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November 18, 1943
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November 22, 1943







Target:
Leverkusen

November 1943

19th

Again this night William was detailed to Leverkusen for his second  operation over Germany.

 

266 aircraft,- 170 Halifaxes, 86 Sterlings and 10 Mosquitoes – of 3, 4, 6 and 8 groups.

Only 4 Halifaxes and 1 Sterling were lost.

Very few German fighters were operating, probably because of bad weather at their airfields.

Failures of the equipment prevented most of the Oboe marking being carried out and other   Pathfinder aircraft were unable to mark the target properly in difficult weather conditions,  leading to bombs being scattered over a wide area.

At least 27 towns, mostly well to the north of Leverkusen, recorded bombs. Leverkusens  own records show only one high-explosive bomb in the town.

 

It was mend to destroy the Chemical industry of the Bayer plant, the same as on August 22, 1943 and again on December 10/11, 1943.

 

Many of the aircraft returning from operations encountered fog conditions on reaching

England and 2 Halifaxes and 1 Sterling crashed,but 4 Halifaxes of 35 Squadron landed safely at Graveley when the first operational use was made of the oil-burning fog-dispersal equipment called FIDO (Fog Investigation Dispersal Operation), which was installed at  Graveley airfield.

Several other airfields where soon fitted with this useful device.
Before the introduction of FIDO, fog had been responsible for losses of a number of aircraft returning from operations. Often large areas of the UK would be simultaneously fog-bound and it was recommended procedure in these situations for the pilot to point the aircraft towards the sea and then, while still over land, for the crew to bail-out by parachute, leaving the aircraft to subsequently crash in the sea. With raids often consisting of several hundred aircraft, this could amount to a large loss of bombers.
FIDO used huge quantities of fuel, as much as 100,000 gallons [125,000 US gallons, 450,000 litres per hour. Over twice this amount was used by airfields with longer runways such as RAF Carnaby. Large fuel storage tanks filled with low-grade petrol and possibly kerosene and other fuel were connected by pumps to provide this fuel to the runway pipes. Although extravagant in the use of fuel consumed, the device more than made up for the costs involved in the reduction in aircraft losses.

 No.78 Squadron

16 aircraft detailed for operations, Target: Leverkusen.

November 19th 1943

This time the LW173, LW313, LW331, LW319, JP117, LW235, LW330, LW338, LW318, HR748, LW234, LW237, LW320, LW223, JD11 and, JD376 were made ready for operation in the late afternoon to Leverkusen.

 

1 aircraft lost in action.

 

Handley Page Halifax BII

 

 JP117 EY-Y

 
JP117 EY-Y was the 14th aircraft that took of from Breighton airfield this afternoon at 16:28 hour and the second mission for William Uyen in two nights.. After a flight of almost 3 hours he made his turn for a fix on the target which was identified by green T.I which were widely scattered. Target located on Estimated Time of Arrival (E.T.A.) based on D.R. From Gee fix. and from a height of 19000 ft. at 19:23 hour. the target was bombed. Red glow reflected on cloud in a number of places. No other results seen.

 Lost in action

JD118 EY-U

F/S Hrynkiw's JD118 took off from Breighton Airport at 4:16 PM.

Returned after the bombardment due to serious damage by Flak over Leverkust.    On return it went out of control and crashed at North Cave, 10 miles south-west of Beverley Yorkshire.

Navigator Sgt. W.A. Valley is buried in Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery.

F/S W. Hrinkiw RCAF Sgt. S. Littler, F/S L.G.Preece RCAF

Sgt. T. Stump, Sgt. W Jones. Sgt. G. Creer Injured but safe.

 Damaged

LW223 EY-P

It had taken off at 16:24 hours and after carrying out his bomb run, it was hit by a shell and returned damaged by heavy Flak,  on returning to base it overshot the runway and finished up astride the railway line south of the village Bubwith.

Luckily only Pilot F/O F.R. Harris and B/A Sgt. C. Watt were injured, but safe. The rest of the crew escaped uninjured.

Damaged

JD376

F/S Barton dropped his bombs 10 miles south-east of Leverkusen just before the Pathfinders dropped the T.I.s.

Flak damage before the bombing,

injured the navigator and bomb aimer.

The JD 376 landed at Woodbridge Airport
AIR 27 660  November 1943    ©  nationalarchives.gov.uk
Handley Page Halifax GR Mark II, JD376, on the ground. Originally a B Mark II,
JD376 served with No. 78 Squadron RAF
Photograph taken April 1945

 November 1943

20th

No operations or standby for No.78 Squadron.


21st

No operations or standby for No.78 Squadron.
Raid over Leverkusen

November  19th 1943

 Target Leverkusen

 Airborn:

 16:28 hour, Breighton Yorkshire.

 

 Bombing on:

 19.000ft at 19:23 hour.


 Landed:

 23:20 hour, Breighton Yorkshire.

 

 

 

 

 Crew JP117 EY-Y

F/O Hudson, H.

(Capt)

 F/O Robertson, W.J.

 (Nav)

 P/O Uyen, William

 (Bomb)

 Sgt. Monks, H.

 (W/Op)

 Sgt. Hillas, J.

 (F/Eng)

 

 P/O Lane, Jack

(RG)

 

 

 Sgt. Morris, J.

(MU)

 
William Uyen
November 18, 1943           HisStory during the Air-battle of Berlin           March 31, 1944
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