LE CREUSOT RAID

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 October 1942, Page 3

LE CREUSOT RAID

IMPORTANT PART TAKEN BY NEW ZEALANDERS

DESCRIPTIONS OF MEMORABLE ADVENTURE. ONLY SLIGHT RESISTANCE MET. (British Official Wireless.) LONDON, October 19. New Zealand pilots were in five out of six of the first Lancasters to bomb the Le Creusot armaments works in the 94-bomber raid last week. New Zealand navigators, bomb-aimers and air gunners also took part. They included Pilot Officers R. O. Calvert, D.F.C., Waikato; D. H. Palmer, Wellington; A. R. Loader, Taihape; R. W. Stewart, Whakatane; Flight Sergeants V. S. Moore, D.F.M., Taumarunui; H. W. Player, Petone; Sergeants P. L. Singer, A. M. Singer (twins), J. L. Williams, Gisborne; R. Crosgrove, Auckland; J. W. Collbert, Te Puia Springs; D. V. Davies, Raetihi; J. B. Price, Grey Lynn; R. Menzies, Hastings; R. B. Pickford, Rata. All agreed that the raid was “a piece of cake.” They met only slight flak over the target, but it stopped after the first two bombers released their bombs. Player said: “We had no exciting incident in the whole trip. We prepared for the take-off shortly after midday and soon picked up other sections and then swept out over the coast, flying almost wing tip to wing tip. The weather was perfect. The only bad spot was over the sea when we flew at nought feet. “We hedge-hopped over most of France, but climbed when nearing the target and my heart sank when I sighted a thick cloudbank as I thought it might upset the whole operation, but luckily it cleared. “I have never seen buildings disappear like they did when our bombs fell. They collapsed like a pack of cards. It was better than any earthquake. “We saw little signs of life over France, only a few people working in the fields and a ploughman who threw himself flat when he heard the roar of the engines. Others outside a village waved and gave the V sign.” Menzies said: "The worst part of the trip was waiting for something which did not happen. It seemed impossible that the Germans would let us get away scot free.” Moore, who recently spent 36 hours in the sea in a dinghy when forced down after a raid against Bremen, said: "Le Creusot was the best show I have had. Jerry was conspicuous by his absence.”

Commenting on the New Zealanders’ part, a group captain said: “They are a credit to the Dominion and also to the men who trained them. We always look on the New Zealanders as the backbone of our bomber crews. They are grand chaps.”

WAR CABINETS THANKS

CONVEYED BY AIR MINISTER. DARING AND SUCCESSFUL ATTACK. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, October 20. The Secretary of State for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair, has sent the following message to the commander of the Bomber Command, Air Marshal Harris: —"I hm desired by the War Cabinet to convey its congratulations to you and the officers and men under your command, who planned and carried out the successful attack on the Le Creusot works. The skill and daring with which this great . daylight raid was planned and executed and the weight of the blow you have struck against German war production from occupied France are fully appreciated by the Government.”