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Our good
friend and 627 Squadron supporter, Alain Charpentier, who lives in
Vierzon, France, was asked if he could write something for At Second
Sight about Mosquito attacks on German targets in France during the
war. He was asked in particular to attempt to find a Frenchman who saw
627 Squadron marking in progress.
Alain was born in 1960, so could not offer
personal recollections of the war. However, his father was 18 years old
in 1944 and had vivid memories of the air assault against the Germans
because he was an apprentice working on railway locomotives at the
local rail depot at Vierzon at the time. Here he became well acquainted
with the DH Mosquito, which struck hard, accurately, quickly and
repeatedly at the French railway system. Alain was left in no doubt of
the respect of the French people during the war for “the guts of the
Rosbifs”, who had won the Battle of Britain and then bombed with
increasing precision and strength selected targets in Germany and the
occupied countries. This at a time when no one else could strike
effectively at the German heartland.
In 1944 the intensity and scale of the air
attacks on the French railway yards, factories and other precision
targets increased and the French people could see that the expected
invasion by the Allies must soon take place. Alain Charpentier said
emphatically that in every Frenchman’s opinion the RAF attacks were
heavier and more accurate than those of the American Air Force. He
added, with typical Gallic humour, that the French would rather be
bombed by the RAF than the USAAF; they knew that the RAF bombing would
be done with the greatest possible care.
Alain found only one Frenchman who saw
marking actually being done by 627 Squadron. This was on the night of
7/8 May 1944 when the explosives works at Salbris was attacked. Alain
remarked with his usual humour that it was not customary for French
people to look skywards when raids began but this was different; it all
took place within a very short space of time. The RAF bombers had
dropped illuminating flares (for the Mosquitoes) and the air raid
warning sounded on the ground. People on the ground headed quickly for
their air raid shelters, as did Alain’s contact. However, he looked up
and, to his astonishment, saw a tiny aircraft below the flares and
apparently diving to the ground. He thought instantly that it had been
shot down and would crash on the factory. As he reached his shelter he
heard a crumping noise and saw a large blob of red on the ground. He
dived for cover and then came the rain of bombs.
It so happened that only two of the four
marking crews were needed for this operation. Flying Officer
Saint-Smith dropped reds very close to the briefed aiming point and
Flying Officer Thomson backed up with greens. Marker Leader flew across
the depot and pronounced himself satisfied with the positioning of the
markers. The Main Force Lancasters were then called in to bomb.
The explosives depot at Salbris was destroyed
by this attack and production was not resumed until 1950. The Bomber
Command War Diaries dismiss this operation in a few words:
SALBRIS. 58 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitoes of 5
Group attacked an ammunition dump. The bombing was accurate and much
damage was caused but 7 Lancasters were lost.
C’est la guerre!
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