Operational Report (Form 541)
- Date
- 30. 10. 41
- Aircraft
- 9 Marylands
- Duty
- Bombing attack from 20000 ft. on shipping in Benghazi Harbour. Shipping likely to be anchored in area between Mole Giuliana and Central Mole
- Map reference
- Target map B./2 and Benghazi 1:500000
21 SQUADRON S. A. A. F. OPERATIONAL REPORT NO. 18. COPY NO. 5....(O.O. Nos. 261 Wing Operation order No. "A" andSquadron Operation order No. 18) DATE: 30. 10. 41.MAP REF: Target map B./2 and Benghazi 1:500000DATE OF OPERATION. 30th. October 1941.NUMBER AND TYPE OF AIRCRAFT. 9 MarylandsDUTY. Bombing attack from 20000 ft. on shipping in BenghaziHarbour. Shipping likely to be anchored in area betweenMole Giuliana and Central Mole.NARRATIVE. The Squadron took off from L. G. 075 at 1015 hours, afterinformation received by the Squadron Intelligence Officer fromIntelligence 261 Wing, had been imparted to the crews.The Squadron ran into 10/10 cloud at 1154 hours. TheLeader saw what appeared to be the coast line ahead andturned to starboard to approach the target, but approximately20 minutes later unfamiliar landmarks were observed alongthe coast that now became visible. Formation leaderturned to port in an endeavour to locate target.At this stage a collision occurred between the leader andNo. 3 of the last vic. Both damaged aircraft fell awayfrom the formation. No. 3 in a very steep glide.Two of the crew were seen to bale out and the divingaircraft was soon lost in cloud and haze.The leader of the formation on receiving this informationand also that 3 enemy fighters were seen about a mile away,but below, decided to turn to port and enable No. 3 tolink up. At this stage a camp of about 200 tents andbuildings were seen. It had the appearance of a permanentcamp. Five to ten miles to the South West of this camp,were some white buildings and what appeared like two smallforts. The white buildings were bombed and two sticksare reported to have scored direct hits. One other stickwas dropped on a row of hutments, with unobserved results.The rest of the bombs were jettisoned and seven aircraftreturned to base, at 1500 hours. Half an hour later theLeader of the third vic landed. His aircraft was badlydamaged, and to enable him to keep height, guns andammunition were jettisoned. The aircraft maintained aheight of 4000 ft., and the line was crossed at HalfayaPass, where evasive tactics were employed to avoid Bredafire from five or six batteries. The aircraft landed atbase at 1539 hours. It was airborne for 5 hours 30 min.,and had 60 gallons of petrol left. Seven of the eightbombs were not jettisoned, as the electrical system failed,due to the collision.NOTE: Approximate position where bombs were dropped andcollision [strike-through] XXXXX [/strike-through] took place: Between El Abiar and Barce.2000 pamphlets ( of No. 4 ) were dropped over the areawhere the bombs were dropped.No. of damaged machine "D" 1661. No. of missing machine"S" 1672.WEATHER. 8/10 to 10/10 cloud over target. Depth of cloud approximately10000 ft. Haze over desert.TIMES. Airborne 0710 hours. Landed 075 L.G. 0800 hours.Airborne 1015 hours. Collision and Bombing 1240 hours.Landed base 1500 hours. Total hours flown ( 8 Acft.) 45h. 19m.PHOTOGRAPHY. 5 cameras. Only one used which shows bombs bursting acrossbuildings.DISTRIBUTION. Same as Report No. 17.[handwritten signature] L Saunders 2/Lt.for S. I. O.
Transcriber's Notes
- L. G. 075
- Landing Ground 075 (Libya), a forward refueling point essential for extending the operational radius of Marylands for deep-penetration strikes.
- S. I. O
- Squadron Intelligence Officer.
EL ABIAR AND BARCE: Geographic locations in the Cyrenaican interior (the Jebel Akhdar region) where the mid-air collision and subsequent emergency bombing took place after the formation was pushed off course.