" The Little Friends "

October 08, 2018

129 SQD Mustang IIIs RAF Brenzett (Esc High Force)

Crews unknown

306 SQD (Polish) Mustang IIIs RAF Andrews Field ( Esc Silence AA)

Kembs Crews unknown

Zulikovsky Kembs Leader (right)

Zulikowsky (left)

Radomsky

Skalsky & Czerwinsky (315th)

315 Sqd (Polish) RAF Brenzett (Esc Low Force)

Reproductions Kembs Memorial Raid

Reconstruction : Mustang III 315 Polish Sqd seen over Kembs Barrage Oct 7,1944

Mustang IIIs (Esc Low Force of W/Cdr Tait ) T/O 13:15 TOT 16:44

Kembs Raid Pilots

Wng/Cdr Zumbach Ldr ,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

The attack was scheduled for late afternoon on Saturday 7th October 1944 and the rendezvous with the escort was to be over RAF Dungeness. Wg Cdr Tait order 617 to climb to 4000 ft from RAF Woodhall Spa then radioed W/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.

Kembs Raid Pilots

Final Briefing RAF Brenzett

Mustangs lifted out of the clouds to meet 617 Sqd 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.

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.

At this point the low force escorted by 315 Sqd did a 360 turn over Besancon 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.

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 .

One 306th Sqd Mustang was badly hit though the pilot carried on and returned with rest of the pilots , unlike reported later on by Swiss Thurgauer Zeitung no Mustang made emergency landings at the nearby Habsheim field France (Alsace)