Fly Past

72 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS

NORTH AMERICAN MITCHELL

MITCHELL

1942 TO 1949

NORTH AMERICANNORTH AMERICAN

1918 2018

Above

A line-up of Mk.IIs of

180 Squadron Dunsfold

during the summer

of 1943. The aircraft

second from the

camera, FL707, carries

‘133’ on the nose.

W

hile poring over countless

air-to-ground images

at Medmenham in

Buckinghamshire on November

13, 1943, RAF photo-interpreter

Constance Babington Smith spotted

a little aircraft on the airfield at

Karlshagen, near Peenemünde on

Germany’s Baltic coast. She had

discovered the V-1 ‘Doodle-bug’

and eventually linked it with the

mysterious ‘ski ramps’ to be found

nearby.

The little unguided flying-bomb

was the first of Hitler’s ‘revenge’

weapons and the RAF 2nd Tactical

Air Force was tasked with disrupting

its deployment. The launch ramps

and associated infrastructure were

impossible to hide, but difficult to

put out of action and bristled with

anti-aircraft guns.

In November 1943 Operation

‘Crossbow’ was designated as the

campaign against all forms of

German long-range weaponry. (This

name inspired the title of the 1965

Michael Anderson film Operation

Crossbow, starring George Peppard,

about a clandestine raid on a V-2

missile plant.)

On November 26, RAF Mitchells

were sent to Martinvast, south

of Cherbourg, France, to hit a

suspected V-1 launch site. Three

units, Dunsfold-based 98 and 180

Squadrons and the Dutch 320

Squadron, operating from Lasham,

met withering flak over the target.

Three aircraft of 180 Squadron

were shot down, each with a crew of

four, all of whom died. Sgt J A Kok,

piloting FR146, O-for-Oboe, of 320

Squadron did his best to control the

bomber after it was hit by accurate

flak and attempted a crash-landing

near the target. He and another

died in the wreck. Sgts Koning

and Overwijn scrambled away;

the former was taken prisoner, but

Overwijn succeeded in a ‘home run’,

evading through Spain.

In December the code-word

‘Noball’ came into use to denote

sorties that were striking at

V-weapon sites. By the end of the

month massed raids were organised,

for example on December 22 a force

of 35 bombers, comprising Douglas

Bostons, de Havilland Mosquitos

and Mitchells were sent to three

Noball objectives.

A dozen Mitchells, from 98 and

180 Squadrons, were tasked with

attacking a construction at St Pierre

de Jonquières, east of Dieppe. Post-

strike reconnaissance images seldom

revealed if a site had been destroyed,

but once it became clear the Doodle-

bugs were to be launched off ramps,

the tactics applied to Noball targets

could be perfected. (It was June 13,

1944 before the first wave of V-1s

was sent towards London.)

W/O D Rogers eased Mitchell

II FL218 W-for-William of 180

Squadron – featured as artwork and

in flight on these pages – off the

runway at Dunsfold, just after 09:00

hours on January 24, 1944. There

were seven bomb tallies proudly

painted near the cockpit, as was

a red griffin and the Latin legend

‘Nulli Secundus’ – second to none.

The objective for the Dunsfold-

based 98 and 180 Squadrons was

a Noball site near Cherbourg. The

Mitchell was seriously damaged by

flak, but Rogers coaxed the aircraft

back across the Channel. Having

made landfall on the Kent coast,

three of the crew successfully baled

out. Rogers attempted to crash-land

FL218, bringing it down not far

from the airfield at Hawkinge; he

was killed.

TACTICAL ROLE

Beyond doubt the finest American

medium bomber of World War

Two, 9,816 North American B-25

Mitchells were built up to 1945. A

large number of air arms used B-25s

post-war; the USAF continued to

use the type as a crew trainer and

staff transport.

As the Mitchell developed, the

RAF ordered newer versions, the

initial Mk.Is and IIs being based

on the B-25C and ’D, while the

Mk.III was based on the B-25J. At

West Raynham 98 Squadron was

the first to accept the Mitchell for

operations, followed closely by 180

Squadron, in September 1942.

Both units relocated to Dunsfold in

August 1943.

Mitchells were used almost

exclusively in the tactical role,

as related in the example above.

Initially based in Britain, they

moved into continental Europe after

D-Day. As well as 98 and 180, they