Australia’s War Diary

July 4 – Italy. Operations supporting Allied ground forces continue. From six Kittyhawks of 3 Squadron on armed reconnaissance near Arezzo and San Giovanni, F/Sgt Field’s aircraft is struck, apparently by a rocket. It crashes in flames. F/Sgt Turkington’s aircraft also receives a direct hit, but he manages to crash land.

July 4/15 – Britain.

141 Squadron RAF flies Mosquito Mk.II night fighters on bomber support intruder missions. F/Lt Doug Peterkin & navigator in Mosquito DU725/W-G explode an Me 410 near Orleans. 456 Squadron Mosquitoes intercept German raiders after Allied shipping. P/O S Williams & F/O K Havord in Mosquito HK282/L destroy a Do 217. He 177s are destroyed by F/Lt R Cowper & F/O W Watson in HK356/D; F/O E Radford & F/Sgt W Atkinson in HK312/G, and P/Os I Sanderson & G Nicholas in HK249/B. 463 and 467 Squadron Lancasters are among 227 attacking St Leu d’Esserent where limestone caverns are used as stores for V-1s. Participating, captained by P/O Russell Williams, is 467’s veteran Lancaster R5868/S-Sugar on its 110th mission. 13 bombers are lost but results are “quite good” as Williams records in his Log. F/O F Molinas of 619 Squadron RAF is wounded and his aircraft severely damaged but he bombs and reaches home safely. (Molinas will fail to return on the 19th.)

July 5/6 – Britain.

Mosquito DZ310/W-Z of 141 Squadron (F/Lt Doug Peterkin & navigator) is shot down by flak over northern France. Peterkin bales out, the only survivor. He is captured by the Germans but escapes later while in transit to a new location. Working his way across Holland to Pas de Calais, he manages to contact French Underground. He remains with them giving instruction in the use of various weapons supplied by RAF airdrops.

July 6 – Britain. Ten 455 Squadron Beaufighters are part of 40 aircraft attacking an eight merchant vessel convoy escorted by 11 minesweepers and armed trawlers. Flak causes severe losses but two merchantmen are sunk, another seriously damaged, and a fourth and three escorts are damaged. Two of 455’s aircraft are lost, one crew (F/O W Barbour & F/O F Dodd) is killed and of the other, P/O J Costello is killed but navigator, F/Sgt R Taylor is captured. F/O R Kimpton flies his Beaufighter 225km home on one engine.

July 7/18 – Britain.

F/Os Rowell and Davidson of 464 Squadron crash land Mosquito HX914 at Ford after being hit by flak over Angers.

July 8 – Bay of Biscay.

10 Squadron flies 945 operational hours during July. Today, the squadron scores its first major success for six months when F/O Bill Tilley & crew in Sunderland W4030/RB-H sinks U-243 southwest of Brest. France. British and Canadian attacks begin around Caen. Preliminary bombardment includes 2540 tonnes dropped by 450 RAF heavy bombers.

July 9 – France. 453 Squadron Spitfires meet 40 Bf 109s and Fw 190s, reportedly led by the German ace, Walter Matoni, Staffelkapitan of 5/JG 26. S/Ldr D Smith shoots down a Bf 109 and damages an Fw 190, W/O K Daff claims a 109 and W/Os J Steward and J Boulton claim 190s. 453 suffers no losses.

July 9/10 – Britain.

456 Squadron’s first definite V-1 “kill” is made by F/Lts K Roediger & J Dobson. By the end of July the tally will reach 10.

July 10 – Britain. A Beaufighter of 455 Squadron (F/Sgts M Roberts & J Andrew) is seen diving into the sea. A search for survivors proves fruitless. New Guinea. With Hollandia and Aitape captured by the Allies, the Japanese react before their supply situation becomes impossible. Their Aitape offensive quickly over-runs American positions south of the Driniomour River.

July 11 – New Guinea. By dawn, a maximum air effort is being mounted by RAAF Beaufighters, Beauforts and USAAF Airacobras. Anything that moves is attacked, most targets being only 20 to 30 km from 30 Squadron at Tadji. Japanese barge traffic can only move at night, and the squadron makes nocturnal sorties to catch these as well.

July 11/12 – Britain.

A Mosquito of 456 Squadron is seen to crash into the sea off Littlehampton. F/O Ted Radford & F/Sgt Atkinson fail to return.

July 12 – France. Units from both 125 and 127 Wings escort 24 Mitchells bombing Chartres, W/O F Coupe of 453 Squadron shares a Fw 190. Italy. Allied air attacks against the Po bridges begin.

July 13 – Italy. Six Kittyhawks of 3 Squadron led by F/Lt Roediger take off to attack enemy armour and gun positions near Florence. While searching for the gun positions, Roediger’s aircraft is hit by AA fire. He bales out although dangerously low, the parachute opening only just in time. New Guinea. A tragic day for 30 Squadron. F/O C Satchwell & W/O J McNamara flying Beaufighter A19-174 are hit while attacking a barge and crash into the sea. F/Sgts H McK Baldock & N Abbott fail to return in A19-185. S/Ldr G Fenton and P/O R Nelson in A19-146 searching along the coast to Wewak are hit by AA fire and crash on Boram strip.

July 14/15 – Britain.

Four Mosquitoes of 464 Squadron take part in a 140 Wing attack on the Gestapo quarters at Bonneiul-Matours. The buildings are left in flames. Mosquito NS994/F is flown in the raid by W/Cdr Peter Panitz & F/Lt Dickie Williams, formerly of 456 Squadron, after they had received DFCs from HM King George VI during the day. Not content, Panitz strafes a train, leaving it enveloped in steam.

July 15 – Britain. Beaufighters of 455 and 144 Squadron act as anti-flak protection for torpedo Beaufighters of 404 (RCAF) Squadron attacking a convoy off Mandel. One 5000 tonne merchantman explodes. Two others, a 4000 tonne tanker and four of the escort vessels are left on fire. All aircraft return safely.

July 16 – Australia. During July, 31 Squadron records 76 sorties. The score increased with two Nicks and one Topsy destroyed and another Nick damaged. F/Lt J Boyd & P/O F Anderson lead four Beaufighters on an extreme range mission to Maumere, on the northern side of the Flores Islands. Boyd and F/Lt J Klugg, in A19-184, destroy two Nicks about to take off. Five motor vessels and two naval craft are strafed in the harbour. Boyd shoots down one of four Nicks seen in the area, then damages another. Despite intense AA fire, he then attacks and damages a 1500 tonne vessel. No Beaufighters are hit.

July 17 – France. Field Marshal Rommel is severely wounded when Allied aircraft strafe his car.

July 18 – France. Operation Goodwood. The British and Canadians begin a major push to take high ground beyond Caen. Montgomery hopes it will lead to a break out from Normandy. Over 2200 aircraft are involved in the massive bombardment preceding the operation. RAF heavy bombers drop 7112 tonnes of bombs.

July 18/19 – Britain.

Fifteen aircraft from 466 Sqn attack Vaires marshalling yards. Halifax MZ313 piloted by F/Lt P Finley receives a direct hit from an AA shell which renders the fuselage likely to break in two at any moment. Finley jettisons bombs and orders his crew to abandon the aircraft. He and his bomb-aimer, P/O Evans, then try to bring the aircraft back to base. They have to abandon off Dungeness. 460 Sqn marks the reopening of Bomber Command’s campaign against oil facilities by dispatching 18 Lancasters with the main force of 153 (+17 pathfinders) against Gelsenkirchen. One crew aborts when the Lancaster’s escape hatch blows off. Altogether, four Lancasters (including P/O R Carr & crew from 460 Sqn) are lost.

July 19 – New Guinea. Ten Beauforts of 100 Sqn, led by S/Ldr J Plenty attack Luain with fragmentation bombs. 70 Japanese are killed in this raid. During July, 71 Wing flies a total of 1510 sorties and drops 680 tonnes of bombs.

July 20 – France. British attacks around Caen continue but tenacious German anti-tank defence is wearing down their momentum. Germany. Hitler is slightly hurt in a bomb explosion in the conference room of his Headquarters at Rastenburg in East Prussia. The conspirators’ plot falls apart once it is clear that he has survived. The Nazi leader’s vengeance will lead to thousands of executions including many of his generals. New Guinea. 78 Wing keeps an “umbrella” over Biak, Noemfoor and Hollandia. 23 Kittyhawks of 78 Squadron move from Hollandia to Kamiri airfield, Noemfoor, which has been opened for operations. They will be followed by 75 and 80 Squadrons from Biak.

July 21 – Marianas. The Americans land on Guam. New Guinea. 78 Squadron patrols above Noemfoor from dawn to dusk. Two Japanese barges loading stores near Manokwari are destroyed.

July 21/22 – Britain.

Eleven aircraft of 455 Squadron lead 26 Beaufighters in an attack off Heligoland on over 40 vessels, of which 31 are armed escort ships. One merchant vessel is sunk; another left sinking; and two other cargo ships are set on fire, as are five of the escorts. Several aircraft are damaged by flak. F/Lt J Pilcher’s Beaufighter is hit but he returns 400km home on one engine.

July 22 – Australia. On Lingat airfield, Selaroe, a Lily is destroyed by Beaufighters of 31 Squadron. Aircrews taking part are F/Lt J Boyd & P/O F Anderson in A19-189, P/O R Bullen & F/Sgt D Sparke in A19-184 and F/Sgt L Archer & F/Sgt Brassil in A19-159. Sparke photographs the attack and these shots are released with a caption saying they had been taken from “US aircraft”.

July 24 – France. 453 Squadron meets German fighters near Caen, F/Lt Pat McDade in Spitfire FU-S destroys a Bf 109 and F/Lt G Roberts a Fw 190 in FU-T. Piloting FU-R, P/O J Scott damages two Focke-Wulfs but F/O C Leith is shot down by an American P-47. He bales out. Italy. A German F-boat in Porto Garibaldi on the Adriatic coast is attacked by six Kittyhawks of 3 Squadron. S/Ldr Hayley’s bomb lifts the boat bodily across the waterway and starts a fire on the wharf. Other direct hits are scored by F/O Flack and F/Sgt Donaldson. Marianas. American landings on Tinian. New Guinea. Four Kittyhawks of 75 Squadron find a barge hideout and, in a strafing attack, set fire to two and damage five. AA fire strikes F/O R Wehl’s aircraft forcing him to ditch off Manokwari. An American patrol boat rescues him uninjured.

July 25 – France. 453 Squadron flies patrols around Falaise. On the first, an Fw 190 is shot down by F/Lt Roberts and W/O Cowpe. On the next, 12 fighters are met, W/O Harris sharing a Bf 109 with F/O Leith, and W/O K Daff claiming a second. Two more are probably destroyed but F/O Leith and F/Sgt A Dowding are lost.

July 25/26 – Britain.

F/Os Walton & Harper of 464 Squadron fail to return from a sortie in Mosquito NT138. They evade capture and live with the Maquis before returning to England in August.

July 26 – Britain. In a dramatic accident, two Airspeed Oxfords collide in mid air over Cheshire. The tail of Oxford ED281 is struck by the other aircraft which crashes. Much of the tailplane is torn away. Demonstrating great skill, F/Lt D Fopp manages to land safely. He is awarded an AFC. New Guinea. Eight Kittyhawks of 78 Squadron strike the waterfront in the Jefman-Samate area, sinking a barge. Sorties flown by 78 Wing in July total 1369, compared with 1454 in June, high considering all units had to shift bases during this period.

July 31 – Burma. The number of Australians in the Burma-India theatre reaches its wartime peak of 1091. 590 are serving in 60 operational squadrons, 20 of which have more than ten Australian aircrew. A total of 86 pilots are distributed among 25 fighter squadrons. More Australians are serving in Liberators than in any other type. 11 RAF Liberator squadrons have 291 Australians on strength. Dakota units follow with 126.