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Forum: Chat Room
Thread: On this Day |
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Thread Status: Locked Total posts in this thread: 716
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
At a later date; An R.A.F. crew member wrote:-
On February 13th , aircraft IQ-Louie took off from base at 21.25 hours to attack Dresden, the capital of Saxony, a very distant target about 150 miles south and slightly east of Berlin. It was an important industrial centre; its marshalling yards and harbour handled a considerable amount of rail and river borne freight. A force of 200 bombers had hit the target three hours earlier, visibility was good and fires started by the first attack served as a beacon for the second bomber stream. The Master Bomber skilfully controlled the crews and achieved well concentrated bombing in areas not hit in the earlier raid. Despite the long trip back across Germany, losses were light, much of the success being attributed to the action of “window” fouling up the enemy’s radar system. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
The very next night, February 14th, we were designated to fly IQ-Willie to another distant target along with 23 other aircraft from our squadron and 170 Squadron. Because of the great distance involved, all planes had maximum fuel load but carried a smaller than normal bomb load. This time we carried no “cookie”, but did carry four 1,000 pound high explosives as well as eight containers in incendiary bombs designed for starting fires. Each container would hold about 100 individual incendiary bombs, each about 15 inches long and 2 inches square.
Our target was Chemnitz in the province of Saxony about 200 miles south and slightly west of Berlin. It was an important textile manufacturing centre, but also was one of the major rail junctions with railway repair shops among the largest in the whole Reich. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
The rest of February 1945
For most of this month, British 2nd Army disappeared off the map and we had no idea where we were, except that it was somewhere in the Rhineland, between the two wide rivers and cut off from the media by a pincer movement in which the real Canadians and the American 9th Army were advancing towards each other. I know we were within sight of the Ruhr again, at one time, because we could see pillars of smoke, which, as before, we assumed to be caused by marker bombs dropped by the A.A.F. pathfinders. They were not. In fact they were trails left by V2s on the way up, aimed at London. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
All I can remember of the rest of February, 1945
----------------------------------------One place we did manage to identify, as it was signposted, was Goch, which was right on the Siegfried line. We still had no field guns but we did have a fair number of Bofors which had caught up with us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ8tu3CQ6dA The NAAFI and Mobile Bath Unit had not caught up with us but the postal service had. I had some stationary and wrote home to say I was washing my own socks "...and guess where I am hanging them.” (On the Siegfried Line wire, actually, though nobody round there sang about the washing on that line). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBH-zUqVRw0 [Edit 2 times, last edit by Former Member at Mar 2, 2008 12:06:33 PM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Tuesday, 29th February 1944
----------------------------------------I, a member of 163 Field Ambulance, stationed in Hampstead,was on escort duty with a prisoner who needed exercise. I took him along Maida Vale and put him on parole while I went into a shop for some pipe tobacco. The shopkeeper wanted to come out and see him, which I could not allow, so I am afraid I got no tobacco. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Feb 29, 2008 11:17:23 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Friday, 2nd March 1945
----------------------------------------It turns out that we have been in the Goch area since 19th February. The first battle was 19th-22nd February and we retook the fortified town on 27th February but I have completely forgotten what others have described as, “Sheer hell,” or, “Four days and nights of unmitigated misery.” [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Mar 2, 2008 1:06:16 PM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Sunday, 4th March 1945 (or thereabouts),
Ever since we left Kleve (Cleves) progress had been slow and painful, not only for us, but also for communications services like signals, dispatch riders, mail and war correspondents. The Germans seemed to have lost the few brand new jet planes that constituted their remade Luftwaffe, but they still had a few guns, and lots of rockets and panzerfaust, which were something like the American “bazookas” and created most of the casualties. Although we no longer dug in, we were happier in houses that had cellars. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Monday, 5th March 1945
We “Canadians” were beginning to make good progress at last. We would soon be contacting the American ninth Army. An endless column of German P.O.W.s, looking very uncomfortable, had been marching past with hands on heads ever since we arrived in Goch. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Tuesday, 6th March 1945
----------------------------------------An Army normally consists of three Corps, each of which has three Divisions, with three brigades of three Battalions apiece, but the Army honours this rule more in the exception than the observance. Two airborne divisions were still independent. The other (25th) was now the only division in the entire 2nd Army, while the rest of what had been that Army was now part of the 1st Canadian Army. That Army was now 75% U.K., 5% Polish and about 5% French. The rest of the new French recruits were now under various commands, with headquarters in London (Col. Buckmaster), Algiers (General de Gaulle), their own local armoured division commander, General Leclerc and various American formations. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Mar 6, 2008 10:11:36 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Wednesday, 7th March 1945 (roughly)
----------------------------------------We withdrew to Belgium to sew our formation signs back on our sleeves. No longer are we Canadian Scotsmen of the 1st Army, but have reverted to being Caledonian Scots of the 2nd Army. Those two company members, "Nobby" and "Brigadier", who went back to Army HQ because they had been prisoners of war, now rejoined us. The Germans had released them from P.O.W. camps in Italy, two years back, but only on condition of their never fighting again [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Mar 7, 2008 11:37:30 AM] |
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