Operation Bellicose

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Operation Bellicose
Part of World War II
Date July 20/21, 1943
Location Friedrichshafen, Germany
La Spezia, Italy
Result heavy damage (Zeppelin Works)
tbd (La Spezia naval base)
Combatants
RAF Bomber Command Luftwaffe
Strength
56 Avro Lancaster 5 Group
4 Avro Lancaster 8 Group (Pathfinders)

Operation Bellicose was the name of a British aircraft strategic bombing mission that began on June 20, 1943 during World War II.

The target was the Zeppelin Works, the suspected manufacturing site of Würzburg radars.[1] In early June 1943, a Central Interpretation Unit photo interpreter (Claude Wavell) at RAF Medmenham identified a stack of ribbed baskets (Würzburg radar reflectors) at the Zeppelin Works. After Winston Churchill viewed the photos at RAF Medmenham on June 14, No. 5 Group RAF received the surprise orders on June 16 to attack Friedrichshafen during the next full moon.[2]

The Lancaster bombers of No. 5 Group Bomber Command took off from bases in Britain, then flew toward the city of Friedrichshafen, in southwest Germany. Pathfinder aircraft used offset markers, placing the guides at a distance from the target to avoid obscuring the location with smoke. In addition to this 'offset marking', the raid also used 'time-and-distance bombing runs'.[3] This mission was the first such shuttle bombing mission of the war, attacking two separate sites during the same mission in an effort to confuse the enemy defenses.

For some unknown reason the bombers were not intercepted by German fighters at Friedrichshafen, despite it being a full moon. The bombers inflicted heavy damage which resulted in the closure of the assembly line.

From Friedrichshafen the planes headed toward Bilda, Algeria in North Africa for refueling. Eight of the original force of 60 remained in Algeria for repairs, and the remaining bombers subsequently bombed the Italian naval base at La Spezia, Liguria.

[edit] V-2 Production Plant

Although by August 17, 1942, the Allies had suspected the Zeppelin Works and the Henschel Raxwerke were involved in the long-range rocket[4] it wasn't until July 25, 1943 that Duncan Sandys reported that Friedrichshafen photos depicted rocket firing sites like those at Peenemünde.[5] As a result, Operation Bellicose was not planned for that objective and countermeasures against long-range missiles would not start until August.

In addition to Peenemünde, the Zeppelin works was also planned as one of two other V-2 rocket production plants. In the Autumn of 1941, Zeppelin Airship Construction Ltd had accepted contracts for production of A-4 propellant tanks and fuselage sections.[6] Following the subsequent Operation Hydra in August 1943, Germany's plan for V-2 production was changed to a single central location.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Middlebrook, Martin (1982). The Peenemünde Raid: The Night of 17-18 August 1943. New York: Bobs-Merrill, p50. 
  2. ^ Irving, David (1964). The Mare's Nest. London: William Kimber and Co, p65. 
  3. ^ Middlebrook. 50
  4. ^ Ordway & Sharpe. 74
  5. ^ Irving. 81
  6. ^ Neufeld, Michael J. (1995). The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. New York: The Free Press, p143. 
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