"Swiss view to the raid "

     Swiss AA telemetrical site near Rhine Port in Basel

On September 1944, the Allied Headquarters (SHAEF)directed the Bomber Command to bombard the Rheinstauwehr at Märkt D, just over 3 kilometers north of Basel, in order to take control of the Rhine and its level. to destroy. The weir belongs to the power plant Kembs F, which supplies electricity to Alsace since 1932. In any case, they wanted to forestall the Germans by blowing up the weir, as the Allied High Command assumed that the Germans would also defend their defenses in order to stop the advancing French and American troops in which these vast areas under the river Märkt are flooding would, as the Germans have already done in France and Holland. The weir had been blown up in 1940 by the retreating French troops, but with a warning to the Swiss Rhine ports.

                                     Swiss &  German border patrols at Weil Am Rhein

The attack took place on October 7, 1944 by the 617 Bomber Squadron, which started shortly after 13.00 clock in Woodhaal Spa.also known as "Damm Busters" was already responsible for the attacks on the dams in the Ruhr and a few weeks later for the sinking of the battleship Tirpitz. Each of the 13 four-engine Lancaster bomber was each equipped with a tallboys, which brought each bomb a weight against 6 tons on the scales. The Tallboy was a bomb specifically designed for use against dams, canals, tunnels and viaducts. This Saturday about 5,000 Allied aircraft flew against targets of the German Reich and its allies.

Six Lancasters, flying from Besançon from the south-west, attacked at a low altitude of 100 to 125 meters. According to the BBC report of 8th October 1944, these were to distract the flak and if necessary switch it off.  With them flew several P-51 Mustangs, which were the first to open fire on the Flak positions on the banks of the Rhine and other positions of heavy air defense at Märkt, on the German side of the Rhine.

Swiss Light Flak near Basel

The attack took place on October 7, 1944 by the 617 Bomber Squadron, which started shortly after 13.00 clock in Woodhaal Spa. Also known as "Damm Busters" season was already responsible for the attacks on the dams in the Ruhr and a few weeks later for the sinking of the battleship Tirpitz. Each of the 13 four-engine Lancaster bomber was each equipped with a tallboys, which brought each bomb a weight against 6 tons on the scales. The Tallboy was a bomb specifically designed for use against dams, canals, tunnels and viaducts.This Saturday about 5,000 Allied aircraft flew against targets of the German Reich and its allies.  Six Lancasters, flying from Besançon from the south-west, attacked at a low altitude of 100 to 125 meters. According to the BBC report of 8th October 1944, these were to distract the flak and if necessary switch it off. With them flew several P-51 Mustangs, which were the first to open fire on the Flak positions on the banks of the Rhine and other positions of heavy air defense at Märkt, on the German side of the Rhine.

 Basel barges harbour Kleinhuningen

The fighters were among the squadrons of the 133 Wing Polish 306 and 315 Fighter Squadrons and 129th Sqd with the long-haul P-51 Mustang III. According to witness reports from Basel, 14 fighters were identified above the target area.The Swiss army staff names 16 fighters. Since during the whole attack no German fighters were sent , the fighters could concentrate fully on the AA batteries. The second wave of seven Lancasters flew at an attack altitude of 1500-2500 meters.Shells of the 88mm flak and smaller caliber were fired shot at the attackers. The sky was dotted with small puffs of heavy flak grenades within a very short time. Tracer strips of the light anti-aircraft guns flew criss-cross to the attackers. Machine gunners double scored at today - on the special construction for the Upper Rhine (Limes-Regelbau 24, building 5887)   

 On the Soliterrasse in the harbor Kleinhüningen Basel the AA posts were in readiness shortly after air raid alarm in Basel was heard.

 AA Battery Center Basel  reported the following at the beginning of the attack:

16:37 Air raid alert in Basel

16:42 Message to Bat.Kdo: 2 Acfts direction Delsberg

16:45 3  Acfts sighted

7 acfts circles Hüningen

Air raid alert in Alsace

Bombing near Hüningen

Aircrafts attacking Kembs Barrage /AA fire

16:58 1 Lancaster direction Efringen crashed after hit by Kembs AA
(The Swiss reports indicating that the Swiss Army was not anexious to get involved
 into a conflict with the Allied Command by firing at the bombers which would 
have violated their neutrality)

Despite the air raid alarm in Basel, the fourth on this day, thousands of spectators

lined Basel's bridges, streets, and even roofs. Everyone looked up to see this unique spectacle. It probably would not give one or the other a glimpse into the bombing raid, which had raged around Switzerland for 5 years and fortunately spared Switzerland with a few exceptions.

 Swiss French border at Hunengue

This morning, there had been nothing to suggest that something should be happening in this dim view.Witness report:  We searched the sky the bombers become visible- They turn seemingly at a leisurely pace, but began to circle over Neudorf and Märkt and descend a little deeper. Strange that under such favorable circumstances the anti aircraft defense was silent. The bombers flew her right in front of the pipes. She pretends it's not worth chasing away the giant birds. And the sirens have not sounded any alarm yet. 

The 617 Bomber Squadron records indicating that Pilot W/CdrTait Lancaster EE.146 
was the first of his squadron to drop a tallboy at 16:51 from a height of 600ft. The bomb landed in an ideal position about 10 yards from target.  Many of the Tallboys landed on 
the island south of target. However, several hits were reported near and on barrage . 

 Swiss Luftwaffe ME-109 near Basel (Birsfelden Air Field ) 1940

"On Saturday, 7.10.1944, at 17.15 o'clock around 5 fighters circled at high altitude over Efringen Kirchen around the same point. The attack was soon recognized. After 10 minutes about 30 more fighters appeared, some higher, some lower than 5000m. Suddenly a smog column rose at over Märkt (about 2.5 km away). Now it was clear to us, the target was called Kembs Barrage. In the next few moments, six Lancaster flying some 800 to 1000 meters high, flew directly over the barrage. Each aircraft threw a bomb. In addition to the flak explosions four bombs detonated at large intervals 5 more after 12 hours.

The Lancaster Mk.III, LM.482, KC  Q, which was flown by F / Lt Christopher Howard †, failed to drop his Tallboy on the first approach and therefore made further attempts. On the third approach to the weir, his Lancaster was hit by the flak. This caught fire in the rear fuselage immediately. Although Howard tried an emergency landing, the Lancaster exploded over the treetops and crashed a short time later between Efringen and Kirchen, near the Rhine. Howard and his crew did not survive the crash and, after their exhumation on 11 August 1948 from the cemetery of Weil Am Rhein, they found their final resting place in Durnbach War Cemetery near Bad Tolz in Bavaria. As into the exact crash site there is different information, which usually do not match, however, the place of crash should be approximately at the height of Efringen Kirchen and in the area of ​​today's A5. F / Lt Christopher Howard's older brother, Major Mark Howards of the Coldstream Guards, had died in Normandy just a few months earlier.

The battery 37 / VII was a so-called home battery battery was at Weil Am Rhein, which had its battery command post in Istein. This battery was mainly operated by students from the years 1926-28 from the grammar schools and high schools of Müllheim, Lörrach, Schopfheim and Villingen. Divided into 3 trains as Luftwaffenhelfer. The 4 train, which was used between the Old Rhine and the canal, consisted of Alsatian forced recruits with the same vintages as those of the German side.

Marktplatz Basel 1944

The longer the bombardment lasted, the less flak was noticed. The German flak positions were largely eliminated by the fighter pilots who dived on them. One by one, the Lancaster dropped their destructive load over the target area and then disappeared.   At 17:10 the Swiss observation post on the harbor silo Kleinhüningen informed the Bat.Kdo. that another bomber group from was approaching from St.Louis ( Low Force ) . From the reported formation a bomber peelled out, which flew in the sequence again at low level over the weir and penetrated while turning into the Swiss airspace, from which the AA of the Swiss army immediately opened fire and forced the bomber to change course 3 minutes later .

17:14 From neighboring Alsace the final alarm was heard. The observation post on the silo roof reported: Normal water level / Transport via ship bridges resumed / According to observations, no damage to power station and weir.The exploding remains of F/ Lt Howard's Lancaster, which had crashed near Efringen Kirche shook the region with a massive detonation at 5:23 pm and a thick black column of smoke rose up. The blast wave caused several windows to burst in Basel / Kleinhüningen. Swiss AA soldiers located in the harbor, also in the district of Kleinhüning were knocked down. Shortly before it could be heard from the barrage at irregular intervals, the exploding  Tallboys, which had been equipped with delay fuses. 

At 17:35 an aircraft noise was reported by AA. A single Mosquito threw another bomb against the weir. After the foam had disipated, one could see that the iron catwalk had broken off on the Alsatian side of the barrage and hung limp on the second pillar. Despite the flak, the Mosquito returned and photograhed the target once more, before heading west at 17:42. Three minutes later, the Bat.Kdo. the message that more bombs had exploded in the weir causing up to 150 meters high water fontain splashes ( no records on a bombing Mosquito were found )

However, there were still no visible damages.  Around 17:45 an other Mosquito flying from Blotzheim identified as KB.215  AZ  H of the 627th Sqd PR flew towards the dam. The Mosquito flown by F/ Lt Hanlon circled for a long time for aerial photography over the target area. F/ Lt Tice was cam operator .

From the Mosquito footage only 50 seconds are preserved at IWM in London. On the footage, unfortunately is not possible to recognize well the barrage .Shortly before the aircraft left the target at 17:48, another bomb exploded with a delay fuse exploded on the left bank side. This explosion was clearly visible on the original photographs. Barrage
structure of the weir finally broke down. The weir damaged was between the first and second pillars.

At 17:57, a water alarm sounded in Basel. The task now was to implement the rescue plan designed in advance in the event of damage to the weir. At 18:04, the report was received at the local Fire Station in Basel, which promptly withdrew with 6 men and manned the fire boat "St. Florian". They drove immediately to the harbor at today's Dreilaendereck. When the the fire boat arrived , the Rhine level had fallen already 40cm. At 18:23 it was already a meter. By 19:28 the level should be another 1.20 meters. In the afternoon before the attack, the Rhine level at the Schifflände was at a normal 1.23 meters. The day after that at 0.56 meters. A steady stream had developed between the harbor basin and the Rhine. At more and more places on the banks of the Rhine, the reason came out. 

Swiss troops near Basle German border

With all available forces in Basel tried to pull as many ships from the affected docks in deeper waters. First, a formation of 8 ships had to be pulled out of the turning basin, which fortunately succeeded within a useful period. Furthermore, 15 ships from the 2nd basin 
could be rescued on 1st  docks. For other 15 canal barges in the harbor basin 2 and 4 in the access channel, the time was not enough and they had to be left on the dry. One of these abandoned ships in harbor basin II was an Italian high-sea sailing ship, which had found a new home in Basel during the war. The harbor basin 2 had completely emptied. The arrived fireboat "St. Florian" could also rescue the passenger ship Rheinfelden in time. The pull was so strong that a gravel ship had ripped off and drifted leaderless in the harbor basin. The latter could be stopped in time by rapid intervention. Fortunately nobody was hurt by the shredded wire. In the meantime, many civilians participated in the salvage operation. very well recognize the weir.

When attacking the weir another brand new Lancaster of Sq / Ldr Drew Wyness was damaged by light flak, which then ditched at Bad Belangen, Rheinweiler height. About 17 kilometers north of the dam. All seven crew members were able to save themselves on the lifeboats. Nevertheless, all seven did not survive the day. There are several reports of the abduction of the English airmen, but it must be assumed that F / O Hansel, F / Sgt Horrocks and F / Sgts Hurdiss have fallen victim to a crime. Their bodies were never found.

The four other crew members were, as Kreisleiter Hugo Grüner after his arrest on May 6, 1945 indicated to the Allied War Cremes Commission, were executed on his orders for "terrorist attacks" against Germany. Sq / Ldr Wyness † and his radio operator F / O Hosie † were shot dead on the French bank. Both are buried today in Choloy War Cemetery. F / Lt Williams † and F / O Honey † found their final resting place on the Durnbach War Cemetery.

One month after the attack on the weir, on 11 November 1944, the flood tore away the Hüningen ship bridge in barges harbor of Basel, which crashed on the pillars of the former railway bridge. In the spring of 1945, the Germans began with extensive blasting at the weir and the electrical hydro station, which caused great damage. Finally, on April 24, 1945, the power plant and the weir were captured by French troops without a fight. It would take an another year before the first barge from Holland could sail to Basel on April 29, 1946.

 Swiss border with Germany near Grenzach

 Gen.Henri Guisan Commanding General of Swiss Army during WWII

                                                              April 1945 Franco Swiss Border

References :

Bern State Swiss Archives
Badische Zeitung
Baden Wuertenberg Archives
Freiburg i.B. Archives
Colmar Archives
Nazi Zeitung Switzerland
Basler Zeitung
Australian Military Archives
Basel Stadt records
Rhein Haffen records
Commando Rhine Danube records