Wednesday, 14 March 1945 — War Diary

21 Squadron War Diary

1000 hrs Iesi, Italy

The National Archives' reference AIR 27/271/3521 SQUADRON S.A.A.F. DATE 14th MARCH 1945. 162RAID ON AMMUNITION DUMP AT pp M 920405 REF MAP ITALY1,100,000 SHEET NO 75 BOLOGNA.TAKE-OFF 1000 HOURS. OPREP NUMBER 959 OPERATION NO. 164/21S/M.P. 575. MAJ. SMITH WATERMEYER HATSWELL BRINK STUBBS WILDING.[Handwritten tick marks above each name]S. 566. LT. RYNEKE CORDELL TEAGUE HENNESSEY CLEETE TENNANT.[Handwritten tick marks above each name]U. 557. LT. QUAIL POUWRENS KROS DOUGLAS WILSON SOLOMON.[Handwritten tick marks above each name]Y. 537. LT. ACKERMAN DORE STEENKAMP GOODWIN MALAN STEPHENS.[Handwritten tick marks above each name]A. 429. LT. Muir DALE LISTER FOSTER JONES ROUKE.[Handwritten tick marks above each name]C. 550. LT. STUART RAMSEY OWEN - HUGHES FRASER HOWDEN du PLESSIS.[Handwritten tick marks above each name]D. 474. F/O. HANNA PARSONS DICKINSON OLDFIELD van der BERG RAS.[Handwritten tick marks above each name]G. 519. CAPT. MUSGROVE GOBLE JORDAAN RABIE JONES COOK.[Handwritten tick marks above each name]TIMES:- 1.55 HOURS.[Handwritten marginalia at bottom left of page:]48149

Transcriber's Notes

S.A.A.F: South African Air Force.
OPREP: Operational Report.
L.T: Local Time.
F/O: Flying Officer.
Capt: Captain.

MC/GP (Medium Capacity / General Purpose): Standard Allied aerial ordnance classifications. For strikes against fortified storage like ammunition dumps, 21 Squadron Marauders typically deployed 500 lb or 1,000 lb GP bombs to achieve high-order sympathetic detonations.

pp M 920405: The precise map grid reference (Pinpoint) for the ammunition dump targeted during this sortie.