68 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS
VENTURA
(^19182018) LOCKHEED VENTURA
Right
Down on its belly at
Feltwell, Ventura II
AJ224 of 464 Squadron
RAAF after a harrowing
fl ight back from raiding
Dunkirk, February 26,
- KEC
Below right
A famous image of
Lockheed Hudson III
T9465 of Iceland-based
269 Squadron in 1941.
It carries the legend
‘Spirit of Lockheed-
Vega Employees’ along
the fuselage – it was
paid for by donations
from the factory at
Burbank, California.
LOCKHEEDO
riginating as a mailplane for
Imperial Airways, the Avro
Anson became a reliable
coastal reconnaissance aircraft
and went on to an exceptional
production and service career as a
trainer and transport. The same idea
was applied to the Lockheed Super
Electra twin which morphed into the
Hudson maritime patroller in 1938.
Learning from the Hudson the
larger, more powerful Lodestar was
militarised as the Ventura and this
had its maiden flight on July 31,- This new aircraft was intended
to be much more aggressive than the
Hudson, and Bomber Command saw
it as a potent attack aircraft. It was
well into the spring of 1942 before
Lockheed had perfected the Ventura
and geared up for mass production.
That time lag was to be detrimental
to the type’s effectiveness as a bomber.
Withdrawn from Bomber
Command’s frontline in September
1943, Venturas found a niche as
light bombers in North Africa
and the Middle East. The GR.V
maritime reconnaissance version, the
equivalent of the US Navy’s much
improved PV-1, enjoyed some success
with Coastal Command. By 1944
the Ventura was phased out, yet its
forebear, the Hudson, continued in
service until August 1945.
HUNG UP
Feltwell-based 464 Squadron Royal
Australian Air Force contributed to a
force of 60 Venturas sent to Dunkirk
on February 26, 1943. Among them
was Mk.II AJ224 N-for-Nun of ‘B’
Flight, piloted by Sqn Ldr I Dale.
The target was a warship in the
harbour; 33 of the Venturas bombed,
all returned to their bases.
Having declared ‘bombs gone’ a
burst of flak hit the nose of AJ224
and shards of Perspex hit Dale and Fg
Off H Robson DFM, both of whom
were temporarily blinded.
Dale recovered, and they set course
for base where Nun belly landed at
15:30. Dale and Robson, drenched
in blood were hospitalised. The
other two crew, Canadian Fg Off
G Forman and Australian Plt Off JQuinlan were unhurt.
The Ventura was declared a write-
off and during salvage it became clear
how lucky the crew had been. Two
500-pounders had hung up in the
bomb bay, but thankfully behaved
themselves.CARNAGE AT
LOW-LEVEL
Just before noon on December 6,
1942 a force of 93 bombers took
off on Operation ‘Oyster’, bound
for the Philips electronics factory in
the middle of the Dutch town of
Eindhoven. The armada comprised
nine de Havilland Mosquito
bombers, a Mosquito for photo-recce,
36 Douglas Bostons and 47 Venturas- 17 from 21 Squadron at Methwold,
14 from 464 Squadron Royal
Australian Air Force and 16 from 487
Squadron Royal New Zealand Air
Force, both based at Feltwell.
It was Sunday and dinner time and
the plan was to minimise casualties in
the civilian workforce. The bombers
went in at low level and the flak was
intense. As the stragglers peeled away
it was clear the target had taken a
pasting; it was six months before
production returned to normal.
Despite the hopes that losses could be
kept small, 148 Dutch factory workers
and seven German military personnel
died in the attack.
One Mosquito and four Bostons
failed to return. At Feltwell and
Methwold, streams of Venturas
returned, many with flak damage.
One had its wing leading edge badly
LOCKHEED
mauled when it flew through a tree.
Three Venturas force-landed upon
return.
As well as Luftwaffe fighters and
German anti-aircraft fire, Mother
Nature played a part in the carnage- 23 Venturas had suffered bird
strikes, some multiple with crippling
consequences.
Nine Venturas never made it
back – an horrific 19% of the force
dispatched. Each of the squadrons
Hudson, and Bomber Command sawCARNAGE AT
1941 TO 1944