ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 164282
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| Date: | Tuesday 26 December 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI |
| Owner/operator: | 235 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | RS524 |
| MSN: | LA-G |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Missing -
 Norway
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Banff, Aberdeenshire |
Mosquito RS524/G: Took off at 12:05 hrs for anti shipping strike. 26/12/1944
On December 26, 1944 a shipping strike was laid on into Leirvik Norway following a sighting of shipping in the harbour by outrider aircraft of Norwegian Squadron 333 Outrider. F333 reported {A}2 Merchant Vessels stationary on east side of the harbour. Another MV [B] was reported close in to the north side of the harbour.. Four aircraft of 143 Sqdn piloted by F/Lt Brown, F/Sgt Smooleners, P/O Symons and F/O Norman Smith, .attacked the ships.
"F" F/L Browne attacked the ships [A} firing Rockets in pairs, scoring 2 dry hits [above water line] and 4 wet hits [ below water line]. P/O Symons attacked MV [A] with salvoes of rockets scoring 2 dry hits and 6 wet hits. Flak was reported from the ships and the shore. Vessels A and B were left in flames and sinking.
On breaking off the attack at 14:12hrs , two forces of enemy aircraft were encountered, approximately 12 FW 190's and a mixed force of 12 - 109's were seen approaching from the south five to ten miles away. The Banff Wing were in loose formation after the attack on the ships. F/O Smith made a head on attack on the ME 109's firing a two to three second canon burst from six hundred to seven hundred yards. Smith was then attacked by two ME 109's, which opened fire from one thousand yards. Smith turned steeply to starboard and gave a three second burst at two hundred yards with canon and machine gun and headed for the coast of Norway. P/O Symons attacked an FW 190 at six hundred yards height one thousand feet with MG, all canon ammunition having been expended during attack on shipping. He continued to fire down to three hundred yards when he overshot the E/A. The E/A climbed to make a second attack but lost speed presumably due to damage received from Symons primary attack. Symons made a second attack but then was head on to the concentration of the enemy aircraft. Heavy strikes were estimated to have hit the first E/A and one E/A was seen on fire but it was impossible to state that this was the E/A that "Y" had attacked. One aircraft of 235 Squadron failed to return and one E/A was destroyed and one E/A was seen to be on fire. A photographic PRU report gives the following details; ship designated "A and B were left in flames and sinking.
Crew:
F/O (151041) Ernest James FLETCHER (pilot) RAFVR - killed
F/O (151835) Alfred James WATSON (nav.) RAFVR - killed
Sources:
http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt
http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/sorties.html
ORB 235 Sqdn RAF
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 13 November 1944 | RS524 | 235 Sqn RAF | 0 | RAF stn Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |  |
min |
| 2 May 1945 | RS620 | 235 Sqn RAF | 0 | airfield F7 Såtenäs, Lidköping, Västergötland |  |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Feb-2014 16:26 | Nepa | Added |
| 22-Sep-2014 10:10 | Oezil | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 15-Nov-2014 13:32 | R.Giggs | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Narrative] |
| 04-Dec-2014 22:15 | Lotos | Updated [Operator] |
| 01-Sep-2015 05:23 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 31-Jan-2019 17:41 | Anon. | Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator] |
| 14-Jun-2022 10:23 | Nepa | Updated [Narrative, Operator] |
| 17-Jul-2022 20:44 | Nepa | Updated [Cn, Narrative, Operator] |
| 23-Nov-2023 18:51 | Nepa | Updated [Narrative, Operator] |
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