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also for Ploesti 9th AAF Low Level Raid 1.8.1943 , Ploesti Oil 

Battle 4.4.-31.8.1944 as well Soviet VVS and Back Sea Fleet 

Air Fleet Romania Air Campaigns 1941 - 1944 
   

                  Bombing Raid on Maerkt Barrage - 7th October 1944  ( A British review )

They took off at 13.10 hours from RAF Woodhall Spa in a Lancaster Mk I -No. NG180 KC-S to bomb Kembs Dam. Nearing the aiming point at 600 feet,they were hit by light Flak. On fire with two engines out of action, they flew north before being put down in the Rhine, near to the German town of Rheinweiler. It is believed that they all survived, only to lose their lives later that afternoon. There was cloud at 3,000 feet, but there was a clear patch over the target 13 Lancaster bombers took part in the raid, accompanied by a Mosquito photographic a/c and 34 Mustang III fighters of the 2nd Tactical Air Force's 133 Wing (American). Each Lancaster carried one Tallboy bomb with a 25 minutes delay.

The attack was scheduled for late afternoon and the rendezvous with the escort was to be over Dungeness. Tait ordered the squadron to 4,000ft and then called Wing Commander Jan Zumbach, the fighter leader. Within a few inutes the Mustangs lifted out of the cloud to meet them and the formation headed out across the Channel. 129 Sqn were to cover the high force, 315 the low force and 306 would strafe the 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 one. Patches of cloud as they approached the target indicated that the seven Lancaster's  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 Chastise, if anyone was seriously hit their only hope of survival would be a crash-landing.The Rhine, covered by enemy fire, would not be a soft place to ditch into. Not far away was the Swiss frontier, but this was not too welcoming either, as Watts discovered when he flew too close arid 'neutral' flak hit his starboard outer engine. He feathered it, swung further to the left and kept going.

Apart from this, the flight to the French town of Besancon went smoothly enough. At this point the low force did an orbit and 129 Sqd went on with Fawke's group, meeting only a little flak. Basle slid by below on their right, their bomb doors opened and from the target three miles ahead Tait could see heavy fire being directed at Fawke's formation, followed by a series of splashes as their Tallboys struck the river.

So far, so good, but the defenses were heavier than expected and their luck

could not hold indefinitely. At his call 306 Sqn's 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 east bank of the river. He felt the

aircraft jump as the bomb dropped away, slammed the throttles forward and

heard his rear gunner open fire as they passed over the barrage.

Tait commented afterwards, 'Weather was touch and go near the target, but

the target itself was clear of cloud below bombing height and visibility

was good. The high force had bombed before I reached the target and all

traces of the bursts had disappeared, so that I could not assess the high

bombing and there appeared to be no damage to the target. All of the

sluices were closed. Our bomb landed in the correct position ten yards

short of the target. It did not bounce:

Bomb release trouble caused several overshoots from the high force, two of

whose Tallboys fell as much as 600 yards west of the barrage. Two more from

the low one fell forty to fifty yards away. Tait's bomb was seen to hit the

left side of the barrage. Watts overshot by fifty yards, as did Martin,

after making a second run. Sayer's also made two runs, but as he opened his

bomb doors on the second one an electrical fault caused the bomb to fall

off prematurely through one of them, buckling it. Cockshott hit Tait's

slipstream and so his Tallboy fell wide.

Sanders overshot by fifty yards, his bomb falling into the river behind the target,

as did that of Joplin. Due to a late and manual release, Gingles' bomb fell onto

a railway line.Iveson's Tallboy struck the bank some four hundred yards from the barrage,

while Castagnola's fell between the first and second piers. Fawke had his

hang-up on two runs, releasing it manually on the third, but it still fell

five seconds late, onto the west bank of the river.

Two aircraft were lost — both, almost inevitably, from the low force.

Wyness was hit repeatedly but dropped his bomb before crashing into the

Rhine near the Franco-German border town of Chalampe.

A hung-up bomb made . Howard elect to make another low-level run and

light flak blew his port wing off. The Lancaster crashed at the village of 

Efringen-Kirchen, just inside Germany. There were no survivors from either crew.

One of 306 Sqn's Mustangs was hit, but its pilot carried on and returned with 

the others. Three Lancaster's came home damaged, including Tait's, with a hit in its

port wing-root and a tire shot away.

No less hazardous was the task of the Mosquito crew from 627. Flight

Lieutenants Hanlon and Tice made two runs over the target, at 1740 at 3,000

ft, then at 6,000 ft eleven minutes later. On their first one they saw one

bomb burst some two hundred yards south of the west end of the barrage,

soon followed by another burst 'which appeared to blow out westerly span.

Water started to pour through gap and there were ripples extending 200-250

yards upstream.'  This operation never attained the fame of Chastise, but

it was no less demanding for those who ran the gauntlet that afternoon. It

quickly became clear that it had been completely successful. The Tallboys

had 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 could say little, but the Swiss National Zeitung

reported:  The breaching of the Kemb's Dam has lowered the water level in the Rhine

basin at Basle, necessitating the transfer of boats from the first basin to

the second. At 2100 hours the level of the Rhine fell by three to three and

a half meters. Below Kemb's the water released is estimated at millions of

cubic meters and has apparently caused flooding everywhere, for the German

authorities have given the water alarm. So far it is not known whether

navigation on the Rhine will be completely suspended.