Ghost bombers, eh!?

Again only minelaying ops. on 10/11 and 11/12. on 10/11 no losses (although I have one mossie lost without a trace, going to Hanover....But they don't carry 8 bombs...), on 11/12 October 2 Wellingtons and 1 Stirling lost. They came down in or near Denmark.

No claims is a possibility if he made it back to Blighty....

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thanks Stevin!
that is weird that there is no record of this flight! thanks for the info on the mine! my Dad was young and it was a long time ago, so details are hard to come by! but i will pass this on and see if it triggers any further memories!
thanks again!!

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...this army made up of ex-resistence men and named by the Prince Himself, became known as the STOOTTROEPEN(Stormtroopers).
Nulli Cedo = I'll give way to no one.

Scott

Stevin the bombers you mentioned downed over Denmark could of been minelayers but why if ...............ah I'm not sure what I am trying to get at so will leave it be for the moment

E ~

well i have to research to see how the mine laying planes work. But my Dad still swears he only heard 4 explosions? could they been mines?

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...this army made up of ex-resistence men and named by the Prince Himself, became known as the STOOTTROEPEN(Stormtroopers).
Nulli Cedo = I'll give way to no one.

Scott

I reckon If they where Mines there would have been one hell of an explosion-Sea mines had to be big to sink a Ship.

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"One might as well try to charge at a wall."-Napoleon, regarding the British Infantry.

Agreed, these had to be regular bombs or shells. Minelayer would probably avoid the coastal batteries and fly a little west of the shore to stay out of reach as long as possible. In my opinion flying over Groningen with Den Helder west, the Frisian batteries north, many more south and Germany East, including the Kiel area would have been suicide for minelayers. The only plausible operation I can think of is a straffing, a milk run or a bombing mission. They had to be deliberately ordered to go to such a heavy defended area. I would try to see if Twente , Groningen, the Dutch Frisian Isles or German Ost Friesland was targetted.

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10/11 October 1942

Minelaying: 47 aircraft off Biscay ports and in the Frisians without loss. (15 planes to the frisians; 5 mined south of Texel. The others around the islands.)

11 October 1942

8 Mosquitos to Sluiskil (this is in Holland but at the extreme other side, the southwest; zeeland - 2 losses), Hannover and Saarbrücken. 1 aircraft lost ( a mossie).

11/12 October 1942

Minelaying: 80 aircraft to many locations. 2 Wellingtons and 1 Stirling lost. 10 bombers mine in the Frisians. No losses here.

Coastal Command sent out 5 Hudsons to attack a convoy, which isn't found. No losses

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Hmm I kind of like the Hannover possibility, but then why bomb a target that seems far away and is not strategical (opportunity, emergency etc.. ? ) I also checked Fighter Command but the only claims I have are rodeos in Norhthern France on October 11th. Units involved 64, 332, 453,(Raaf) Squadrons.
Concerning Bomber Command the "Gardening" near Esjberg, Denmark were night operations so we can take this away.

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Provided still that the date is correct, of course, it is a possibility that the LW chased the Bomber and it got away...they it will be a very tall order to figure out who could have been. Also, 4 bombs, what plane could that have been? The TPHS wrote there were 8 bombs. maybe four unexploded.....Many what-if's here...

Also thought of a minelayer being chased but again; 4 mines seems a bit much and the damage it would have done is probably bigger than in the pics....

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

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well this is quite strange, i guess we may have to call it a day on this one! None of my Aunts or Uncles can remember seeing the plane as it was too dark. I don't know what happened but I appreciate the effort of all, especially Stevin! This has been quite exciting for myself and my whole family! If the story ends here, well then it ends here. I am sure this is not the first and probably won't be the last! But again thanks to all for all the input, htis has really got my relatives talking about their experiences in Holland. I have already started to write this in a journal for future generations of Woldhuis' to read!

Scott Woldhuis

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...this army made up of ex-resistence men and named by the Prince Himself, became known as the STOOTTROEPEN(Stormtroopers).
Nulli Cedo = I'll give way to no one.

Scott

Never say never!

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

(banner by Otto)
www.basher82.nl

I am not giving up, there are other aircrafts that could be involved. I said earlier that the Kattegat (Denmark) aircrafts were out because of the the time, but in fact they could be around (you said it was early in the morning). This narrows the search because Hannover was a day/evening mission.

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well okay!
let's keep digging!! i'm with you!
my Father did originally say that it was in the morning but my Aunt just remembers it being very dark, so i'm not real sure. It could have been very early morning?

__________________
...this army made up of ex-resistence men and named by the Prince Himself, became known as the STOOTTROEPEN(Stormtroopers).
Nulli Cedo = I'll give way to no one.

Scott

Yes , this is my point . The aircrafts that crashed near Denmark crashed around 23.30 , so one criplled one could perfectly have been over Holland an hour later and jetison a little present on the barn.

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you crack me up skipper!

i understand, the timing is just right you're saying. maybe that's it!!

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...this army made up of ex-resistence men and named by the Prince Himself, became known as the STOOTTROEPEN(Stormtroopers).
Nulli Cedo = I'll give way to no one.

Scott

Possibly, but there is absolutely no evidence at this point, so let's be careful. I will need to check the cargo of these aircrcrafts (Wellingtons and Stirlings) and what the mines were made of. I know the regular bobms had TNT and Amatol, but I will need to check the weight and the amount of destructive material. A mine doesn't neceseraly make more damage than a cookie, I suppose, but again this is speculation so now I will need to work my sapper skills.
Maybe they carried some small bombs for opportunity targets too?

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Having just realized that a Mossie could carry six 500lb bombs(or 4000lb in total), that almost certainly rules out a Mosquito dropping the bombs.

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"One might as well try to charge at a wall."-Napoleon, regarding the British Infantry.

anyone -Stevin checked out the Danes site on the north air war at night ~ Denmark and associated areas ? maybe Gardening was well in cased in 42, as it well could of been a Stirling ? or and off track or chased and it dumped it's load slowly..........

just two cents worth of thought

My thoughts too Erich, Stirling or Wellington. Both were around that night.

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this might not be what we are looking for but thought I would include ....

Mine Warfare at Sea - Google Book Search

another question bigfun how far inland was your parents home from the coast ? a different scenario is going through my small mind