51 Sqn History Corner

Once again, Sgt Phil Howle of the Squadron’s Heritage Team describes a piece of 51 Sqn’s history, this time picking up from where the previous edition ended:

51 Sqn at RAF Snaith with their newly delivered Halifax Mk 2.

Following their short stint with Coastal Command, 51 Sqn was returned to Bomber Command in October 1942, and would remain there until the penultimate day of the War. During this time they would contribute to the resultant victory in a number of ways, including bombing raids against the occupied Low Countries and France, Italy and deep into Nazi Germany. The Squadron also conducted some less conventional tasks such as sea mining in the Baltic and targeting supply and distribution lines.

With the change of command was also a change of location, with the Sqn relocated back to Yorkshire, this time at RAF Snaith. The airfield was actually in the village of Pollington near the town of Selby, but there was another bomber airfield within the Group called Pocklington, and so for operational safety reasons the station was named RAF Snaith (the villages of Snaith and Pollington were adjoined). The now outclassed Whitleys were also replaced by the much improved Halifax Mk2, and later in the war by the Mk3.

51 Sqn at RAF Snaith with their newly delivered Halifax Mk 2.

One of the most important operations during their second stint with Bomber Command was Operation HYDRA. This operation was targeting the military facility at Peenemunde on the north-east coast of Germany. This facility was the design, test and build centre for the V2 rockets and so its’s destruction was seen as imperative. Over 600 aircraft took part, in 4 waves, with 51 squadron providing 24 aircraft as a part of the first wave. A small force of Mosquitos had been sent with the WINDOW jamming equipment to Berlin as a diversion called Operation WHITEBAIT. Some of the technology used in the WINDOW equipment was developed following the Bruneval raid which had been conducted previously by 51 Sqn. The diversion replicated the tactics that had been seen previously when a big raid on Berlin was coming and so it prompted a reaction from the Luftwaffe. The success of the diversion was such that the German fighters were only able to arrive at Peenemunde in time to catch the last wave of bombers, and in total there were only 40 allied aircraft shot down (around 7% of the aircraft that took part) which was a good ratio for Bomber Ccommand. Being in the first wave, 51 Sqn suffered no losses. The raid was a success in that a number of buildings in the facility were completely destroyed and a great deal more were damaged, along with the death of a small number of the scientists working on the project. Although Joseph Goebbels claimed that the raid had only pushed the project back by two months, the reality is that the V2 rockets never became the threat that was feared thanks in part to Operation HYDRA. Operational planning map of the Peenemunde site for Op HYDRA.