

 

- The Allies will begin food drops to affected areas early in the year, unmolested by German defenses.

 

• In the Netherlands, British, Canadian, and American troops liberate Den Bosch, Tilburg, Zundert, and Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands."

[Heliopause]

Short Stirling of Sqn 570 RAF seen here in a field near Haren (close to Megen). It was forced down after a supply drop on September 19th.

[Heliopause]

The village of Reek (to the south west of Nijmegen) had been liberated on September 19th. The villagers had witnessed the armada of Allied planes and the landing of troops/parachutists on the 17th.
The local pastor kept a diary. Around this time he noted: "on the night of 14-15th November the temperature dropped below freezing point for the first time this winter. What will happen if we don't have a moderate (temperature this) winter. We don't have coals, light and not much food. Many people in our country have lost their homes and possessions. Here in Reek we are in a privileged position as up until now we have been spared accidents and losses. We are able to get some wood to burn, potatoes, vegetables and bread we have. But the people in the cities don't have these things".

[cardboard_killer]

Also:

 

"• Ten V-2 missiles kill 263 civilians in Antwerp."

[Heliopause]

Many airfields of the Luftwaffe in Holland have been bombed, especially during the last months. Some like Schiphol, Deelen and Leeuwarden (although still on the operational list) are not in use. However some of the smaller fields are used. The airfield of Eelde (south of Groningen) had seen the arrival of Ju 88's night fighters of the 5./NJG 2 at the beginning of the month. Although Eelde offered only the basic for night operations (e.g. lighting for the field had to be done mostly manually) machines would finish their missions at some of the bigger airfields like Düsseldorf, Köln and Vechta. After a good meal the crews would then return to Eelde in the early twilight. The unit was commanded by Oberleutnant Jung. He was able to claim three Lancaster bombers on the evening of November 2nd followed by two more on the evening of the 4th.

[Heliopause]

Nov 28th

Me 262 of I./KG 51 flown by Hauptmann Rösch is performing an armed meteorological reconnaissance flight. However he is shot down over Helmond Airfield by AA.

It was not the first Me 262 encountered over Holland:

On the 26th the Me 262 flown by Unteroffizier Sanio (2./KG 51) was also shot down over Helmond airfield.
On Nov 1st an Me 262 had crashed near Markelo, shot down by Lt. Groce and Gerbe of 56FG and 352FG.
Oct 29th had seen an Me 262 of 1./Kdo Nowotny crash near Tubbergen.
Oct 13th a 3./KG 51 machine crashed near Wilp, pilot Delatowski wounded. Shot down by (V1 ace) P/O B. Cole of No 3 Sqn.
Oct 12th Me 262 flown by Oblt.Bley, 1./Kdo Nowotny had landed at Havelte airfield due to critical fuel situation.
Oct 5th ME 262 flown by Buttmann of 3./KG 51 came down north of Overasselt. Its pilot perished. Attacked by Spitfires 401 Sqn RCAF.
Sept 12th Me 262 3./KG 51 (Werk.nr. 130026) fired upon by friendly AA near Elden (sw of Arnhem). Plane crashed and pilot H. Schauder perished.

 

Remnants of the Messerschmitt Me 262 flown by Hauptmann Rösch.

[Heliopause]

P-51 of Sqn 268 RAF after returning to Gilze Rijen (B.77) on Dec 15th. Squadron leader Mann had performed a recon mission around Zaltbommel.

 

"Tempests at Volkel (B.80), December 1944".

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• A German V2 rocket falls on the Rex Cinema in Antwerp, which is packed for the matinee performance. The blast kills 567 and wounds 291, about half of them soldiers. It will take six days to dig out all the bodies, many of which are still sitting upright in their seats. This is the highest death toll from a V-weapon attack during the entire war and results in the cinemas and theatres of Antwerp being closed "for the duration" and gatherings of more than 50 people in any one place being banned."

[Heliopause]

Dutchman Van Zinnicq Bergmann flew Typhoons with Sqn 181 RAF from Normandy to the end of hostilities. Sinds September his squadron is stationed at Eindhoven airfield. He noted:
"In the month of December with its short days and bad weather it was a depressing time. At night the mechanics had to start the engines of the planes every few hours in order to keep them warm so as to have them able to start in the morning. This meant that some 200 Typhoons, 100 of us and 100 of the Canadian Wing kept the area around the airfield awake during the night with the deafening sounds of engines. So even at night you could hardly forget about "your work".

Edited December 20, 2024 by Heliopause

[Heliopause]

The village of Reek (to the south-west of Nijmegen) had been liberated on September 19th. The local pastor kept a diary. Around this time he noted (amongst other things):

21st Dec: "The last days we have German flying bombs overflying te area. A great fear for the military and the population. They say seven already came down in Boxtel, one in Oijen and also Herenthals and Tilburg".

 

22nd: "Nervous night. A tank (or anti aircraft gun or something similar) was firing throughout the whole night. They say it was firing at flying bombs. German guns fired at the bridge at Grave with some hits as a result".

 

23rd: "Some 85 projectiles from German guns have fallen in the area of the bridge at Grave. Around 4 o clock in the afternoon a flying bomb drew attention amongst a number of them. It came over our parish and was apparently hit judging from its movements and it also seemed to change its heading. Today was the first day (I think) that we had clear weather suitable for flying since a long time and there is great Allied flying activity".

[Heliopause]

Dec 25th
Arado Ar 234 FL+DT (9./KG 76) flown by Lt A. Frank lands at Teuge airfield, Holland. He had flown a bombing mission to Liege and was intercepted by two Tempest of Sqn 80 RAF over the south of Holland. He managed to get clear and although receiving damage to his machine was able to land at Teuge (near Deventer).

 

Dec 26th
Dutchman Van Zinnicq Bergmann flew Typhoons with Sqn 181 RAF. Sinds September his squadron is stationed at Eindhoven airfield.
He noted:
"Our Group Captain Charles Green and John Derry flew a mission in the early morning to check out the alarming conditions in the Ardennes. Our Group Captain had been given non operational command of the Wing but he could not resist to go up and fly himself. He was shot down and John Derry came back with the sad news. That same afternoon the Wing-Co organised a mission to the Ardennes as a tank concentration had been observed and reported in.
The message came from one of our own pilots. He had been send to the front to assist the Army so to give us the locations of targets on the ground. I was assigned No. 2 of the Wing-Co, a compliment but the risks of flying in that position had become clear to me over time. It didn't take long before the Wing-Co had contact with our controle post on the ground in the Ardennes. Over there the landscape was covered in snow and when we got near we witnessed an almost unbelievable scene. Against the white surface where black spots where the German tanks had positioned. A tank battle was going on with Allied tanks that where further west. As the weather had improvement the Germans had not been able to seek a protective area and now relied on the mobile FLAK that was present in large numbers.

The FLAK opened up straight away and aimed for the leader as the rest of the planes would follow the same flightpath. After starting our dive we where in the tracer fire that came up. A big bang of a direct hit made my plane turn over onto its back and with full speed I went down. Maybe I should have jumped at that time but instead I tried to roll it back in order to get out of the dive. Luckily I was over a valley and this gave me more space to manoeuvre. If it had been high ground I would have crashed. Due to the enormous speed of the plane it had by now enough lift and just above ground had reacted to my attempts to regain controle. With both hands keeping the stick to the left and the left rudder pedal kicked I was able to gain some height and recover somewhat from the panic. Orientating on the Maas (Meuse) river I realised I had to be over friendly territory. Another reason to have less panic. A huge hole in the right wing near the cockpit was the cause of my troubles. Over the radio I could hear the Wing-Co instructing the squadron. I could not operate the radio nor the throttle because I had to hold the stick and rudder in their positions. To clear my right hand I used my right foot on the stick and was then able to throttle back a bit.
Flying at around 300 km/h I was able to fly horizontal but around 279 km/h the plane would start to roll back again. I didn't lose any fuel. I had been lucky that no fuel tank had been hit. Jumping out of the plane would be tricky as it would start to roll if I let go of the stick, however landing the plane at high speed was not an attractive idea either. But still, I chose the latter. Over the Belgium coastline I fired off the eight rockets and they went into the sea. Turning 180 wasn't easy but luckily I still had plenty of fuel and contacted the tower at Eindhoven that I was planning to make a belly landing at the base. My left leg was hurting pretty bad by now. I was able to orientate well and had also received a heading to base. With Brussels to my right I started a slow decent. Trying to land at Brussels was an option but I chose Eindhoven as I knew the approaches very well having flown test flights from the airfield on a number of times. It also had a wider approach area. I received the all clear and 10 km out I was already at tree top height doing 280 km/h. This was almost the double of the landing speed. I could only hope now and bathing in sweat I inched my way closer to the ground. When the barbed wire flashed by and saw the black strip of the runway in the distance to my left I held everything in the same position. 50m to the right of the runway I chopped the throttle using my right hand. With a terrible sound the plane thundered over the field on its belly and wings. To my horror I was moving towards the controlewagon and I could see the men come out and save them selves.
But my Typhoon thought this was all enough and stopped some 50m before reaching the wagon. Never had I exited a cockpit quicker before. In a short moment I was at a safe distance from my plane surrounded by the men that I had just chased away and ambulance, fire truck and my own mechanics. The EL-O flight tested in the morning by myself was still repairable".

Edited December 26, 2024 by Heliopause

[Heliopause]

Dec 31st
From Eelde airfield (south of Groningen) Ju 88's night fighters of 5./NJG 2 fly attack missions on enemy troops and supply lines during the Ardennes offensive. As these machines can not carry bombs this is done using the guns and cannons.
Today a mission towards the area of Monschau-Echternach is flown during the evening. However Pilot Schulte and the other two crewmembers have to take to their parachutes as the plane (4R+KN) gets hit by anti aircraft fire. All three ending up as POW's. The crew of a second Ju 88 (4R+EN) ends up the same way.

On Dec 26th the crew of Schulte had also flown a night mission and after attacking an locomotive had suddenly found themselves over Liège at low altitude. The plane had then received damage in the form of a hole in the left wing due to anti aircraft fire but the pilot had managed to return to base.
On the 23rd the unit had also suffered the loss of an Ju 88. This machine was also fired upon by anti aircraft fire and had crashed between Elst and Nijmegen.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• At Chenogne, Belgium, soldiers of the American 21st Armored Infantry Battalion massacre some sixty German SS prisoners. It is believed this is in response to the Malmédy massacre. When General Patton is informed, he writes in his diary,

 

“The Eleventh Armored is very green and took unnecessary losses to no effect. There were also some unfortunate incidents in the shooting of prisoners. I hope we can conceal this.”

 

- No inquiry is made into the incident. There are also undocumented instances of Germans being shot while attempting to surrender.

 

• In Alsace the German Nordwind offensive continues, forcing the US 106th Cavalry Group, and the 44th and 100th Infantry Divisions to give ground. CCB of the 14th Armored Division moves to guard Vosges exits.

 

• The Luftwaffe launches Operation Bodenplatte which is intended to destroy Western Allied tactical fighter and bomber aircraft close to the front lines in order to support the ground forces. The operation had been planned under tight security and although Bletchley Park noted the buildup, the offensive itself is unexpected.

 

- Nearly 800 German aircraft, mostly Fw-190s and Bf-109s, take off to hit RAF Second Tactical Air Force and USAAF Ninth Air Force airfields in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Most of the German pilots are inexperienced and are simply following the experienced flight leaders.

 

- The Germans catch the Allies by surprise and 452 Allied aircraft are destroyed or damaged beyond repair, most of them on the ground. Thirteen Allied pilots are killed. The Luftwaffe loses about 320 fighters downed or damaged beyond repair by Allied aircraft, Allied AA, and German AA units that were not informed of the operation.

 

- Allied losses are quickly made up. The Luftwaffe has lost 143 pilots killed and 70 captured, including three Geschwaderkommodore, five Gruppenkommandeure, and 14 Staffelkapitäne. This is the largest single-day loss for the Luftwaffe during the war.

 

Destroyed P-47s at Metz following Bodenplatte

 

Polish FO Tadeusz Szlenkier by Fw-190 he downed with his Spitfire during Bodenplatte

 

Gefreiter Alfred Michel his captors and Bf-109G - Jan 1st 1945"

[Heliopause]

Since May 1944 Alex Colville is an Official Second World War artist. Around this time he paints "109 in the snow in Holland". Post war he will continue painting.

 

"Colville in action"

 

"Messerschmitt 109 in the snow Holland"

[Heliopause]

"B-25's Sqn 320 (Dutch) RAF at Brussels-Melsbroek B.58, January 1945"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• US Seventh Army is being hard pressed by the German 1. and 19. Armies, with VI Corps fighting on three sides in the lower Vosges.

 

Americans of VI Corps during Nordwind. Censors have obscured the unit patches.

 

- General Eisenhower directs that US Third Army extend itself southwards to resume control of sectors that Seventh Army had taken to cover Third Army’s move northwards to the Ardennes.

 

• US First Army is advancing towards Houffalize in the Ardennes."

[357th_KW]

January 14th would prove to be one of the most intense days of air combat on the Western Front of the entire war.  Chris Shores gives a nice overview in his "2nd Tactical Air Force Vol 3":

 

 

Major John England was leading the 357th FG escort, who were with the main 8th AF bomber raid and earned a presidential unit citation for their performance today.  From Donald Caldwell's "Day Fighter in Defense of the Reich":

 

  Today’s rare unlimited visibility prompted the Americans to send two air divisions to bomb synthetic petroleum plants in central Germany. These small targets could only be located and hit in clear weather. The raid brought a full-scale response from the RLV defences. In an attempt at co-ordination, the I. Jagdkorps controller ordered III./JG 7 to draw off the escorts to allow the Fw 190s of II.(Sturm)/JG 300 and JG 301 to reach the bombers. JG 301 was met head-on by P-51s while still climbing and was unable to reach the bombers in strength. JG 300 did make a successful attack, but at a heavy price. Its Sturmgruppe made a successful Sturmangriff on a vulnerable part of the 3rd AD stream and downed nine 390th BG B-17s before the heavy Fw 190s and their escorting Bf 109s were swarmed over by Mustangs. In only 10 minutes, the Geschwader lost 32 KIA, seven WIA and 56 aircraft to a single P-51 group, the 357th FG, which was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for this mission. III./JG 7 (the only jet Gruppe near full operational status) and the two piston-engine RLV Geschwader lost 54 pilots KIA or MIA, 19 WIA and 90 fighters.

 

Meanwhile, a portion of the 8th's 1st Air Division flew a separate strike against bridges over the Rhine behind the Ardennes battle.  Many of the Luftwaffe's tactical fighters became engaged with this force.  Again from Caldwell:

 

  After two weeks of bad weather, the overcast lifted a little. It was still hazy; horizontal visibility was not good, and vertically one could see to the ground only in a small circle. We were given the mission of ground support for our troops, together with other fighter units. We were ordered to fly at an altitude where we could be seen by the ground forces. This meant that we would be facing a 20- to 30-fold superiority in the air, which we could no longer deal with; we had lost too many of our pilots with high victory scores.

  We reached the airspace over the battle area at 8,500 metres and saw a formation of fighter-bombers, flying east, beneath us. No other aircraft could be seen owing to the haze, so this enemy formation would be attacked. As we were passing about 2,000 metres above this formation, I heard over the radio, ‘Attention! Small brothers beneath us!’ (This was the codeword for our own fighters.) They were Bf 109s. We had almost made a fatal error by bouncing them from above without a clear identification, but we knew that there were strong Allied formations in this area.

  We needed to regain altitude quickly, as we saw a formation of Thunderbolts that had been missed in the haze. We wanted to be able to use our superior climbing and turning ability. We soon reached the height for an attack and approached the enemy formation from a superior position. I was keeping an eye on Major Hackl to the left of me, to maintain enough distance for the required flight manœuvres, when I suddenly saw a string of tracers between us, coming from behind and above. Before I could react, my plane was hit in the fuselage, wings and cockpit. A shell hit the armour plate behind my head and destroyed part of the Plexiglas canopy. All that was left was a long shard over my head. Another hit the left side of the instrument panel and destroyed two instruments. All of this without injury to me. Several small splinters from the canopy ripped holes in my leather jacket.

  I immediately jerked the stick forward to escape the hail of fire and then pulled it into my belly with all my strength while advancing the throttle all the way. The Fw 190D-9 climbed straight up. When I had escaped the battle, I could see below me to my left a Mustang with a red/white chequer-board pattern on its lower cowling, flying past me to the left. My speed was still great enough for me to make a steep left bank and pull up about 15–20 metres behind the Mustang. I saw that the pilot was looking down to the left, since he was expecting my machine to stall out and dive. Since I was right behind him, I opened fire, but my first salvo went beneath his machine. I pulled the stick with both hands to bank as tightly as possible, and the Mustang disappeared beneath my engine. When it became visible again, I could see large holes in its fuselage and wings: it had been hit by several rounds. The pilot made a quick turn to the right to dive away. I was still behind him and firing. He crossed through my cone of fire several times and dove away. I could see that his propeller was slowing down, probably due to engine damage. In order not to ram him or overtake him to let him get behind me, I made a left turn, keeping my eyes out for Major Hackl. I thus lost sight of the Mustang, but could see three crash sites on the ground. Major Hackl had also shot down a Mustang (he had a gun camera) and could later confirm the crash of my Mustang.

  Since my Fw 190D had sustained battle damage, I dove to low altitude and headed for Münster, which had a large landing area, a well-equipped fire service for crash landings and a workshop ready to make quick repairs. There is one side story to tell. I reported to the control room and was told to sit down and discuss my damage with the maintenance officer. I had to have my shoulders shaken to stay awake. I did not even remove my radio harness. Later, when I took off my helmet, I saw that it was full of hair. It probably had fallen out from shock when I was hit. The helmet was not damaged, and I had no head injuries. I can still remember clearly what went through my head when the shells hit my cockpit and I jammed the stick forward to escape the fire. To fly as the Kommandeur’s wingman is no life insurance policy (as I was told): one can also be shot down! I believe that in such situations it is crucial not to give up and not to accept a seemingly unavoidable fate. 

 

Gefr. Wilhelm Mittag Stab II./JG 26

 

Some histories have described the Thunderbolts in this account as belonging to the 56th Fighter Group, but their activities for the day were in the area of Rheine to Magdeburg (along the route of the main 8th AF raid), so these would appear to have been 9th AF fighters.  The P-51's in Mittag's report were definitely from the 78th Fighter Group which were heavily engaged over Cologne.  The 78th received credit for 19 destroyed and no P-51s were actually lost, although 3 were heavily damaged and had to make forced landings at Allied fields on the continent.

[Heliopause]

Jan 21st
Airfield of Soesterberg, Holland. Bombed a number of times during 1944 the airfield is pretty much out of use. However around this time local boys playing outside discover a number of lorries with 5 disassembled Fw 190's near a local restaurant. Perhaps the planes on the lorries are those that landed on the airfield during the Ardennes offensive (a number of days after the start of the offensive a group of Fw's where seen to take-off in snowy/bad visibility weather with around six of these later seen to land (perhaps from NSGr 20). Also the occasional Ju 88 had been seen in December (perhaps from 3./FAGr 122).
One source also mentions the airfield of Soesterberg is now in use as a V1 distribution centre.

[Heliopause]

Jan 23rd
Sqn 119 Coastal Command is in the proces of replacing its Albacore's for Swordfish due to a spare shortage. Since the end of October 1944 the Squadron is stationed on the Continent at Knokke-Le-Zoute, a pre-war airfield near the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium. One of the Albacores makes the first aerial sighting of a mini-submarine, though in spite of an attack with six depth charges the small vessel survives. This is the last attack on the enemy by an Albacore as during February the aircraft are completely replaced by Swordfish.

 

The Albacore had a few plusses like being able to carry six depth charges (instead of the Swordfish four) and ofcourse the luxury of an enclosed cockpit!

[Heliopause]

.

Edited January 26 by Heliopause

[Heliopause]

Launching sites of V1 and V2's during the end of 1944/beginning of 1945 (after the front had stabilised after Operation Market Garden). 

[Heliopause]

Meanwhile in Britain:

Jan 28th
Lockheed YP-80A 44-83026 crashes on its second flight in Britain. Two machines had arrived in mid-December. Assigned to the Eight Air Force the remaining machine (44-83027) is left with the British and transferred to Rolls-Royce to be fitted as a testbed (on 14th November 1945 it wil suffer an engine flame out of its B-41 engine (Nene prototype) and make a forced landing).

The Lockheed YP-80A jet fighter plane was not the first US jet plane to take flight in Britain. September 1943 had seen the arrival of the third Bell YP-59A at the RAF field at Moreton Valance. The plane making its first flight on September 28th. On November 5th it was flown to Farnborough for flight testing. In December and January it had made nine flights totalling 5 hours, 10 minutes. After engine overhaul it flew again in April 1944 conducting six flights totalling 4 hours, 24 minutes.

 

Lockheed YP-80 483026 seen at Bovingdon Air Base.

Edited January 28 by Heliopause

[Heliopause]

Airfield of Woensdrecht (SW of Holland). In use by 132 (Norwegian) Wing, the first RAF squadrons had arrived in the last week of December. On January 3rd

Sqn 322 (Dutch) RAF had also arrived. The Spitfires being used in the fighter-bomber role. Diving attacks are abandoned in favour of a "skip bombing" method as FLAK remains a big threat. On January 17th mini submarines where attacked in the harbour of Maassluis and on the 22nd a factory near Alblasserdam was attacked by 48 Spitfires as it produced oxygen for V2's. During both attacks a Spitfire was lost. Armed recon missions are also carried out some all the way towards parts of west Germany.

 

Spitfire of Sqn 322 (Dutch) RAF seen to start a mission from Woensdrecht. On a number of times bombs would explode early damaging the machines. Yesterday Dutch pilot Sgt. Kooy perished as an attack was performed on a house near Doorn, hit by fragments of the explosions of the bombs the plane before him had dropped.

 

Some of the former Luftwaffe schelters had survived the ground battles of October. Now in use by Spitfires of 132 Wing.

[Heliopause]

Febr 2nd
From the airfield of Woensdrecht (SW of Holland) 12 Spitfires of Sqn 332 (Norwegian) RAF carry out an attack on Eelde airfield (south of Groningen). In the morning an patrol over northern Holland by Sqn 332 had spotted some 15 Ju 88's on the airfield (probably nightfighters of II/NJG 2). Arriving at Eelde in the late afternoon no enemy planes are observed however. Wing Commander Ops Rolf Arne Berg calls in the diving attack and is seen to start diving with his number two. The other planes follow and meanwhile search for targets in the hangars and buildings. Flak opens up suddenly and Berg's Spitfire is hit losing its left wing. The machine ending up upside down in a barn of a farmhouse in the village of Eelde.

 

Berg participated in the mission although a Dakota transport plane was waiting at Woensdrecht to transfer him to England for a function at the Ministry of Aviation. He had started flying operational missions as a Sgt/Pilot in April 1940 on the Fokker C.5 out of Bardufoss.

He is seen here (on left) in front of his Spitfire Mk. IXe PV181 with his initials RAB.

[Heliopause]

Febr17th

Local resistance in the area of the airfield of Leeuwarden, Holland keeps an eye on movements. It reports:
"Planes take-off again from the airfield. The last few weeks a number of fighters where up sporadically". On the 13th it was reported: "Preparations are made to receive an night fighter unit as a number of buildings, previously used to house servicemen are erected again". During this time many parts of the airfield are soggy due to the high ground-waterlevel in this area. "Repair works on runway II, carried out by 200 local men, progresses slowly".

[Heliopause]

Febr 23rd
Local resistance in the area of the airfield of Soesterberg, Holland keeps an eye on movements. It reports:
"Repair work on runways number 2 and 3 is performed so as to get these ready for use".
"Since a number of days some 20 trucks with single-man torpedoes are seen near the "open air" swimming pool. Today one of these is hit but te damage is not serious. Service personnel is housed nearby in villas".

[Heliopause]

March 3rd

Attack on V2 launching sites in The Haque by B-25's of the RAF. Aiming point is in the part called "Bezuidenhout" an housing area instead of the adjacent forest area/park area "Haagse bos" (the latter area is where the V2's are actually launched from). Dutch pilot B. Sjerp is also on the roster and during the briefing objects as he knows the area very well since he grew up in Bezuidenhout, The Haque himself. However after a while he is told that even at the highest level they are sure that the coordinates are correct. The result however is the destruction of houses and loss of life among civilians in Bezuidenhout. V2 launches will continue from The Haque and nearby Wassenaar.

 

Parts of The Haque showing Bezuidenhout and Haagse bos. Later, apparantly, a military court will judge over an Intel officer who mixed the coördinates.

[Heliopause]

Luftwaffe air activity has risen during these days around a number of airfields in the north of Holland (due to operation Gisela an aerial intruder operation).

On the 3rd of March a Ju 88 of I./NJG 4 was lost near Heemse due to "enemy fire".
The next day two Ju 88's of II./NJG 4 collided during landing at the airfield of Leeuwarden. Another Ju 88G-6 was lost in the IJsselmeer (IJssel lake). A similar type
belonging to III./NJG 3 crashed near Beilen. At the airfield Havelte (near Steenwijk) two Ju 88's are damaged. Local resistance also noted: Recently arrived 15

Ju 88's, starting Saturday evening, 3rd of March. Allied fighters have already destroyed four. Four are parked with heave damage in open shelters, one is broken on the taxiway. One German pilot killed".

[Heliopause]

Three Swedish ships (Nore, Dagmar Bratt and Hallaren) have delivered food from the Swedish Red Cross in the harbour of Delfzijl (NE of Holland) at the end of January. From the flour delivered "Swedish white bread" can be baked. Other foods are peas, margarine, cod liver oil, dried vegetables ad powdered milk. It will bring some relief for the population in the cities. Transport in occupied Holland has not been smooth however. River barges are used as for trucks there is no fuel. Dagmar Bratt and Hallaren will bring food a second time to Delfzijl on March 22nd and April 1st resp.

[Heliopause]

March 25th
At Leeuwarden airfield local resistance notes: "The winterhangars are occupied by Ju 88's outfitted as night fighters. The hangars that are partly broken down have netting covers in place ready to be used. At the moment the night fighter buildings are not in use.  Runway II is now 40% ready and is expected to be finished in a week or so. Some 1500 men are working on it, mostly local laborers. Besides woman working in radio traffic (Funkerinnen) on the airfield some 90 woman are functioning in the role of mechanic. Amongst other things they carry out work on machine gun belts for the planes".