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On 29 June
1944 the target for No 5 Group was the concrete construction
works at Beauvoir in the Pas de Calais. This was a site for the storage
of V
weapons. There was nothing of particular importance about this
operation except
that it was to be the first carried out by 627 Squadron in daylight.
Three crews were detailed for the operation
against Beauvoir – the new
CO, Wing Commander Curry in DZ525 – AZ-S; Flying Officer Saint-Smith in
DZ516 –
AZ-O; and Flying Officer Platts in DZ482 – AZ-P. A further aircraft was
provided by 627 Squadron for the Master Bomber, Wing Commander Simpson;
this
was DZ521 – AZ-M. All four Mosquitoes took off at 1230 hours and the
operation
was expected to take 2 ½ hours.
Marking of the target took place at 1345
hours as planned, the target
indicators being concentrated in an area 50-100 yards from the Aiming
Point.
This was later confirmed by the Master Bomber, who also said that the
Main
Force bombing had been good.
On completion of their task the Mosquitoes
of 627 Squadron turned away
from the target and formed into stepped-down line astern formation with
the CO
in the lead. They flew towards the French coast at low level, with
Saint-Smith
in the Tail End Charlie position and nearest to the ground. At some
point in
their passage a V1 doodlebug was launched from a ramp slightly ahead of
the
Mosquitoes and accelerated towards its target – London. However, almost
immediately its motor cut out and the V1 crashed below the 627 Squadron
formation, which had just overtaken it. Flying Officer Saint-Smith’s
aircraft
took the full force of the blast from the exploding V1 and “O” – Orange
crashed
out of control, shattered by the weapon. The crew were killed.
Flying Officer George Platts was at a
slightly higher level than
“O”-Orange and his aircraft was less affected by the blast from the
doodlebug.
Nevertheless, both engines cut out and Platts could not restore power.
He made
a forced landing in the French countryside, and the Mosquito was badly
damaged.
George Platts sustained a broken leg in the crash landing but his
navigator,
Flying Officer George Thompson RCAF, was unhurt. Platts ordered the
navigator
to abandon the aircraft and get away from the area as quickly as he
could,
thence to get home if humanly possible. Thompson needed no further
bidding. He
jettisoned the top hatch and leapt out of “P”-Peter, running like a
gazelle for
nearby woods. After a short time he arrived at a farm where he
discovered a
well near the farmhouse. He launched himself into the well and stayed
there
while German soldiers arrived overhead and made a search for him.
Mercifully,
no one looked down the well and George Thompson remained undetected. At
the end
of the day the farmer came to the well and wound his Canadian visitor
up in the
bucket. Thompson remained in the farm until the British Army overran
the whole
doodlebug area early in September. He was then flown back to the UK and
reported to Woodhall Spa, being seized upon with cries of joy by his
Squadron
colleagues.
Flying Officer Platts was not so lucky. The
Germans soon
found him in “P”-Peter and took him to hospital in France, and thence
to Stalag
Luft 3 at Sagan in Germany, where he spent almost a year as a guest of
the
Third Reich. He did not return to Woodhall Spa and all contact with him
was
lost.
We do not know what Wing Commander Curry
said when he arrived back at
base that June afternoon. Two aircraft out of three had failed to
return and he
had not heard a word from either Saint Smith or Platts after leaving
the
target. The fact remained that two-thirds of his force was missing – a
very
high loss rate even by Bomber Command standards! Perhaps the CO thought
that he
had not made a very good start.
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