Night of the Intruders

The Slaughter of Homeward Bound USAAF Mission 311

Ian McLachlan

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Aviation
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781848842946
• eBook ISBN: 9781473816763
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

This WWII history recounts the harrowing Allied bombing mission that led to heavy losses for American pilots as German fighters followed them home.
On April 22nd, 1944, Allied forces launched an audacious assault on Germany's largest railway marshalling yards, located in the city of Hamm. The raid resulted in ferocious aerial combat against night fighters. But the worst was yet to come for the USAAF pilots who sought the sanctuary of their own airfields.
The German fighters followed the air armada home after the raid, picking individual bombers off on their return over Europe and England as the American force struggled to land. Aviation historian Ian McLahclan vividly describes the aerial combat involving many famous USAAF, RAF and Luftwaffe units. With a combination of powerful human stories and fascinating technical details, this volume chronicles the mission from the planning stage to its bloody finale, untangling what went so horribly wrong.

Contents

	Author’s Introduction
	Acknowledgements
1.	Cee Gee II
2.	Mission 311 – a Summary
3.	Bombers: First Casualties
4.	Target Area Troubles – Third Air Division
5.	Flak for the First
6.	Divided Division
7.	Fighters: Escort and Sweep
8.	Main Targets
9.	Wolves in the Flock
10.	Last Casualties
11.	Aftermath
12.	Loose Ends
	Appendix
	Index

Author’s Introduction

IN 1968, THE discovery of maps in the wreckage of a World War II bomber, long buried beneath East Anglian marshland, proved to be the starting point for this book. The navigator, whose pencilled lines led to Seething, never did reach his destination. Neither did a tragic number of other USAAF pilots and crews that night.

Mission 311, on 22 April 1944, went badly wrong. With invasion of Europe threatened, the Allies launched an audacious assault on Germany’s largest marshalling yard, at Hamm, nerve-centre of the Reich’s railway system. Any raid would face fierce opposition from enemy fighters and flak. But this one was even more dangerous. Because of adverse weather reports, the American airmen, usually deployed as daytime bombers, did not depart for Hamm until late afternoon. The 824 B-17s and B-24s — with more than 8,000 aircrew — had to contend with the additional hazards of darkness. Nearly 1,000 American and British fighters accompanied the bombers, but they could do little to alleviate risks such as disorientation, mid-air collisions, getting lost, or being savaged by night fighters.

The fighting over Europe was ferocious. Then, as the survivors limped home, Luftwaffe intruders mingled with them, under cover of darkness. The battle-worn Americans were attacked by the enemy as they sought the sanctuary of their own airfields — and in the resulting carnage and confusion, Allied coastal and airfield defences were firing on friend and foe alike. Agonized, local inhabitants could only look on as aircraft, consumed in flames, seared across the night sky to destruction on farmland and marshes. Others, too low for baling out and too damaged to climb, struggled to land before fire severed vital controls or detonated ruptured fuel tanks.

That night the Americans suffered their highest ever losses to German intruders. I hope that this book, which tells the full story for the first time, will serve as a memorial to the men who died, and a tribute to the courage of all those involved.

Ian McLachlan
Suffolk, 2010

Acknowledgements

I INTENDED THIS book to be my first, but changing circumstances saw Final Flights and Eighth Air Force Bomber Stories appear, hopefully providing a platform of credibility before the challenge of Mission 311. While not a constant activity, my research started nearly 30 years ago and has threaded through my life ever since. I would like to thank Jenny and Julie for the contributions they made, and admire my partner Susan Rose, for not only typing this lengthy manuscript, but taking on an author still smitten with the writing bug.

Throughout the years of preparation, one feature clearly emerged — the courage of that “special generation” now in the twilight of their lives. Ordinary people, they faced the horrors of war and surmounted them to win a peace for us all. Mission 311 was a small part of that conflict, but exacted a heavy toll. It is important that the generations inheriting that peace will value and protect it, in a world where tyranny still exists. To those who played a part in resisting the Nazis during World War II, I offer my respect and admiration. Specifically, I would like to thank the following veterans, East Anglians, fellow enthusiasts, organizations, friends and family:

A E Abendroth, S Adams, R and B Adamson, G S Alexander, K C Allstaedt, John W Archer, H E Armstrong, A E Anker, E Arnold, C Atkins, Mr J Auman, Thomas E Bass — A Fort Nut, M J Bailey, Susan Sneed Bailey, J M Balason, Jake & Maddie Balls, G Barker, R P Bateson, Beccles & Bungay Journal, N Beckett, C R Bell, Henry G Bennett, Sheldon F Berlow, Bert A Betts, B Bines, Mrs G A Bickers, Cliff Bishop, Stan Bishop, Dr H Bläsi, Allan G Blue, Rosemarie Boje-Pike, Steve Blake, Vernal L Boline, Martin W Bowman, C Bowyer, Dr V J Boyle, J D Bradshaw, W K M Braithwaite, Homer L Briggs, Mabel Brooks, D Brown, I L Brown, H Brühl, Ron and Don Buxton, R Cain, Donald L Caldwell, Cambridge Evening News, Mrs J Carey, Jeff Carless, Glenn D Carlson, F Carman, Lt Col L K Carson, W Cartwright, S R Chaplin, Tony Chardella, Amanda Chester, N Cocker, D N Collier, K Collinson, Robert J Collis, Harlan L Cook, Mrs J Cowley, G Cross, William L Cullen, R M Cunningham, Philip G Day, Lt Col Merritt E Derr, Lt Col A P De Jong, Deutsche Aerospace, Wolfgang Dierich, Arthur F Dirks, Abel L Dolim, John J Driscoll, Major Kenneth L Driscoll, C T Dungar, P Dunham, S Dunham, George P DuPont, Colin Durrant, B G Dye, J Dye, Eastern Daily Press, Eastern Evening News, East Anglian Daily Times, Hans Ebert, Lee B Eddington, W A Edwards, C R Elliott, Dan Engle, Stewart P Evans, J H Everson, Pat Everson, J P Flanagan, R Forbes-Morgan, John C Ford, R E Forward, Ursula & Ted Foster, Roger A Freeman, Royal D Frey, F C Frost, J G Frost, Garry L Fry, Dr Carl Fyler, Adolf Galland, I Garstka, Gene Gaskins, Mick Gibson, M L Giddings, Maj Gen Edward B Giller, W Girbig, B Gladden, George Glevanik, Harry D Gobrecht, H C F Goff, E Goldsmith, Stuart Goldsmith, C K Gollagher, C Gotts, S Gotts, P G J Gray, Lt Col Charles W Grace, V Grimble, Gt Yarmouth Mercury, B J Guymer, R M Hague, A Hall, Cliff Hall, Col Frank N Halm, K Hammel, A Hammer, A Hanagarth, Teague G Harris, Sid E Harvey, J B Haycraft, Charles F Hayes, Ian Hawkins, A W Heiden, R Herbst, John A Hey, S High, R M A Hirst, Lily Housden, A Huber, G Hukins, Imperial War Museum, Glenn B Infield, Brig Gen James H Isbell, Phil Jarrett, Tony Jeckells, G B Jermy, E S Keeler, John A Kennedy, Lt Gen W E Kepner, G Keppler, James N Kidder, F Kozaczka, Dan C Knight, D Knight, E Knie, J Kronschnabel, N Krüger, D G Land, E Lea, Mr & Mrs Leamon, Col F H LeFebre, James K Leonard, V Lewis, W Lindermeyer, E T Little, Lt Col R M Littlefield, D Loades, I Loades, Jesse D Long, Lowestoft Journal, John L Luft, E Lux, J Mace, Edward F MacLean, B Mastin, R Malster, M Martin, Vic Maslen, Glenn R Matson, Harry L Matthew, Paul R Maxwell, Mrs R Messenger, Abram A Millar, Kent D Miller, John Mills, Walt Mitchell, William G Mitchell, Eric Mombeek, Danny Morris, Mr & Mrs Morrish, Louis D Morrison, J Mortinson, Les & Vi Murton, Mr & Mrs A Musto, Robert B Mynn, Vere A McCarty, Charles J McClain, Ralph McClure, Ernie McDowall, David McGuire, William P McGovern, Alan McLachlan, Bethan & Rowan McLachlan, James K Newhouse, Dr W D Noack, Tony North, Gilbert M O’Brien, Joe O’Hara T Olausson, R Oldman, Margaret Oldrin, Don Olds, Merle C Olmsted, M Osborn, M C Pannell, George W Parks, Simon W Parry, Lt Col Thomas B Parry, D Pascoe, M Payne, Herman A Peacher, Robert G Peel, James A Pegher, Clair A Penners, Peterborough Evening Telegraph, C W Peterson, Loy F Peterson, W A Phillips, Mike Pike, R L Pinson, H L Pittam, Russ & Babs Pleasance, C B Pluck, M J Podd, J Poetter, R Pointer, Irwin L Pomerantz, Alfred Price, Ron W M A Putz, P-47 Thunderbolt Pilots’ Association, Mrs L R Pye, H Radkat, P Ramm, C J Ramsbottom, P Ransom, F Rayns, P A W Rausch, C E Rawston, A F Rely, George A Reynolds, G Reynolds, Mrs E Richmond, Bill Robertie, Samuel C Robeson, Col George L Robinson, Ormond E Rolfe, Klaus Romanek, Marvin J Rosvold, A Rowe, Ken Rusby, Kenn C Rust, Gene E Ryan, John W Ryan, Miss W F Sadd, V H Saville, Harold E Schildknecht, Dr W Scheiter, Earl F Schmidt, Dr Helmut Schnatz, Mervin M Shank, W E Sharrock, Francis X Sheehan, H Siederer, Peter Simmonds, Alvin D Skaggs, Ivan Skipper, Keith Skipper, Harry E Slater, Dorothy B Slaymaker, Jonathan Smith, J S Smith, Frank S Sneed, K J Sorace, A C Spencer, R Spooner, Keith J Spink, Wendell R Stanton, L Stevens, Raymond E Strate, R...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright Page
• Contents