Australia’s War Diary

August 2-Bay of Biscay. F/Lt Irwin Clarke and crew in Sunderland DV968/2-M of 461 Squadron sink the U-106 with another Sunderland of 228 Squadron RAF. Of 86 U-boats recently attempting to cross to the Atlantic, 19 have been sunk, losses so critical that Admiral Donitz cancels group sailing indefinitely.

New Britain. Six Bostons of22 Squadron and six Beaufighters of 30 Squadron strike Gasmata airfield escorted by 77 Squadron P-40K Kittyhawks. Afterwards, sweeping between Gasmata and Jacquinot Bay, the Kittyhawks destroy three Japanese barges and damage two. F/Lt D Sproule, just yesterday appointed to command 77 Squadron, is hit by AA fire near Lindenhafen plantation and crash lands on the beach. Sproule is captured by the Japanese and later killed. 22 Squadron Bostons later destroy the crashed Kittyhawk (A29-301).

August 2/3-Britain. The last Hamburg raid encounters wide-spread thunderstorms over Germany and is a failure. 30 bomb- ers are lost.

August 3-Sicily. Sgt Howell-Price of 3 Squadron ditches off Catania after attacking road traffic east of Etna. S/Ldr Reg Stevens drops a dinghy and returns with an air-sea rescue Walrus. As this alights, a gun on shore opens fire. Stevens strafes the position and the rescue proceeds undisturbed but his own Kittyhawk is damaged. He crash lands at Cape Campolato behind Allied lines. Later, P/O McLeod fails to return from attacking transport. W/O R. Austin of 450 Squadron also disappears while strafing and is later confirmed KIA. Bay of Biscay. Sunderland DD852/J/J, captained by F/O Basil Williams of 10 Squadron battles for an hour with seven Ju 88s probably destroying one. Front gunner, F/Sgt H Bird is killed and four others are wounded before escaping.

August 4/5 Sicily. Sgt B Watson, sole survivor of a 458 Squadron Wellington shot down on an anti shipping strike, will spend eight days adrift with little hope of survival before eventually being rescued on the 12th.

August 5-Sicily. 3 Squadron claims direct bomb hits on two small ships, several barges and a large seaplane in Melazzo harbour.

August 6-Australia. Two Japanese float planes bomb and cause the sinking of the steamer Macumba while she is on her way from Thursday Island to Darwin.

August 7-Britain. P/O Samson, F/O Pratt and W/O McEvoy of 456 Squadron, with their usual observers, attack two armed trawlers off La Rochelle, south west France. An explosion blows away part of the bridge of one vessel which is left smoking August 8-Sicily. While attacking transport vehicles, F/Sgt Goulder’s Kittyhawk of 3 Squadron crashes in flames near Mt Etna.

August 9/10-Britain. Target Mannheim. Of 457 attackers, 9 are lost. 1316 buildings are destroyed or seriously damaged and 42 industrial complexes suffer loss of production. 269 people are killed and 1210 injured. On their first operation, F/O M Good and crew of 467 (Lancaster) Squadron shoot down a Bf 109.

August 10-Australia. Two Spitfires of 452 Squadron, based at Millingimbi to cover shipping, destroy a float plane and damage another. Meanwhile, the Japanese 7th Air Division begins to withdraw from Ambonto Wewak. Its 23rd Air Flotilla remains with its HQ at Kendari and forward bases at Penfoei, Ambon and the Kai Islands.

August 11-Bay of Biscay. 10 Squadron’s F/Lt Norm Gerrard and crew in Sunderland DP177/F fail to return. Just three days earlier, on a similar patrol in the same aircraft, they had escaped six Ju 88s. Not this time.

New Britain. Nos 22 (Boston) and 30 (Beaufighter) Squadrons, now established at Vivigani airfield, Goodenough Is, forward HQ of No 9 Operational Group, join in attacking enemy barge traffic. A captured Japanese map of New Britain exposes routes and hiding places. Three Bostons, sweeping between Awul and Cape Bali, destroy one and leave three unserviceable.

August 11/12 – Britain. During mining off St Nazaire, the Wellington of 466 Squadron’s W/O E. Fogden and crew is lost. August 13 Bay of Biscay. Sunderland DV968/2-M of 461 Squadron, F/O W Dowling and crew, is shot down by Ju 88s. August 13/14-Britain. On a Ranger sortie, F/O Griffith & F/O JThomson of 456 (Mosquito) Squadron heavily damage a train near Caulines.

Bomber Command target – the Breda aircraft works at Milan, Italy. Fires envelope the whole area. F/Sgt Rees of No 460, despite trouble in two engines, threads his way through the lower mountain passes, reaches Milan, bombs and makes a similarly hazardous return.

August 14 Sicily. A patrol of 3 Squadron Kittyhawks is attacked by six Mc. 202s. One Macchi is destroyed by F/Lt Ron Susans and three are damaged without loss. In combat over the Straits of Messina, W/O Lavers is wounded and his aircraft badly shot up. He has to crash land at base.

New Britain. Barges, buildings and anti aircraft positions near Palmalmal plantation are attacked by30Squadron Beaufighters while 22 Squadron Bostons sweep from Cape Bali to Gasmata. August 15-Britain. No 453 (Spitfire) Squadron, while cover- ing B-26 Marauders bombing Woensdrecht Airfield, is attacked by Fw 190s over Tholen. F/Lt D Andrews destroys one off Walcheren and lands his damaged Spitfire at Manston without brakes. Nine Hampdens of 455 Squadron attack a convoy off Norway without observed results. P/OV Finn’s aircraft is lost. Bay of Biscay. F/Lt P. Davenport’s Sunderland, JM685/X, of 461 Squadron is caught by Ju 88s before escaping into cloud. Gunner F/Sgt R Woolhouse is killed and Wireless Operator I Jones wounded.

August 15/16 Britain. Bomber Command sends 199 Lancasters to Milan for the third night in succession. During this operation, 460 Squadron becomes the first to complete 1000 sorties with Lancasters. Seven aircraft are lost, mostly to German fighters ambushing returning bombers over France. 467 Squadron suffers heavily when its highly respected English COW/Cdr CL Gomm DSO DFC, and deputy flight commander, F/LtJ Sullivan, and their crews fail to return. Gomm’s place as CO will be taken by W/Cdr J “Josh” Balmer OBE DFC who had commanded 100 (Beaufort) Squadron RAAF at Milne Bay in 1942.

August 16/17 – Italy. Wellingtons of 458 Squadron successfully attack Imperia harbour. The squadron has sunk seven ships since the beginning of June, but at a cost of seven crews. August 17-Sicily. During the last few hours of the campaign, 10 motor vehicles are destroyed by 3 Sqn near Cape Peloro. Sicily has fallen in 38 days. In all, Nos 3 and 450 fighter-bombers claim destroyed or damaged some 300 enemy vehicles. Australia. Beaufighters of 31 Squadron attack Taberfaneshoot- ing down one Pete and three Rufes. F/Lt J Entwistle destroys the Pete and Sgt R Kilpatrick, one Rufe. Meanwhile, F/Lt W Willard and F/Sgt V Warren strafe a lugger and two motor-launches.

New Guinea. B-17s and B-24s of the 5th US Air Force attack the Wewak airfields catching Japanese aircraft on the runways. B-25 Mitchells follow with low level bombing and strafing. Three bombers are lost for the destruction of 100 enemy aircraft, large quantities of supplies and heavy casualties. The Japanese had been planning to regain the initiative in the air and resume bombing Port Moresby. Now their air power has been crippled.

HD Vickers Wellington X, HE368/HD-H, of 466 Squadron RAAF. This month marked the end of the unit’s Wellington era. From January 1943, the squadron attacked 82 targets and flew 847 sorties with a loss of 36 aircraft (8 crashed and 28 missing). HE368 actually crashed with one survivor on January 26/27. 620 tons of bombs were dropped and 330 tons of mines laid. Two enemy aircraft were destroyed and four damaged. The largest effort was made in August during which 168 aircraft attacked 13 targets for the loss of 3. Conversion to Halifaxes began in September. (Dennis Newton) August 17/18-Britain. 596 Bomber Command aircraft raid the German research establishment at Peenemunde on the Baltic coast. Here, V-1s and mainly V-2s are being built and tested. This raid sets the V-2 programme back 2-6 months. Murray Brown of 12 Squadron recalls: “. . . Due to the bright moonlight, German night fighters had an advantage. . . ” For the first time they employ their new schrage Musik weapon, twin upward firing cannons fitted in the cockpit of Bf 110s, shooting down six of the 40 bombers lost. W/O W “Pluto” Wilson’s Lancaster of 467 Squadron is hit by cannon fire from a Bf 109, causing damage to the controls, rear turret and a fire. Wilson’s rear gunner, Sgt George Oliver, shoots the attacker down and then helps quell the flames. Lancaster ED985 of 460 Squadron flown by F/Sgt Danny Rees is attacked four minutes after bombing. When the attacker is driven off, he makes the long return journey with one faulty engine, his starboard tailplane shot away, and one tank pierced and drained of petrol. Both Oliver and Rees receive CGMs and Wilson a DFC. August 18-Bay of Biscay. 10 Squadron’s F/Lt Hec Skinner and crew in Sunderland W3985/T manage to send an SOS before they completely disappear.

August 19-New Britain. 30 Squadron Beaufighters destroy two barges moored to the jetty at Kalai plantation in Wide Bay. August 20-Australia. Through the day, four Japanese reconnaissance Dinahs are downed by the Spitfires of 457 and 452 Squadrons. Scorers are F/Lt Peter Watson DFC; F/Sgts Rex Watson and R Jenkins, S/Ldr Ken James, and W/Cdr Clive Caldwell with F/Sgt P Padula. It is Caldwell’s last kill. He will remain Australia’s leading ace with 271⁄2 victories.

August 21 Australia. Another raid on Taberfane by 31 Squadron Beaufighters. F/LtJ Gardiner & F/O LLyne in A19-47, F/OS V Leithhead & R Graves in A19-63 collide while attacking a Pete floatplane and crash into the sea.

August 23-New Britain. Bostons and Beaufighters attack Gasmata again. The Beaufighters strafe an AA position and the airfield area. F/Lt Craig, leading 22 Squadron Bostons, decides not to bomb the airfield because it appears unusable and unloads on the dump area. Another Gasmata raid occurs on the 25th.

August 23/24-Britain. 727 aircraft raid Berlin losing 56, Bomber Command’s greatest loss in one night. It is the German capital’s most serious raid of the war so far, with a wide range of industrial, housing and public properties hit. 2611 buildings are destroyed or seriously damaged and 20 ships on the city’s canals are sunk. 467 and 460 Squadrons each lose a Lancaster, the latter that of F/Sgt A Richards and crew.

August 24 Australia. The third RAAF Catalina unit, 43 Squadron under the command of S/Ldr Charles Thompson, now has four flying boats on strength (A24-38, 40, 56 and 64) and is almost ready for operations. Originally formed at Bowen, itis now stationed at Karumba, which, like Groote Eylandt, had been a staging point for the Empire air route from London to Sydney. QEA “C” Class flying boats still travel this route to Darwin.

August 25-Bay of Biscay. F/OB Gaston DFC of 86 Squadron escapes two Ju 88s trying to attack his Liberator. Gaston had sunk U-266 on May 14.

Australia. Mining of Soerabaya. Four Catalinas – A24-32 (W/Cdr Green), A24-40 (F/Lt Marsh), A24-50 (F/Lt Miles) and A24-58 (F/Lt Bolitho) – stage to Darwin where they are refuelled and loaded. The next morning they flyten hours to Soerabaya and drop eight mines. Small arms fire wounds Miles’ gunner. Before returning to Darwin, they refuel at Heron Haven where the USN seaplane tender William BPreston is secretly moored. The operation is repeated on August 29.

August 26-Australia. Seven 31 Squadron Beaufighters raid Taberfane. S/Ldr Reg “Butch” Gordon destroys one Pete on the ground and F/Sgt Tom Warren probably another in the air. August 27/28-Britain. Target Nuremberg. Largely unsuccessful because of inaccurate marking, imitation flares dropped by the Germans and dummy fires. Of 674 aircraft dispatched, 33 are lost including the Lancaster of 467 Squadron’s F/O M Good and crew.

August 29- New Britain. Six Beaufighters of 30 Squadron blow up a barge and damage another off Cape Beechey. Six Bostons from 22 Squadron attack dumps at the mouth of the Anwek River scoring a direct hit on a gun position but AA fire damages three aircraft. F/O Young’s Boston crashlands at Vivigani. F/Lt Sladen is slightly wounded when his machine is hit in the fuselage.

August 30-Bay of Biscay. 461 Squadron Sunderland JM707/2-Z, captained by F/O C Croft, is shot down by three Ju 88s.

Australia. Six Beaufighters of 31 attack Taberfane, destroying one Pete (by F/Lt Entwistle) and strafing a vessel off Workai Village. Beaufighter A19-119 (F/Lt Willard & Sgt Butler) is lost. August 30/31 Britain. Two Wellingtons of 466 Squadron collide over Goole, Yorkshire. Both crews (those of Sgt J Harwood and F/Sgt M Smart) are killed.

August 31-New Guinea. Japanese resistance around Salamaua has been broken and the Australians are ready to take the town itself.

August 31/September 1-Australia. Hudsons of 2 Squadron bomb Taberfane and Langgur.

Britain. An unsuccessful raid on Berlin costs 47 out of 622 aircraft sent. One Lancaster from 460 squadron captained by P/OJ Hocking is missing.