Operation Sonnie: for Norwegian interest

[Graham Boak]

I'm reading Cumbria Airfields in the Second World War, by Martyn Chorlton. When dealing with Jurby, he describes Operation Sonnie as beginning 20th April 1944. This operation was the transfer of suspected Norwegian collaborators in Lodestars, with flights from Norway (!) via Leuchars. These flights, 90 in total, continued until 17th October, bringing in 1,402 suspected collaborators.

Clearly something is either wrong, or very odd indeed! The only thing I can imagine is that they are ferrying people from the Shetlands, brought from Norway on the famous "Shetland Bus", but in that case I'd have thought the Lodestars could have flown direct.

Any ideas?

[Stig Jarlevik]

Graham

Not sure what you mean here.
The Sonnie flights went to Sweden and back and their main purpose was to bring out Norwegian resistance fighters to England and also bring back interened US Aircrew. C-87/Liberators were the type mostly used.
They were the famous ones with dual US civil registers/BOAC civil registers (although only one in the end carried such British civil reg)
In Sweden the operation is more known as Operation Balchen (after the Norwegian who led the operations), since he was also responsible for its extension into 1945, to get Nowegians out of nothern Norway when the Russians pushed the Germans back into Norway.

Never heard of any Norwegian collaborators being flown back to England, and although the Luftwaffe may have been week in 1944 but having aeroplanes landing in Norway snitching collaborators away sound both unlikely and far fetched indeed. True enough civil registered Lodestars were used into Sweden, but as far as I know only in a courier fashion, and I don't believe any was involved in Operation Sonnie
Cheers
Stig

[Graham Boak]

Stig.

I entirely agree with you - other than that I wasn't aware of the operation name. The description is taken from the book.

The Isle of Man was used as a (fairly open) prison for enemy nationals, mainly early in the war, and I wonder if the author is confusing this with the movement of Norwegians for some other purpose. The short period of the operation and the numbers moved may be an indication here. It may be that a batch of Norwegians were moved to the island for clearance purposes prior to their use by the Allies, for steps would be taken to ensure no German sympathiser had infiltrated their ranks. So the emphasis should be on the "suspected" rather than the "collaborators".

The one other piece of information given is that HRH Crown Prince Olaf flew in on 6th September 1944 in a Lodestar, flying out to Hendon a few days later. I'd have thought he'd be much more likely to visit new loyal arrivals than a bunch of Quislings.

[glider1]

I found this interesting.

http://555navigator.blogspot.com/201...pril-1945.html

[paal naess]

Some of the refugees coming over from Sweden on the Stockholmsruten (the "BOAC" flights using Lodestars) and later Balchens Sonnie/Balder B-24 flights, were interrogated on Isle of Man by an office put up by the Norwegians there before selection to Army/Navy/Air Force.

A few suspects became interned in the old WWI camp there, but not all flown there were suspects. There also was an office in London, but I guess they could only handle so many...

After his 76 Sqn. stint, Stockholmsrute pilot F. Giørtz had some Leuchars-Isle of Man entries in his log during the summer of -44

[paal naess]

Found an article in a Norwegian periodical, Norsk Flyhistorisk tidsskrift, mentioning that Balder (that is Sonnie to you, it was called Balder in Norway) Liberators flew 95 trips Leuchars-Isle of Man, transporting 1485 passengers, mostly Norwegian refugees headed for interrogation for weeding out suspected collaborators.

But as mentioned, even the Lodestars from Stockholmsruten flew there. But that Sonnie number seem a bit large, because I have seen sources where 1576 passengers were the total number of pax transported by Sonnie/Balder Leuchars-Bromma...

[vingtor]

I think the Sonnie number was higher than 1500 passengers, about the double. However I don't have my references at hand so I cannot check before later.

I have a photo of a Norwegian Lodestar, in RAF markings and US serial number, that was used on the flights to Man. Apparently this was a new aircraft, before it started operating on the service to Stockholm.

Which issue of NFT was mentioning the Balder operations? I probably have the magazine at home.

Nils

[paal naess]

NFT 3-96 is credited/copied on this LMU-page http://www.luftfartshistorie.no/fly/..._1941_til_1950.
It's an interesting part of Luftforsvarets history, Stockholmsruten, but I find it hard to find consistent sources. I try working a bit on its article on Wikipedia, and have compiled some sources here http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruker:...tockholmsruten but there are inconsistencies... I hope there is a good book on the subject somewhere round the corner . In fact I have been meaning to ask you about sources by mail (or at Skala last week end, but you looked so busy so I didn't bother...)
Another problem, I think, is the Balchen "camp" taking Stockholmsruten traffic into Sonnie'a account, thereby "bloating" the Sonnie numbers.

[vingtor]

Thanks! I have this Lodestar issue. I was wondering it there was an article that I wasn't aware of.

I was not that busy at Skala. I'm allways interested in discussing interesting subjects. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail. I guess you have my address.

Nils

[bmwhacker]

Here is some info from my Blog, and my Dads personal photos and experiences.

466th Bomb Group & ATC Clandestine Missions into Sweden, April 1945


Navigator 2nd. Lt. John William (Bill) Smith
Dad completed 36 combat bombing (plus uncounted "fuel trucking missions" to Pattons Army in France) missions with the 466th. Bomb Group, then volunteered for additional missions with the Air Transport Command. They hauled Arctic Gear slated for the U.S. 10th. Mountain Division. This gear was to be hauled overland into Norway via nuetral Sweden.

This is my Dad, taken in Stockholm. They were laid over due to weather. Had to avoid German radar equipped night fighters more than once. They had no guns or gunners so had to fly at wave top level. Came in to Sweden from the North Sea. Dad Navigated , they flew only at night and were always solo flights. He said those missions were a bit hairy due to German night fighters, bad weather, wind and the crews total reliance on his celestial navigation skills.

Dad is still with us, going strong at 95 years old.



Dad @ 93 years old:


Navigator LT. Smith during combat operations out of Attlebridge England.



(This is taken from a site concerning Col. Balchens' military service)
"Whereas Bernt Balchen, between November 1944 and April 1945, commanded a clandestine air transport operation that, again in defiance of severe enemy opposition, transported from England to Sweden 200 tons of arctic equipment and operational supplies that were used to make clandestine overland transport from Sweden to Norway possible;" From Nov. 44 through April 45.

Dad flew in the later part of the transport with a partial crew (#553) piloted by Melvin Westbrook, co-piloted by Bill Pond. Not sure of the names of the other two crewman, but think they are from Westbrooks crew. (pictured below)Bill pond is on the right...Westbrook is on his right. Photo taken by my Father in Stockholm in April 1945. They flew as civilians.
I don't think any of the crews involved in this operation received any sort of recognition. My Dad knew very little of the details about the operation. He did not even know who Col. Bernt Balchen was, until I researched the details of the operation recently. I don't think any of these guys ever sought or wanted any type of recognition anyway. They were just doing their jobs, happy to get home alive and get on with their lives.


After studying crew photos I also found the identity of the crewman on the far left. William Estep, was the Engineer and originally a member of crew #671, the "Merritt Crew" On the far right is Co-pilot Bill Pond and on his right is Pilot Mel Westbrook. The crew man on Westbrooks right is still unkown to me, but I might be able to identify him as time goes on.



Below is the "Mel Westbrook' crew (Crew #553) during combat tours. Westbrook is on upper left, Bill Pond isThird from left, standing.

Westbrook is still alive, I talked with him last year. Co-Pilot Pond passed away in the early 90's.



Photo near a Stockholm train station. They used it to get around while "sightseeing" there. The War was still going but Sweden was a neutral country. That is why they flew as civilians in the unmarked, unarmed B-24's. Dad said they were painted all black for less visibility at night.



The railroad station is now gone but the statue still resides in its' 1945 location.




This car must have caught my Dads' attention while in Stockholm. It appears to have a coal / alternate fuel burning apparatus mounted in the front due to the shortage of gasoline......




Another photo taken in Stolkholm by Dad in 1945. Don't know of its' actual location in the city.




Other stories:

Operation Carpetbagger", here some more info. found......

Although most of the Carpetbagger sorties took place from Harrington, supply and agent dropping missions were carried out from other airfields. In April 1944 a detachment was dispatched to Leuchars in Scotland from where a totally different undercover operation took place. This was Operation Sonnie, which was to fly back to the UK several thousand Norwegian aircrew trainees and American internees from Sweden. These trips were very hazardous and were usually undertaken when cloud cover was available. The B-24s used were ostensibly civilian aircraft with civilian markings, the crew wearing airline clothes. Sonnie B-24s flew to Bromma airport, Stockholm, and were serviced by American engineers living as civilians in Stockholm.

These personnel were under constant surveillance in Stockholm by German agents, who did their best to discover the route taken by the American aircraft. It was found that although some were daytime flights, they suffered no more interception than normal night supply missions. A supply and agent dropping operation from Leuchars - this was code named Operation Ball. Six B-24s flew these missions from July 1944. These trips were more hazardous than the European operations, several squadrons of Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters were always on hand to hammer the unwary. There were many more abortive sorties over the mountains and fjords of Norway. Out of 65 attempted drops only 37 were successful


Another interesting "Operation Sonnie' Story.....

Helpful Enemies

"Bromma Airport in Stockholm was a beehive of international activities
during WW2. German Lufthansa transports landed there regularly after
trouble-free flights in Germany-controlled airspace. Allied military
transports, disguised as civil airplanes, arrived in a steady stream from
Leuchars in Scotland after flying in hostile skies during moonless nights.
They brought with them VIPs, diplomats, vital machinery parts, film and
photo-chemicals, books, fresh newspapers. When they left Bromma on
other moonless nights they were loaded with new VIPs, Norwegian
resistance people, roller bearings, special steel products, and whatever
was needed back there in the West.

During the last years of the war this clandestine traffic was intensified
and organized by old polar bear Bernt Balchen in what was called
"Operation Sonnie." The standard plane was Consolidated C-87 Liberator
Express. On Bromma, German and American airplanes were mixed
together in a comic hodgepodge, and the two parties watched each other
carefully.

One day, one of Balchen's Liberators cracked a cylinder head on a flight
from Leuchars. They could have sent for a spare cylinder from Scotland,
but Yes-Vee-Do-It-Balchen did it his own way . He knew that the DC-3s the
Germans were operating between Berlin and Stockholm used the same
engines, so he asked his friend Carl Florman, of the Swedish airline ABA,
to borrow a spare cylinder from the Lufthansa representative at Bromma.
The German replied that he didn't have one on hand in Stockholm, but
would arrange for one to be sent up from Berlin on the next plane. The
following day Lufthansa delivered a cylinder from an American B-24 which
had crashed in Germany. Balchen installed it in his Liberator and flew
back to Leuchars. There he got a spare cylinder and took it to Stockholm
the next day to replace the one borrowed from the Nazis. Everybody was
happy."
(- Bernt Balchen: Come North with Me)