RNZAF Ramrod raid on Amsterdam. May 3rd 1943

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ramrod 16 was a daylight bombing raid on the Amsterdam Power station on may 3rd 1943. Sadly it ended in disaster when only 2 of the 12 Ventura bombers returned to base.

This bombing raid has always had my interest as the route the bombers took is roughly the same route I drive to work every day and all crash-sites are within 500 meters of where my family lives or where I work or worked. I decided to take some pictures of what the location look like today, and post it on the forum.

edit: Some sources say the operation was "Ramrod 17" in stead of Ramrod 16.


Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

487 RNZAF Squadrons home base was located at RAF Methwold at the time, which is in Norfolk, UK, about 35miles NorthEast of Cambridge. As was often the case, the squadron was a mix of commonwealth crew....with obvisously most of them from New Zealand, but also from Canada, UK and Australia.
487 was one of the Squadrons that took part in the highly successfull bombing raid on the Dutch Philips factory in Eindhoven on december 6th 1942.

The pictures attached show a Venture bomber, which was the aircraft in use by 487 Sq in 1942-43. Also shown is a picture of some of the personnel in front of one of the Ventura's in happier times and a picture of group leader Leonard Trent (left) along with Wing Commander Grindell (middle) and Squadron leader Turnbull.

All pictures: IWM, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ramrod 16 (or 17) included 12 Lockheed Ventura bombers of 487 RNZAF Squadron, which were to be escorted by Spitfire mkV's of 118, 167 and 504 Squadron.

The aircraft would also meet up with Spitfire MkIX's of 122 Squadron and 453 Squadron. Some sources suggest these Spitfires were also tasked with support of the Ventura's, while other sources say they had their own mission, a Rodeo 212 diversionary attack on Vlissingen (Flushing), Netherlands.

There was another bombing mission at about the same time, Ramrod 17 (or 16), which was a raid by 6 Boston bombers of 107 Squadron on the IJmuiden Power station, near the IJmuiden Steelworks.

Edit: There is some confusion on to which of both missions as "Ramrod 17" and which was "Ramrod 16".
Edit: MkIX Spitfire Squadrons added.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Target for the day was the Power station in Amsterdam. Several internet articles , including the Wiki page for Ramrod 16, describe the power station being the "Hembrug Power station", but this is incorrect as the construction of that power plant didn't start until 1948. The power plant at the time was in fact the "Noord Power station" at the Papaverweg in Amsterdam-Noord (500 meters from where I work today)

The Power station was located between the Amsterdam waste incineration plant and the Fokker aircraft factory that manufacturered Junkers airplane parts at the time. It's hard to believe, but in those days Fokker produced aircraft, that were transported by boat to Schiphol, where the final assembly took place. Fokker didn't move the factory to Schiphol until 1951, when the Papaverweg location was adandoned.
Next to the Waste plant was a canal and on the other end of the canal was the NSM shipyard (NDSM after the war) that repaired German boats at the time. You can imagine this small section of Amsterdam was a well known target for bombers in WO2!

Attached is a RAF aerial picture from late 1943 (after the Ramrod raid) that shows the layout of the buildings at the time. source Wageningen University : http://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/geoportal/raf

The birds eye view of the location is a picture taken in 1970. Even though the Waste plant had been enlarged in the meantime, this picture is similar to what Group Leader Leonard Trent would have seen when he reached the target on may 3rd 1943.
source Beeldbank Amsterdam: https://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl/

[Alex van de Wetering]

12 Ventura's took off from Methwold at 16:43. They met up with the Spitfire escorts at Coltishall at 17:00 hours. One of the Ventura's, EG-Q, of Sgt A.G. Barker showed damage to the excape hatch and returned to Methwold, leaving 11 Ventura's for the bombing raid.

The intention was to fly low level to the Dutch coast and climb to bombing height when crossing the coast.....all to avoid attention from German fighters. However, the 11 Wing Spitfires had already alerted the Germans at that time as they reached the Dutch coast early.....and they flew too high which meant that German Focke Wolf 190's and Messerschmitt 109's were soon swarming the area. Some sources mention 50+ German fighters, other mention even more, 80+.
The 122 and 453 sq Spits had to return to the UK when running low on fuel, so all German fighters went after the Ventura's and their Spitfire escorts. It seems the 190's were tasked with attacking the Spitfire escorts, while the 109's attacked the Ventura's.

Attached is a layout of the 11 remaining Ventura's for the raid. picture taken at "Fort Veldhuis" museum of the Aircraft Recovery Group 1940-1945

[Alex van de Wetering]

AE916, EG-C of Fl/Lt Arthur Victor Duffill was the first Ventura that got hit. Two crew members were wounded and one of the engines was on fire. The bombbay doors were open and the bombs were dropped over sea, when Duffill turned around and flew the plane back to RAF Feltwell.....the old home base of 487 Squadron. Duffill made a succesfull emergency landing and the two wounded crew members were quickly rushed to hospital. Even though this was one of only 2 Ventura's that got back to the UK, the plane was considered a totall loss.

The crew were awarded:
Distinguished flying cross
Fl/Lt Arthur Victor Duffill, pilot
F/O Frederick John Starkie, navigator

Distinguished flying medal
Sgt.Alan William Turnbull, Wireless operator/air gunner
Sgt. Laurence Henry Neill, Air gunner

More can be found here: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/.../2320/data.pdf

After the war Duffill became managing director of Humbrol modelling paints.

Attached is a picture of Ventura AE916, EG-C after landing at RAF Feltwell. source: http://www.aircrewremembered.com

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AE956 EG-H was presumed to be lost over sea. The location of the crash is not known. All four crew members were killed. The body of Navigator Richbell washed ashore in Germany weeks later. He was buried at the Hamburg cemetery. The Other three crew members were never found, but they are remembered at the Runnymede memorial in the UK.

Crew:
Pilot: Pilot Officer Andrew Edward Coutts
Wireless operator/Air gunner: Sergeant Douglas Cory Robinson (RAF)
Navigator: Flying Officer Leonard Edmund Richbell (RAF)
Air gunner: Flight Sergeant William Desmond Laurence Goodfellow




Ventura AE798 EG-D was also lost over sea. In this case the location is given as "crashed Northsea off Noordwijkerhout at 17:45".
The body of navigator Toombs washed ashore 2 July 1943 At Langeoog, Germany. He is buried at the Sage War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany. No other crew members were recovered, but they are remembered at the Runnymede memorial in the UK.

Crew:
Pilot: Sergeant J.J. Lowe (RAF)
Navigator: Sergeant H.W. Toombs (RCAF)
Wireless operator: Sergeant J.C. Lynass (RCAF)
Air gunner: Sergeant A.E. Downs (RAF)

The Dutch Airwar Study group has a record for Ventura AE798 with details on who shot down the plane
https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

[Alex van de Wetering]

The remainder of the Ventura bombers continued over the coast towards Bennebroek (south of Haarlem, South-West of Amsterdam), chased by the German fighters.
Eye witness accounts describe a true air battle with the Ventura's basically being sitting ducks.

Ventura AE684/ EG-B was attacked close to Bennebroek, when air gunner Sgt. Sparkes returned fire from the turret. Wireless operator/gunner Sgt. Stannard describes the plane was hit, silencing the turret and killing Sparkes. The plane was on fire and Stannard tried to reach the escape hatch and parachute which he both found to be on fire as well. He returned to the tail, but did see Pilot Coshall an Observer North escape from the plane. After a loud bang, Stannard saw the front section of the plane break away, exposing him in the tail of the plane. Somehow the tail didn't drop to the ground as you would expect, but it slowly fell like the leaf of a tree. The tail dropped into the trees between "Huis te Bennebroek" and "Reek" in Bennebroek. Stannard woke up in Huis te Bennebroek with only minor injuries. Stannard and North bacame POWs and survived the war.
Pilot Coshall's parachute was hit by German fire, so he didn't survive. Coshall and Sparkes are buried at the Bergen cemetery in Bergen (near Alkmaar).


Pilot F/O. S. Coshall (RAF)
Observer F/O. R.A. North (RAF)
Wireless op Sgt. W. Stannard (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. G.H. Sparkes (RAF)

A painting of Ventura AE684 is displayed at the Crash museum in Aalsmeer showing Stannard in the tail (picture attached), along with at least one of the dials from the plane.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

AE684 / EG-B


In official reports the crash location is given as "Leidsevaart, Bennebroek", but eye witness accounts from Bennebroek give a more detailed location. The frontmost section of the plane crashed into a farmers field which was known as "Lage duin" in those days. Nowadays this is a residential area. (first picture)
One of the engines dropped through the roof of the local Butcher shop. The roof was fixed and the butcher shop was still in business in the 60's. Today the building has been replaced by a modern house (second picture)

As mentioned above the tail section dropped down close to the ditch, separating the houses from the "Reek" and the villa "Huis te Bennebroek". I tried working out the exact location and think it might have been behind "Reek 18" or maybe a bit further towards the Ringvaart.
My grandpa lived at Reek 10 at the time! Sadly I never had a chance to ask him if he remembers the bombers.
"Huis te Bennebroek" has been replaced by a big retirement home in the meantime.

The Dutch Airwar Study group has a record for Ventura AE684
https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

Alex

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Alex,

Great piece of research! As you have shown, there is a lot of confusion about this mission.

For some information on the crash site of Ventura EG-O, see https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/1...ntura-EG-O.htm
and AJ200: https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/4...ber-AJ-200.htm

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

487 RNZAF Squadrons home base was located at RAF Methwold at the time, which is in Norfolk, UK, about 35miles NorthEast of Cambridge. As was often the case, the squadron was a mix of commonwealth crew....with obvisously most of them from New Zealand, but also from Canada, UK and Australia.
487 was one of the Squadrons that took part in the highly successfull bombing raid on the Dutch Philips factory in Eindhoven on december 6th 1942.

Although the clip on YouTube shown below is about the Eindhoven mission, I have included it here as it includes rare footage of the sort of low-level flying used in the Ramrod raid:

"RAF Raid Holland In Daylight (1942)" - https://youtu.be/ExWCf4gWJvs

H.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks Hanno! And thanks for posting the link to the youtube vid.....very interesting, especially when you see the damage to the planes at the end!

For some information on the crash site of Ventura EG-O, see https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/1...ntura-EG-O.htm
and AJ200: https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/4...ber-AJ-200.htm

More to come.....those two are next

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AJ200 / EG-G was flying near Hoofddorp, when it was hit and a fire broke out. Sgt. Sharp gave the order to bail, but only Sgt. Gibson replied and jumped from the plane using his parachute. Unfortunately his parachute was damaged by German fire and Gibson was killed. Sharp couldn't open the escape hatch, but he was able to jump from the plane, when a piece of the plane broke off.. He quickly pulled the cord for his parachute. The plane crashed into the moat of "Fort Vijfhuizen"....one the many Dutch fortresses surrounding Amsterdam.
Eye witness accounts describe a large wave of water and mud could be seen miles away, when the plane crashed. Sharp was the only survivor and was taken prisoner.

The bodies of the other crew members were recovered and buried in Hoofddorp. The cemetery is not the cemetery near the city centre of Hoofddorp, but actually the cemetery just east of Hoofddorp and right next to the taxiway of Schiphol airport towards the "Polderbaan" runway. This is also the reason that the cemetery will eventually be removed. Hopefully the war casualties will find a proper new resting place! (apart from the 487sq crew, there are also 3 other Commonwealth graves, along with some graves of Dutch soldiers that died in 1940 while defending Schiphol)

Crew:
Pilot Sgt. J.D. Sharp
Observer Sgt. H. Gibson (RAF)
Wo ag Sgt. A. Stevens (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. D.L. Rowland (RAF)

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AJ200 / EG-G
An attempt was done in 1976 to recover the plane from the moat, but only small pieces of the plane were found. Years later more pieces were found after cleaning out the area around the fortress. It seems most of the plane had already been removed in 1943 and presumably sold as scrap.
The recovered plane segments are on loan to the Crash museum in Aalsmeer. Sadly, they can't be viewed at the moment, due to a temporary display regarding the liberation in 1945.

Fort Vijfhuizen is now a display of art by various artists. I have heard the Fortress has a section of the Ventura with the painted roundel still visible, but I haven't been able to confirm this yet.

Vijfhuizen honors the crew in the street names in the village. There is a "Gibsonstraat", "Stevensweg", "Rowlandstraat" and "Vliegersplein", which is where my aunt lives. The "Stevensweg" runs along the edge of the park which now houses another monument.....the MH17 monument, for the Malaysian airlines flight 17 that was taken down by a rocket over Ukraine in 2014, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crewmembers.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AE731 / EG-O was the next plane to be hit by a German fighter. The instrument panel was damaged and the cockpit windows completely shot to pieces. The plane was almost impossible to control and a fire broke out, at which point Pilot Tayler gave the order to bail. Taylor found his parachute to be peppered by German bullets and decided to go down with the plane, thinking the other 3 had already left the plane. When the plane dove down, it was suddenly possible to somewhat control the plane again and Taylor belly landed the plane at the eastern edge of Haarlem. Locals quickly rushed to the site where the plane landed and helped all crew members from the plane. Gunner George Tattam shortly died afterwards, having been hit by German bullets shortly before the plane hit the ground.

George Tattam was buried at the Bergen Cemetery, right next to his other 487sq comrads, Coshall and Sparkes.
Shapiro, Littlewood and Tayler were taken prisoner.

crew:
Pilot P/O. T.L.B. Taylor
Observer P/O. M.B. Shapiro (RAF)
Wireless op Sgt. L.J. Littlewood (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. G.T. Tattam (RAF)

The Log book of George Tattam is on display at "Fort Veldhuis in Heemskerk" (picture)

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AE731 / EG-O

The location of the belly landing is given as "Zomerweg, Haarlem". Today the Zomerweg has disappeared and the Polder area has now been turned into a large residential area (Schalkwijk). However, its known that the plane landed at the Zomerweg, next to a community garden complex "Ons Buiten", which still exists today! At the entrance of "Ons Buiten" there is a monument with a display sign.
The prop blade is not one of the actual ventura, but a WW2 blade that was found in the North sea.

The picture attached shows the actual Ventura after the belly landing (picture from "Ons Buiten"). The plane remained at the site for at least a week, which meant a lot of locals came to have a look.

Also attached is a picture of a small piece of remaining Polder near the site. This is what most of the area would have looked like in 1943.

Alex

[Mike K]

Excellent research Alex

The RAF seemed to persist with daylight raids on specific targets despite the horrific high losses of aircrew. Reminds me of the disastrous daylight raid when a whole squadron of Blenheims was shot down early in the war while on a daytime raid. You would have thought that the powers in command would have learnt something from the earlier disasters but apparently not.
The England test cricketer Bill Edrich was a Blenheim pilot , his book describes daylight raids he flew in attacking enemy shipping with high RAF casualties , the German flak was muderous .

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks Mike! I recently read an article on daylight raids in WW2. It seems they were very successfull sometimes, but in other cases it was the opposite with high losses of planes and crews as a result....or civilian casualties.
487sq also did a raid on the Railway workshops in Haarlem about 3 weeks before the raid on Amsterdam (april 16 1943). Unfortunately no bombs actually hit the target, but all bombs landed in a residential area.

It seems they did adjust the tactics all the time.....with extra support planes at different altitudes and diversionary attacks.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

The remaining Ventura's were still making their way to the target in Amsterdam, when Ventura AE780 / EG-S was the next to be attacked. The plane broke apart in mid air over the city centre of Amsterdam. The plane crashed at the "Van Bossestraat" damaging several houses and eventually ending up in the backyard of "Van Bossestraat 34". 3 of the crew were killed, along with 7 civilians. Gunner Sgt. Urlich was injured, but did survive the crash.

Reports in the city archives of Amsterdam show that plane pieces were found all over West Amsterdam.

For some perspective....the Van Bossestraat is just a few blocks away from where Anne Frank was hiding at the time, nowadays the Anne Frank house museum.
Anne also describes seeing an air battle over the city in her diary. Some suggest this was the Ventura that crashed at the Van Bossestraat, but she dates it as may 18 and mentions she heared that 4 Canadian crew members survived of the 6 man crew, which leads me to believe this had to be another plane and another occasion.....possibly from the raid on the Gas works in the South of Amsterdam on May 17.

crew:
Pilot F/O. S. McGowan
Nav ba F/O. E.G. Thornber (RCAF)
Wireless op Sgt. C.R. Smith
Air gunner Sgt. I.F. Urlich

The three crew members were buried at the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats in Amsterdam.

https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AE713 / EG-T Crashed in Oostzaan, north of the Noordzee Kanaal, West of the target in Amsterdam-Noord. All 4 crew members were killed.

In 1994 the Aircraft Recovery group 1940-1945 located and recovered sections of the plane. The parts are now on display at Fort Veldhuis in Heemskerk (picture attached)
More on the recovery can be found here:
http://www.arg1940-1945.nl/ventura%2...pagina%201.htm

Crew:
Pilot F/O. S.B. Peryman
Nav ba F/O. E.T. Williams (RAF)
Wo ag Sgt. G.H. Southam (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. J.E. Addison (RAF)

The crew have found their final resting place at the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats in Amsterdam, next to the crew of the Ventura that crashed at the Van Bossestraat.


In the 40's the crash site was polder, with the occasional farm. Today there is a Hotel, a small industrial area, but some farmland still remains. A few years ago when electricity firm Tennet was looking at expending, a survey was done of the area to search for possible explosives from WW2. This survey also mentioned the crash site of the Ventura, but also the crashsite of a Halifax that crashed a few weeks later.
https://docplayer.nl/9969145-Voorond...-oostzaan.html

https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Only three minutes later (17:56) Ventura AE716 / EG-U crashed at the Grote IJpolder.

In a lot of publications, the crash site is marked at Oostzaan, very close to the crash site of Ventura AE713 / EG-T , but this is not correct. The Grote IJpolder was in fact located to the South of the Noordzeekanaal. The polder has since disappeared and is now the big industrial area we call "Sloterdijk" or more precisely "Westpoort". Today port facilities and canals make it difficult to find the correct spot of the crash site, but than I found this website :

This website shows the result of a detailed survey done for the City of Amsterdam to list all the locations where bombs were dropped, planes crashed etc. during WW2. The team researched original documents from the city archives, RAF aerial pictures, but also did actual radar ground survey at the sites. Some explosives have been removed, but others are still there!
The survey includes the detailed location of Ventura AE716 / EG-U, but also that of AE780 and AJ209.

Crashsite for AE716 is located next to what we call the Amerikahavenweg today.
The site is quite interesting, as one can select a specific location and than open a PDF with results of survey. I have attached a slide from the website, with the crashsite marked in red in the centre of the image. When you open the PDF you will also find a RAF aerial picture of the crashsite. It also describes that the Ventura remains were recovered in 1947 by the RAF.
https://data.amsterdam.nl/bommenkaart/RAP_430503D.pdf

More info:
https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

All 4 crewmembers of AE716 / EG-U were killed in the crash. They are buried at the "Rusthof" begraafplaats in Amersfoort.

crew:
Pilot P/O. T.J. Baynton
Navigator F/Sgt. H.C. Lamacraft (RAF)
Wo ag F/Sgt. P.H.R.B. Davies (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. N.A. Price (RAF)

[Alex van de Wetering]

After the Ventura of T.J. Baynton had crashed at the Grote IJpolder, only 1 Ventura was still moving towards the Power Station.....AJ209 / EG-V of Squadron leader Trent.
Trent was able to shoot down a Messerschmidt 109 with his frontmounted guns, dropped the bombs on the target, shortly before his Ventura was also hit, probably by FLAK. The Ventura broke apart in mid air. Philips and Trent were thrown clear of the wreckage in midair and pulled their parachutes. The other two crewmembers went down with the plane.


crew:
Pilot S/L. L.H. Trent (RAF)
Observer F/Lt. V. Phillips (RAF)
Nav ba F/O. R.D.C. Thomas (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. G.W. Trenery (RAF)

Crewmembers Thomas and Trenery were buried at the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats in Amsterdam.

Trent and Philips were taken prisoner, but there story didn't end there. Trent ended up in prison camp "Stalag Luft III" and was part of what became known as "the great escape" on march 24 1944. Trent was the last POW to come out of the tunnel and was quickly re-captured by the Germans. Fortunately he was not among the group of escapees that were executed. Trent survived the war and it wasn't until after the liberation that the story of the raid on the Amsterdam Power station became known. Trent was awarded the Victoria cross for the Amsterdam raid.

The detailed location of the crashsite is again given by the city of Amsterdam website and is nowadays the "Monitorstraat". In 1943 the only street close to the crashsite was the "Kometensingel", which is given as the crash location in period documents.
Detailed PDF on the location: https://data.amsterdam.nl/bommenkaart/RAP_430503E.pdf

more info:
https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AJ478 / EG-A was the last of the group.....it crashed at 18:00, 19km's West of IJmuiden. Even though it was the last Ventura to go down, I understand it never reached the target and probably ended up near IJmuiden trying to avoid the German fighters.

crew:
Pilot F/O. O.E. Foster
Observer F/O. T.A. Penn
Wo ag Sgt. R.W. Mann (RAAF)
Air gunner Sgt. T.W.J. Warner

The body of air gunner Warner washed ashore at the Afsluitdijk on June 5th 1943. He is buried at the Bergen op Zoom War Cemetery.
The other 3 crewmembers were picked up by a finishing boat and were taken prisoner.

https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

The 12 Ventura's in the raid on Amsterdam:

Ventura EG-Q Baker Returned after taking off damage to escape hatch

Ventura AE916 EG-C Duffill Returned early, Damaged beyond repair
Ventura AE956 EG-H Coutts Lost over sea

Ventura AE798 EG-D Lowe 1745 Crashed North Sea off Noordwijkerhout
Ventura AE684 EG-B Coshall 1745 Crashed Leidsevaart near Bennebroek
Ventura AJ200 EG-G Sharp 1745 Believed to have Crashed at Fortgracht Vijfhuizen
Ventura AE731 EG-O Taylor 1745 Crashed Zomerweg Haarlem
Ventura AE780 EG-S McGowan 1745 Crashed van Bosschestraat Amsterdam.
Ventura AE713 EG-T Peryman 1753 Crashed between Hoornse Lijn and Wormer Ringdijk oostzaan
Ventura AE716 EG-U Baynton 1756 Crashed Middenweg Grote IJ-Polder Amsterdam
Ventura AJ209 EG-V Trent 1757 Crashed Kometensingel Amsterdam Noord
Ventura AJ478 EG-A Foster 1800 Crashed North sea 19 km w of IJmuiden


I am not sure what the RAF serial of Ventura EG-Q was. It wonder if it might have been AE785, as this website mentions that this Ventura was transferred to 487 Squadron and crashed on 03-05-1943....yet it doesn't appear in the list above......so could it be Bakers plane with the damage to the escape hatch????


I have made a new map showing the locations of the crash sites, as well as the target. The three crashsites at sea are approximate locations, those on land are based on research by Crash 40-45, ARG 1940-1945, the SGLO, the survey of the city of Amsterdam, official reports, as well as eye-witness reports.


Crash 40-45, Crash Research Foundation in Aviation Society Holland 1940-1945 (museum in Fort Aalsmeer, Aalsmeerderbrug)
https://www.crash40-45.nl/

ARG 1940-1945, Aircraft Recovery Group 1940-1945 (museum in Fort Veldhuis, Heemskerk)
http://www.arg1940-1945.nl/

SGLO, Dutch Study Group Air War 1939-1945:
https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rlog.nl/zz.php



Also attached is a page from the Operation record book of 487 Squadron. It clearly shows that allthough it was known that the mission was a disaster, the fate of the crews remained uncertain.
source: https://aviationtrails.wordpress.com...-raf-methwold/

On June 1st 1943 the 487 Squadron was transferred to RAF 2nd Tactical Air force and was slowly rebuilt. 487 started receiving Mosquito's in august 1943.


Alex

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Excellent research, Alex! Hats off and

I can't help but feel this mission was one big turkey shoot for the Luftwaffe... I feel sorry for the crews, it seems they hardly stood a fighting chance.

Also worrying to read about so many planes breaking up in mid-air.

Hanno