Date                Time   Location         Damage

03/05/1943    07.10  Bowers           A German Aircraft (believed Junkers 88) crashed

Gifford            in a field adjoining Sadlers Farm 3 of the crew were killed and found in wreckage 2 bailed out and were captured.

10/05/1943    Found  Little              A deflated Barrage Balloon grounded in Johnson’s

                                      Wakering     Field, Little Wakering.  No damage or casualties.

14/05/1943    02.00  Ashingdon    2 – UX.A.A. Shells found on 16.5.43 on Ashingdon

Farm (1) 200 yards South of Ashingdon Church (2) 200 yards East of Main Road Ashingdon.  (Disposed of BDS 23.6.43).

14/05/1943    02.35  Fambridge     1 – Ux. A.A. Shell fell 700 yards N.E. of Fambridge

Hall and 1 – A.A. Shell exploded 500 yards N.E. of Fambridge Hall  (Disposed of BDS 24.6.43).

16/05/1943                Hullbridge     An A.A. Shell exploded in cornfield at junction of

Hullbridge Road and Lower Road Hullbridge.  No casualties or damage.

16/05/1943                Brentwood     1 – A.A. Shell exploded in churchyard 5 yards

South of St Thomas’ Church.  No casualties or damage.

17/05/1943    00.35  Langdon        1 – Ux. A.A. Shell fell in Milton Avenue.  No

Hills                casualties or damage.  Milton Avenue (unmade & unclassified) closed to traffic.

17/05/1943    01.00  Ingrave           1 – H.E. exploded in a field at rear of Willow Farm. 

                                                            No casualties or damage.

18/05/1943    02.30  Rayleigh        An Auxiliary Petrol tank containing a small amount

of petrol fell from an enemy aircraft and was found in the undergrowth at junction of Louise and Helena Road.

19/05/1943    08.15  Brentwood     1 – H.E. exploded in a meadow on Calcotts Farm,

20 yards from Sandpit Lane.  No casualties or damage.

20/05/1943    02.10  South             1 – Ux. A.A. Shell fell in garden of “Nomville”

Benfleet         Thundersley Park Road.  No casualties or damage.  (Disposed of BDS 3.6.43).

30/05/1943    Found  South            1 – Ux.H.E. which is believed to have fallen

Benfleet       sometime during 1940 was found in the garden of at rear of “Robert Malcolm Road South Benfleet.  (Disposed of BDS 8.6.43).

617 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, carried out an attack on several German dams on the night of 16^th /17^th May 1943. The attack on the Ruhr valley dams was called Operation Chastise but was commonly known as “The Dambusters Raids” andwas carried out by using special “bouncing bombs”. Barnes Wallace was an English scientist, engineer and inventor, who designed and developed the bombs whilst being employed by Vickers-Armstrong Aircraft Co. RAF Bomber Command thought large bombs would be effective but a weapon suitable for this task was not available nor the necessary degree of accuracy to achieve this. The concept of bouncing an object over the surface of water was a well-known phenomenon and this theory was taken up as the project. Wallis’ experiments proved that a smaller spinning barrel shaped bomb would suffice providing it exploded against the dam wall below the water line. Originally the preferred aircraft was to be the Vickers Wellington bomber, but was changed when the first modified Avro Lancaster bombers became available. Testing the bomb at Chesil Beach in Dorset often proved to be unsuccessful, but after many modifications a decision was reached as regards to the releasing of the bomb from the aircraft. With Air Ministry approval, thirty Lancaster bombers were allocated for the mission. A new squadron was formed and led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, a veteran of over 170 bombing and night fighter raids. Twenty one bomber crews were selected and they were stationed at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. The crews practised low-level flying in the dark whilst the bombers were being modified to allow the mission to proceed in May 1943. The water levels at the dams were at their highest allowing any breach of the dam to cause the most damage. The targets selected were the Möhne and Sorpe Dams with the Eder Dam as a secondary target. The attack comprised three separate formations departing Scampton on the night of the 16^th/17^th May 1943 following two separate routes. Both routes were timed to allow the formations to cross the enemy coast at the same time. Formation N^o 1 comprised of nine aircraft, led by Gibson, taking off in groups of three for the attack on the shorter route for the raid on the Möhne Dam. Any aircraft with bombs remaining would continue on to attack the Eder Dam. Formation N^o 2 was to fly the longer route to the Sorpe Dam and consisted of five aircraft. Formation N^o 3 was a five aircraft mobile reserve leaving Scampton at midnight on the 16^th/17^th May 1943. Of the twenty one aircrew of 617 Squadron two were unable to fly the mission owing to illness.    

When Formation N^o 2 reached the enemy coastline they suffered the first casualties of the raids. Flt. Lt. Les Munro (RNZAF) lost his radio to flak and turned back to base. Whilst flying at low altitude of 100 ft. (30 m) to avoid radar detection, P/O Geoff Rice (RCAF) flew too low and struck the sea. He recovered but lost his bomb to the water. He also returned to base. P/O Vernon Byers (RCAF) was shot down by flak and Flt. Lt. Norman Barlow (RAAF) hit an electricity pylon and crashed. The bomb was thrown clear of the crash and eventually examined by the Germans. The only aircraft of Formation N^o 2 to reach its target was piloted by American Flt. Lt. Joe McCarthy (serving with the RCAF). He had been delayed when his bomber developed a coolant problem and he finally took off in a reserve aircraft 34 minutes late. The only other bomber which did not reach its target was piloted by Flt. Lt. Bill Astell (RAAF) from Formation N^o 1. His Lancaster hit high voltage electrical cables in the dark and crashed in a field.

Upon arrival at the Möhne Dam, Gibson, leader of Formation N^o 1 made the first attack. His bomb exploded short of the dam, but he went around again to draw anti-aircraft fire away from the second bomber to attack. The second bomber was piloted by Flt. Lt. John Hopgood (RAF) who released his bomb which bounced over the dam wall. Whilst attacking the bomber was shot down by flak and only two crew members survived. Australian Flt. Lt. “Micky” Martin (serving with the RAF) piloted the third Lancaster and Gibson flew alongside to draw the flak away from Martin’s bomber. Martin’s bomb successfully exploded against the dam wall, but did not breach it. The next bomber, piloted by Sqd. Ldr. “Dinghy” Young (RAF) made a successful attack, followed by Flt. Lt. David Maltby (RAAF) whose bomb breached the dam.

Gibson, accompanied by Young, led the remaining bombers on to the Eder Dam. The dam was not defended by anti-aircraft guns as the surrounding hills were thought to make an attack impossible. The attack was hindered by heavy mist, but the first to attack was Flt. Lt. Dave Shannon (RAAF) who made six attempts before taking a break. An attack by Sqd. Ldr, Henry Maudsley (RAF) resulting in the bomb hitting the top of the dam, the blast of which damaged the Lancaster. On the return to England, Maudsley’s aircraft was shot down. Shannon resumed his attack and successfully hit the dam wall, but failed to breach it. The dam wall was breached following a successful attack by the last bomber piloted by P/O Les Knight (RAAF). Of the nine crews who attacked the Möhne and Eder Dams only five returned to England.

The Sorpe Dam was the least likely dam to be breached. Rather than the concrete and steel gravity dams of the Möhne and Eder Dams, the Sorpe was a large earthen dam. Of N^o 2 Formation, for various reasons, McCarthy piloted the only Lancaster to attack the dam. The other four aircraft of the formation either had to return to base or crashed on the outward journey. Aircraft of N^o 3 Formation were diverted to the Sorpe Dam of which only three of the five arrived near the target owing to misty conditions. One Lancaster piloted by Flt.Sgt. Anderson (RAF) couldn’t find the target and returned to Scampton and landed with the armed bomb on board.  The other two were shot down on the outward journey. The only other Lancaster to actually attack the Sorpe Dam was piloted by Flt. Sgt. Ken Brown (RCAF) from N^o 3 Formation. Coming from different directions, both he and McCarthy attacked separately. They both realised the approach was more difficult than anticipated due to the topography of the land. As expected the approach for the attack was along the length of the reservoir. The flight path led over a church steeple located on a hillside overlooking the dam. They then had to drop to bombing height, release the bomb and rapidly climb to avoid hitting the hillside at the other end of the dam. For the attack on the Sorpe Dam the bomb was not required to spin, as it was intended to hit the wall and explode. It took McCarthy nine attempted runs until finally the bomb was successfully dropped on the tenth run. The bomb exploded causing some damage but the wall remained intact. Later, on the eighth attempt Brown’s bomb exploded on the dam wall but failed to breach the dam wall.

The last Lancaster of No 3 Formation, piloted by Flt.Sgt. Townsend (RAF) flew on to attack the Ennepe Dam and hit the target but to no apparent effect.

On the return journey, still flying at low level, two more Lancaster bombers were lost. After attacking the Möhne Dam and hitting the target and causing a small breach, Sqd. Ldr. H.M,Young’s aircraft was shot down over the Dutch coast,

Eleven aircraft began to land back at Scampton, about 3.00am with the final one arriving at 6.15am. The reason being they had to close down one engine whilst over the Dutch coast. Sir Arthur Harris, head of Bomber Command was among the dignitaries to greet the last crew to land, Harris originally opposed the allocation of the Lancaster’s but was over-ruled by Air Chief Marshall Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff.

The breaching of the Möhne and Eder Dams caused catastrophic damage to the Rhone Valley. Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and a further two were damaged. Mines and factories were either destroyed or damaged. German production did not resume until Sept 1943 despite rapid repairs. The flooding killed an estimated 1,600 civilians, 600 of whom were Germans and the remaining 1,000 were mainly Soviet forced labourers. The RAF lost 53 aircrew killed and two captured and eight Lancaster’s destroyed.

Of the survivors, 34 were decorated at Buckingham Palace on the 22^nd June 1943. Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). In addition there were five Distinguished Service Orders (DSO), ten Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC) and four bars, two Conspicuous Gallantry Medals (CGM) and one Distinguished Flying Medals (DFM) and one bar.

Apart from the morale the Raids gave to the British civilians, they forced the Germans to divert their construction efforts back into Germany. They had to forfeit the continuation of the civil engineering projects in the land war in both the Eastern and Western Fronts.

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FOOT NOTE!!

All 617 Squadron aircrews were part of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and consisted of:-

Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF)

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)

The ranks of the pilots were:-

Squadron Leader (Sqd. Ldr.)

Flight Lieutenant (Flt. Lt.)

Flight Sergeant (Flt. Sgt.)

Pilot Officer (P/O)

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(Britain)

Nineteen Lancaster bombers from the newly formed 617 Squadron took off from their base at RAF Scampton on the night of 16^th/17^th May 1943. Originally the plan was for twenty-one bombers to fly but two were withdrawn owing to illness amongst their crews. The mission was to attack the industrial area of the Ruhr valley in Germany. Officially known as Operation Chastise or more commonly referred to as “The Dambusters Raid”, their aim was to breach the Möhne and Sorpe Dams. Any aircraft with bombs remaining would continue on to attack the Eder Dam. Two separate formations were required, one consisting of nine bombers led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, was to attack the Möhne Dam. The second formation, consisting of five bombers, was to attack the Sorpe Dam. American Flt. Lt. Joe McCarthy (serving with the RCAF) was the only member of the second formation to actually attack the Sorpe Dam, three of the reserve formation also attacked the Sorpe Dam. McCarthy, of the second formation, was late taking off owing to an engine cooling problem. He switched to a reserve aircraft and took off 34 minutes late for his attack on the Sorpe Dam. The four remaining bombers of the second formation either had to return to base or were shot down on the outward journey. Five additional Lancaster bombers flew as a reserve formation in readiness to assist where needed.

The “Dambusters Raid” concept was to use a special bouncing bomb designed by Barnes Wallace, an English scientist and engineer. The raids were different to most bombing raids, in as much that the planes would be flying below 100 ft. (30 m) over water and in the darkness of night.

Only eight of Gibson’s nine Lancaster bombers designated to attack the Möhne Dam, reached the target, one having been shot down on the outward journey. Five of the eight aircraft attacked the dam before it was finally breached. Gibson and the following two crews failed to hit the target. The forth hit the structure and the fifth finally breached the dam. The three bombers which had released their bombs returned to England but two failed to arrive.

Gibson and Sqd, Ldr, “Dinghy” Young, who had also attacked the Möhne Dam, led the remaining three Lancaster bombers on to the Eder Dam. The hills surrounding the Eder Dam were thought, by the Germans, to make an attack impossible and therefore was undefended. After numerous attempts in the misty conditions the dam was successfully breached. One of the aircraft was shot down on the return journey. Of the nine crews who attacked the Möhne and Eder Dams only five returned to England. One was lost on the outward journey, one whilst attacking the dam and two on the homeward journey.

The Sorpe Dam had a different construction, Instead of a concrete and steel dam wall it had an earthen retaining wall. The five reserve bombers of the third formation were diverted to the Sorpe Dam. Two of the five were shot down on the outward journey, and one couldn’t find the target because of mist and flew back to Scampton and landed with the bomb still on board. Of the two remaining bombers, one attacked the Sorpe Dam piloted by Flt. Sgt. Ken Brown (RCAF), who attacked the dam at a separate time from McCarthy. Upon reaching the Sorpe Dam both the two attackers found the approach attack more difficult than was expected. McCarthy released his bomb on his tenth approach, like-wise Young on his eighth approach against the undefended dam. The last Lancaster piloted by Flt. Sgt. Townsend (RAF) flew on to Ennepe Dam and hit the target but failed to breach the dam.

On the return journey two more Lancaster bombers were lost despite flying at low level. The first of the surviving eleven aircraft landed at Scampton at approximately 3.00 am and the final one landing at 6.15 am with engine problems. Of the eleven who returned safely, three had not attacked any targets.

Eight RAF Lancaster bombers were destroyed, 53 airmen killed and two captured. The breaching of the two dams caused catastrophic damage which disrupted German production until September 1943. Approximately 1,600 civilians were killed, 600 German and 1,000 mainly Soviet slave labourers.

Fifty three decorations were awarded to the survivors of whom Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross.

For further information see the separate article “The Dambusters Raid – Operation Chastise”.  

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As part of the Ruhr Valley bomber offensive by RAF Bomber Command, the night time attack on the city of Wuppertal on the 29^th May 1943 was particularly heavy. 719 British bombers, guided by their Pathfinder markers located the Barmen half of Wuppertal. They dropped 1,500 tons of bombs on the chemical works which rapidly turned into a firestorm. Being a Saturday night only emergency fire officials were in attendance, and they were totally unprepared and ill equipped for the developing fires in the narrow streets. 90% of the town was destroyed and approximately 2,500 people, mostly civilians, died in the firestorms.

(Atlantic)

On the 24^th May1943 Karl Dönitz ordered the U-boats operating in the mid-Atlantic to withdraw from the area. When Dönitz replaced Erich Raeder as Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy and Grand Admiral of the Naval High Command in January 1943 the U-boats enjoyed success in attacking Allied convoys. However, by March 1943 the Allies employed new techniques, tactics and technology, which began to stem the tide. By May 1943 three separate convoys were attacked and the battles reached a climax. Long range Liberator bombers and radar assisted aircraft carrier escorts began to decimate the U-boat fleet. With the suppression of the U-boat operation it brought an end to the period known as Black May. Dönitz did continue to use U-boats in the Atlantic but in far smaller numbers. The Allies still needed to combat the smaller U-boat threat. This denied the Allies the opportunity for their escort aircraft to attack Germany direct  

 (North Africa 

The Axis Army had withdrawn to Tunisia after the Battle of El Agheila ended in December 1942. What remained of the Axis Army following the “Palm Sunday Massacre” and Operation Flax in April 1943 halted and held the high peaks known as “Longstop Hill”. The Allies were in pursuit and engaged in conflict at “Longstop Hill” where they attacked and counter-attacked. By the end of April/early May Allied Churchill tanks had negotiated the slopes of “Longstop Hill” and secured the barrier blocking the advance to Tunis. British armour captured Tunis on the 7^th May 1943 taking the Axis forces by surprise. On the same day the Americans advanced and took Bizerte, located to the east of Tunis. By the 15^th May 1943, with all their forces cut off, the Axis army surrendered. 250,000 Axis troops were taken prisoner and Nazi leaders admitted the defeat was on the same scale as the disaster of the Battle of Stalingrad.

(Eastern Front)   

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising officially ended on the 16^th May 1943 when the Jews housed within the ghetto were finally suppressed. In 1939 when Germany invaded and occupied Poland they began to concentrate over three million Jews into crowded ghettos in large Polish cities. Warsaw was the largest with approximately 300,000-400,000 Jews packed into an area of 3.3 km² in the city centre. By the time the uprising began on the 19^th April 1943 approximately 254,000-300,000 residents had either died of disease and starvation or mass deportations to the Treblinka extermination camp. The Germans began another round of deportations of the Jews on the 18^th January 1943 which led to a revolt being planned by the remaining Jews. Two resistance groups had joined together to support the remaining Jewish population, knowing they couldn’t win against the Germans but were determined to fight. The left-wing Jewish Combat Organisation and the right-wing Jewish Military Union engaged the Germans in direct clashes. They suffered heavy losses and inflicted casualties on the Germans which resulted in the halting of Jewish deportations. The main Jewish Uprising began on the 19th April 1943, on the eve of Passover. German police and S.S. auxiliary forces entered the ghetto and were confronted by the Jewish resistance. The uprising finally ended on the 16^th May 1943 when SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop personally pushed the button to demolish the Great Synagogue of Warsaw. During the uprising, 13,000 Jews were killed, of whom 6,000 died from smoke inhalation or were burnt alive. Almost all of the remaining 56,000 residents were captured and deported to Treblinka. During the uprising the Germans suffered losses of 17 killed and 93 wounded.

Josef Mengele was a German Schutzstaffel (S.S.) officer and physician who was known as the “Angel of Death”. On the 24^th May 1943 he was appointed as Chief Medical Officer in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Prior to the war, Mengele had qualified as a doctor specialising in Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene. In 1937 he joined the Nazi Party. In 1942 having been posted to the Ukraine, he joined the 5^th SS Panzer Division Wiking as battalion medical officer. He was seriously wounded, and upon recovery, was deemed unfit for active service and eventually transferred to Auschwitz. As chief medical officer he was responsible for overseeing who were to be workers for the regime, with the remaining Jews sent to the gas chambers. He was also responsible for horrific experiments on Jews who were operated on without the aid of anaesthetics. At the end of the war he managed to leave Auschwitz ahead of the Soviet Army. By various means he was able to relocate in Argentina but died in Brazil in 1979.

(Pacific)

As part of the Aleutian Island Campaign, the Island of Attu off the west coast of the Territory of Alaska, was one of the strategic links between the North American and European Continents. The Territory of Alaska was purchased from the Russians by the Americans in October 1867. The island is located in the North Pacific Ocean and south of the Berring Sea. The Battle of Attu was fought from the 11^th to 30^th May 1943 between American and Canadian invaders and Japanese defenders. Six months after America entered the war the Japanese National Army landed unopposed on Attu in June 1942. The U.S. military were aware whomever controlled the Aleutian Islands had access to America’s west coast for air attacks. By the 11^th May 1943, 2,900 Japanese Imperial Army troops were entrenched in defensive positions when the 7^th U.S. Infantry Divisions made their amphibious attack on the island. Canadian reconnaissance and fighter-bomber support assisted the U.S. Army. The Japanese were subjected to heavy naval bombardments but despite this they remained entrenched. When the 15,000 U.S. troops landed, Arctic weather conditions hindered their progress. However, after two weeks of fighting the Americans had pushed the Japanese defenders back to a small area around Chichagof Harbour. On the 30^th May 1943 the Japanese army, led by Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki, made a surprise banzai charge where they broke through the American front line positions. Rear line U.S. troops were fighting hand-to-hand combat with Japanese forces as a consequence. The battle for the island ended with the death of most of the Japanese soldiers including Yamasaki. In the meantime, the Japanese navy had assembled a fleet in Tokyo Bay to recapture Attu. Before they were ready to depart, the Americans had secured the island. The Americans lost 549 troops killed and more than 1,200 injured. The Japanese lost 2,872 men killed and 28 were taken prisoner. The loss of the Aleutian Islands combined with the death if Admiral Isoroko Yamamoto in April 1943, had a demoralising effect on the Japanese High Command. However, Japanese propaganda attempted to present Aleutian Island campaign as an inspirational epic to compensate for the loss of Yamamoto.

(Other Theatres)

The Trident Conference began in Washington D.C. on the 12^th May 1943 and lasted until the 25^th May 1943. The conference was a strategic meeting between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also at the meeting were the heads of government of the United Kingdom and the United States.

 The two leaders met every other day at the White House but the British and American military leaders met daily. On the 17^th May 1943 Churchill addressed the U.S. Congress and the subject of the discussions were:-

(A) The Italian Campaign

He persuaded the American leaders to endorse the Allied invasion of Sicily which would force the Germans to release troops from the eastern front. By fighting in and removing Italy from the war would reduce the Allies debt to the Soviet Union.

(B) Extent of military force

Both Britain and America agreed maximum military force should be used against Germany ending in their defeat at the end of 1944. They would then concentrate on defeating Japan in 1945.

(C) The Normandy Landings

To enable the Allies to successfully invade Europe they would need to build up troop strength and produce more equipment. For this reason the Normandy Landings were to be postponed until May 1944.

(D) Aid to China

The only practical way to assist China would be to relieve Burma. Air attacks rather than ground attacks were considered to be best option owing to the problems of jungle warfare.

The outcome of the conference was that America would become the world’s leader. Previously Britain had been the world leader.

—

In May 1943 the French people in Vichy-France formed a resistance movement. During January 1943 two major resistance groups were persuaded to unite to form the United Resistance Movement. It took time for the Marquis and the Milice groups to integrate. The Marquis were from the island Corsica, off the south coast of France, and renowned for their isolation. The Milice wereFrench gendarmes who were enemies of the Marquis, who desperately wanted to eliminate them. Following the defeat at Stalingrad, many gendarmes began to doubt an Axis victory and were unwilling to hunt down the Marquis. When the National Council of the Resistance was formed on the 26^th May 1943 resistance activities began to become more co-ordinated.

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