Kembs Raid Final Update 2018
The Kembs Raid 7 October 1944
Target : Kembs Barrage Germany also refered as Maerkt Stauwehr
Weather : 6 Oct at 3000 feet clear patch over target
Max Effort Sqd 617 : 13 Lancasters equipped with "Tollboys "
Max Effort Escort 133 Wng 34 P-51 III
Sqd 129 Escort High Force
Sqd 315 Escort Low Force
Sqd 306 AA Silence
Recon: Sqd 627 Musquito IV
Target : Kembs Barrage Germany also refered as Maerkt Stauwehr
Weather : 6 Oct at 3000 feet clear patch over target
Max Effort Sqd 617 : 13 Lancasters equipped with "Tollboys "
Max Effort Escort 133 Wng 34 P-51 III
Sqd 129 Escort High Force
Sqd 315 Escort Low Force
Sqd 306 AA Silence
Recon: Sqd 627 Musquito IV
======================================================
617 SQD RAF Woodhall Spa
Escort led by Wng/Cdr Zumbach were: F/O Kirste, W/O Seredyn, F/Lt Wiza, W/O Czerwinski, F/Lt Stembrowicz, F/Lt Blok, F/O Swistun, F/O Nowosielski, F/O Haczkiewicz, F/O Bibrowicz, F/Sgt Richter.
306 SQD (Polish) Mustang IIIs RAF Andrews Field ( Esc Silence AA)
Crews unknown
129 SQD Mustang IIIs RAF Brenzett (Esc High Force)
Crews unknown
627 SQD Mosquito Mark IV (Recon) RAF Woodhall Spa
KB 215 "H" FL/Lt J.Hanlon & FL/Lt. K.J.Tice (PR/ OBS)
The Mission
7th October 1944, Target Maerkt Kembs Barrage , Weil Am Rhein
Weather Enroute : Scattered Cloud, Target CAVOK
Force 13 Lancasters of 617 Sqd , Sqd Woodhall Spa
Recon: Mosquito PR aircraft 627 Sqd Woodhall Spa
Escort : 34 Mustang IIIs of 2nd Tactical AF
Bomb Loads : Each Lancaster carried one Tallboy, with 25 sec. delay
for the high level force and half-hour delay for the low level force .
The attack was scheduled for late afternoon on Saturday 7th October 1944 and the rendezvous with the escort was to be over RAF Dungeness. W/Cdr Tait order 617 to climb to 4000 ft from RAF Woodhall Spa then radioed Eg Cdr Zumbach the Escort Leader to scramble his fighters . The 617 Sqd 5th Group CO Air Vice Marshal Cochrane and 2nd TAF CO. Wng Cdr Harris coordinated all fighters activities with Zumbach and Tait the night before the mission.
AVM Cochrane CO (AOC) 5th Group
RAF Woodhall Spa Oct 7,1944
Wg Cdr Harris 2nd TAF
617 crews
5th Group 617 Sqd Lancaster
Within a few minutes the Mustangs lifted out of the clouds to meet them and formation headed ou across the Channel. 129 SQD were to cover the high force , 315 the low force and 306 would strafe flak. Never a man to order others to do something he would not do himself .Tait was leading the low force ,leaving Fawke in charge of the high force which was to fly at about 8000 feet . Patches of clouds as they approached the target indicated that the 7 Lancasters above him would have some cover , but there would be none for his group.
Kembs barrage before the attack photo estimated as of Sept.1944
Although his attack height would not be as low as that for Ops " Chastise" May 1943 ,if anyone was seriously hit their only hope of survival would be a crash landing . The Rhine River , covered by enemy fire ,would not be a soft place to ditch into neither this would a "milk " run . Not far away was the Swiss border ,but this was not too welcoming either , as Watts discovered when he flew too close to Basel and "neutral"flak his starboard outer engine . He feathered the prop, swung further to the left and kept going in any case , the flight to the first check point the French twon of Besancon went smoothly enough .
At this point the low force did a 360 turn and 129 SQD went on with Fawke's group,meeting only little flak.French city of St.Louis near Swiss border was the IP (Initial Point ) of the low force while city Basel Switzerland slid on their right below , the bombardiers opened the bomb doors and from the target some 3 miles ahead Tait could see heavy fire behind directed at Fawke's formation above , followed by a series of splashes as their Tallboys struck the river. So far, so good,but the German defenses on the German Rhine bank were heavier than expected and their luck could not hold idefinitely .
Reconstruction of Maerkt Barrage Raid Oct 7,1944
At Tait's call the 306 Sqd Mustangs dived out of the sun. For a moment Tait thought the flak had not seen him,but then white tracer came wobbling up from the German side (East side ) of the Rhine manned by Hitler youth the " Heimat Luftwaffe Helfer " Batterie 37/VII . Enroute to the target the flight of the 129 SQD was uneventful and the enemy AA was not aroused until the first two Lacansters of the low flying force attacked the target . One Lancaster presumably this of Sd/Ldr Wyness was hift after crossing the barrage ,meanwhile the 306 SQD had temporarily subdued the AA gun fire enabling the reminder of the force the place their delayed action bombs on target .
The fighters covering the target area did not return for home until last bomb was placed and landed at dusk after being airborne for almost 5 1/2 hours (AHB). As the bombs were dropped away Tait felt the aircraft jump , slammed the trottles to max military power forward and heard his rear gunner open fire as the passed over the barrage . Tait commented afterwards " The weather was touch and go near the target but the target itself was clear of cloud below bombing high and visibility was good . The low force dropped 12'000 Lbs Tallboys though only one succeeded breaching the Dum.
Tait continues " The high force had bombed the target before I reached the target and all traces of the burst have disappeared ,so I could not assess the high bombing and there appeared to be no damage to the target .All barage sluices were closed. Our bomb landed in the correct position ten yards short of the target and did not bounce .
Bomb release caused several overshoots from the high force,two of whose Tallboys fell as much as 600 yards West of the barrage on the French side Iveson and Joplin ( German occupied Alsace).Two more of the low force fell 40 to 50 yards away also on occupied Alsace Rhine bank (Cookshott & Martin ) .After a second run both Martin and Watts overhoot by 50 ( 45 m) yards after a second run. Sayers also made two runs but as he opened the bomb doors on the second run an electrical failure caused the bomb to fall off prematurely through one of them buckling it .
Cookshott hit Tait props slipstream and so his Tallboy fell wide. Sanders overshot by 50 yards , his bomb falling into the river as did that of Joplin .Due to the late and manual release Gingle's bomb fell into the Weil Am Rhein railway line . Iveson's bomb struck the bank some 400 yards of the barrage, while Castagnola's Tallboy fell between first and second pears. Fawke had his hang-up on two runs releasing manually on the 3rd but it still fell 5 seconds late into west bank of the river (Alsace )
Two Lancasters were lost - both almost inevitably ,from the low force , Wyness was hit repeatedly but dropped his bomb before crashing into the Rhine near Rheinweiler, Germany,the crew was captured though few hours later executed by the Germans having their bodies thrown in Rhine . A hungup bomb made Howard execute a second low level run and light flack blew his port wing off and crashed near Efringen Kirchen inside of Germany .There were no survivors from either crew .
Reconstruction Sqd Ldr Wyness Lancaster
Thurgauer Zeitung 10.October 1944
One 306 Mustang was hit though its pilot carried on and returned with rest of the pilots , unlike reported later on a Swiss newspaper no Mustang made emergency landing at the nearby Habsheim field France neither a Tallboy exploded a day later .
Three Lancasters came home damaged including Tait's with a hit in the port wing root
and tyre shot away. No less dangerous was the task of the 617 Sqd Mosquito's crew . Flt.Lt.Hanlon and Tice made two runs over the target 17:40 at 3000 ft and then 6000 ft eleven minutes later .One the first run they saw one bomb burst 200 yards South of the West end of the barrage ,soon followed by an other burst which appeared to blow out the westerly span. Water started to pour through gap and there were ripples extending 200 - 250 yards upstream.
F/Lt Ian Hanlon RNZAF (center)
This operation never achived the fame of "Chastise " but it was no less demanding for those who ran the gauntled that afternoon. It quickly became clear that it was completely successful. The Tallboys have destroyed the iron superstructure above the first and second pillars on the barrage's West side ,causing the water upstream to fall dramatically. The German press report little or not at all about the raid though Swiss National Zeitung reported " The breaching of the Kembs barrage has lowered the water level in Rhein basin at Basel which required the transfer of boats from first basin to second. At 21:00 hours the level of the Rhine fell by three to three and half meters .Below Kembs the water released is estimated of millions of cubic meters and has appearently caused flooding everywhere for the German authorities have given water alarm. So far is not known whether navigation on the Rhine will be completely suspended" For now it would, as the effects of the raid included Switzerland ,whose barges were stranded on the mud.
Barrage western pillars damages (french side )
Electrical power plant after raid
Western pillars being inspected in 1945
Dreilaendereck Basel ( Basler Zeitung )
Undifussed Tallboy at Kembs ( unknown details )
Bomb plot Kembs Raid Oct 7,1944 by 627 Sqd (note numerous AA positions)
The damaged barrage (center)
The barrage during the raid
The barrage under attack
Recon bomb plot southern view showing fuse delayed action (right AA unit LwH 37/VII bunker)
Kembs Barrage November 1944 (Photo French Resistance )
Possibly the remains of a Tollboy viewed by an RAF specialist on Rhine 1946 pr later
The barrage in 1945
The barrage in 1946
The Americans did not cross the Rhein which was held up by Germans
pockets further north and the 'Colmar pocket', was not eliminated that fast
Low Force Pilots T/O LND Bombing Results
EE 146
"D" W/Cdr J.B.Tait ( Ldr ) 13:20 19:20 Bomb landed 10 yards short of Target
LM 492 "W" Sq /Ldr J.V.Cockshott 13:07 19:56 Bomb fell on west bank of Rhine river
DV391 "O" F/O P.H.Martin 13:10 19:52 Bomb fell as on overshoot 30-40 yards
PB 415 "S" KC-S Sq/Ldr D.R.Wyness (+) 13:10 DWN Bomb presumably fell on east bank
LM 482 "K" KC-Q FL/Lt C.J.G.Howard (+) 13:08 DWN unknown on 2nd bomb run
ME 562 "K" F/O J.A.Sanders 13:11 19:50 Bomb over barrge fell far side
LM 492 "W" Sq /Ldr J.V.Cockshott 13:07 19:56 Bomb fell on west bank of Rhine river
DV391 "O" F/O P.H.Martin 13:10 19:52 Bomb fell as on overshoot 30-40 yards
PB 415 "S" KC-S Sq/Ldr D.R.Wyness (+) 13:10 DWN Bomb presumably fell on east bank
LM 482 "K" KC-Q FL/Lt C.J.G.Howard (+) 13:08 DWN unknown on 2nd bomb run
ME 562 "K" F/O J.A.Sanders 13:11 19:50 Bomb over barrge fell far side
High Force
EE 923 "M" Sq /Ldr G.E.Fawke (L) 13:09 19:59 3 Bmb.runs ,bomb fell west bank
DV 393 "T" F/O A.W.Joplin 13:19 19:43 Bomb fell close of 2nd pier left of T
LM 485 "N" F/O F.H.A.Watts 13:19 19:53 Bomb was an overshoot about 50 yards
LM 489 "A" F/O J.Gingles 13:18 20:05 Bomb fell as overshoot on railway line
DV 402 "X" F/O J.L.Sayers 13:12 20:01 Bomb fell through bay door ,unknown
ME 554 "F" FL/Lt T.C.Iveson 13:21 19:48 Bomb fell left bank 400 yards of target
Unknown FL/Lt Castagnola 13: Bomb fell between 1st & 2nd pear left
LM 489 "A" F/O J.Gingles 13:18 20:05 Bomb fell as overshoot on railway line
DV 402 "X" F/O J.L.Sayers 13:12 20:01 Bomb fell through bay door ,unknown
ME 554 "F" FL/Lt T.C.Iveson 13:21 19:48 Bomb fell left bank 400 yards of target
Unknown FL/Lt Castagnola 13: Bomb fell between 1st & 2nd pear left
315 SQD (Polish) Mustang IIIs RAF Brenzett (Esc Low Force) T/O 13:15
Escort led by Wng/Cdr Zumbach were: F/O Kirste, W/O Seredyn, F/Lt Wiza, W/O Czerwinski, F/Lt Stembrowicz, F/Lt Blok, F/O Swistun, F/O Nowosielski, F/O Haczkiewicz, F/O Bibrowicz, F/Sgt Richter.
306 SQD (Polish) Mustang IIIs RAF Andrews Field ( Esc Silence AA)
Crews unknown
129 SQD Mustang IIIs RAF Brenzett (Esc High Force)
Crews unknown
627 SQD Mosquito Mark IV (Recon) RAF Woodhall Spa
KB 215 "H" FL/Lt J.Hanlon & FL/Lt. K.J.Tice (PR/ OBS)
The Mission
7th October 1944, Target Maerkt Kembs Barrage , Weil Am Rhein
Weather Enroute : Scattered Cloud, Target CAVOK
Force 13 Lancasters of 617 Sqd , Sqd Woodhall Spa
Recon: Mosquito PR aircraft 627 Sqd Woodhall Spa
Escort : 34 Mustang IIIs of 2nd Tactical AF
Bomb Loads : Each Lancaster carried one Tallboy, with 25 sec. delay
for the high level force and half-hour delay for the low level force .
The attack was scheduled for late afternoon on Saturday 7th October 1944 and the rendezvous with the escort was to be over RAF Dungeness. W/Cdr Tait order 617 to climb to 4000 ft from RAF Woodhall Spa then radioed Eg Cdr Zumbach the Escort Leader to scramble his fighters . The 617 Sqd 5th Group CO Air Vice Marshal Cochrane and 2nd TAF CO. Wng Cdr Harris coordinated all fighters activities with Zumbach and Tait the night before the mission.
RAF Woodhall Spa Oct 7,1944
Wg Cdr Harris 2nd TAF
Within a few minutes the Mustangs lifted out of the clouds to meet them and formation headed ou across the Channel. 129 SQD were to cover the high force , 315 the low force and 306 would strafe flak. Never a man to order others to do something he would not do himself .Tait was leading the low force ,leaving Fawke in charge of the high force which was to fly at about 8000 feet . Patches of clouds as they approached the target indicated that the 7 Lancasters above him would have some cover , but there would be none for his group.
Although his attack height would not be as low as that for Ops " Chastise" May 1943 ,if anyone was seriously hit their only hope of survival would be a crash landing . The Rhine River , covered by enemy fire ,would not be a soft place to ditch into neither this would a "milk " run . Not far away was the Swiss border ,but this was not too welcoming either , as Watts discovered when he flew too close to Basel and "neutral"flak his starboard outer engine . He feathered the prop, swung further to the left and kept going in any case , the flight to the first check point the French twon of Besancon went smoothly enough .
At this point the low force did a 360 turn and 129 SQD went on with Fawke's group,meeting only little flak.French city of St.Louis near Swiss border was the IP (Initial Point ) of the low force while city Basel Switzerland slid on their right below , the bombardiers opened the bomb doors and from the target some 3 miles ahead Tait could see heavy fire behind directed at Fawke's formation above , followed by a series of splashes as their Tallboys struck the river. So far, so good,but the German defenses on the German Rhine bank were heavier than expected and their luck could not hold idefinitely .
Reconstruction of Maerkt Barrage Raid Oct 7,1944
At Tait's call the 306 Sqd Mustangs dived out of the sun. For a moment Tait thought the flak had not seen him,but then white tracer came wobbling up from the German side (East side ) of the Rhine manned by Hitler youth the " Heimat Luftwaffe Helfer " Batterie 37/VII . Enroute to the target the flight of the 129 SQD was uneventful and the enemy AA was not aroused until the first two Lacansters of the low flying force attacked the target . One Lancaster presumably this of Sd/Ldr Wyness was hift after crossing the barrage ,meanwhile the 306 SQD had temporarily subdued the AA gun fire enabling the reminder of the force the place their delayed action bombs on target .
The fighters covering the target area did not return for home until last bomb was placed and landed at dusk after being airborne for almost 5 1/2 hours (AHB). As the bombs were dropped away Tait felt the aircraft jump , slammed the trottles to max military power forward and heard his rear gunner open fire as the passed over the barrage . Tait commented afterwards " The weather was touch and go near the target but the target itself was clear of cloud below bombing high and visibility was good . The low force dropped 12'000 Lbs Tallboys though only one succeeded breaching the Dum.
Tait continues " The high force had bombed the target before I reached the target and all traces of the burst have disappeared ,so I could not assess the high bombing and there appeared to be no damage to the target .All barage sluices were closed. Our bomb landed in the correct position ten yards short of the target and did not bounce .
Bomb release caused several overshoots from the high force,two of whose Tallboys fell as much as 600 yards West of the barrage on the French side Iveson and Joplin ( German occupied Alsace).Two more of the low force fell 40 to 50 yards away also on occupied Alsace Rhine bank (Cookshott & Martin ) .After a second run both Martin and Watts overhoot by 50 ( 45 m) yards after a second run. Sayers also made two runs but as he opened the bomb doors on the second run an electrical failure caused the bomb to fall off prematurely through one of them buckling it .
Cookshott hit Tait props slipstream and so his Tallboy fell wide. Sanders overshot by 50 yards , his bomb falling into the river as did that of Joplin .Due to the late and manual release Gingle's bomb fell into the Weil Am Rhein railway line . Iveson's bomb struck the bank some 400 yards of the barrage, while Castagnola's Tallboy fell between first and second pears. Fawke had his hang-up on two runs releasing manually on the 3rd but it still fell 5 seconds late into west bank of the river (Alsace )
Two Lancasters were lost - both almost inevitably ,from the low force , Wyness was hit repeatedly but dropped his bomb before crashing into the Rhine near Rheinweiler, Germany,the crew was captured though few hours later executed by the Germans having their bodies thrown in Rhine . A hungup bomb made Howard execute a second low level run and light flack blew his port wing off and crashed near Efringen Kirchen inside of Germany .There were no survivors from either crew .
Reconstruction Sqd Ldr Wyness Lancaster
Thurgauer Zeitung 10.October 1944
One 306 Mustang was hit though its pilot carried on and returned with rest of the pilots , unlike reported later on a Swiss newspaper no Mustang made emergency landing at the nearby Habsheim field France neither a Tallboy exploded a day later .
Three Lancasters came home damaged including Tait's with a hit in the port wing root
and tyre shot away. No less dangerous was the task of the 617 Sqd Mosquito's crew . Flt.Lt.Hanlon and Tice made two runs over the target 17:40 at 3000 ft and then 6000 ft eleven minutes later .One the first run they saw one bomb burst 200 yards South of the West end of the barrage ,soon followed by an other burst which appeared to blow out the westerly span. Water started to pour through gap and there were ripples extending 200 - 250 yards upstream.
This operation never achived the fame of "Chastise " but it was no less demanding for those who ran the gauntled that afternoon. It quickly became clear that it was completely successful. The Tallboys have destroyed the iron superstructure above the first and second pillars on the barrage's West side ,causing the water upstream to fall dramatically. The German press report little or not at all about the raid though Swiss National Zeitung reported " The breaching of the Kembs barrage has lowered the water level in Rhein basin at Basel which required the transfer of boats from first basin to second. At 21:00 hours the level of the Rhine fell by three to three and half meters .Below Kembs the water released is estimated of millions of cubic meters and has appearently caused flooding everywhere for the German authorities have given water alarm. So far is not known whether navigation on the Rhine will be completely suspended" For now it would, as the effects of the raid included Switzerland ,whose barges were stranded on the mud.
Barrage western pillars damages (french side )
Electrical power plant after raid
Western pillars being inspected in 1945
Dreilaendereck Basel ( Basler Zeitung )
Undifussed Tallboy at Kembs ( unknown details )
Bomb plot Kembs Raid Oct 7,1944 by 627 Sqd (note numerous AA positions)
The damaged barrage (center)
The barrage during the raid
The barrage under attack
The barrage in 1946
Conclussions
The attack was not a failure nor a huge success. The planes left target before
delay fuse detonated the 'tailboys'. Only one or two bombs reached its target
just a Tallboy was enough to breach the barrage and release
the water.
It would be two years or more before shipping on Rhine was restarted.
It would be two years or more before shipping on Rhine was restarted.
The Americans did not cross the Rhein which was held up by Germans
pockets further north and the 'Colmar pocket', was not eliminated that fast
until February 2nd 1945 until their first crossing was at
Remagen in March 1945.
Captured documents by French Rhine-Danube African Units confirmed that the
Germans indeed intended to flod large areas ahead of Alied Rhine crossing
eventually also Kembs the Schluchsee in the Black Forest barrages, and open
Germans indeed intended to flod large areas ahead of Alied Rhine crossing
eventually also Kembs the Schluchsee in the Black Forest barrages, and open
the
barrages in Laufenburg and German Rheinfelden.
The importance of the mission was questioned throughout the years .The damages
caused by the rupture of Kembs barrage in on Mulhouse area are not really
known .I always wondered if Wyness would have turned left into Alsace just two miles
ahead rather fly north for more than 10 minutes , would this would have saved
his and his crew lives ?
The importance of the mission was questioned throughout the years .The damages
caused by the rupture of Kembs barrage in on Mulhouse area are not really
known .I always wondered if Wyness would have turned left into Alsace just two miles
ahead rather fly north for more than 10 minutes , would this would have saved
his and his crew lives ?
Water level on French Rhine side Jan.1945 shows some impact caused by the Kembs Raid
Back in the 80's W/Cdr Tate when invited by the Historical Aviation Society of Alsace
to fly over the Kembs barrage on a light aircraft remarked that in order to breach Kembs
Barrage gates a group of four low flying Lancasters would have been sufficient to reach
the objective with lesser human and property loss than those of October 7,1944 .
References :
IWM, 617 Sqd Dumbusters,Luftwaffe Archives,
Colmar, Badische Zeitung, Basler Zeitung ,
Nazi Zeitung, Landes Archives BW ,
Australian War Museum , 617 Sqd Ops History
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