February 13, 1945 - DRESDEN
From the Operations Record Book:
27 aircraft and crews were called upon for operations, 28 crews were briefed, one extra being held in reserve. After some effort 26 aircraft took off at approximately 21.15 hrs to attack DRESDEN. The journey across England was unfortunately marred by a fatal accident in which one of our aircraft was involved (B2 - F/L Allen). It appears that an aircraft from 300 Squadron collided with ours near Appleby Manor Lincs, soon after setting course and the wreckage of both planes was scattered over a wide area as a result of explosions.
The weather en-route was better than expected. After a long journey across the continent the target was seen some 180 miles before E.T.A. looming up as a dull red glow of fires still raging from a previous attack. The Bombing run was clear which enabled the crews to see the markers and a further concentrated contribution of cookies and incendiaries again made the rear reflecting against the clouds, warming the hearts and feet of the rear gunners. The defences protested, but it was only a feeble attempt. Photographs show an encouraging quantity of fire and incendiary glare and in short show that the attack was a highly successful one.
The weather en-route was better than expected. After a long journey across the continent the target was seen some 180 miles before E.T.A. looming up as a dull red glow of fires still raging from a previous attack. The Bombing run was clear which enabled the crews to see the markers and a further concentrated contribution of cookies and incendiaries again made the rear reflecting against the clouds, warming the hearts and feet of the rear gunners. The defences protested, but it was only a feeble attempt. Photographs show an encouraging quantity of fire and incendiary glare and in short show that the attack was a highly successful one.
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• SGT Kenneth John Boucher Smith (Flight Engineer) RAF
• F/SGT David Johnston Yemen (Navigator) RCAF
• F/O Gordon James Nicol (Air Bomber) RCAF
• SGT Gerard Patrick Kelleher (Wireless Operator) RAF
• SGT Douglas James Hicks (Rear Air Gunner) RCAF
• SGT Albert Colin (Acting Mid Upper Air Gunner, usual role is Rear Air Gunner) RAF
The following is an excerpt from the Ex Air Gunners ‘Short Bursts’ newsletter March 2006 contributed by Douglas Hicks:
Prologue to the following story…
My nephew, who lives in Orillia, owns a couple of aeroplanes… so I was invited to fly with him on a float plane to Oshkosh last summer.
One of the seminars presented at Oshkosh was by an Englishman who is writing a book about the bombing of Dresden. I attended this seminar which included over a 100 people. When the talk was done, a member of the audience stated he was on the ground at the time and witnessed over 50,000 dead. He also stated that the U.S. Airforce came the next day and strafed the survivors. He was quite put out to say the least and with his German accent I thought better of telling him I was there.
Television is now an important part of our daily life. Programming is all encompassing and there is always some form of programming that satisfies our needs. Today, a new channel, called the ‘History Channel’ provides us with interesting insights to past events. As a part of the history channel a series called, World War 2 Military Blunders is currently showing.
A recent episode dealt with the bombing of the German city, Dresden. This was considered by the producers of the series to be a classic blunder. The episode was very controversial. There are two schools of thought on the bombing of Dresden. A major portion of this program dealt with the pros and cons. It seemed to me that the side in opposition of this bombing raid were more ably represented, if I was scoring I think their argument against the bombing was more persuasive. Interviews were conducted, with the two sides to this story ably represented.
In the late stages of World War 2, the city of Dresden was attacked with great force by Bomber Command of the RAF. There were some 796 Lancaster, four engine heavy bombers on the initial raid. They attacked in two waves with 244 Lancasters in the first wave. This attack was followed up the next two days by the 8th US Air Force. Because of the intense bombing of this city, a firestorm developed and estimates range from 60,000 to over a 100,000 inhabitants being killed. Due to the fact that this city had not been bombed it became a haven for many refugees fleeing the advancing Russian Army.
Up to this point in the war, Dresden had been spared from any bombing raids. Dresden was an old, quaint city, to this point had never been considered a military target. Again as the war wound down another look was taken at the Bomber Command priorities. There was considerable pressure from our Allies, the Russians, to show some form of solidarity and to help the Russian effort to invade the German Empire. As the show progressed, both sides used very persuasive arguments as to the military importance of this bombing raid on Dresden.
The program was very descriptive of the events and when it concluded, I personally sided with that faction that advocated the bombing of Dresden. At the time there was no evident reasons in my mind why I came to this conclusion. For the next few weeks I found myself reliving the program. I would consciously review in my mind the arguments that had been presented during this program, why, I could not fathom. Something was tugging at my inner self and forcing my memory to work overtime. Then I remembered…
February 13, 1945
RAF 550 Squadron, North Killingholme, England. Flying four engine Lancaster Bombers.
Flying Officer Harris and his crew are preparing for their first raid into enemy territory. The crew consists of seven. Five of the crew are Canadians and the other two English. Flying Officer Harris had made his ‘Second Dickie’ flight to German on February 8th, the target was the Politz oil plant. The rest of the crew are all virgins. I, Flt. Sgt. Hicks, flew with this crew as the Tail Gunner. All of our training flights had been completed without incident. As a crew we were now competent to take on the duties of an active flight crew. This is our first operational flight.
Briefing was completed and we were assigned aircraft BQ-V. This aircraft was named the ‘Vulture Strikes’ by the first crew to who it was assigned permanently. Our confidence is bolstered by the fact that this aircraft had completed in excess of 90 trips over enemy territory. It had always been returned to the crew back home safely. Now, we would see, how we as a crew, would function under actual combat.
After take-off we set course for the assigned target. There was very little banter between the crew and only essential information was relayed. By listening in, one would wonder if this crew was working correctly. I had expected some banter between crew members to relieve the tension but the atmosphere was one of doing the job. From my position at the rear of the aircraft, the old saying, I don’t know where we are going but I certainly know where we have been, came true. We are now some 4 hours into the flight, all has been uneventful, then some 50 miles from the target a huge red glow can be seen in the sky ahead. We have no doubt where we are to go. Our behaviour changes, this is it, this will be our trial by fire. We approach the target and the Bomber Aimer takes over directing the aircraft on the correct heading for the bombing run. Conditions change and almost daylight conditions prevail. The sky is lit up from the horrendous inferno on the ground that is now the target. In this lighted environment I now see Bomber aircraft everywhere. They are to the left and the right, up and down, it seems almost impossible that this zone of air space can accommodate so many bomber aircraft. As one of the bombers passes underneath my turret I can see the crew in the cockpit of the aircraft and notice the red hot exhaust from the four engines glowing eerily in the sky. I have difficulty in comprehending this vast armada of aircraft converging on the target. As quickly as it started we have now dropped the bomb load and turned to head for home. So this is the trial under fire, we did it we have almost completed our first trip. There is no jubilation from the crew nor even a slight hurrah, it seems we are all busy doing our jobs and the jubilation will wait till we get home.
We return home safely with no incidents to report. ‘V’ for Victory has done it again; our trust in this old war horse has been justified. We land at our home base without incident. This trip lasted for ten hours and five minutes. We have lost our virginity and still there is no jubilation. It seems we did what we were trained to do and that triumphant cries of jubilation will wait for another time. At debriefing we tell of the horrendous fires that were evident over the target and we wonder aloud if anyone on the ground survived that holocaust. The papers will report on this raid in the morning with glowing accolades to those crews who participated.
My first trip is over. The target that night, DRESDEN.
The crew left the base at 9:01 pm and returned the following morning at 6:54 am, for a total flying time of 10 hrs, 5 mins.
LIVE OPERATION: DRESDEN
CREW:
• F/O Robert Douglas Harris (Pilot) RCAF• SGT Kenneth John Boucher Smith (Flight Engineer) RAF
• F/SGT David Johnston Yemen (Navigator) RCAF
• F/O Gordon James Nicol (Air Bomber) RCAF
• SGT Gerard Patrick Kelleher (Wireless Operator) RAF
• SGT Douglas James Hicks (Rear Air Gunner) RCAF
• SGT Albert Colin (Acting Mid Upper Air Gunner, usual role is Rear Air Gunner) RAF
AIRCRAFT:
LANCASTER PA995 “Vulture Strikes!” (BQ-V)FLIGHT NOTES:
Robert Harris had already flown as ‘second dickie’ on a live operation, but February 13, 1945 would be the first live operation with his own crew. In a letter home to his wife Margaret dated February 11, 1945, Harris wrote that one of his gunners had reported sick due to stomach troubles. Sergeant Albert Colin would stand in for Ditson as the mid-upper air gunner on this flight.The following is an excerpt from the Ex Air Gunners ‘Short Bursts’ newsletter March 2006 contributed by Douglas Hicks:
Prologue to the following story…
My nephew, who lives in Orillia, owns a couple of aeroplanes… so I was invited to fly with him on a float plane to Oshkosh last summer.
One of the seminars presented at Oshkosh was by an Englishman who is writing a book about the bombing of Dresden. I attended this seminar which included over a 100 people. When the talk was done, a member of the audience stated he was on the ground at the time and witnessed over 50,000 dead. He also stated that the U.S. Airforce came the next day and strafed the survivors. He was quite put out to say the least and with his German accent I thought better of telling him I was there.
Television is now an important part of our daily life. Programming is all encompassing and there is always some form of programming that satisfies our needs. Today, a new channel, called the ‘History Channel’ provides us with interesting insights to past events. As a part of the history channel a series called, World War 2 Military Blunders is currently showing.
A recent episode dealt with the bombing of the German city, Dresden. This was considered by the producers of the series to be a classic blunder. The episode was very controversial. There are two schools of thought on the bombing of Dresden. A major portion of this program dealt with the pros and cons. It seemed to me that the side in opposition of this bombing raid were more ably represented, if I was scoring I think their argument against the bombing was more persuasive. Interviews were conducted, with the two sides to this story ably represented.
In the late stages of World War 2, the city of Dresden was attacked with great force by Bomber Command of the RAF. There were some 796 Lancaster, four engine heavy bombers on the initial raid. They attacked in two waves with 244 Lancasters in the first wave. This attack was followed up the next two days by the 8th US Air Force. Because of the intense bombing of this city, a firestorm developed and estimates range from 60,000 to over a 100,000 inhabitants being killed. Due to the fact that this city had not been bombed it became a haven for many refugees fleeing the advancing Russian Army.
Up to this point in the war, Dresden had been spared from any bombing raids. Dresden was an old, quaint city, to this point had never been considered a military target. Again as the war wound down another look was taken at the Bomber Command priorities. There was considerable pressure from our Allies, the Russians, to show some form of solidarity and to help the Russian effort to invade the German Empire. As the show progressed, both sides used very persuasive arguments as to the military importance of this bombing raid on Dresden.
The program was very descriptive of the events and when it concluded, I personally sided with that faction that advocated the bombing of Dresden. At the time there was no evident reasons in my mind why I came to this conclusion. For the next few weeks I found myself reliving the program. I would consciously review in my mind the arguments that had been presented during this program, why, I could not fathom. Something was tugging at my inner self and forcing my memory to work overtime. Then I remembered…
February 13, 1945
RAF 550 Squadron, North Killingholme, England. Flying four engine Lancaster Bombers.
Flying Officer Harris and his crew are preparing for their first raid into enemy territory. The crew consists of seven. Five of the crew are Canadians and the other two English. Flying Officer Harris had made his ‘Second Dickie’ flight to German on February 8th, the target was the Politz oil plant. The rest of the crew are all virgins. I, Flt. Sgt. Hicks, flew with this crew as the Tail Gunner. All of our training flights had been completed without incident. As a crew we were now competent to take on the duties of an active flight crew. This is our first operational flight.
Briefing was completed and we were assigned aircraft BQ-V. This aircraft was named the ‘Vulture Strikes’ by the first crew to who it was assigned permanently. Our confidence is bolstered by the fact that this aircraft had completed in excess of 90 trips over enemy territory. It had always been returned to the crew back home safely. Now, we would see, how we as a crew, would function under actual combat.
After take-off we set course for the assigned target. There was very little banter between the crew and only essential information was relayed. By listening in, one would wonder if this crew was working correctly. I had expected some banter between crew members to relieve the tension but the atmosphere was one of doing the job. From my position at the rear of the aircraft, the old saying, I don’t know where we are going but I certainly know where we have been, came true. We are now some 4 hours into the flight, all has been uneventful, then some 50 miles from the target a huge red glow can be seen in the sky ahead. We have no doubt where we are to go. Our behaviour changes, this is it, this will be our trial by fire. We approach the target and the Bomber Aimer takes over directing the aircraft on the correct heading for the bombing run. Conditions change and almost daylight conditions prevail. The sky is lit up from the horrendous inferno on the ground that is now the target. In this lighted environment I now see Bomber aircraft everywhere. They are to the left and the right, up and down, it seems almost impossible that this zone of air space can accommodate so many bomber aircraft. As one of the bombers passes underneath my turret I can see the crew in the cockpit of the aircraft and notice the red hot exhaust from the four engines glowing eerily in the sky. I have difficulty in comprehending this vast armada of aircraft converging on the target. As quickly as it started we have now dropped the bomb load and turned to head for home. So this is the trial under fire, we did it we have almost completed our first trip. There is no jubilation from the crew nor even a slight hurrah, it seems we are all busy doing our jobs and the jubilation will wait till we get home.
We return home safely with no incidents to report. ‘V’ for Victory has done it again; our trust in this old war horse has been justified. We land at our home base without incident. This trip lasted for ten hours and five minutes. We have lost our virginity and still there is no jubilation. It seems we did what we were trained to do and that triumphant cries of jubilation will wait for another time. At debriefing we tell of the horrendous fires that were evident over the target and we wonder aloud if anyone on the ground survived that holocaust. The papers will report on this raid in the morning with glowing accolades to those crews who participated.
My first trip is over. The target that night, DRESDEN.
The crew left the base at 9:01 pm and returned the following morning at 6:54 am, for a total flying time of 10 hrs, 5 mins.
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