Beaufighters and Operation Crusader - part 1

The operational activities of beaufighters outside the home islands are thus somewhat out of the interest of aviation historians and the general reading public. It is not entirely justified, as shown. Deployment of 272 Squadron during Operation Crusader (Crusader), the North African desert battlefield in November and December 1941. The twin-engine heavy fighter Bristol Beaufighter Mk.IC and their crews when their performance overshadowed many a squadron Hurricanes and Tomahawks Western Desert Air Force .

Beaufighters overseas

The initial Beaufighters moved to the Mediterranean were 13 Mk.IC machines in Malta , a detachment of the 252nd Squadron of the RAF . Squadron became the first unit belonging to the RAF Headquarters coastal Force ( Coastal Command , CC) and armed with this modern type. It was established at Bircham Newton Airport on November 21, 1940. 10 days later, it moved to Chivenor , where it was rearmed from the Blenheim Mk.IF and Mk.IVF to Beaufighters Mk.IF. From December, he led the S / L Squadron Robert G. Yaxley , MC. The command declared it combat-ready at the end of March 1941. The score opened on April 16, when F / L Bill Riley shot down a German long-range patrol bomber Focke-Wulf Fw 200C Condor W. Nr. 65 km over the ocean during a patrol from Aldergrov. 0039 Oblt. Richter of I./KG 40. From the same month the 252nd Squadron used a special version intended for service in the ranks of the coastal air force, Beaufighter Mk.IC. From the Mk.IF ( which the 252nd Squadron operated with the added 227l fuselage tank and of course without radars ), the Mk.IC differed by replacing the wing machine guns with additional fuel tanks, so the machine now carried 2837 liters of fuel, giving it a maximum range of a remarkable 2400 km. However, the armament was reduced to four fuselage 20mm cannons.

From strategically important Malta , a detachment of beaufighters of the 252nd Squadron under the command of S / L RG Yaxley operated from the beginning of May 1941. Heavy fighters provided long-range fighter protection to Allied ships sailing the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean either directly to Malta or Egypt.They escorted Blenheim light bombers and also took part in offensive attacks against enemy airports in Sicily.

Heavy fighter Beaufighter Mk.IC at the desert airport

The first successes of beaufighters during service outside the home islands were won by the crews of this detachment. On May 7, as three beaufighters escorted five Blenheim Mk.IVs of the 21st Squadron during a raid on ships near Lampedusa , S / L Yaxley , Sub / Lt LF Fraser ( FAA enlisted pilot ) and F / L W. Riley shot down Italian transport aircraft, reported as “ Caproni Ca. 310 ”or“ Savoia S.81 ”. Two days later, JC Davidson fought for the P / O detachment by destroying the reconnaissance Junkers Ju 88A Lt. E. Gessler from 2. ( F ) / 123 first Mediterranean victory confirmed also by enemy documents.

The period of operations from Malta also includes an initial attempt to limit the activity of enemy air forces by attacking enemy airfields ( that is, through an activity that will form the daily bread of beaufighters during Operation Crusader ). On May 10, 10 heavy fighters of the 252nd Squadron made a deep attack against the Sicilian air bases of Catania and Comiso . The success of the raid is confirmed by enemy documents: in Catania , according to the Italians, four Regia Aeronautica aircraft were damaged, including the MC.200 fighter, and in the Comis beaufighters destroyed two German transport Junkers Ju 52 / 3m , severely damaged two CR.42 fighters and lighter two other Italian aircraft ( one MC.200 and one S.81 ) and the German Messerschmitt Bf 110 .

Beaufighter Mk.IF serial number R2198 and code " PN-B " took over as the first machine of this type 252nd Squadron December 27, 1940

On 16 May, beaufighters demonstrated their flexibility by long-distance flight of nine Maltese 252nd Squadron aircraft across half of the Mediterranean to the island of Crete . From there, from the airport in Maleme , in the first light of the next day, the beaufighters struck against the concentration of German planes, which were being prepared for air landing in Crete at the South Bohemian airports.According to German documents, beaufighters in Hassan destroyed one Ju 52 / 3m and damaged four, in Argos destroyed three and damaged 11 Bf 110 from I./ZG 26 and II./ZG 26 . The British paid for the success by losing the flak shot down Beaufighter T3228 F / O PS Hirst ( crew fell ). After refueling in Heraklion , Crete, the eight remaining heavy fighters returned to Malta.

A few days later, he left the rest of the detachment in Malta. Four aircraft led by S / L Yaxley escorted the hurricanes of the 213th and 229th Squadrons on May 21 during a long-range flight from Malta ( where they arrived after taking off from Royal Navy aircraft carriers as part of a supply operation ) to the Egyptian Mersa Matruh . The remaining four beaufighters on the same day began their return to Britain by flying back to Gibraltar.

Four machines of the detachment of the 252nd Squadron remained in Egypt after the flight of the Hurricanes. These machines became the first beaufighters located in North Africa. Despite the small number, they again intervened in the fighting. On May 23, two of them attacked the enemy-controlled Crete airport of Maleme (the Germans, meanwhile, launched Operation Mercury , an airborne operation on the island ). Pilots S / L Yaxley and Sub / Lt Fraser claimed the destruction of four Junkers Ju 52 / 3m on the ground.

Due to the critical situation and the urgent need for long-range fighters during the actions in the Eastern Mediterranean ( due to the raging battle of Crete ), the decision was made to relocate to Egypt a complete unit of beaufighters of the 272nd RAF Squadron , later the hero of Operation Crusader .

Two hundred and seventy-second squadron

It became the second ( after the 252nd Squadron of the RAF ) a unit of the Coastal Air Force armed with the then new Beaufighters Mk.IC. The squadron was established on 19 November 1940 in Aldergrovo from a squadron of the 236th Squadron , belonging to the CC. Five days later, she launched operations with Blenheimy Mk.IVF . Until April 1941, she was engaged in escorting convoys sailing through the waters of the Irish Sea. In April, she worked briefly from Sumburg in the Shetland Islands. But the same month she moved to the south of Britain, to the airport Chivenor , where she was rearmed to Beaufightery Mk.IC. In May, she moved to Egypt.

The first six beaufighters left England on May 24, and on May 28, the first of them reached Egypt. The very next day, S / L Squadron Commander AW Fletcher made the initial combat flight of the 272nd Squadron from Abu Sueir Airport at the new site.The squadron's machines immediately became involved ( along with the " orphans " from the detachment of the 252nd Squadron ) in the protection of ships evacuating Allied troops after the lost battle of Crete .

Beaufighter Mk.IC serial number T3317 and the designation „ ? "Was a personal machine commander of the 272nd Squadron RAF S / L AW Fletcher. In this form, the aircraft appeared during June 1941 at the airport in Lydda, Palestine

The squadron was complete in Abu Sueir on June 1, 1941. In addition to protecting convoys and escorting bombers during anti-ship operations, the beaufighters of the 272nd Squadron also from time to time participated in separate offensive operations. The opening one was a strike led by S / L Fletcher against Royal Dutch Schell's fuel tanks in Beirut, Syria, on 3 June. Two freshly relocated beaufighters of the 272nd Squadron and two machines of the 252nd Squadron took off from the Lydda Palestinian Airport together with one Maryland RAF Squadron. The action was related to the presence of German aircraft at the airports of Vichy Syria (they supported the failed anti-British insurgency in Iraq ).

From June 14, the 272nd Squadron was based in Idko, Egypt ( detachments operated from Palestine Lydda and soon also from Cyprus ). Its ground staff also took care of Beaufighters Mk.IC 252nd Squadron . The rest of the 252nd Squadron, meanwhile, continued training and patrol service from the British Isles ( more precisely from Ulster, Northern Ireland ). The British part of the unit ceased to exist on June 15, 1941, and the Egyptian detachment now became a squadron. However, the 250th Squadron continued to lack its own ground personnel in Idk and cooperated with the 272nd Squadron , which it was until re-independent on November 14, 1941. Although it did not directly intervene in support of Operation Crusader, it actively 272nd Squadron replacement aircraft. In December, it conducted patrol flights along the North African coast and also detached two aircraft to Malta.

Beaufighter Mk.IC 272nd Squadron RAF, detached in 1941 in Malta

Both units in Egypt suffered from a lack of combat-ready aircraft during the summer and autumn. The forces of the 272nd Squadron in Idek were further weakened on July 19 by the relocation of a detachment of eight machines led by S / L Fletcher ( the operation was also involved in Commander 252.S / L Yaxley Squadron) to Malta . These aircraft were joined directly on the island by eight new aircraft, flown over Gibraltar from England.

It was the Maltese detachment that opened the combat score of the 272nd Squadron , when F / Lt Campbell recorded two strokes during the protection of the convoy on July 24 (the Italian Junkers Ju 87 actually came out of the fight without losses ). At the beginning of August, the detachment returned to Egypt. In Malta, the detached Beaufighters of the 272nd Squadron briefly reappeared on September 24. 13 planes flew under Fletcher's command. During the move, three Belgian members of the squadron drew attention to themselves: F / O CL Roman, Sgt. OG Lejeune and Sgt. Demoulin. Above Bomba Bay, they attacked the Ju 52 / 3m transport together and claimed to be shot down.

The crews of the beaufighters of the 272nd Squadron claimed to be shot down by a number of German transport Junkers Ju 52 / 3m ( here the machine 11./KG.zbV 1 over the Mediterranean Sea )

Prior to Operation Crusader , the 272nd Squadron was concentrated in Egypt, where it was part of the 201st RAF Group . The original commander of S / L Fletcher, meanwhile, was replaced in October by the experienced S / L Yaxley (the new commander of the 252nd Squadron , on the contrary, became S / L AG Wincott in December).

Commander of the 272nd Squadron W / C RG Yaxley

An interesting element was the presence of Belgian pilots in the ranks of the 272nd Squadron ( during the entire war, it served 16 Belgians ). Charles Roman, Olivier Lejeune and René Demoulin were among the most remarkable. In the spring of 1940 they belonged to the Belgian Air Force Aéronautique Militaire. After the defeat of the homeland, they fled via France in June 1940 to Britain. In the ranks of the RAF, they participated in the air battle of Britain in the 235th Squadron ( Demoulin and Lejeune ) and the 236th Squadron ( Roman ), belonging to the Coastal Air Command . And then, together with other Belgians, they joined the new 272nd Squadron . All three died of air deaths: S / L Demoulin died as a member of the 272nd Squadron on April 6, 1944 under the command of a Beaufighter Mk.X LZ488 in action from Sardinia's Alghero Airport. Roman survived the war; he lost his life on November 25, 1954 in the Meteor NF.11 accident of the Belgian Air Force. Lejeune also survived the war, but died as a passenger during the crash of the Belgian Douglas C-47 on April 10, 1947.

One of the Belgian pilots 272.Squadron, Olivier Lejeune

In mid-December 1941, a group of other Belgian pilots were included in the 272nd Squadron , including P / O CTH Delcour, P / O REC Deppe, Sgt. Yves Tedesco ( died June 14, 1942 during a fight with Bf 109F Gruppe I./JG 27 ) and P / O RHL Corbisier ( lost his life during the action on June 15, 1942 ).

Operation Crusader

Operation Crusader was launched on the North African battlefield by troops of the 8th Army on November 18, 1941. The intention was to liberate Tobruk , isolated for almost eight months in enemy rear. The British assembled for the offensive under the command of the Commander-in-Chief in the Middle and Middle East gen. C. Auchinleck ( led by Lt. Gen. Alan Cunningham ) on the Egyptian front of considerable strength. Against them stood the German-Italian troops of the Panzergruppe Africa charismatic gen. Erwin Rommel . The air support of the offensive lay on the shoulders of 16 squadrons of WDAF ( Western Desert Air Force ) Air Vice-Marshal Arthur Coningham .

The RAF could count on about 650 aircraft in North Africa, of which 550 were combat-ready. The Allied Air Force thus had a numerical superiority over the enemy, which had only 342 combat-ready machines. However, the qualitative superiority remained on the side of the enemy, whose fighter component relied on the excellent German Messerschmitt Bf 109F and Italian Macchi C.202 . Allied fighters, flying with less valuable Tomahawks Mk.IIB and Hurricanes Mk.I and Mk.II , performed their tasks during the battle only at the cost of very heavy losses. In general, the WDAF also lagged behind the RAF in its home islands in terms of quality. One of the few exceptions was the very valuable beaufighters of the 272nd Squadron . The squadron command counted mainly for long-range attacks against enemy airports and road traffic.

On November 1, an advance detachment of the 272nd Squadron , consisting of 12 Mk.IC Beaufighters , 15 crews and an intelligence and cryptographic officer, was ordered to move from Idka 's rear airport to the LG 10 field desert base in Gerawl , about 20 km southeast of Mersa Matruh .

The initial battle action on the desert battlefield was carried out by beaufighters on November 15, 1941. Four heavy fighters attacked motor vehicles moving on the coastal road Via Balbia in the area Barce- Giorani-Berka in a ground flight. The pilots claimed the destruction of 20 vehicles of various types.

The first attack on the air base in the desert followed the next day, November 16.A trio of beaufighters ( individually marked " R " controlled by F / O Morris, " O " P / O Hammond and " N " Sgt. Ross ) took off to raid Tmimi Airport and the road north of this enemy air base. In Tmimi, the pilots on the ground claimed the destruction of two German Junkers Ju 87 and a mobile radio station. They then fired on vehicles in the Giovanni Berta- Barce area of Jabel Achdar. The pilots reported damage to 30 vehicles after the event. During the run-off, which ran just a few feet above the ground, P / O Hammond crashed his twin-engine motor into a telegraph pole. He hit 75 cm of the end arch, but he managed the critical situation brilliantly. He landed at the mother base first, at 3:10 p.m. Mechanics found a trapped piece of telegraph wire and shards of porcelain insulation in the wing. The two remaining planes landed at the airport 20 minutes later.

On November 16, the 272nd Squadron also engaged in patrol service over the sea between Derna and Crete , where the British route of German supply aircraft was located. Four Baefighters ( " H " F / O AA Salter, " K " P / O HH Crawford, " B " P / O J. Waters and " E " Belgian Sgt. RJG Demoulin ) attacked a lone stucco over the sea. The pilots claimed damage. On November 17, three beaufighters attacked motor vehicles on coastal roads. Another three heavy fighters attacked Gadd el Ahmar Airport and were to damage two Italian S.79 Sparviero bombers.

The next day, Operation Crusader began with an attack by British tanks from XXX. choir towards Gabr Saleh. The start of the enemy's offensive completely surprised him. His air force remained paralyzed by the flooding of airports during night storms. The air was controlled by Allied planes.

The machine of the 252nd or 272nd Squadron of the RAF flies low over desert terrain

At noon, the 200th Squadron of the Second Squadron sent two formations of beaufighters to attack enemy rear airfields. A squadron of six heavy fighters struck at 2.15 pm at the air base in Tmimi . Beaufigheters rushed over the airport just as five Junkers Ju 52 / 3m took off. The Allies claimed they were all shot down. The success was shared by: P / O J. Watters, P / O WG Snow, F / O AA Salter, P / O KB Orr, Belgian Sgt. RJG Demoulin and F / O MLP Bartlett. F / O Salter added the right to shoot down Hs 126 . After that, the beaufighters were shelling enemy aircraft in the stands. Pilots Bartlett Snow and during this operation Demoulin claimed destruction of four S.79 (Italian documents confirm the damage two Sparviero ). Bartlett ( probably during his return ) also scored a Fi 156 Storch . A fighter identified as " Bf 109F " tried to unsuccessfully chase him.On the way back, the beaufighters were still shelling enemy personnel at Gadd el Ahmar Airport.

At the same time three beaufighters, controlled by Sgt. JS Ross, P / O NK Lee and P / O HH Crawford, headed for Barce . Not far from the airport, they crashed into two flying Ju 52 / 3m in the air and sent them to the ground in flames (at least according to Allied pilots). East of Barka, beaufighters also shelled enemy vehicles. Then they flew over the airport and shelled the local tent town. This event also went without losses for the 272nd Squadron.

The events of November 18 ended in real triumph for the beaufighters and their crews. The 72nd Squadron became the most successful WDAF fighter unit that day, with the number of enemy aircraft destroyed. However, as is often the case in retrospective retrieval of similar successes, no mentions of decommissioned Luftwaffe aircraft could be found in the German archives. The actual result, after confrontation with available enemy documents, shrunk to two S.79 units not specified by the RAF.

Published with the kind permission of the author.
Published in Military revue 3/2015 by Naše Vojsko.