May 3, 1943 - Amsterdam power station raid - 487 Sqn Venturas wiped out - was there an earlier fighter sweep?

[AndyCr]

Hi All,

I am researching this mission for a book project and am trying to resolve a question re a possible mistimed fighter sweep and would be extremely grateful for any assistance. So far I have found that:

On May 3, 1943 twelve 487 Squadron Lockheed Venturas took off from RAF Methwold at 4.43pm for an attack on the Amsterdam Power Station. Their escorts were the Spitfire Vs from the Coltishall Wing (167 Squadron and 118 Squadron) alongside 504 Squadron's Spitfire Vs which had been called in from 10 Group for the raid, the latter 2 Squadrons taking off from Coltishall between 4.50 and 5pm.

After 25 minutes at 0 feet over the Channel the Venturas began their battle climb. At this point the Spitfire began lagging behind. When 10 miles from the Dutch coast the Venturas were at 10-12,000 feet and still climbing. 118 and 167 Squadrons were higher than the Venturas but behind them. 504 Squadron had dropped their long range tanks in an effort to keep up but were now 3 miles behind.

At this point up to 70 German fighters were reported and the Spitfire Squadrons were completely contained. In terms of the opposing German fighters the concrete information I have found is that there was a Schwarm of Bf109Gs from 2/JG27 from Leeuwarden and 28 Fw190As from II/JG1 from Woensdrecht, although the Gesschwardergruppe of JG26 appeared near the end of the battle.

With the Spitfires contained the remaining German fighters fell on the Venturas and shot 10 of the 11 bombers down, only 1 making it back to Methwold with two seriously injured gunners on board. Claimants were JG1 (9) and JG27 (1).

What I have found in almost all sources to account for the Luftwaffe's appearance in force is reference to a fighter sweep to the Flushing area, planned as a diversion, that had taken off 30 minutes too early and had, in fact, flown to Ijmuiden, the very area that the Venturas were heading to, thus fully alerting the defenders (implying a high altitude sweep likely by Spitfire IXs) and being recalled due to running low on fuel before the bombers came in.

The problem I am trying to resolve is that the sources refer to this sweep as Rodeo 212. However, Rodeo 212 involved the Kenley Wing taking off at 5.25pm and flying to Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast before making a right turn and heading back west along to Cassel where, near Samer at 22,000 feet, the Wing bounced a formation of Fw190s, 416 Squadron claiming 2 destroyed (Donald Caldwell's JG26 records a Fw190 from 6/JG26 and a Bf109G from 11/JG54 as the victims). I don't believe this sweep can be the one referred to as the cause of the Ventura force's demise as it takes off later and is in the wrong area.

However, I can find no other reference to a fighter sweep on this day in the relevant ORBs and John Foreman's Fighter Command War Diaries does not show one either.

My question is, as there is usually no smoke without fire, was there an earlier sweep to the Flushing area and, if so, which units were involved and what was the Rodeo number?!

Many thanks for any consideration of my enquiry!
Andrew

[Alex Smart]

Hello Andrew,
This may just be a coincidence but the 8th AAF had similar attacks on the 4th May, 1943.
Or did the producers of the chronology in "armyairforces.com get the date wrong ?
I would not think that they would.
Here is the detail for the 4th.

65 HBs strike former Ford and General Motors plants at Antwerp. With this mission, P-47's begin providing ftr escort up to 175 mi. More than 30 B-17's and B-24's fly successful diversionary feint toward French coast, arousing more than 100 German ftrs (about half of total number in the region) and keeping many of them airborne long enough to prevent their attacking main effort.

With hindsight, were they warned by some spy source of these attacks on the 3rd and 4th ? It seems that a lot of E/A were airborne on these two days at just the right time.

Good hunting
Alex

[RodM]

Hi Andrew,

it appears the issue was not with an earlier sweep, but the fighters assigned to cover the dual raids on Amsterdam (487 Sqn) and IJmuiden (107 Sqn).

Author Errol Martyn, in "For Your Tommorrow: A Record of New Zealanders who have Died while Serving with the RNZAF and Allied Air Services since 1915. Volume Two: Fates 1943-1998", writes:

"The Squadron [487, Rod] took off at 1643, one Ventura returning to base shortly afterwards due to a hatch cover coming loose. The remaining 11 proceeded to the target at low-level escorted by 35 Spitfires, with 31 more Spitfires acting as rear cover. Unfortunately, two further Spitfire squadrons, which were to act as target support, took off early and flew direct towards Amsterdam at 27,000 feet, helping to alert the defences well in advance of the attack."

Cheers

Rod

[MW Giles]

Target Support was to be provided by the Hornchurch Wing (122 and 453 Sqns). They took off early and were recalled but not before the damage was done

The fighter escort for the Ijmuiden and Amsterdam raids was refered to as 12 Group Ramrod no 16 and involved 8 fighter squadrons to Amsterdam and 6 to Ijmuiden.

Regards

Martin

[David Layne]

One of the survivors of this raid was Leonard J. Littlewood of 43 Rothschild St., West Norwood, London. SE 27. He was a crew member of 487 Squadron Ventura AE731 EG-O shot down by Hauptman Wickop and crashed near Haarlem.

Littlewood was a POW with my father and I am hopeful that via this forum someone can provide a wartime photograph of him to add to my blog here. https://wallyswar.wordpress.com/other-pows/

[AndyCr]

Hi All,

Many thanks for your responses which are extremely helpful.

MW Giles - tying down the two target support squadrons to 122 and 453 Squadrons is a real break - I will check their ORBs for more details. In addition to the three Coltishall Squadrons (118, 167 and 504) and the Hornchurch Wing, do you have details as to which other units were involved in Ramrod 16?

RodM - thanks for the info here, at that height they would certainly have telegraphed the attackers approach - I have found references to Luftwaffe controllers knowing that a high altitude sweep often indicated the presence of bombers underneath, knowledge which they exploited.

Alex Smart - The Mighty Eighth War Diary confirms the 8th AF missions for May 4. On May 2 a raid by Venturas to Ijmuiden also met heavy resistance from JG1, four Spitfire IXs from the North Weald Wing being lost with their pilots. I have no idea of the influence of spies reporting mission targets but there was certainly a sustained amount of air activity on both sides at this point.

Thanks again for everyone's help!
Andy