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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0192.PDF
No. 18 SQUADRON PART III A Bomber Command Unit with a Remarkable History By JOHN YOXALL ON July 27th, 1943, No. 18 squadron began its move to Sicily.The airfield at Gela West, renamed Manji Lungo, wasfound unsuitable for flying and the Bostons used Pome Oliva until August 8th, when a move was made to Comiso.Targets, of which there was a wealth, were by now mostly on the Italian mainland and in the Straits of Messina, across which theGermans and Italians were retreating. Night operations ceased, however, on August 18th and on the 21st a further move wasmade, to Gerbini 3. Although there was now little resistance by enemy night fighters, very few of the Bostons returned with-out flak damage of some sort—chiefly because their machine- gunning was conducted at zero altitude. Nine Bostons were ordered for night operations against themarshalling yards at Battipaglia, the first of the aircraft to act as pathfinders. This was part of a very big scheme to wreckentirely the enemy railway system. Battipaglia was completely demolished. For the first operation from Gerbini 3, six Bostons weredetailed for a night attack on gun positions north of Reggio Calabria. No opposition was encountered, but Boston H crashedthree miles from the airfield shortly after take-off, F/O. K. Arthur and his crew being killed. The gun positions and other militaryemplacements remained the squadron's chief targets for the rest of the month. September opened with further heavy attacks on the marshallingyards at Battipaglia and other towns on the Italian mainland. The writer had an opportunity to visit Battipaglia shortly afterthese attacks, for which No. 18 Squadron had acted as path- finders, and he can vouch for the effectiveness of the bombing.There was not a yard of rail which had not been torn from its anchorages. To support the invasion of the mainland, which had startedon the night of the 2nd, maximum effort was ordered. On the night of the 6th the marshalling yards at Altamura was the targetfor the eight serviceable Bostons (out of 15) and the pathfinders' incendiary bombs were accurately placed from 700ft in a longstick across the yards. One aircraft machine-gunned the target with 1,500 rounds from 200ft and while doing so was hit by a 4 1bincendiary from a Boston above; the bomb went clean through the T.R.9 radio set. Officially the maximum effort lasted untilthe 11th, but the end of the period made little difference, for until September 25th eight to ten Bostons were operating each nightin the area affecting Salerno. Leaflets as well as bombs were dropped. An operation on the night of September 16th is typical of theperiod. Three Boston DB-7s took-off at 0200 hr to "pathfind" Casern. The target was clearly illuminated with 48 X 30 lb and540 x 4 lb incendiary bombs dropped from between 4,000ft and 5,500ft during the period 0336 to 0345. The bombs fell in acruciform pattern across the town from north to south and east to west. After the target had been illuminated high-explo-sive bursts were seen to cause two big explosions and two sub- stantial fires, one of which latter was visible for 40 miles. Overthe whole length of the main street the electric supply cables and pylons could be seen short-circuiting. No defences werein evidence, but on the way home one Boston encountered a Ju88 at 8,000ft. The Junkers made two attacks but both werefoiled by the Boston, whose pilot made sharp diving turns to port. No. 18's aircraft all landed safely at 0540-0550 hr. The rest of September was spent in training new aircrewsand preparing to move at short notice to the Italian mainland. The commanding officer, W/C. D. C. Sandeman, was awardedthe D.F.C. October started badly. The squadron was still at Gerbini, buton the 2nd a severe storm blew all the tents down and the squad- ron personnel had to be accommodated in local farmhouses. Theairfield was out of service for nearly a week. The projected move to the mainland came on October 7th,when the unit's 16 Bostons flew to Brindisi—though congestion there made it necessary for six of them to return temporarily toGerbini. The move represented a welcome change for the per- sonnel, who had been under canvas nearly the whole of the timesince their arrival at Blida; officers and aircrew were quartered in a block of flats and the men in huts. Operations were resumedon the 9th when eight aircraft took off, two as pathfinders. On the next day Cassino, the town which held up the Allied advancefor so long, was the squadron's target for the first time. Bad weather persisted throughout the month and on at leasttwo occasions Bostons got out of control owing to severe icing. Nevertheless, operations were flown, usually by ten aircraft eachnight—which meant that the aircrews were on duty two nights out of three. The month saw a temporary change in command;W/C. Sandeman went to hospital at Bari on the Adriatic coast and was replaced by S/L. A. W. Eller, D.F.C., an old 18 Squadronman who had been posted temporarily from H.Q. T.B.F. The month ended with a move to Foggia, when the unit came underthe control of No. 232 Wing—the other squadrons of which were Nos. 55, 223 and 114. From Foggia operations were flown against strategic targetson the eastern side of the Adriatic, seven Bostons and one A-20C (A-20 was the American designation of the Boston) being usedfor the first attack from the unit's new base against the harbour at Zara. Aircrews preferred this type of operation to the nightarmed reconnaissances which formed the major part of the squadron's work. By November 11th, 1943, the squadron had completed a yearoverseas and in that period had made 1,145 sorties, 1,008 of which were successful and 120 abortive. Time flown totalled 2,909 hrand 1,463,530 lb of bombs were dropped. W/C. Sandeman, having recovered from his illness, returnedto the squadron on November 17th, two days before a maximum effort was requested to aid a big attack projected by the British8th Army. Bad weather, however, was seriously to curtail all operational flying until the end of the year. The commandingofficer again left the squadron, this time to go to a new appoint- tnent, and Maj. L. L. Gordon, D.F.C., of the South African AirForce, took over on December 16th. Airfield unserviceability and the need to overhaul aircraft gave the squadron a quiet periodduring the second half of December. The new year of 1944 opened with operations, mostly nightarmed reconnaissances again, carried out despite appalling weather. Several times the airfield became unserviceable, too bad (Left) The sea of mud at Falconara in 1944 which tor a long period prevented the squadron's Bostons getting from dispersals to the runway. (Right) This photograph of Battipaglia bears grim testimony to the effectiveness of Allied bombing. The town of Battipaglia and its marshalling yards were frequently on No. 18 Squadron's list of targets.
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